2009 NHL Playoffs .................

[blueline]

Since we will soon be bombarded with numerous posts and threads on the Montreal Canadiens' road to the Stanley Cup, perhaps we should have a separate thread for those who choose to ignore all the bullshit. There will be lots of great matchups and exciting hockey to watch.

The East matchups have been decided, with the West seedings still up for grabs.

(1) Boston v. (8) Montreal
(2) Washington v. (7) NY Rangers
(3) New Jersey v. (6) Carolina
(4) Philadelphia v. (5) Pittsburgh ...... seeding TBD later today

I am looking forward to both the Bruins-Habs and the Flyers-Pens series. Flyers need a point today v. Rangers to earn home ice advantage.

The West TBD later today.........

(1) San Jose v.
(2) Detroit v.
(3) Vancouver v.
(4) Chicago v. Calgary

Columbus, St. Louis and Anaheim have qualified. St. Louis has one game remaining today v. Colorado, which will determine the final seeding. Sure is nice to see Chicago back in the playoffs. I have always liked them and hope they do well. Good for Columbus and St. Louis to make it as well.

 

[mmmburritos]

I don't think the Habs will last very long against the Bruins, unless Price starts stopping the puck.

The Flyers vs Penguins series is going to be great. It's always good to see two teams that really hate each other meet up in the playoffs.

 

[blueline]

I have a friend who is a Montreal fan and he has been saying the same thing for weeks now - that Montreal won't last long against Boston and that Price is not going to take them very far. Maybe. I still get nervous when these two teams meet in the playoffs because I have seen too many times how the B's have gone down to the Canadiens. I worry about their top line of Kovalev-Koivu-Tanguay along with their PP. So much for their injuries huh? Schneider is back, I hear Markov is coming back, same for Boullion?

Boston just has to keep their cool and I think they will be okay. This is a much different team that last year. More balanced, Thomas has a year of playoff experience under his belt, Chara is healthy. Last year he had a bad shoulder and it was evident on the PP, where he seldom got off that booming shot from the point.

This series and the Flyers-Pens would be better if played towards the end of the playoff rounds. The intensity is going to be great, then once the series' are over, I don't know if we will see anything else come close.

 

[blueline]

Updated 1st Round Matchups

East

(1) Boston v. (8) Montreal
(2) Washington v. (7) NY Rangers
(3) New Jersey v. (6) Carolina
(4) Pittsburgh v. (5) Philadelphia


West

(1) San Jose v. (8) Anaheim
(2) Detroit v. (7) Columbus
(3) Vancouver v. (6) St. Louis
(4) Chicago v. (5) Calgary

 

[blueline]

Claude Julien is a pretty smart coach. He won't let things get out of control the way they did the other night in the second period. They settled right back down in the third.

In the west, there are some really good matchups. Sharks-Ducks looks pretty interesting. I love watching that line of Perry-Getzlaf-Ryan.

 

[gladheateher]

Boston over Mtl. in 4!!

 

[Lapper]

(3) Vancouver v. St. Louis

worst case scenario for the canucks. work their asses off to get 3rd and end up with st. louis.

here's what i wrote last week in a similar thread

all i can say is the team who plays st. louis is gonna be banged up for round two. st. louis is one raucous little hockey team.

even if the canucks win they will be banged up pretty good.

 

[Lapper]

bruins in 6 (only cause carey price is showing signs of life. if he falters it's a sweep)
capitals in 4 (i would have said any team in 4 against the rangers.)
devils in 7 (canes have been super hot but i'm not betting against marty)
penguins in 7 (i would have chosen whoever got home ice in this series. this is going to be a good one!)

ducks in 6 (the curse of the sharks and the experience of the ducks who have been red hot. beauchemin is back too and he's so valuable on d.)
wings in 5 (yes i know cbj has a great goalie but it's their first ever playoffs against who i consider the cup favorites)
canucks in 7 (luongo will shine when time comes. i predict wellwood to be injued in game 1!!! lmao)
flames in 7 (don't care one bit. wish the canucks were playing either of them!!!)

