#1 BLACKHAWKS (36-7-5 77 PTS) VS #7 RED WINGS (24-16-8 56 PTS)
SEASON SERIES - HAWKS WIN 4-0
WHO WINS? BLACKHAWKS: I will start by saying thank you to Detroit for knocking out the Ducks because they were honestly the one team in the West that scared me the most. Wow what a great match up we have here. Probably one of the greatest rivalries in the NHL and means even more now since the Wings will be heading to the Eastern Conference next season. Looking at this match up one thing stands out to me HAWKS DEPTH. Red Wings have about 2 lines that can score. Yes they have a lot of veteran talent but they are also in a transition phase. Hawks on the other hand have 4 lines they can roll and all of them have shown that they can score. Also take a look at the Hawks D. They have 3 pairs they can play that Coach Q has faith in to go up against any line the opposing team puts out there. With that said I think the Hawks depth and speed will be too much for the Red Wings. Also think after a tough 7 game series with the Ducks the Wings might be a little gased from the travel and 7 hard fought games. My only worry as in every time the Hawks hit the ice is their goaltending. Hawks swept the Red Wings in the regular season which is nice but this is the playoffs and anything can happen. If the Hawks come to play they are probably just going to be too much for the Wings. With all that said it is important to also remember these teams always play each other tight. As if playoff hockey isn't nervewrecking enough I have to sit through a series between these two teams. Anything can happen in the playoffs but I like the Hawks to get it done and move onto the Conference Finals
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#1 BLACKHAWKS (36-7-5 77 PTS) VS #7 RED WINGS (24-16-8 56 PTS)
SEASON SERIES - HAWKS WIN 4-0
WHO WINS? BLACKHAWKS: I will start by saying thank you to Detroit for knocking out the Ducks because they were honestly the one team in the West that scared me the most. Wow what a great match up we have here. Probably one of the greatest rivalries in the NHL and means even more now since the Wings will be heading to the Eastern Conference next season. Looking at this match up one thing stands out to me HAWKS DEPTH. Red Wings have about 2 lines that can score. Yes they have a lot of veteran talent but they are also in a transition phase. Hawks on the other hand have 4 lines they can roll and all of them have shown that they can score. Also take a look at the Hawks D. They have 3 pairs they can play that Coach Q has faith in to go up against any line the opposing team puts out there. With that said I think the Hawks depth and speed will be too much for the Red Wings. Also think after a tough 7 game series with the Ducks the Wings might be a little gased from the travel and 7 hard fought games. My only worry as in every time the Hawks hit the ice is their goaltending. Hawks swept the Red Wings in the regular season which is nice but this is the playoffs and anything can happen. If the Hawks come to play they are probably just going to be too much for the Wings. With all that said it is important to also remember these teams always play each other tight. As if playoff hockey isn't nervewrecking enough I have to sit through a series between these two teams. Anything can happen in the playoffs but I like the Hawks to get it done and move onto the Conference Finals
WHO WINS? KINGS: Well the only series I got wrong in the first round was the Sharks Nucks series. I said that the Sharks had to prove to me they would get over their habit of choking in the playoffs. Well what did they do? They stomped the Canucks outplaying them in basically every game. So the first thing I want to look at is, are the Sharks really that good or are the Canucks really that bad? I am going to lean slightly to the fact that the Canucks are just that bad. Yes the Sharks are better than the Canucks but are they 4-0 better? No I don't think so. I think a lot of people are going to say Wow the Sharks look unstoppable. Hold on fellas let's not forget they were playing the Canucks who have been struggling all season. So now the Sharks are high flying after that sweep session and they have to face the Stanley Cup Champion LA Kings. Kings started off the playoffs dropping 2 games in row to the Blues. Everyone was saying Blues with the sweep. (Side Note: Everyone who was talking sweep lol lol lol....REALLY?!?!) Anyways back to what I was saying. Kings drop the first 2 games then proceed on to beating the Blues 4 games in a row. Well looks like the Champs have found their stride. What a tough series that was by the way. Hands down the best series so far. Anyways what I'm getting at is I think we have a team that many people are going to look at here with the Sharks and give them more credit than is due. Yes Niemi is playing lights out but I don't expect the Sharks to just score at will on the Kings like they did on the Canucks. Just think the Kings defense will be too much for the Sharks. And then you look at the Kings and we have these guys peaking at the right time. Quick is finally coming back into form, they play tough hard nosed hockey and they have been here before. Also take into consideration that the Sharks play great hockey at home but not so great hockey on the road. Kings as well were excellent at home too so I like the edge the Kings have with home ice advantage. With all that said I will go Kings in this series. I have said from the start of the playoffs that I thought the Kings and Hawks were the two best teams in the West so I will look for both of them to move on
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#5 KINGS (27-16-5 59 PTS) VS #6 SHARKS (25-16-7)
SEASON SERIES - SERIES TIED 2-2
