Playoff Matchups Set

[Viperar 16]

I'm not going to make all of my predictions right now, but I really think Philly is going to take Washington. Philly has just seemed to have GREAT depth, I mean they have like what, 7 so goal scorers counting Prospal? Washington does have a near 70 goal scorer in Ovechkin, and a great coach but their depth is just so limited IMO.

I am going to have to respectfully disagree. While you have a good point about philly's depth, I believe many people over look washington and how they have been playing. In the recent games it hasn't even been AO stepping up as much as the other players.

I also think Huet will be a huge X factor, but with 8 wins in a row, I believe he is just as hot as the rest of the team. Hopefully the flyers dont cheap shot their way to a victory

[YoungGuns1340 1]

I have to question Pittsburgh's decision to not play Crosby today.

If Pittsburgh wins, they would have clinched the eastern conference title and first seed overall over Montreal.

They sat Crosby and lose 2-0 to the Flyers, (the 2nd goal was an ENG)

Wouldn't you think they would want to try to get home ice for as long as they could???

No. I think they wanted Ottawa more. Free pass to the second round.

[BlueMonk 102]

It turned out exactly as I hoped for the Wings in the West. Dallas has a real chance of upsetting Anaheim, although losing Zubov deals them a significant blow. I still favor the Ducks, but the Stars are one of the few teams that seems to cause Anaheim problems. And San Jose and Calgary beating the crap out of each other is great. Either Nabokov or Kiprusoff is out after the first round, leaving only Giguere as a truly scary "hot goalie" threat in the conference, imo.

[miller76 463]

I hate to use derogatory images, but I saw this image and couldn't help myself. I do think San Jose has their hands full with Calgary.

Question: Does anyone on here think Dallas can handle the Ducks in a series? I know the Stars won the season series, but I still think that Dallas may be a playoff flop here again.

[Bluedevils_13 0]

I am going to have to respectfully disagree. While you have a good point about philly's depth, I believe many people over look washington and how they have been playing. In the recent games it hasn't even been AO stepping up as much as the other players.

I also think Huet will be a huge X factor, but with 8 wins in a row, I believe he is just as hot as the rest of the team. Hopefully the flyers dont cheap shot their way to a victory

Ya, this is the only thing keeping me from making up my mind on this one yet, the Caps have been just on a ROLL while Philly...not so much, it really makes a big difference in going into the playoffs HOT or just going 5-5 in the last ten. Philly has some guys with alot of experience that should shine (Briere,Prospal,Knuble), but who knows how much Ovie is going to pick his game up.

[Lou_Siffer 1]

Detroit over Nashville in 6

San Jose over Calgary in 5

Minnesota over Colorado in 7

Anaheim over Dallas in 6

Boston over Montreal in 6

Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 4

Philadelphia over Washington in 5

NY Rangers over New Jersey in 7

I think we're going to see the underdogs do well in the East this year.

[YoungGuns1340 1]

I'm not going to make all of my predictions right now, but I really think Philly is going to take Washington. Philly has just seemed to have GREAT depth, I mean they have like what, 7 so goal scorers counting Prospal? Washington does have a near 70 goal scorer in Ovechkin, and a great coach but their depth is just so limited IMO.

I dont know. Ovechkin, Backstrom, Semin, Kozlov, Cooke, Fedorov, Laich. Then theres Green on the back end. The guys are there they just get ZERO recognition. Probably only 17% of fans knows who Brooks Laich is, and probably half of them dont even know that hes a 20 goal scorer.

[TheHoff 0]

Detroit over Nashville in 5

San Jose over Calgary in 7

Colorado over Minnesota in 7

Dallas over Anaheim in 7

Montreal over Boston in 6

Pittsburgh over Ottawa 6

Washington over Philadelphia in 6

New Jersey over New York in 7

I hope I'm wrong and Calgary beats San Jose and Philly beats Washington.

Edited April 6, 2008 by TheHoff

[rick zombo 3,739]

Detroit over Nashville in 5

Calgary over San Jose in 7

Minnesota over Colorado in 7

Anaheim over Dallas in 5

Montreal over Boston in 5

Ottawa over Pittsburgh in 6

Washington over Philly in 6

NYR over New Jersey in 6

[Lou_Siffer 1]

I dont know. Ovechkin, Backstrom, Semin, Kozlov, Cooke, Fedorov, Laich. Then theres Green on the back end. The guys are there they just get ZERO recognition. Probably only 17% of fans knows who Brooks Laich is, and probably half of them dont even know that hes a 20 goal scorer.

Washington just reminds me of the Thrashers last year, it was a nice season but i think it ends in the first round.

[Herr Hockey 0]

(1) Detroit vs. (8)Nashville (5 games)

(2) San Jose vs. (7) Calgary (6 games)

(3) Minnesota vs. (6) Colorado (7 games)

(4) Anaheim vs. (5) Dallas (6 games)

(1) Montreal vs. (8) Boston (4 games)

(2) Pittsburgh vs. (7) Ottawa (4 games)

(3) Washington vs. (6) Philadelphia (6 games)

(4) New Jersey vs. (5) New York (6 games)

(1) Detroit vs. (6) Colorado (5 games)

(2) San Jose vs. (5) Dallas (6 games)

(1) Montreal vs. (4) New Jersey (7 games)

(2) Pittsburgh vs. (3) Washington (6 games)

(1) Detroit vs. (2) San Jose (7 games)

(1) Montreal vs. (2) Pittsburgh (6 games)

(1) Detroit vs. (2) Pittsburgh (6 games)

I did the whole thing

Cannot wait for TSN's Maggie the Monkey to make her picks.

