NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2006

[Strider]

Now that the first regular season of the new NHL era has ended (mercifully, for my fantasy team), the Stanley Cup playoffs are right around the corner. I think these are the best playoffs of any professional sport, personally, because every game is a knockdown fight and everyone wants to get their names engraves on Lord Stanley's cup.

Eastern Conference
(1) Ottawa Senators vs. (8) Tampa Bay Lightning
(2) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (7) Montreal Canadiens
(3) New Jersey Devils vs. (6) New York Rangers
(4) Buffalo Sabres vs. (5) Philadelphia Flyers

Western Conference
(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (8) Edmonton Oilers
(2) Dallas Stars vs. (7) Colorado Avalanche
(3) Calgary Flames vs. (6) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
(4) Nashville Predators vs. (5) San Jose Sharks

Is your team in the playoffs? If they are, how far are they gonna go? Which first-round match looks like the toughest? And, of course, who's gonna win it all?

My predictions...
Senators over Lightning in 5
Hurricanes over Canadiens in 5
Devils over Rangers in 6
Flyers over Sabres in 6

Red Wings over Oilers in 5
Stars over Avalanche in 7
Ducks over Flames in 6
Sharks over Predators in 7
_______________

Senators over Flyers in 7
Devils over Hurricanes in 6
Sharks over Red Wings in 7
Stars over Ducks in 5
_______________

Senators over Devils in 7
Sharks over Stars in 6

Stanley Cup Finals - Senators over Sharks in 6

[crazybayman]

Heh, that's quite a prediction.

on TSN (Canadian ESPN), they have a little monkey - Maggie the Monkey, who predicts the first round winners, by spinning a wheel :p

This is only fitting, considering how different the playoffs are from the regular season, and there are always upsets.

But I predict the Habs to put up a much better fight against the 'Canes, considering all their bad losses to Carolina this year were with Theodore in net, who was traded at the Deadline. I'm betting Huet will do a much better job, making the series close, or winning the series for Montreal.

And I'm really hoping for an early exit for New Jersey, Detroit, and Dallas, and a second round exit for Colorado, because I'm sick and tired of seeing these teams win.

I'd say Edmonton will put a better fight against Detroit. Detroit won the president's cup (most points in the league) because they were in the central division, playing St. Louis, Columbus and Chicago. They still hold the advantage over Edmonton, but the Oilers will take it to 6 or 7, if not win the series.

Calgary over Anaheim, in 6. Calgary has the ability to win those playoff type close games.

Ottawa over Tampa, in 6. The lightening are hard up for goaltending.

Buffalo over Phillie in 6 - because Esche is not a top-notch goalie, while Miller is.

San Jose over Nashville in 6

Montreal over Carolina in 7 - UPSET!!! Kovalev will come alive, like he did in 2004, when he lead them past Boston

Colorado over Dallas in 7

Edmonton over Detroit in 7 - UPSET!!

But we may as well have a monkey pick for us :p

[eestlinc]

what, the Thrashers didn't make the playoffs? :cry:

[White Raven]

Eastern Conference
(1) Ottawa Senators vs. (8) Tampa Bay Lightning
(2) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (7) Montreal Canadiens
(3) New Jersey Devils vs. (6) New York Rangers
(4) Buffalo Sabres vs. (5) Philadelphia Flyers

Western Conference
(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (8) Edmonton Oilers
(2) Dallas Stars vs. (7) Colorado Avalanche
(3) Calgary Flames vs. (6) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
(4) Nashville Predators vs. (5) San Jose Sharks

Picks for first round:

East
~Tampa Bay. The teams scoring potential is even and so is their defensive core, so it basically all comes down to their goaltending. I hate to say it but Burke and Graham aren't the best, but it would seem that Ottawa will be using Emery for the first round. Graham and Burke both have playoff experience while Emery is a rookie. (PS: Tampa is my favourite team by the way :P)

~Carolina. Much more consistant goal scoring and a lot more depth both in their forwards and defence. Plus it comes down to goaltending again. Gerber prooved he can beat the best in the olympics while Huet hasn't really proved himself in clutch times.

~New Jersey. They have the most momentum of any team going into the playoffs (won 11 in a row going in). By the way their playing, it looks like their begining to use the trap once again, which might put a plug on Jagr's scoring ability. And in the net, the best goalie out there, Brodeur, vs. a rookie.

~Toss up. I think Buffalo and Philly are way too evenly matched up for me to pick.

