NHL Playoffs 2015

[Ironhead]

The first installment of 'if the playoffs started today'. lol :thumb:

Nothing is set in stone, but some things are so very close.
Looks like four from both east divisions are in, just the order to settle.



The East

M1
New York Rangers v Ottawa Senators
Rangers, currently first overall. I think NY takes this series in five games.

M2
New York Islanders v Pittsburgh Penguins
I see 'upset' written all over this series. Pens in six.


A1
Montreal Canadiens v Washington Capitals
Of the teams Montreal is likely to face the Caps could be the most trouble.
Possible upset(Ovechkin factor ?), nah Price will get Montreal past first round.

A2
Tampa Bay Lightning v Detroit Red Wings
Red Wings just seem to be the best of some mediocre teams. Tampa in five.




The West

P1
Anaheim Ducks v Winnipeg Jets
Ducks take this one despite their late season goaltending issues. Five games.

P2
Vancouver Canucks v Los Angeles Kings
It is said to never bet against the defending Champs. I agree(in this case at least), Kings in six.


C1
Nashville Predators v Minnesota Wild
Nashville has enough for one round. Preds in six.

C2
St. Louis Blues v Chicago Blackhawks
Blues choke again, Hawks in seven.

 

[K Douglas]

Not sure where you're getting these western conference matchups from but if it ended today it would be as follows

1. Anaheim vs 8. LA
2. Nash vs 7. Winnipeg
3. StL vs 6. Van
4. Chicago vs 5. Minn

Still too early though, there's still anywhere from 6-9 games to be played. Things can change. I just can't see the Bruins missing the playoffs in the East and I'm hoping like hell the young guns in Calgary can squeak in. Losing Giordano was a backbreacker though.

 

[Ironhead]

Not sure where you're getting these western conference matchups from but if it ended today it would be as follows

1. Anaheim vs 8. LA
2. Nash vs 7. Winnipeg
3. StL vs 6. Van
4. Chicago vs 5. Minn

Still too early though, there's still anywhere from 6-9 games to be played. Things can change. I just can't see the Bruins missing the playoffs in the East and I'm hoping like hell the young guns in Calgary can squeak in. Losing Giordano was a backbreacker though.

KD.
Maybe you forgot the NHL format, it is still relatively new after all.
NHL is keeping playoffs divisional in the first and second rounds.

Top three teams each division finish 1,2,3 via points. Then add in the two Wildcards.

Jog your memory ?


By the way ... NHL site is my source. (Match ups as of morning Mar 28)
http://www.nhl.com/ice/standings.htm?season=20142015&type=PLA&location=/drivetotheplayoffs

 

[Experienced1]

Even the hockey experts say Montreal is not deep enough to go all the way.

The scabs will be gone after the 2nd round.

 

[gcostanza]

The first installment of 'if the playoffs started today'. lol :thumb:

Nothing is set in stone, but some things are so very close.
Looks like four from both east divisions are in, just the order to settle.



The East

M1
New York Rangers v Ottawa Senators
Rangers, currently first overall. I think NY takes this series in five games.

M2
New York Islanders v Pittsburgh Penguins
I see 'upset' written all over this series. Pens in six.


A1
Montreal Canadiens v Washington Capitals
Of the teams Montreal is likely to face the Caps could be the most trouble.
Possible upset(Ovechkin factor ?), nah Price will get Montreal past first round.

A2
Tampa Bay Lightning v Detroit Red Wings
Red Wings just seem to be the best of some mediocre teams. Tampa in five.




The West

P1
Anaheim Ducks v Winnipeg Jets
Ducks take this one despite their late season goaltending issues. Five games.

P2
Vancouver Canucks v Los Angeles Kings
It is said to never bet against the defending Champs. I agree(in this case at least), Kings in six.


C1
Nashville Predators v Minnesota Wild
Nashville has enough for one round. Preds in six.

C2
St. Louis Blues v Chicago Blackhawks
Blues choke again, Hawks in seven.

Were the playoffs to start now, Boston would be in, not Ottawa.

 

[Ironhead]

Were the playoffs to start now, Boston would be in, not Ottawa.

I am sure it will change several more times before the end of the season.

 

[Ironhead]

The playoff picture is clearing up a bit, but before that is absolute there are several smaller races going on.

