Disclaimer:
These are my views of what happened, the views are my own and don not reflect anybody else. I watched what I could of the series. I couldn't watch much of the Hawks vs Flames because I can't stand that &*T!@#^&*^*!@#^$&*^&*!@#$ douche bag Pierre Maguire.
The NHL Western Conference Quarter Finals are over and I am here to give my view of the series.
(1)San Jose Sharks vs (8)Anaheim Ducks
My Prediction: Sharks in 6
Result: Ducks in 6
This was the classic choke job and my pick for the Stanley Cup champions at the beginning of the playoffs are now eliminated. The Ducks who are no spring chicken when it comes to the playoffs came out playing playoff hockey where the Sharks continued their downturn they had over the last 30 games of the regular season. Major questions will be raised in San Jose and expect a couple changes as the Sharks have choked in the last few years.
MVP of Series: Jonas Hiller (G) ANA
The guy had two shutouts that's hard to vote against.
My Play of the Series: Marleau's OT goal in Game 5
Officiating: 3 out of 5
The officiating wasn't the best I felt but was consistent to a respectable degree.
(2)Detroit Red Wings vs (7)Columbus Blue Jackets
My Prediction: Wings in 6
Result:Wings in 4
I went into this series determining the length of the series on Osgood's goaltending, against the Blue Jackets he gets an A. Osgood was spectacular in this series and was able to keep his team in it when he was needed. Detroit had a little bit of a scare in Game 4 giving up five goals but were able to pull it out with a last minute PP goal from Johan Franzen. These guys are now looking like the favorite to repeat since Osgood looks to be on his game.
MVP of Series: Chris Osgood (G) DET
The guy made saves that allowed his team to get a lead in all the games.
My Play of the Series: Osgood's dive across the crease early in Game 1 to keep Columbus off the board.
Officiating: 3 out of 5
The officiating was usually fair but there was a couple of plays the made me go hm.
(3)Vancouver Canucks vs (6) St. Louis Blues
My Prediction: Canucks in 5
Result: Canucks in 4
This was a series where I expected goaltending to take center stage, when it comes to that, I was dead on. Roberto Luongo destroyed the confidence of the Blues and literally won the series on his own. The Canucks PK was spectacular and were able to kill of all but one penalty in the series, and that goal was almost stopped as well. Blues goalie Chris Mason who is my choice for Calder and second in Vezina behind Tim Thomas was just not able to give the save the Blues needed even though most of the goals were very difficult to stop.
MVP of Series: Roberto Luongo
This guy is the sole reason why the Canucks swept the series. Andy McDonald will be having nightmares of the saves and posts hit in this series.
Play of the Series: Luongo's save in Game 1 on the 5 on 3 PP for the Blues where he slid across and stopped Andy McDonald.
Officiating: 4 out of 5
This series officiating was pretty good after Game 1. They called penalties that were penalties and allowed them to play after the tirade from the coaches after Game 1.
(4)Chicago Blackhawks vs (5)Calgary Flames
My Prediction: Flames in 7
Result: Blackhawks in 6
This series started off as a home series as both teams took advantage of home ice. This series however was marred with some controversial plays as many felt the Game 1 OT winner was interference with the goalie. The Flames were also hit with a nasty injury bug that had already sidelined Robyn Regehr before the playoffs had even started and got center's Craig Conroy and Daymond Langkow as well as defenceman Dion Phaneuf. Calgary also seemed uninspired in Game 5 and 6 but I think that had something to do with the officiating which even got criticized by Ron MacLean on CBC. The Hawks are in tough though in the next round as they face the Canucks and won't have home ice and will have to face a goalie who is looking to get his name on some hardware this season.
MVP of Series: Jonathan Toews
He led his team over a weakened Flames team
Play of the Series: Nothing spectacular in this series from what I saw except for the 2-0 goal for Chicago in game 6
Officiating: 0 out of 5
This series was horribly officiated from the hop. The Game 1 OT goal should have been disallowed (The same type of goal was allowed in the German League and the officials lost there jobs.) which was a poor call in my estimation and the officiating was extremely biased for what I've watched outdoing the Rangers vs Canucks back in '94.
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