Round 2

OK so Round 2 is upon us, and I have trouble believing that it will hold nearly as much excitement as Round 1.

In the West I was 3/4, wrong about Anaheim, but congrats to Nashville.
I was 0/4 on the length of each West series as well...

In the East I was 2/4, only 1 OT goal from Montreal over Boston, and pleasantly surprised with Tampa Bay (guess they took more out of Pittsburgh than I thought!)
I was 1/4, correctly guessing that the Capitals would only lose 1 in the first Round.

Round 2:

WEST:

VANCOUVER over Nashville in 6 (I'd say 5, but Pekka Rinne looks great, and the Sedins are playing like shit)

DETROIT over San Jose in 7 (Zetterberg needs to be healthy, and he's not 100%, but they still edge out Joe Thornton who puts up a valiant effort, I just don't see Niemi making 2 Western Finals in a row)

EAST:
WASHINGTON over Tampa Bay in 6 (Roloson is playing great, but Washington is rested)
PHILADELPHIA over Boston in 6 (Tim Thomas keeps them in the series, but the B's need Lucic to step up large, and Philly won't be falling apart)

Playoff Hockey: the most wonderful time of the year.

The NHL Playoffs kicked off last night, and with it, Spring is officially here in Canada. I say it's the best time of the year over NFL playoffs because of the 7 game series'. I love the NFL Playoffs, but there's always something about long series with momentum shifts that really makes it more compelling.

Based on last night's game, Vancouver might actually get by Chicago this time.

Here are my predictions for the first round:

WEST:
VANCOUVER over Chicago in 6 (Roberto Luongo will hold up better than Corey Crawford)
SAN JOSE over L.A. in 5 (Joe Thornton is getting old, and if the Sharks don't go deep this year, I can't see their window staying open. That and the Kings are missing their 2 highest scorers and don't have much in the way of secondary scorers to step up.)
DETROIT over Phoenix in 5 (The Wings are just too deep with too much experience, and Phoenix will be in Winnipeg by September)
ANAHEIM over Nashville in 6 (Getzlaf/Perry are dominant, and when your 3rd highest scorer is a D-man you're not going deep)

EAST:
WASHINGTON over N.Y in 5 (Ovie rested going into the playoffs should pay off)
PHILADELPHIA over Buffalo in 6 (I'd say 5 but I expect Miller to steal a game. Kris Versteeg is also going to be much more valuable this run than Simon Gagne was last season)
MONTREAL over Boston in 7 (Habs fan can't go against his team. Price is a different player from his last playoff experience and P.K Subban is a year older. More grit to this team than last year, and fuelled by hatred of the Bruins makes for a great series. Tim Thomas is great and Boston is big and mean so this will be a tough one.)
PITTSBURGH over Tampa Bay in 6 (No Crosby, No Malkin, no run this year. Fleury wins a series for them, but Tampa takes too much out of them for second round)