By Jeff
After six months, the NHL playoffs have arrived! And not a moment too soon.
April baseball means very little in a 162-game season, the NFL is going through a lockout and the NBA does not interest me at all. The Lakers or Spurs will play the Bulls or the Heat. There just aren't enough upsets in the NBA for me to care before the Conference Finals.
But the NHL playoffs have upsets, players taking to the ice with serious injuries and a level of intensity that is not seen in any other sport. Players you never see making or taking hits in the regular season will lay others out. They'll take slap shots to the face, and then get up and try to do it again. It's awesome.
The Pittsburgh Penguins begin their quest for a fourth Stanley Cup Wednesday when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning. This would be a sweep if Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were healthy. But, as everyone in the hockey world knows, they are not going to play. This makes it a tougher series than some want to believe.
The Lightning can score. Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos are scary good at creating goals. And even though Simon Gagne struggled this season, he has 42 points in 53 games against the Pens. This team can score.
On the flip side (Stop me if you've heard this already.), the Penguins no longer have a go-to guy on offense. No one on the active roster has 25 goals or 60 points. James Neal and Alexei Kovalev were brought in to score, yet they have combined for three goals since they came over. So this team struggles to score.
Fortunately for the Pens, they have a great defense and great goalie. Marc-Andre Fleury is going to redeem his poor performance last postseason and steal at least two games for the Pens here. He will be helped by a defense that kills penalties better than anyone in the league, and blocks shots better than most.
Combine that with some timely scoring, and the Pens will advance in six games.
Frightened Rabbit - The Twist
First round picks:
ReplyDeleteCaps in six
Sabres in seven
Bruins in six
Pens in five
Canucks in six
Sharks in five
Red Wings in six
Predators in seven
Caps in seven (I'd pick the Rangers if Callahan was playing)
ReplyDeleteFlyers in six (Buffalo seems to be the popular underdog pick but I just don't see it)
Bruins in six (Original six sucks)
Pens in seven (This is going to be a really strong test for our defense)
Canucks in five (This will be their year)
Kings in five (San Jose chokes again...LA learns from playoff experience)
Red Wings in four (I'm a pretty big hockey fan and I can only name three Coyotes off the top of my head)
Predators in seven (I'm not going to pretend like I really know anything about the Western Conference)
Way to call me out on my laziness and go entire first round guys.
ReplyDeleteEast
Caps in seven (Caps always go seven)
Sabres in six (Defense has hole without Pronger at 100 percent. Their character actually goes up without him, though.
Bruins in five (D.B. Subban sucks. And yes, I know P.K. is his real first name.)
West
Canucks in five
Sharks in five (No Kopitar, no chance)
Red Wings in six (Bryzgalov, Doan, Yandle, Jovanovski, Whitney, Stempniak, Bisonette. Does that make me more than twice the hockey fan you are, Greg?)
Predators in seven (Could be a great series with a high-powered offense taking on one of the best defences in the league. Did you like how I went all Canadian with my spelling?)