Heading into last year's playoffs, my Stanley Cup Final I'd predicted at the beginning of that season was never even close to materializing, although I did reasonably well by comparison to the experts at Yahoo and ESPN once the actual playoffs concluded. This year, my predicted Final is very much alive, although then again, so is a rematch of last year. But from here on out we go by round. I'll be adding the CBSSports.com experts to the mix this year now that they've actually got the number of games included with their picks this year and here's what the experts from Yahoo and ESPN have got for the first eight series after the jump:
ESPN:
Yeah, so just a wee bit of variety this round, I suppose. Am I gonna' buck any trends here? Well, let's do my descending order of confidence thing here and see how my picks compare:
Pittsburgh Penguins over Ottawa Senators in four games
No love for the Sens here, I suppose. I had them being at the bottom of the division and instead they've actually got a five-seed. But as remarkable as that is, I don't think the Pens—who are seeded right where I had them (!)—are going to waste any time in getting into post-season mode and awaiting the inevitable showdown with Ovie's Caps—a matchup that could come as soon as next round, although likely will have to wait until the Conference Finals.
The Caps finished even better than where I thought they'd end up, and while the Habs are indeed in that eight-spot I thought they'd be in, there's no way I'm sticking with my thought at the beginning of the year that they upset the top seed here. Even if Mike Green fails to show up for this opening series, Ovechkin will beat Montreal on his own if he has to.
Chicago Blackhawks over Nashville Predators in six games
The 'Hawks also ended up right where I'd had them and I'll stick with the same six-game series expectations forthe matchup with the Preds. Nashville might be able to slow down Chicago for a bit and a bad start from Niemi could cause immediate panic among the faithful here in the Windy City, but ultimately the Predators are a team the 'Hawks can take two of three from every time and hence, I'm guessing the series ends in six.
San Jose Sharks over Colorado Avalanche in six games
Ick. I've still got a bad taste in my mouth from picking the Sharks last season, but realistically, this is also right where I had them although the 'Lanche fall in that group of "Where the fuck did they come from?" in the West. That said, Colorado started fast and barely got into the playoffs, and as amusing as it would be to see San Jose fall on their faces once again, there's just too much pressure and I'm maintaining my belief that the annual disappointment they give their fans will be delivered next round.
Vancouver Canucks over Los Angeles Kings in six games
You get Jonathan Quick to regain early season form and maybe you've got a series, but with the Sedin twins leading the way, I think the Canucks should be able to take advantage of every young Kings mistake. Vancouver rounds out my successfully predicted top three seeds in the West, while L.A. followed through on the "possible surprise" status I granted them. Still, more letdowns in the West than and teams with the depth to make me nervous about later rounds. As a result, Canada will have at least one team still fighting in the conference semifinals.
Detroit Red Wings over Phoenix Coyotes in six games
Oh, how I'd love to pick an upset here—and believe me I looked for an argument to help be the one that could push me out on to that limb. Alas, I recognize I'm guilty of truly wishful thinking—and logic that flies in clear face of the facts, which are that the typical Great Red Threat from Detroit is alive and well as we head into the post-season. No team's been hotter ever since the Olympic break, and as good as that story in Arizona sounds, their romanticized success ends in the first round as result of being the unfortunate squad that had to open the playoffs with the one team in the league most everybody would admit they least want to play.
Philadelphia Flyers over New Jersey Devils in seven games
Even if you're like me and irate that a game being billed as a sort of "play-in" game for the playoffs was decided by a motherfucking shootout, there's little denying that I still sense the same first round fortunes I had for both of these teams at the beginning of the year—even if I did have them on opposite sides of the home-ice advantage they'd have or not. The Flyers are subject the same skepticism my 'Hawks are enjoying for not upgrading in goal, although Philly's certainly a much bigger disappointment. But this is your biggest rivalry of any series in the first round, and when you consider what happened to the great Martin Broduer in last year's opening series for the Devils and this year's Olympics, I'm willing to take my chances that a highly energized Flyers bunch knocks Jersey out early once again.
Boston Bruins over Buffalo Sabres in seven games
I get that Ryan Miller is good, but I'll bet he's also getting pretty tired too. Boston's got last year's Vezina winner in addition to Tuukka Rask, who was tending goal for four of the five victories the Bruins had over the Sabres this year. Much like the Flyers, Boston finished much lower than where I had them this year, but one of these Winter Classic teams has to get to the Cup, right? I think the tradition is actually that the road team in that game goes on to lose the Cup (which would be fine with me if Philly ends up going down to the 'Hawks—but certainly not the Wings), but there's gotta be more upsets in this first round other than the No. 5 Detroit team everybody is predicting to beat the slightly higher-ranked No. 4 Coyotes team.
No comments:
Post a Comment