 

[ckupets04]

bruins in 6 (only cause carey price is showing signs of life. if he falters it's a sweep)
capitals in 4 (i would have said any team in 4 against the rangers.)
devils in 7 (canes have been super hot but i'm not betting against marty)
penguins in 7 (i would have chosen whoever got home ice in this series. this is going to be a good one!)

ducks in 6 (the curse of the sharks and the experience of the ducks who have been red hot. beauchemin is back too and he's so valuable on d.)
wings in 5 (yes i know cbj has a great goalie but it's their first ever playoffs against who i consider the cup favorites)
canucks in 7 (luongo will shine when time comes. i predict wellwood to be injued in game 1!!! lmao)
flames in 7 (don't care one bit. wish the canucks were playing either of them!!!)

I will admit, I have only watched like maybe one hockey game on TV all year so I am not gonna come on here and pretend to be a hockey expert. I just dont have the time to watch hockey with basketball and football on during the season. But as a Carolina fan I will say that Carolina beat New Jersey both in 02 and in 06 enroute to the Finals. I only know this because I paid close attention to the Canes in those particular seasons in the playoffs. Just thought Id throw in my two cents. I think this might be my first post on a hockey thread LOL.

I'm not gonna make a prediction on the series though, I just dont feel qualified to make predictions when I've watched one hockey game all year LOL.

 

[blueline]

My Picks in bold .................

East

(1) Boston v. (8) Montreal
(2) Washington v. (7) NY Rangers
(3) New Jersey v. (6) Carolina
(4) Pittsburgh v. (5) Philadelphia


West

(1) San Jose v. (8) Anaheim
(2) Detroit v. (7) Columbus
(3) Vancouver v. (6) St. Louis
(4) Chicago v. (5) Calgary

I didn't predict how many games each series will go, however, I am pretty sure that the winners of each series will win 4 games.

 

[calloway]

Boston in 6
Washington in 6
Carolina in 6
Pittsburgh in 6

San Jose in 6
Detroit in 6
Vancouver in 6
Chicago in 6

There must be something about 666...

 

[K Douglas]

Bruins in 6
Caps in 5
Hurricanes in 6 (Devils have been struggling and Carolina has been hot)
Penguins in 7 (what a series!)

Sharks in 6
Wings in 6 (but I'm so cheering for the Jackets)
Blues in 7 (upset special. remember the name David Backes)
Flames in 6 (experience defeats youth)

 

[Lapper]

Blues in 7 (upset special. remember the name David Backes)

the ironic thing is david backes signed with the canucks as a restricted free agent at the beginning of the season for something around 2.5 million per season. the blues waited til the final day to match meaning they must have considered not matching it. backes is awesome. hard checking power forward who can put the puck in the net, not like the canucks' kesler.

 

[bullitt]

i like the BRUINS, CAROLINA,FLYERS, and WASH.

IN THE WEST i like SHARKS, CHICAGO,DETROIT, BLUES.

 

[21pro]

some round 1 surprises this year, I think...

hey, guys... haven't been around muck lately... here are my picks:

East

(1) Boston v. (8) Montreal ??? 'my early '09 stanley cup winners have really blown up since the all star weekend' ???
(2) Washington v. (7) NY Rangers
(3) New Jersey v. (6) Carolina
(4) Pittsburgh v. (5) Philadelphia


West

(1) San Jose v. (8) Anaheim
(2) Detroit v. (7) Columbus
(3) Vancouver v. (6) St. Louis
(4) Chicago v. (5) Calgary

hey, maybe we'll see a Canadian team in the 2nd round of the playoffs..

noteworthies:

you always have to give considerations to the teams playing with the most active men rosters... (in fact, there is a strong correlation to teams going on deep runs simply by keeping the most healthy roster)...for that we can see here:
healthyiest teams in rank:
1. New Jersey (no injuries)
2. New York Rangers (no injuries)
3. Vancouver Canucks (no injuries)
4. Pittsburgh Penguins (Mike Zigomanis)
Hossa has injured groin... could be an even-ing factor in the CBJ-DET series.

fairly injured teams:
Calgary, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Washington. - note that I didn't predict any of these to last through to round 2 of the playoffs.