West
~Detroit. The Oilers will make another early exit once again as they face the best team in the league. Detroit has Edmonton beat at both ends and has a far more reliable goaltender in Legace, while Edmonton has...Roloson? *scratches head*

~Dalas. Colorado has certainly not been the same since Forsberg left and it was easily seen this season. They also have questionable goaltending even if they use their most experience one, Theodore.

~Aneheim. Giggy and the rest of the team has been playing awesome since the trade deadline. And this year Calgary has so much pressure on them to repeat the last seasons results, that I think that they will choke.

~San Jose. Johnathan and Joe put on the afterburners in the past couple of months to come out on top with the scoring titles. And this matchup has San Jose's starter goaltender vs. Nashvilles backup, Mason.


Too answer your questions with a biased opinion:
My fav team is Tampa Bay and yes, they are in the playoffs and they're going all the way! And I think the Buffalo Philly matchup will be the one that goes down to the wire.

:)

[Griff]

East: Ottawa over Tampa, due mainly to the total mauling of Tampa whenever these two faced each other (season: 4-0 for Ottawa, goals: 16-6)
Carolina over Montreal, same case (season: 4-0 for Carolina, goals: 25-9)
New York over New Jersey, barely (season: 4-4, goals 20-17 for New York)
Buffalo over Philly, (season: 3-1 for Buffalo, goals 14-12)

West: Detroit vs. Edmonton, way too close to call (season: 2-2, goals 14-13 for Detroit)
Dallas over Colorado (season: 3-1, goals: 13-10)
Anaheim vs. Calgary, again way too close to call (season: 2-2, goals:10-9 for Calgary)
San Jose vs. Nashville,literal perfect matching, impossible to call (season: 2-2, goals: 9-9)

[friedpork]

How the hell did the Canucks not make the playoffs, somebody plz tell me...
Anyways my predictions

East

Ottawa vs. Tampa Bay: Ottawa in 4. Ottawa has much better goaltending, much better defence, much more talent and just a hell of a much better team. Tampa Bay doesn't stand a chance especially with their goaltending.

Carolina vs. Montreal: Carolina in 6. This one has a possible upset because many players on Carolina have never made it to the playoffs. Montreal will give a good fight but Carolina should still be able to make it.

New Jersey vs. New York: New Jersey in 7. I think this series will be a very good one. It's Martin Brodeur vs. Jaromir Jagr, I think that Brodeur will win this because New Jersey has shutdown players like John Madden and Jay Pandolfo and they should be able to contain Jagr.

Buffalo vs. Philadelphia: Philadelphia In 6. Buffalo may have outstanding depth and can score with all four lines, but if Peter Forsberg can stay healthy Philly will win it.


Ottawa vs. Philadelphia: Ottawa in 7. If Ottawa has Dominik Hasek late in this series they should win it. If not, they still have Zdeno Chara and Chris Phillips to contain Forsberg and if they shut him down, that should give them the win.

Carolina vs. New Jersey: New Jersey in 5. New Jersey has a lot more experience, a superstar goalie Martin Brodeur and good talent up front. I would be incredibley surprised if they don't take this in less than 5.


Ottawa vs. New Jersey: Ottawa in 6. By now, Ottawa should have Dominik Hasek. Then it would become a Dominik Hasek vs. Martin Brodeur series and Hasek will prevail. Also, Ottawa has so 3 lines of scoring and New Jersey doesn't have enough shut down players to handle that.

West

Detroit vs. Edmonton: Detroit in 4. Detroit has a much better team, better goaltending they will beat Edmonton with a breeze.

Dallas vs. Colorado: Colorado in 7. I think this is the series with the upset, but I wouldn't really consider an upset. Both teams are veteran teams with lots of leaders in the locker room. I just think that Jose Theodore has to be great in this series and I think he will be.

Calgary vs. Anaheim: Calgary in 7. This series is the best first round series in these playoffs this year. Both teams are grinding teams and have pretty good coaching. The difference will be the goaltending, Miika Kiprusoff will outduel J.S Gigure and Calgary will win the series.

Nashville vs. San Jose: San Jose in 6. The duo of Jonathan Cheechoo and Joe Thornton right now is unstoppable. Nashville will probably only be able to last a couple of games but not for long because of those two.


Detroit vs. Colorado: Detroit in 5. Detroit has just a better team and should be able to beat Colorado. Colorado will give a fight but again Detroit should win easily.

Calgary vs. San Jose: San Jose in 6. Jonathan Cheechoo and Joe Thornton will again lead the Sharks to another series win because they are just to good.


Detroit vs. San Jose: San Jose in 6. Detroit might have a good team, but again Cheechoo and Thornton will lead the way for the Sharks and take the series.


