Post by Eklund on Mar 31, 2013 17:12:16 GMT -8
1st 
vs 8th 
The 1st seeded Lightning come into the series featuring one of the most potent first lines with Henrik Zetterberg, Steven Stamkos, and Marty St. Louis. The Bolts have a sturdy back end led by Victor Hedman and have their goalie of the future in Anders Lindback between the pipes. Jaromir Jagr has been a great acquisition for the Bolts as he has shown no signs of his older age and has fit in well on the Bolts second line. The biggest challenge the Bolts will face is for them to find ways of keeping Travis Zajac and Ilya Kovalchuk from getting hot.Another player to watch for the Devils is young centre Adam Henrique who has put together good performances in the playoffs in the past. The Devils addressed their need of acquiring a goaltender with Marty Brodeur being injured and his retirement looming by trading Anton Volchenkov to Columbus for Steve Mason. With Volchenkov gone, the Devils remaining dmen will need to collectively put in strong performances to slow down that dangerous top line of the Bolts. I believe the Devils will put up a good fight but will end up falling to the Eastern Conference Champs in 6.
2nd
vs 7th 
The surprising New York Islanders come into the playoffs as one of the biggest surprises in the East. They reigned supreme against the always dominant interstate rival Rangers as the Rangers failed to qualify. The pressure is on for the 2nd seeded Islanders to perform, but they will have a very tough matchup ahead of them. Led by John Tavares and Ryan Strome, the team developed some nice chemistry throughout the entire lineup as the GM opted not to make any major changes. On paper this team does not seem like a dominant team but the Islanders have exceeded expectations all season long. The Canadiens on the other hand, appear to have the more dominant team on paper. With Nicklas Backstrom, former Calder trophy winner Alex Galchenyuk, and the 2013 Habs 1st round pick in Alexsander Barkov, this team is very capable of putting up big numbers. With all the exciting young talent, the Habs have a dominating starting 6 on the back end with a 1st pairing featuring Alex Edler and P.K. Subban who will surely dish out some big hits in the series. At the end of it all, I say the Canadiens take it in 5.
3rd
vs 6th 
The Sabres were one of the most active teams around the deadline as they traded for depth on defence by acquiring shutdown dman Robyn Regehr in the Mike Fisher trade with San Jose. In a previous trade, they managed to add Zach Parise to complement Cody Hodgson and Jason Pominville on the Sabres first line. Despite the great defense, I question the ability for the Sabres to find consistent scoring in the series. With Fisher gone and Nick Antropov injured, rookie Zemgus Girgensons will be asked to bring his game to another level with his wingers being Mikhail Grigorenko and Devin Setoguchi. Goaltending shouldn’t be the biggest concern for the Sabres even though Niclas Backstrom has not had much experience playing past April. The Sens are considered to be another one of the surprises that qualified as they managed to do so without starting goaltender Craig Anderson for much of the last couple of weeks. With Sergei Gonchar out as well for the Sens, the Sens Power Play unit will need to make up for the scoring Gonchar provides. Erik Karlsson will need to play like the Norris winner he once was to provide more dmen scoring and also to get forwards Milan Michalek and Kyle Turris scoring. With captain Daniel Alfredsson saying this will be the final year of his illustrious career, the Sens will be playing inspired hockey this round and hope to advance. I see this series going 7 games with the Sabres advancing on home ice.
4th
vs 5th 
Arguably the best series in the first round, the two teams that were once featured in the popular HBO 24/7 series, this will be another chapter in this heated rivalry. Both teams have major injuries on each side, most notably Roberto Luongo for the Caps and both Evgeni Malkin and Chris Kunitz out for the Pens. With Malkin out, that sets the stage for Ovie and Sid to shine and ultimately decide the series and show the world who is the better player. Both teams have many offensively capable dmen such as Andrei Markov and defending Norris Trophy winner John Carlson for the Caps and Kris Letang and Matt Niskanen for the Pens which will make the Power Play a crucial part of the series. With the Pens being depleted in their forward ranks and the Caps needing to supply goals with backup Nikolai Khabibulin between the pipes both teams figure to play some offensive hockey to the delight of GMs around the league. This is definitely going to be the most unpredictable series but I will give it to the Caps winning in 6.