[Guest nutz2u]

I hate to use derogatory images, but I saw this image and couldn't help myself. I do think San Jose has their hands full with Calgary.

Question: Does anyone on here think Dallas can handle the Ducks in a series? I know the Stars won the season series, but I still think that Dallas may be a playoff flop here again.

Classless, but with the the booger thing, understandable.

[ashenhigh 9]

West

1 Detroit > 8 Nashville in 4

2 San Jose > 7 Calgary in 5

3 Minnesota < 6 Colorado in 6

4 Anaheim > 5 Dallas in 6

East

1 Montreal > 8 Boston in 5

2 Pittsburgh > 7 Ottawa in 7

3 Washington > 6 Philadelphia in 5

4 New Jersey < 5 NY Rangers in 7

[BlackhawksFan 4]

Montreal

Pittsburgh

Philly

New Jersey

Detroit

San Jose

Minnesota

Anaheim

Edited April 7, 2008 by BlackhawksFan

[GMRwings1983 8,803]

The league needs us in the Finals, so we better have calls go our way.

Think what a Wings/Rangers final would look like. Or how about Wings/Canadiens? Or even Wings/Penguins, with Crosby in the Finals. No other team in the West can draw any interest besides the Wings. Everyone knows what kind of ratings the NHL finals have gotten in recent memory.

[IceMunkee 15]

West

1 Detroit in 5

2 San Jose in 5

3 Minnesota in 7

4 Dallas in 6

East

1 Montreal in 5

2 Pittsburgh in 6

3 Philadelphia in 5

4 NY Rangers in 6

[kylee 727]

The league needs us in the Finals, so we better have calls go our way.

Think what a Wings/Rangers final would look like. Or how about Wings/Canadiens? Or even Wings/Penguins, with Crosby in the Finals. No other team in the West can draw any interest besides the Wings. Everyone knows what kind of ratings the NHL finals have gotten in recent memory.

as much as id absolutely love to see the Wings in the finals again, not at the expense of refs making calls go our way. lets not turn into the Junior Anaheim Ducks.

[Guest nutz2u]

Wings in 5, and don't really care about the rest as long as they beat the crap out of each other and wobble into the second round as blithering idiots babbling, "where the fug ah we?"

[GoWings1905 2,694]

The only thing I really hope for (besides the Red Wings winning) is that Colorado beats Minnesota, so the Sharks and Ducks have to play in the second round. Going through both Anaheim and possibly San Jose would be very tough, as we witnessed last season. Then again, IMO the Calgary Flames have a very good chance at knocking out the Sharks in the first round. I am by no means sold on the Sharks like all of the "experts".

Should be a terrific opening round of playoff hockey.

Edited April 7, 2008 by GoWings1905

[GMRwings1983 8,803]

The only thing I really hope for (besides the Red Wings winning) is that Colorado beats Minnesota, so the Sharks and Ducks have to play in the second round. Going through both Anaheim and possibly San Jose would be very tough, as we witnessed last season. Then again, IMO the Calgary Flames have a very good chance at knocking out the Sharks in the first round. I am by no means sold on the Sharks like all of the "experts".

Should be a terrific opening round of playoff hockey.

That'd be great, because I see us storming through Nashville and the divealanche in less than 10 games.

[The Noodle 39 14]

Wow some great playoff action this year! Course it is every year but NHL playoffs is so freaking awesome and exciting! I really want Montreal vs Detroit! Can you imagine? Anyways yea unfortunately im gonna have to root for the Avs as well and that bites because well it's the Avs...bleh.. and i love minnesota! Ah well here is hoping we beat the Preds and pray the Ducks and Sharks beat the living crap outta eachother in the 2nd round!

(Maybe stars have a chance at beating the Ducks? Prob not lol...)

[Kronwall55 0]

Detroit vs. Montreal would be so awesome! Not to mention it would probably be great for TV ratings.

I'm still hoping that somday I'll see a Detroit/Toronto matchup. Won't hold my breath though.

[toby91_ca 620]

I have to question Pittsburgh's decision to not play Crosby today.

If Pittsburgh wins, they would have clinched the eastern conference title and first seed overall over Montreal.

They sat Crosby and lose 2-0 to the Flyers, (the 2nd goal was an ENG)

Wouldn't you think they would want to try to get home ice for as long as they could???

I was thinking about this as well and it didn't make a lot of sense to me. I think the real reason Crosby didn't play is because they were protecting him in the final game of the season (which didn't mean that much to them, more on that in a minute) against a team that was going after him pretty hard a few days earlier.

I think it was pretty obvious that they were not all that interested in winning the game and the Eastern conference, I take that from 1) sitting Crosby and 2) the way they played yesterday. I think they simply wanted to face Ottawa in round 1 instead of Philly. I'm wondering if this is really the best decision. Ottawa has sucked lately, but they did go to the finals last year with a team that really hasn't changed much (that said, they do have a couple key injuries). I think the other thing to consider is that Philly really plays Pittsburgh tough.

Lastly, I bet they didn't feel getting home ice at least until reaching the finals was all that important. They will have home ice over every team except Montreal, so that means that would have home ice until the Eastern conference finals (assuming Montreal makes it that far as well). So maybe not a big deal to them. I know Crosby loves playing in Montreal, so maybe they didn't even care about Montreal having home ice advantage.

Here's the other angle: Is Crosby hurting and everyone is sayng otherwise? Obviously he is not 100%, but did something happen in the previous game to set him back a bit?