Before we get going today, it's time for another edition of international roll. Here's a big welcome to the old blog to (in no particular order): Cyprus, Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. The Cubs did win yesterday, but that came after the bullpen blew the first two games. I didn't have a good feeling about how this year is going to go. But, I'm sure most Cubs fans are kind of used to that. In better news, the Blackhawks will kick off the playoffs on Thursday against the Coyotes. I think the Blackhawks can win that series, which was that advantage of being a six as opposed to a five. I totally understand the reason why the NHL guarantees a top three seed for the division winners, and I would probably make the same decision if I were in their shoes. But, after a few years of seeing that it usually gives a weak division a position they don't deserve, I probably wouldn't continue with that model. Divisions in hockey and basketball seem pretty meaningless to me, so I would just go away from them entirely at this point. Anyway, here is my big NHL Playoff Preview now that the seeding is set. Vancouver managed to capture the Presidents' Trophy again this year. Congratulations to them, but as has been talked about at length here and elsewhere, that usually doesn't translate into playoff success. Plus, this Vancouver team just doesn't feel nearly as strong to me as last year's squad. I don't know if I'm going to pick them to get to the finals or not. We'll just have to see as we roll along. Before the season started, the Kings were a trendy pick to go deep into the playoffs. Then the season started, and they turned out to be pretty terrible. Their play has picked up as of late (obviously), but as good as Jonathan Quick is, I think the Canucks will prove to be far too much for the Kings to handle. Vancouver in 5. The Blues surprised me a little bit. I knew they were a good team. They would have been a good team last year if not for being ravaged by injury. They made some good moves, especially at coach. But capturing the two seed in the conference? Did not see that coming. But, I definitely believe they're for real. The Sharks, on the other hand, well, you could pretty much carbon copy what I wrote for the Kings. Trendy pick, collapsed early, spent the rest of the season fighting back to relevance, and snuck into the playoffs. Again, I think the Blues will be way too much for the Sharks to handle. St. Louis in 5. I kind of went through this earlier. The Coyotes aren't a bad team. Honest. But do they really deserve a three? Well, they got 97 points during the season. Here is how the Central Division broke down: St. Louis (109), Nashville (104), Detroit (102), Chicago (101), and Columbus (65). If you would have avoided last just because the Blue Jackets don't belong in NHL in a strong division, I don't think you deserve third in the conference. But, all this is nice news for the Blackhawks. They won't have home ice, but I think they have superior talent to get out of the first round. Especially since Toews seems to think he'll be back for this series. He should be a pretty huge stabilizing factor if he is anything like this usual self. I'll take Chicago in 6. Now, this series could be a doozy. Granted, it is the 4-5 match up, so it should be tough. But this one just seems like it has classic all over it. You might remember the Red Wings set a record for their home winning streak this year. They are a very good team. The Predators, while they didn't set any records, are also a very good team, and did finish a point better than Detroit. I really don't know who to pick here, but I'll take the fearful Chicago Blackhawk fan and pick the Red Wings in 7. Now we're venturing into the East, which I don't know nearly as well as the West. Still, I'll do my best. The Senators were a bit of a surprise. They got the All-Star game, but I think everybody expected that to be the highlight of the Senator season. Instead, here they are. They faded a bit from their hot start, but they're in the dance, and that's the most important part. The Rangers are also a bit of a surprise. Not that they are in the playoffs or anything, but I don't think anybody thought they would challenge for the Presidents' Trophy this year. This might be a tougher series than you would expect out of a 1-8 match up, but I think the Rangers will end the Senators' surprise. Rangers in 6. I don't think there's too much to write here. The Capitals have pretty much been the poster boys for disappointment and should probably count themselves as lucky to even be in the playoffs. Boston, on the other hand, just got done engraving their names on Lord Stanley's Cup. I don't see any reason not to have all the faith in the world in the Bruins here, either. Boston in 4. Here's another big surprise team. As surprising as the Senators were and are, I think even less people saw the Panthers' rise. That said, as the three seed, their rise probably isn't quite as sharp as seeding would indicate. Take a look at what I wrote for the Coyotes. I certainly applies here. The Devils are a very good team, and I watched Mary Brodeur beat the Blackhawks basically on his own just a week or so ago. New Jersey in 6. A Battle for Pennsylvania, in the playoffs and everything. As good as I'm anticipating Preds-Red Wings being, I think this will top it. These teams share a state and a very strong mutual dislike, if not outright hatred. You might have seen these two teams (including coaches) trying to murder each other just a week or so ago. Yeah, this one is going seven games. And I know you don't typically see very much, if any, fighting in the playoffs. This might be an exception, especially given how recent this was. I'm going to take the Pens, mostly because my brother is a Penguins fan and I've never like the Flyers at all.
So there we go, the first round all picked and everything. I was going to do all the rounds, but this took a little while to write, so maybe I'll do the later rounds (based on how I picked this round) tomorrow. And since I worked in the Cubs and Blackhawks, let me also throw out that the (still) third place Pacers are in action tonight against the Raptors. A game they should be able to handle. I think they would have handled Boston if not for a big emotional win over the Thunder the day before. Ten games to go for the Pacers, so that preview will be coming soon. Comments are closed.
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