Ottawa is the only East team currently out of the playoffs that has a chance.
NY Rangers, Tampa and Montreal are in, with NY Isles and Washington unofficially locked in.

The only team in the East not battling down the stretch is the Rangers, well they do not have first overall in the EC locked up yet.

Montreal and Tampa will go down to the wire for the Atlantic. Both teams have 104 points, however Montreal has one game in hand.
Montreal ... at Florida today, Detroit Thursday and at Toronto Saturday.
Tampa ... New Jersey Thursday and Boston Saturday.

It is looking like an NYI(98 pts) and Caps(97 pts) matchup in the first round. Only left to determine is home ice.
NYI ... at Philadelphia Tuesday, at Pittsburgh Friday and Columbus Saturday.
Caps ... at Detroit today, Boston Wednesday and NYR Saturday.

Wild Card race.
Detroit, Pittsburgh and Boston all have 95 points.
Knocking on the playoff door Ottawa with 92.

 

[Ironhead]

The West.

Anaheim has the division locked and close to grabbing the WC.

Nashville(104), meanwhile, has ST. Louis(103) and Chicago(102) breathing down their necks for the Central Division.
Preds ... at Colorado Tuesday, Minny Thursday and at Dallas Saturday.
Blues ... at Chicago today, Winnipeg Tuesday, Chicago Thursday and Minny Saturday.
Hawks ... ST. Louis today, Minny Tuesday, at ST. Louis Thursday and at Colorado Saturday.

For second, third in Pacific; Vancouver(95) and Calgary(93)
Wild card; Minnesota(96) Los Angeles(92)
We want in ! Winnipeg(92)

Canucks ... LA Monday, Arizona Thursday and Edmonton Saturday.
Flames ... Arizona Tuesday, LA Thursday and at Winnipeg Saturday.
Wild ... Winnipeg Monday, at Chicago Tuesday, at Nashville Thursday and at ST. Louis Saturday.
Kings ... at Vancouver Monday, at Edmonton Tuesday, at Calgary Thursday and San Jose Saturday.
Jets ... at Minnesota Monday, at ST. Louis Tuesday, at Colorado Thursday and Calgary Saturday.

 

[Ironhead]

Bad news for Montreal.
Approximately a week before the playoff start and it looks like Pacioretty was concussed.

[video]http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=761641&navid=nhl:topheads[/video]

 

[Ironhead]

Vancouver will take on Calgary in first round. Canucks will likely have home ice, but it is not a given ... yet.
LA Kings go from 2014 Stanley Cup Champs to no playoffs in 2015.

 

[glamphotographer]

LA Kings go from 2014 Stanley Cup Champs to no playoffs in 2015.

As a Leaf fan, if the Leafs did that, I could be satisfied with that. :frusty:

 

[Ironhead]

The East;

NYR vs Pittsburgh . This has upset potential, especially if Fleury can steal a game ... but in the end I will go with NY in five.

Washington vs NYIsles . Do not close the Coliseum just yet ! I will take the Islanders in six.

Montreal vs Ottawa . This series is almost a coin flip. The Senators gave Montreal all they could handle during the season and I would not be the least bit surprised if Ottawa knocked off Montreal, however the McDonalds ride ends here, the Sens will go Stone cold. Montreal in six.

Tampa Bay vs Detroit . Lightning may be making their last run with Stamkos and the Wings are old. Tampa will take out Detroit in five.




The West;

Anaheim vs Winnipeg . Ducks swept season series and may sweep this series. I would love to see the Jets dig deep and make a series out of this, but Anaheim has too much. Ducks in four.

Vancouver vs Calgary . If it is the first round, it must Canucks and the Flames. This will be a long, tough series. I do not like Vancouver nor do I care the least about the Sisters. I wanted to say Calgary in seven, but Miller is back and Giordano will not return. Canucks in six.

ST. Louis vs Minnesota . ST. Lou are built to go deep, but the Wild are a good team. The Blues will take this series in six.

Nashville vs Chicago . Kane could return to the Hawks lineup in the first round. I think Chicago has enough to get by the Preds anyway. Hawks in six.