WHO WINS? KINGS: Well the only series I got wrong in the first round was the Sharks Nucks series. I said that the Sharks had to prove to me they would get over their habit of choking in the playoffs. Well what did they do? They stomped the Canucks outplaying them in basically every game. So the first thing I want to look at is, are the Sharks really that good or are the Canucks really that bad? I am going to lean slightly to the fact that the Canucks are just that bad. Yes the Sharks are better than the Canucks but are they 4-0 better? No I don't think so. I think a lot of people are going to say Wow the Sharks look unstoppable. Hold on fellas let's not forget they were playing the Canucks who have been struggling all season. So now the Sharks are high flying after that sweep session and they have to face the Stanley Cup Champion LA Kings. Kings started off the playoffs dropping 2 games in row to the Blues. Everyone was saying Blues with the sweep. (Side Note: Everyone who was talking sweep lol lol lol....REALLY?!?!) Anyways back to what I was saying. Kings drop the first 2 games then proceed on to beating the Blues 4 games in a row. Well looks like the Champs have found their stride. What a tough series that was by the way. Hands down the best series so far. Anyways what I'm getting at is I think we have a team that many people are going to look at here with the Sharks and give them more credit than is due. Yes Niemi is playing lights out but I don't expect the Sharks to just score at will on the Kings like they did on the Canucks. Just think the Kings defense will be too much for the Sharks. And then you look at the Kings and we have these guys peaking at the right time. Quick is finally coming back into form, they play tough hard nosed hockey and they have been here before. Also take into consideration that the Sharks play great hockey at home but not so great hockey on the road. Kings as well were excellent at home too so I like the edge the Kings have with home ice advantage. With all that said I will go Kings in this series. I have said from the start of the playoffs that I thought the Kings and Hawks were the two best teams in the West so I will look for both of them to move on
#1 PENGUINS (36-12-0 72 PTS) VS #7 SENS (25-17-6 56 PTS)
SEASON SERIES - PENGUINS WIN 3-0
WHO WINS? PENGUINS: I think there are two key elements of this series we need to look at. The first is who will the Penguins start in goal? One would think that they have to go with Vokoun. So let's just assume for this that they are going with Vokoun. The upper hand on goaltending hands down goes the Senators. Which is great because they are going to need it. I think the biggest factor that hurt the Pens against the Isles was the Isles team speed. With that being said I don't see the Sens having that type of speed. The second thing we need to look at is I don't see the Sens being able to score like the Penguins can. Yes the Senators allow the 2nd lowest GAA average but do you really think they can contain the Penguins for 7 games? No I do not. So even if Vokoun gives a couple goals up I do not see the Sens having the fire power to keep up with the Penguins. Now that the Penguins have found some success with Vokoun you would think they will go with him and not have to worry about Fleury possibly having another melt down. At the end of the day the main thing I am looking at is all the skill players the Penguins have on their team. The Sens beat a very overrated Montreal team and having Karlsson and Anderson back are great for the team but I just think the Sens are outmatched here. Yes they play great defense but they also lack the scoring it takes to win games. Penguins in 5 or 6 and they move onto the Conference Finals
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#1 PENGUINS (36-12-0 72 PTS) VS #7 SENS (25-17-6 56 PTS)
SEASON SERIES - PENGUINS WIN 3-0
WHO WINS? PENGUINS: I think there are two key elements of this series we need to look at. The first is who will the Penguins start in goal? One would think that they have to go with Vokoun. So let's just assume for this that they are going with Vokoun. The upper hand on goaltending hands down goes the Senators. Which is great because they are going to need it. I think the biggest factor that hurt the Pens against the Isles was the Isles team speed. With that being said I don't see the Sens having that type of speed. The second thing we need to look at is I don't see the Sens being able to score like the Penguins can. Yes the Senators allow the 2nd lowest GAA average but do you really think they can contain the Penguins for 7 games? No I do not. So even if Vokoun gives a couple goals up I do not see the Sens having the fire power to keep up with the Penguins. Now that the Penguins have found some success with Vokoun you would think they will go with him and not have to worry about Fleury possibly having another melt down. At the end of the day the main thing I am looking at is all the skill players the Penguins have on their team. The Sens beat a very overrated Montreal team and having Karlsson and Anderson back are great for the team but I just think the Sens are outmatched here. Yes they play great defense but they also lack the scoring it takes to win games. Penguins in 5 or 6 and they move onto the Conference Finals
WHO WINS? BRUINS: Dear Lord what a series we should have here. Honestly I can't sit here and write a legitamate argument for one team or the other. Both play hard nosed hockey and have two great goaltenders. I think the Bruins got what they needed in that series with the Leafs. They were huge favorites and they had to bust their behind to win the series in 7 games. Maybe that will wake the Bruins up and make them realize they can not take any team for granted. In the other series we have the Rangers who basically made the Capitals just look plain stupid. Capitals are such a one dimensional team that once they shut down Ovi it was game over. Hats off to Henry on some great goaltending as well. I can see this series going either way but I will lean Bruins on this one as I feel they just know what it takes to win the big games. Bruins in 7 sounds about right but I wouldn't be surprised if Rangers took this series. Out of the 4 series this is my least confident just so everyone knows. Might just be best to sit back on this series and watch some great hockey. I hope there is plenty of fights and hard hitting too
WHO WINS? BRUINS: Dear Lord what a series we should have here. Honestly I can't sit here and write a legitamate argument for one team or the other. Both play hard nosed hockey and have two great goaltenders. I think the Bruins got what they needed in that series with the Leafs. They were huge favorites and they had to bust their behind to win the series in 7 games. Maybe that will wake the Bruins up and make them realize they can not take any team for granted. In the other series we have the Rangers who basically made the Capitals just look plain stupid. Capitals are such a one dimensional team that once they shut down Ovi it was game over. Hats off to Henry on some great goaltending as well. I can see this series going either way but I will lean Bruins on this one as I feel they just know what it takes to win the big games. Bruins in 7 sounds about right but I wouldn't be surprised if Rangers took this series. Out of the 4 series this is my least confident just so everyone knows. Might just be best to sit back on this series and watch some great hockey. I hope there is plenty of fights and hard hitting too
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