AS IT ENDS, IT ALSO BEGINS...
Yesterdays amazing upset of the Montreal Canadiens ending the Washington Capitals season, was the dramatic ending of what I think could be one of the craziest first rounds in NHL's recent post season history. Within the first two games of this round, all but one series were split, a few went into OT (some back to back), and of course the upsets. Here were my picks and here are the results:
[Western Conference]
I would end up being 2 - 4 on my series picks. We will start with the ones I got:
#2 Chicago Blackhawks V #7 Nashville Predators:
CHI 4 - 2 NAS
I would be right on this pick! The Hawks and Preds would end up going to 6 games in this series with the Hawks moving onto the next round.
#3 Vancouver Canucks V #6 Los Angeles Kings:
VAN 4 - 2 LAK
It would seem as though the Kings' PP was going to be too much for the Nucks to handle. Where as Vancouvers PK and PP seemed to be falling apart, they were able to get their special teams sorted out and were able to end LA's season in 6 games. I had picked 4. Nucks still prevailed.
Now my wrong picks:
#4 Phoenix Coyotes V #5 Detroit Red Wings:
PHO 3 - 4 DET
It looked as though I could have been right with this one. The Yotes destroyed Detroit in a must win game 6 and looked to carry the momentum in game 7 at home in Glendale, AZ buuuuuut Detroit played a game of "Anything you can do..." in the last game of the Yotes season. Wings move ahead to play tonight, will they be rested enough or will the fire go gone for this one?
#1 San Jose Sharks V #8 Colorado Avalanche
SJS 4 - 2 COL
I felt that the Avs were going to pull an upset here. It seemed that way when Dan Boyle tried to move the puck around the boards and instead found it's way to a unaware, unfocused Nabokov and into the back of the net during overtime in game 3. But the play of Pavelski would overshadow any of Colorado's chances. San Jose move on but will it be their only series to win this year?
On with the EC in which I was 1 for 3 on picks...
#4 Pittsburgh Penguins V #5 Ottawa Senators
PIT 4 - 2 OTT
This would be the only series which I would be right on picking. Pittsburgh would win the last game of the this series in Ottawa.
#2 New Jersey Devils V #7 Philadelphia Flyers
NJD 1 - 4 PHI
This happened to be the first upset of this years post season. Flyers dominated the series against the Devils. Maybe it was that last surge for Philly towards the end of the season that carried on over to the post? But even with the addition of Kovalchuk and the veteran status of Brodeur, besides the other number of great players, I thought NJ were going to easily take this series... oh how I was wrong.
#3 Buffalo Sabres V # 6 Boston Bruins
BUF 2 - 4 BOS
This would end up being another upset in the EC because many, including myself, had picked the Sabres to dominate the post and end up in the SCF. We thought that because of the man who would be between the pipes, Ryan Miller. It was a showdown between Miller and Bostons own Tuukka Rask, their man in net. Twas a very entertaining series, I must say. The B's move on and send the Sabres heading out to book tee times at the golf course.
#1 Washington Capitals V Montreal Canadiens
WAS 3 - 4 MTL
The biggest upset in the entire 1st Round! Everyone wrote the Habs off. The Caps won the Presidents Trophy being the destructive offensive team in the regular season. We all thought they were going to completely dismantle Montreal and it looked that way when they were up in the series 3 games to 1. However, after being pulled in game 3 and not starting in game 4, Habs netminder Jaroslav Halak, showed up big time in games 5, 6, 7 and made me believe that he was either possessed by Big Man Upstairs himself, or that the Red Guy With The Pitchfork offered him an amazing deal for his soul. When Montreal looked to be done for the season, it was Halak that saved the series as well as the Habs' PK (31 for 32) and the ability to shut down Ovechkin. Once again proving that winning the PT isn't always the best thing if you want to win the Cup.
The Red Wings and the Sharks will faceoff in game 1 at the Shark Tank in just a few hours thus starting the second round of the post season. Here are my picks:
[#1 San Jose Sharks V #5 Detroit Red Wings]
[#2 Chicago Blackhawks V #3 Vancouver Canucks]
This will be a rematch of last seasons WC Semi-Finals and it should be nasty yet hopefully damn entertaining. With the return of Hawks dman, Brian Campbell, Dustin Byfuglien moves back from defense to forward and will be expected to get in those dirty areas in front of the net. Think of our very own Corey Perry. Both teams are pretty much evenly matched however Nucks prima donna, Luongo, could be the deciding factor because the Hawks are a little weaker in goal than Vancouver. Even though that is the case: Hawks in 7
For the EC:
[#4 Pittsburgh Penguins V #8 Montreal Canadiens]
Well it's not the rematch that everyone hoped for with the Pens and Caps, but I think it should be an interesting series. The one thing that the Caps couldn't do against the Habs was having the ability to finish and that is exactly what the Pens can do. The Habs are gonna have to play the same as what they did with Washington but they're gonna have to limit the number of shots from Pittsburgh because the Caps had way too many of them on net. If they can't manage to do that: Pens in 6
[#6 Boston Bruins V #7 Philadelphia Flyers]
Tuukka Rask was a big factor in the upset with Buffalo and Marc Savard has been cleared & will return to hopefully boost Bostons offense. I expect this to be an amazing, brutal series. Physically, defensively, offensively and in goal they are even but Rask could be the deciding factor yet again and if not, don't forget that Tim Thomas is the back-up, although he hasn't had a great season, he could be called in and the fire could ignite. Who will come out of this one for the ECF? I say: Boston in 6
So thems my picks for the Western and Eastern Conference Semis! But before I end this blog installment, I recorded and uploaded the latest episode of Ducks Vlogstrosity yesterday right before the Habs/Caps game. It's a short one but have a look anyways:
Feel free to watch as many times as you want and even leave a comment or two.
As always:
Go Ducks!