 

[skipstagger]

The East
Rangers In 5
NYIsles In 7
Montreal in 7
Tampa Bay in 6

The West
Anaheim in 6
Vancouver in 7
ST. Louis in 7
Chicago in 6

 

[fatboy22]

The East;

NYR vs Pittsburgh . This has upset potential, especially if Fleury can steal a game ... but in the end I will go with NY in five.

Washington vs NYIsles . Do not close the Coliseum just yet ! I will take the Islanders in six.

Montreal vs Ottawa . This series is almost a coin flip. The Senators gave Montreal all they could handle during the season and I would not be the least bit surprised if Ottawa knocked off Montreal, however the McDonalds ride ends here, the Sens will go Stone cold. Montreal in six.

Tampa Bay vs Detroit . Lightning may be making their last run with Stamkos and the Wings are old. Tampa will take out Detroit in five.




The West;

Anaheim vs Winnipeg . Ducks swept season series and may sweep this series. I would love to see the Jets dig deep and make a series out of this, but Anaheim has too much. Ducks in four.

Vancouver vs Calgary . If it is the first round, it must Canucks and the Flames. This will be a long, tough series. I do not like Vancouver nor do I care the least about the Sisters. I wanted to say Calgary in seven, but Miller is back and Giordano will not return. Canucks in six.

ST. Louis vs Minnesota . ST. Lou are built to go deep, but the Wild are a good team. The Blues will take this series in six.

Nashville vs Chicago . Kane could return to the Hawks lineup in the first round. I think Chicago has enough to get by the Preds anyway. Hawks in six.

Ironhead, I have read your posts and I believe you are an intelligent person with a good knowledge of hockey.
Having said that, your reference to the Sedins as "sisters" surprises me(tho' you did give them a capital S,lol)

These 2 have 2 Art Ross scoring titles(1 each) a Hart Trophy,and a Lester Pearson trophy between them and are completing their 14th season in the league.
both have proven durable.Henrik had a consecutive game streak of,I think approx. 700 games,and the only significant games missed were Daniel
out for approx. a month after a dirty elbow by Duncan Keith.

Despite all this, there are ppl who show their ignorance of the game by calling them "sisters'. the ppl I'm referring to are the dumbasses that don't know their arse from their elbow,
but, you, Ironhead, surprise me because you are an intelligent man.
How you, a knowledgable hockey fan, can make that statement is a mystery to me.

 

[Ironhead]

Ironhead, I have read your posts and I believe you are an intelligent person with a good knowledge of hockey.
Having said that, your reference to the Sedins as "sisters" surprises me(tho' you did give them a capital S,lol)

These 2 have 2 Art Ross scoring titles(1 each) a Hart Trophy,and a Lester Pearson trophy between them and are completing their 14th season in the league.
both have proven durable.Henrik had a consecutive game streak of,I think approx. 700 games,and the only significant games missed were Daniel
out for approx. a month after a dirty elbow by Duncan Keith.

Despite all this, there are ppl who show their ignorance of the game by calling them "sisters'. the ppl I'm referring to are the dumbasses that don't know their arse from their elbow,
but, you, Ironhead, surprise me because you are an intelligent man.
How you, a knowledgable hockey fan, can make that statement is a mystery to me.

I like that the connection was made without having to refer to the Sisters by name, just saying.

I do not like them because when the playoffs go deep they tend to be less effective.
Case in point. Canucks finally get to Stanley Cup Final vs Boston. The twins combine for a total of five point which came in two games. One a win, the other it was 4-0 Bruins in the third before they made their, by then, useless contribution.
The fact that the series went seven tells me if the twins would have stepped up just a little we would look back on 2011 as the last time a Canadian team won the Cup.

 

[glamphotographer]

My Predictions

Post your 2015 NHL playoff Predictions.

Round 1

Blues vs Wild - Min in 6 games

Preds vs Hawks - Chi in 7 games

Ducks vs Jets - Ducks in 6 games

Canucks vs Flames - Canucks in 7 games

Habs vs Sens - Habs in 5 games

Lightning vs Wings - Lightning in 4 games

Rangers vs Pens - Rangers in 5 games

Caps vs Islanders - Islanders in 6 games

Round 2

Wild vs Hawks - Hawks in 7 games

Ducks vs Canucks - Ducks in 7 games

Habs vs Lightning - Lighting in 6 games

Rangers vs Islanders - Rangers in 7 games

Round 3

Hawks vs Ducks - Hawks in 6 games

Rangers vs Lightning - Rangers in 7 games

Finals

Hawks vs Rangers - Rangers in 7 games

 

[fatboy22]

I like that the connection was made without having to refer to the Sisters by name, just saying.