Recap
My picks: 1st round
West: East:
in 6 in 6
in 5 in 5
in 7 in 7
in 7 in 6
2nd Round:
West:
vs in 6
vs in 5
East:
vs in 7
vs in 6
Conference Finals
vs in 6
vs in 6
Stanley Cup Finals
vs in 5
vs 8th The 1st seeded Lightning come into the series featuring one of the most potent first lines with Henrik Zetterberg, Steven Stamkos, and Marty St. Louis. The Bolts have a sturdy back end led by Victor Hedman and have their goalie of the future in Anders Lindback between the pipes. Jaromir Jagr has been a great acquisition for the Bolts as he has shown no signs of his older age and has fit in well on the Bolts second line. The biggest challenge the Bolts will face is for them to find ways of keeping Travis Zajac and Ilya Kovalchuk from getting hot.Another player to watch for the Devils is young centre Adam Henrique who has put together good performances in the playoffs in the past. The Devils addressed their need of acquiring a goaltender with Marty Brodeur being injured and his retirement looming by trading Anton Volchenkov to Columbus for Steve Mason. With Volchenkov gone, the Devils remaining dmen will need to collectively put in strong performances to slow down that dangerous top line of the Bolts. I believe the Devils will put up a good fight but will end up falling to the Eastern Conference Champs in 6.
2nd
vs 7th The surprising New York Islanders come into the playoffs as one of the biggest surprises in the East. They reigned supreme against the always dominant interstate rival Rangers as the Rangers failed to qualify. The pressure is on for the 2nd seeded Islanders to perform, but they will have a very tough matchup ahead of them. Led by John Tavares and Ryan Strome, the team developed some nice chemistry throughout the entire lineup as the GM opted not to make any major changes. On paper this team does not seem like a dominant team but the Islanders have exceeded expectations all season long. The Canadiens on the other hand, appear to have the more dominant team on paper. With Nicklas Backstrom, former Calder trophy winner Alex Galchenyuk, and the 2013 Habs 1st round pick in Alexsander Barkov, this team is very capable of putting up big numbers. With all the exciting young talent, the Habs have a dominating starting 6 on the back end with a 1st pairing featuring Alex Edler and P.K. Subban who will surely dish out some big hits in the series. At the end of it all, I say the Canadiens take it in 5.
3rd
vs 6th The Sabres were one of the most active teams around the deadline as they traded for depth on defence by acquiring shutdown dman Robyn Regehr in the Mike Fisher trade with San Jose. In a previous trade, they managed to add Zach Parise to complement Cody Hodgson and Jason Pominville on the Sabres first line. Despite the great defense, I question the ability for the Sabres to find consistent scoring in the series. With Fisher gone and Nick Antropov injured, rookie Zemgus Girgensons will be asked to bring his game to another level with his wingers being Mikhail Grigorenko and Devin Setoguchi. Goaltending shouldn’t be the biggest concern for the Sabres even though Niclas Backstrom has not had much experience playing past April. The Sens are considered to be another one of the surprises that qualified as they managed to do so without starting goaltender Craig Anderson for much of the last couple of weeks. With Sergei Gonchar out as well for the Sens, the Sens Power Play unit will need to make up for the scoring Gonchar provides. Erik Karlsson will need to play like the Norris winner he once was to provide more dmen scoring and also to get forwards Milan Michalek and Kyle Turris scoring. With captain Daniel Alfredsson saying this will be the final year of his illustrious career, the Sens will be playing inspired hockey this round and hope to advance. I see this series going 7 games with the Sabres advancing on home ice.
4th
vs 5th Arguably the best series in the first round, the two teams that were once featured in the popular HBO 24/7 series, this will be another chapter in this heated rivalry. Both teams have major injuries on each side, most notably Roberto Luongo for the Caps and both Evgeni Malkin and Chris Kunitz out for the Pens. With Malkin out, that sets the stage for Ovie and Sid to shine and ultimately decide the series and show the world who is the better player. Both teams have many offensively capable dmen such as Andrei Markov and defending Norris Trophy winner John Carlson for the Caps and Kris Letang and Matt Niskanen for the Pens which will make the Power Play a crucial part of the series. With the Pens being depleted in their forward ranks and the Caps needing to supply goals with backup Nikolai Khabibulin between the pipes both teams figure to play some offensive hockey to the delight of GMs around the league. This is definitely going to be the most unpredictable series but I will give it to the Caps winning in 6.
Recap
My picks: 1st round
West: East:
in 6 in 6 in 5 in 5 in 7 in 7 in 7 in 62nd Round:
West:
vs in 6 vs in 5East:
vs in 7 vs in 6Conference Finals
vs in 6 vs in 6Stanley Cup Finals
vs in 5
vs 
Live , Detroit looks to end things and take their 2nd Cup in 3 seasons 
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