160 replies to this topic

[Firehawk]

I can see quite a few upsets (a lower seed beating a higher seed) this year. Gonna be interesting. I think SJ will upset St. Louis, and the wings will 'upset' nashville. I also see Chicago upsetting Phx.

So, we'll be playing chi in the 2nd! 2 series without west coast travel, sounds like a stanley cup run to me!

[Dimaline312000]

Let's Go Blues!!

[TheSupafly]

Quite honestly this is the last matchup I wanted to see. The Blues smoked the Sharks and swept the season series 4-0. Hitchcock has them playing fantastic defensive grind you down hockey. Sharks can't kill a penalty to save their lives. It looks to be a low scoring series, especially if the Blues score first. That being said, SJ does have the playoff experience and has been playing playoff hockey for the last two weeks essentially. One thing I know is that the winner of this series will definitely have something taken out of them as this will be a very physical one. Sharks in 7...but that's the homer in me. If I had to put money on it, I'd say Blues in 6.

TL;DR
Heart says Sharks in 7, Mind/Money says Blues in 6

[irishock]

San Jose in 6. The Blues don't have the experience factor. San Jose does.

[b.shanafan14]

Also, the Blues didn't end the season playing their best hockey, winning only 4 of their last 10, while the Sharks have been fighting for positioning, winning 7 of their last 10 against similar opponents. This is going to be a great series, whoever moves forward is going to be in rough shape.

[evilzyme]

Sharks in 6 for my personal opinion. I think when it boils down playoff experience is going to pay off big time for SJ. The blues are just too inexperienced and young, when they face adversity, they're lost. San Jose will capitalize when they're down and it will ultimately win them the series. Now, with that being said Elliott / Halak can steal games and they could come out on top. The playoffs are just a whole different beast than season series.

[Motown4013]

I was hoping for this matchup. Blues and Sharks match up well - series winner will play the preds or wings in the conference final.

It's kind of the lesser of two evils right? I think I would want St. Louis to win...but if the sharks win, the Wings play them and extract revenge. Long physical series would be perfect!!!! If the wings get through, I am rooting sharks all the way

[xtrememachine1]

I'm just hoping this goes 7 games. Make those teams fly back and forth across the country a few times. It won't matter who wins after that because it won't be either one of them that wins the next round.

[WingsFanInBeanLand]

The outcome of this series will depend on how many 5 on 3's the Sharks are gifted and how many power plays they are awarded for highsticking and drawing blood on the Blues players.

[haroldsnepsts]

The outcome of this series will depend on how many 5 on 3's the Sharks are gifted and how many power plays they are awarded for highsticking and drawing blood on the Blues players.

The new sharks dive is boarding actually. Anytime they're touched from behind along the boards, they fall to their knees, throw their head back dramatically, then fall to the ice like they've been shot.

It started against the kings with a legitimate boarding, then two or three times after that if you touched a shark player along the boards you could count on him falling into them.

[Hockeytown0001]

Ironically, the last time St. Louis won the President's Trophy, their goalies won the Jennings Trophy and were also matched up against the #8 Sharks. And everyone remembers what happened -

Edited by Hockeytown0001, 09 April 2012 - 12:09 PM.

[rrasco]

The new sharks dive is boarding actually. Anytime they're touched from behind along the boards, they fall to their knees, throw their head back dramatically, then fall to the ice like they've been shot.

It started against the kings with a legitimate boarding, then two or three times after that if you touched a shark player along the boards you could count on him falling into them.

I noticed that too. I never thought any of the boardings in those games were that bad. I get they are trying to take that play out of the game and protect the players, but they didn't look like the Kings' players were driving through them at all. Even the Richards' hit on Couture, he barely shoved him with his shoulder and Logan goes flying face first into the boards acting like he's dying. Give me af****** break, you play in the NHL not the NBA. And of course the SJ announcers went ape s***. "I CANT BELIEVE PLAYERS ARE STILL MAKING THESE HITS! THAT SHOULD BE A 5 MINUTE MAJOR!"

[Bring Back The Bruise Bros]

Wow, who do I hate more? Considering the following:

San Jose- Thornton, Pavelski, Couture, Moore, Clowe
St. Louis- Jackman, Backes

Well... I guess I'm gonna root for the Blues here. I would've liked to see Vancouver and San Jose match up in the first round. That way one of the two would be eliminated right off the bat.

[Zetterling]

I'm counting on the Blues to win this.

[Red Wings Addict]

I hope Backes punks Thornton out big time. f*** Joe Thornton.

[HockeyCrazy3033]

Where's the thread for Nucks/Kings? I was trying to make a prediction and realized there wasn't a thread lol.

Edited by HockeyCrazy3033, 09 April 2012 - 07:49 PM.

[dirtydangles]

would be nice if blue won. id like to see this:

Van (1)
Blues (2)
Wings (5)
Chi(6)

Out of all the teams to come out of the match ups I still think that the wings match up better against the blues than chicago or vancouver or san jose.

[Hockeytown0001]

Where's the thread for Nucks/Kings? I was trying to make a prediction and realized there wasn't a thread lol.

Up and running!

[cprice12]

Well, the Blues SHOULD win this series.
They have played better all season long, they have better goaltending and defense (which is what wins in the playoffs), they have home ice advantage where they have been great, and they flat out dominated San Jose during the season....outscoring them 11-3 with two shutouts in going 4-0-0.

With that said...the Blues didn't finish the season strong at all. I'm not sure if they were looking past the last handful of games and to the playoffs, or if they just hit a rough patch, or what.
Turnovers and sloppy play were a big part of their mini-slump to end the season.
Their best game in the last couple weeks was vs. Detroit, the Blues played a great game, but they fell apart in the last 6 minutes and ended up losing in OT. They won their last game of the season vs. Dallas, but they didn't play that well in the victory.

I'm anxious to see how they handle playoff hockey against a team who has a lot of playoff experience.

San Jose hasn't played well this year, but they are capable of playing better.

I fully expect the Blues to tighten up their play. Guys like Arnott, Langenbrunner & McDonald will hopefully make it clear to the younger players what needs to be done. And Hitchcock should have them technically prepared and ready to go.

We'll see if this Blues team has that extra gear to get it done in the playoffs.

It would be nice of the Blues could win this in 5 to cut down on travel and get some rest before round 2.

[Wings_Toledo]

Would rather see the Blues win this series because I cannot stand the Sharks and I think St. Louis deserves to finally have some playoff success. Unfortunately, this series may come down to how the refs decide to call the games. We all know what kind of d-baggery the Sharks are capable of...