I do not like them because when the playoffs go deep they tend to be less effective.
Case in point. Canucks finally get to Stanley Cup Final vs Boston. The twins combine for a total of five point which came in two games. One a win, the other it was 4-0 Bruins in the third before they made their, by then, useless contribution.
The fact that the series went seven tells me if the twins would have stepped up just a little we would look back on 2011 as the last time a Canadian team won the Cup.

you overestimate my sense of intuition,Iron,lol.
it wasn't a great leap to make the connection that you were referring to the Sedins.
consider
1)they have been called the sisters many times.unfairly,imo.
2)the Canucks only have one set of siblings on their roster

so,figuring out who you meant didn't qualify as a "eureka" moment. Just saying.

 

[Ironhead]

Let's go !

Tomorrow four games start four series in the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Of the four on the schedule which one are you most looking forward to the most ? ... just curious

Ottawa at Montreal
NYIslanders at Washington
Chicago at Nashville
Calgary at Vancouver

I will be watching the Isles v Caps with an eye on Sens v Montreal games.
I want to see Tavares vs Ovechkin

 

[Ironhead]

you overestimate my sense of intuition,Iron,lol.
it wasn't a great leap to make the connection that you were referring to the Sedins.
consider
1)they have been called the sisters many times.unfairly,imo.
2)the Canucks only have one set of siblings on their roster

so,figuring out who you meant didn't qualify as a "eureka" moment. Just saying.

Do you know who labeled the Sedins the Sisters ? (see below)


I did not overestimate anything, it was just that everyone seems to know them as the Sisters. lol
anyway moving on ...


I do not like Vancouver anyway so I thought it hilarious, and a fitting title for their(the twins) style of play in the playoffs.
The Canucks seemed to go out and get the softest whiners.
The whole team was intimidated by one player on the Hawks ... Dustin Byfuglien. No one could/would move him out of Bobby Lou's way.
I thought Vancouver was clearly the better team, in my opinion, one of those years, but there was the intimidation factor.
Add to that the Sedins are not cut out for the grind of 82 games then a tough playoff run.
Vancouver needed Gino Odjick in his prime and I would bet they would have won the Cup at least once.






Answer to above question ... Dave Bolland, then of the Chicago Black Hawks.

 

[fatboy22]

yes, agree that Dave Bolland was the NHL player who called the Sedins "sisters' in Dec/11 in an interview at a do of some kind in Chicago.
what you didn't say was that he later backtracked,saying he had utmost respect for the Sedins and Canucks.

Vigneault had responded by saying Bolland had a brain the size of birdseed and a face only a mother could love,and Bieksa said he(Bolland)looked
like a girl.
the Sedins,always classy,took the high road,refusing to be drawn into the bun-toss.

however,here in Van,some of the local yokels were using the term sisters from early on in the twins career,including a boorish sportscaster named Neil mcRae,who desperately
and pathetically craves attention,because he is ignored, due to his being an imbecile.

I totally agree on the Byfuglien influence,had he still been with the Hawks in 2011,that he could well have made the difference in a 7 game overtime series.

also agree that the Bruins were able to hold the Sedins in check,as they did to the rest of the team.
have you ever seen a more one-sided series that still went the full 7 games?I know I haven't.
Someone like Gino Odick would've helped but I doubt it'd've changed the outcome.

fwiw,I'm not a Canucks' fan(go Habs go) but I think they're trying to change the whiner-image.seems like Burrows is paying for past transgressions as guys get away with s..t on him.

interesting that,in 2004,2006&2007,it seemed the whole country cheered on the Flames,Oilers&Senators,respectively,but in 2011 the Canucks didn't get the same support
as they were seen as soft&whiners...an opinion hard to disagree with.

after last season's trainwreck I was surpriased they made the post-season,I think Desjardins has done a good job getting them this far.
I can see them beating Calgary,tho' I don't know if I'd bet much on it,but,come the 2nd round,I think the carriage turns back into a pumpkin.