 

[jackd1959]

As a Flyer season ticket holder for a number of years now this Flyers team is an enigma to me. Some games they look awesome and others they look horrible. I'm not a big fan of the Jones/Alberts defense pairing as they seem to give away a lot of pucks... I like the fact that I don't hae to worry about the CAP HIT in the playoffs so no moe $100 rentals. Having Sbisa back should help if Parent can't play. Bringing up Ross as their forth line center and moving Powe to the wing will shore up their third line with Briere and Giroux. Powe is a big (5'11" 212 lbs) and very mobile center who also plays wing and likes to hit. He's much faster than Asham and should work well on this line. Limiting Carcillo's ice time is a plus as it will reduce the exposure to stupid penalties...I can only figure the Upshall trade was to free up CAP $$.

In any case, I have no idea which Flyer team will show up but I do know that they remember last year very well and getting a shot at Pittsburgh in round 1 while they're still healthy should make this series a fun one to watch. The season series was 2-4 PENS but one of the PENS wins was a SO and another was a PENS power play OT that gave them the win. They were really 2-2-2 with he teams evenly splitting the home and away both going 1-1-1 in the others building.

I'll give the edge to this series to Philly because I think the Flyers scoring depth will be difficult for Pittsburgh to match...Briere is healthy again and has really started to gell along side Giroux and the addition of Powe makes this a very fast and creative line that will be difficult for Pittsburgh to match up against. I also think the Flyers top 4 defensemen can limit the PENS scoring chances... staying out of the penalty box (refer to Carcillo comment) and GOOD line changes and I feel the Flyers could prove to have too much depth. Then of course it comes down to which goalie shows up for both teams... Fluery and Biron have been fantastic and utterly human all in the same week throughout this season...

My picks:

Pens Vs. Philly (Philly in 6 )

The Habs Vs Boston ( Boston in 6 ) - I think the HABS will give the B's a bit of a run but I don't know if Price is good enough to keep them in it

The Caps Vs N.Y Rangers ( Caps in 6 maybe 7) Lunquist stole two games from the Flyers this past week, if he gets under the young CAPS teams skin this could go either way. It will also be interesting to see what the officials let Avery gets away with. The CAPS have been known to take stupid penalties when frustrated.

Jersey Vs.The Canes ( Canes in 6 ) I'm a huge hockey fan but I don't think I'll be able to stay awake for this series...these are two of the most boring hockey teams I've ever seen.

THE other conference: (WEST)

Ducks over Sharks in 6 (bruttle series)
CBJ over Detroit in 6 (Mason makes the differance)
Vancover over St Louis in 6
Calgary over Chicago in 7 (the young hawks take a physical beeting in this one)

 

[21pro]

more on the 1st round..

What jackd said above about Philly should not be taken lightly... on paper when comparing Philly and Pitts you see that Philly 'should' be the much stronger team when rolling 4 lines and using depth players. Though, I think the difference will be whether Philly has good performance in net or not as Pittsburgh will definitely test their goalies. I was surprised to see my Pens bring so much grit to game 1. I'm most certain that Philly can match and excel at that, though... game 1 was just a 'jitter' shaking game....

I believe the NYR/CAPS series will come down to goaltending, not offence and I think we will see a round 1 exit of Washington if JT can't bring a stronger performance than game 1.

my favourite series last night was the Vancouver St Louis game. OMG! what a battle! and what's up with Colaiacovo all of a sudden? Iron man now? wtf?

 

[Mr. Lucky]

Last nights games

Vancouver 2-1 over St.Louis
Rangers 4-3 over Washington
Pittsburgh 4-1 over Philly
New Jersey 4- 1 over Carolina

Today's games

Montreal Vs Boston 7:00 pm
Ducks Vs Sharks 10:30 pm
Bluejackets vs Redwings 7:00 pm
Flames vs Blackhawks 8:30 PM

 

[blueline]

Bruins - Canadiens.........

Thank freaking goodness this series is going to start. I been walking the floors for days.

The only thing missing and (only good thing associated with the Habs ) is Danny Gallivan.

 

[Mr. Lucky]

2-1 Boston now