NHL Playoffs are here

[Sithos]

* EASTERN CONFERENCE:

(1) Montreal vs (8) Boston

(2) Pittsburgh vs (7) Ottawa

(3) Washington vs (6) Philadelphia

(4) New Jersey vs (5) NY Rangers


* WESTERN CONFERENCE:

(1) Detroit vs (8) Nashville

(2) San Jose vs (7) Calgary

(3) Minnesota vs (6) Colorado

(4) Anaheim vs (5) Dallas


In the East I think that Montreal is the team to beat. Great stretch run,tops in the league power play and top 5 penalty kill.Special teams and spread out scoring will pave the road. Their one weakness may be Price, as he has no NHL playoff experience.But then again Montreal has had great success with rookie tenders in the playoffs and it wouldn't surprise me if he did well. Washington is the sleeper club though and with their talent they may surprise alot of folks. Ottawa is to banged up I think to make a large impact.

In the west there are two tough teams. San Jose and Detroit. San Jose had an amazing year and Detroit is a proven contender. Sleeper would be Calgary. Dependant on which Jarome Iginla shows up to play.

[Tikker]

err, Iginla shows up every night, so no quite sure wtf you're talking about

calgary/SJ will be a very good series if both goalies are playing hot


pittsburgh/ottawa should be a great series

[Tuggan]

no mention of anaheim?

i'll be surprised to see my wings make it through the first round.

sj vs calgary is going to be a brutal series, whoever wins that round isnt going to be feeling too great in the 2nd.

aside from the few games ive caught on hockey night in canada, i havent really seen many eastern teams play this season. i can't say much about those matchups, other than i hope price can live up to his unfounded rep as a big game goalie.

[Tikker]

I have zero respect for Brian Burke, or Chris Pronger, so I hope they die in a plane crash

[Tuggan]

i agree 100%, but they're still going to be a serious contender i believe.

[Tikker]

oh, I don't disagree at all

big strong team, easily best defense in the league, and they've got a couple guys who can put the puck in the net

not a stellar goalie, but only needs to be decent behind that defense

[Arlos]

Calgary really has been Iginla and nobody else this year. Only way they stay even close in the series is if Kiprusoff goes nuts. Possible, I suppose, but he's been relatively off his game this year. Sharks in 5, 6 tops.

-Arlos

[Tikker]

err

SJ doesn't have a single guy on the roster this year with 30+ goals

calgary has 2

Calgary has 5 players with 55+ pts

SJ has 1

Calgary has 7 players over +10

SJ has 4


how much of your medicinal marijuana did you smoke before you made that post?

[Arlos]

My predictions:

EAST

Montreal over Boston in 5

Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 5

Washington over Philly in 7

New Jersey over New York in 7


WEST

Detroit over Nashville in 6

San Jose over Calgary in 6

Minnesota over Denver in 7

Anaheim over Dallas in 7


Anyone else want to predict?

-Arlos

[Tikker]

Montreal over boston in 5
Ottawa over pittsburgh in 7
Philly over Washington in 6
new jersey/newyork will go to 7, coin toss


Detroit over Nashville in 5
Calgary over SJ in 7
Colorado over Minnesota in 6
Anaheim over dallas in 6


ps, 1-0 calgary already

[Tikker]

2-0~

[Tuggan]

god i would love to see the flames take the sharks out.

montreal in 5

pittsburgh in 4

washington in 5

rangers in 6



nashville in 6

sj in 6

colorado in 7

anaheim in 5

[Arlos]

Sharks evened the series. Rough game, tons of penalties. Kiprusoff was outstanding, Nabokov was even better. Kipper's diving poke check to stop one breakaway was great, but Nabby's glove save on that Owen Nolan shot was sheer highway robbery. And hey, shutout for Nabby as well.

The result that really surprised me tonight was Dallas woodshedding Anaheim. I expected those to be tight games, I did not expect Dallas to win 4-0.

-Arlos

[Tuggan]

anaheim was pretty fuckin ridiculous in last nights game. one stupid ass penatly after another. i couldnt believe the huskins with the broken stick. was shaking my head that whole game.

the flames were asking for a loss too, aside from one or two bad calls they were pretty silly in the 2nd. watchin keenan(sp) tear into the ref before and after intermission was beautiful :D

[Phlegm]

Kiprusoff won the first game for Calgary and kept the second game close. If it wasn't for him, Sharks would be up 2-0.

[Tikker]

Montreal looks just awesome so far

I've generally been a montreal hater, but I really kinda like their team this year, especially with the style they play

[Arlos]

Yeah, montreal has looked really damn good. I still think Boston will steal 1 game from the series, but that's it.

-Arlos

[Tuggan]

i'm really thrilled that anaheims bs with bringin niedermayer and selanne in halfway through isnt paying off so far. i wish pronger would have gotten more time off for his suspension, but i guess that 1 game at the end wasnt enough to get him in game form

[Arlos]

Well, Boston stole its game. NJ won an absolute must-win as well.

Holy crap, the Sharks got 3 goals in the first 3 or so minutes, and Kipprusoff just got yanked.

-Arlos

[Tuggan]

Well, Boston stole its game. NJ won an absolute must-win as well.

Holy crap, the Sharks got 3 goals in the first 3 or so minutes, and Kipprusoff just got yanked.

-Arlos

boston deserved that game, they didnt steal anything.

[Arlos]

Didn't see it, just saw they won in OT, and saw the first 2 games of the series, where Boston was clearly, clearly outclassed by Montreal.

-Arlos

[Tikker]

Boston deserved to win


Flames have closed it to 3-2 now, and have been outplaying the sharks most of the 2nd period

[Arlos]

Yeah, Sharks looked bad frequently in the 2nd. Nabokov has been pretty good, fortunately, cause it could easily be tied now.

We'll see what happens in the 3rd.

I still want to know why that Calgary D guy didn't get a penalty for that flying forearm shiver to Marleau's head....

-Arlos

[Tikker]

ps 4-3 flames

if you're talking about the sarych hit, that was 100% clean

Marleau even said so in the intermission interviews, heh

[Arlos]

Wow, I don't believe the Sharks lost that game.

-Arlos