Ottawa vs. San Jose: Ottawa in 7. Cheechoo and Thornton dominance will stop here. Chara and Phillips will be able to handle the tandam and if not there is still Dominik Hasek in goal. Ottawa's top line will start to produce and they will finish off the San Jose Sharks.

Ottawa will win it all.

[Del Murder]

8 teams per conference and 7 game series? How long does this thing go on?

[Strider]

Longer than the NBA playoffs, if you can believe that!

[Del Murder]

That's insane. How many teams don't make the playoffs? Like 4?

[Griff]

14 teams didn't make it actually, and to answer a previous question Vancouver didn't make the playoffs is because they had 3 less points than Edmonton

[Raistlin]

14 teams didn't make it, so 7 from each conference? So the majority of teams from each conference make the playoffs? Interesting.

[Del Murder]

That's how the NBA is too. It's ludicrous. Anyway, I'll get off this tangent and let you guys talk playoffs.

[Raistlin]

Yeah, I already know the NBA is ridiculous. :p Though at least in the NBA, the <i>majority</i> of the teams don't make the playoffs... just close to half. 16/39, right?

[Strider]

Bah, Nashville won Game 1... I never did like Paul Kariya.

[friedpork]

Yeah, I already know the NBA is ridiculous. :p Though at least in the NBA, the <i>majority</i> of the teams don't make the playoffs... just close to half. 16/39, right?

There are only 30 teams in the nba, so the majority of the teams make it to the playoffs too.

[Raistlin]

... where did I get 39 from? O_o *ponders that for a bit*

Nevermind then, the NBA is every bit as ridiculous.

EDIT: I probably got it from the 29, how many teams there used to be, and just mixed up 20 and 30 because I'm retarded.

[crazybayman]

8 teams per conference and 7 game series? How long does this thing go on?

14 teams didn't make it, so 7 from each conference? So the majority of teams from each conference make the playoffs? Interesting.
Playoffs are a completely different animal than the regular season. There are many upsets, and often there is a "Cindererella Team" who probably finishes 7th or 8th in the conference, but yet makes it to the Stanley Cup Finals because of goaltending, and hard, grinding play, like Calgary in 2004, Anaheim in 2003 and Carolina in 2002. Therefore, they have to let 8 teams from each conference into the playoffs. Plus, this way you have 4 different series per conference in the first round, 2 series per conference in the second round, then the conference finals, and then the Stanley Cup Finals. Anything less would be too short :p .

The playoffs are much more exciting than the regular season, so hence they let it go for arond 2 months :p . Plus, 7 games has been the way to determine who the true superior team is in a series, dating back to the 40's when there were only the Original 6 teams (Montreal, Toronto, Boston, New York Rangers, Detroit and Chicago).

Some fans don't even pay much attention to the regular season, but follow it religiously in the playoffs. Its much more intense, emotional, and exciting.

And you have to give credit to the players. They go through a gruelling 82 game season, and then an even more gruelling, 2 months of playoff hockey, for the teams who make it through to the finals.

Playoff hockey is incredible. Every goal counts as if it were the team's last goal ever. Teams are fighting and battling for supremacy. And it is a true battle of speed, strength, endurance, skill, intensity, and guts.

[Strider]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdN9NsV4zko&eurl

Watch this hit and you'll understand exactly what bayman is talking about.

[crazybayman]

yep....what's amazing is that he's "expected to play" tonight. :eek: Regardless of if its a concussion or not. Check out the look on his face as he sits there on the ice with the trainer :p That's priceless.

[Del Murder]

Then why have a regular season?

[crazybayman]

To decide who makes the playoffs :D
And to decide the seedings going in.
And to give us hockey fans something to watch all winter long. :p

The regular season is great, I follow it regiously.....its just that the playoffs are much more exciting because of what's on the line.

[friedpork]

wtf Edmonton beat Detroit again.

[crazybayman]

wtf Edmonton beat Detroit again.
of course

It was just a matter of time before guys like Peca and Pronger started performing like they're capable of. They've been quiet all season long, and have picked it up at the right time.

Its great too, because I'm sick and tired of seeing Detroit winning. :p

[Doomie]

GO EDMONTON. THEY'RE MY UPSET. GO.

[crazybayman]

Edmonton over Detroit in 7 - UPSET!!


GO EDMONTON. THEY'RE MY UPSET. GO.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=164571&hubname=

Just as I predicted except, they went beyond that, and did it in 6 instead of 7 :D

WOO!!