NHL Playoffs Round 2: Thursday, May 7th

Washington leads series against Pittsburgh 2-1
Carolina leads series against Boston 2-1
Vancouver leads series against Chicago 2-1
Anaheim leads series against Red Wings 2-1

Ok so this is what I had predicted for Round 2 and beyond:

Chicago vs. Vancouver = Chicago
Anaheim vs. Detroit = Detroit
Pittsburgh vs. Washington = Pittsburgh
Boston vs. Carolina = Boston

Stanley Cup Final: Boston vs. Detroit

2009 Stanley Cup Champions: Boston Bruins

The current standings are messing up my predictions but in all honesty I don’t mind a bit – makes for more suspenseful hockey. Even though each game is a new win opportunity, I think it’s safe to say there wasn’t a person who didn’t think that Pittsburgh HAD to win this game, Malkin had to step up asap and the depth of this team needed to find its way back to the ice. Done, done and done. Carolina just seems to get better with each game, and Eric Staal should be cloned. Anaheim’s confidence/mindset has carried them this far and more than any playoff team, it has remained constant. Vancouver is still aglow and like Anaheim, their conditioning may be giving them an edge over the Blackhawks who are looking a little sluggish out there. One thing that seems apparent, some (not all) goalies are getting tired.

Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien stated in the post game interview (NHL network) that there are such things as hockey gods…ah ha! Another believer! Wonder if he also believes in parking gods – living in NYC, I pray to them often.

Wonder if Martin Brodeur is out of shock yet.

Round 1: Sunday, April 26

Washington 5 : New York 3

Series tied 3-3
Wonder how the view was from up high for Coach Tortorella? Things are not looking good for the Rangers – the team seems freaked out and who knows if they can recover from their mindset taking a complete nosedive. The three Ranger’s wins were all by one goal, the three Capital’s wins were by 4,4,2 goals. In six games, Washington has scored 17 goals, Rangers 10. It would be easy to assert the advantage goes to Washington but the Rangers are now where they were at the beginning of the series – with nothing to lose therefore advantage goes to the Rangers, despite the thought that Washington would go farther in the playoffs than New York and that as a team, Ranger’s energy could be better spent undergoing a team overhaul rather than vying for a Cup they will not win this year…conserving energy now so that it can be expended at a later date. The worst thing we could see is the Caps taking an early lead and the Rangers completely imploding. But for now, more turnovers New York and stay the h-e double hockey sticks out of the sin bin.

New Jersey 0 : Carolina 4

Series tied 3-3
Wowee. Martin Brodeur and Henrik Lundqvist seemed to be playing on the same wavelength in their respective games today/tonight – regressive. Going into game 7 this series is incredibly close. Three wins by Carolina were by 1,1,4 goals – for New Jersey their 3 wins were by 3,1,1 goals. In 6 games New Jersey has scored 12 goals, Carolina 13. And both teams have each won 1 game overtime and have each won 2 games at home and 1 away. As much as I think Carolina has played better as a team, home ice performance may help the Devils eke out a win on Tuesday night. However, the biggest threat to Carolina is one dude in the net. Time to flip a coin.

Round 1: Friday, April 24

New York 0 – Capitals 4

New York leads series 3-2
When I saw that Sean Avery was pulled from the line up, I opted to take my dogs to the park rather than watch the Rangers lose. John Tortorella’s decision should lead to his not returning as coach next season. Coaching style of subjective but leadership is not. There’s a concept in group process that you don’t sacrifice the group for the sake of an individual. Funny how one might think the ‘individual’ would be Avery. I wrote at the beginning of this series that a test to the Rangers would be at the first sign of adversity – never thinking that the ego to turn against his team would be the coach’s. Being right was more important to John Tortorella than keeping his team in tact and winning the game. If Avery is not in the line up for Sunday’s game, I’ll be asking my dogs where they want to go this time…I suspect Petco for some treats.

Round 1 Continues: Wednesday, April 22

Boston 4 : Montreal 1

Boston wins series 4-0.
Montreal fans showed zero class towards their team at the end of this game. I hope that under his catch glove and blocker, Carey Price’s middle fingers were up. Perhaps not kicking a dog when it’s down does not translate in French. Here’s my high school French translation for Habs fans…vous tous sucez le temps grand.

Washington 1 : New York 2

New York leads series 3-1
Washington 39 shots on goal Rangers 21, Washington had 3 more chances on the power play (6) than the Rangers (3). Regardless of what the final score could have been, the Caps were able to put only 1 goal past Henrik Lundqvist with those stats. Not a good sign, plus with each game Ovechkin looks more and more like the only cactus left in the desert. Going into the 3rd period, the Rangers were up 2-0. What I noticed was that the Rangers seemed like they did not know how to win the game from that point - ‘we’re ahead so what do we do now?’. I think this will make them vulnerable to a come from behind Caps win on Friday night if they should pull ahead of Washington but not know how to yank the last piece of the band-aid off. However, as strange as this might sound (it seemed strange thinking it)…Sean Avery’s penalty with about 3 minutes left in the game was the best thing that could have happened to the Rangers. In those last 3 minutes what I saw was the Rangers digging down deep and Rangers fans standing up high. The game came alive. It was the perfect lead in to the next game and a perfect fan send off to help catapult the Rangers towards closing out the series. Advantage goes to the Rangers based on those 3 minutes, maybe this time the Rangers can dig down with Avery ON the ice.

Chicago 4 : Calgary 6

Series tied 2-2
As much as Calgary fought to win this game, they gave up a three goal lead in the second period. Without the empty net goal, the score would have been 5-4. Discounting power play goals and the empty netter, Calgary ‘won’ 4-2. I’m still going with Chicago for the series win however they are going to have to push Calgary back or else the Flames will bully them out of the series. Overall the game seemed flukey.

Round 1 Continues: Monday, April 20

Washington 3 : New York 0

New York leads series 2-1
By far this is the oddest thing in the playoffs so far – the Rangers and their fans showed up to play/cheer as if they were still in the regular season…9 minutes into the game they were going to lose. Was there anyone, Ranger or Ranger fan, who realized this was a playoff game? Yup. Sean Avery. 5 bucks Avery was more frustrated with his team than the Caps. 5 bucks Ranger fans (or majority of) think it’s beneath them to wear a colored t-shirt and swing from the rafters for their team. Avery’s acting out was understandable however being the tuning fork of the team takes away from his ability at times, this was one of those times. My hope is that he’s developed an off switch by now before he does something to mess up his career in a more permanent way. Overall, this is the kind of adversity I wrote about in an earlier blog post, and after seeing Ranger’s coach John Tortorella’s post game interview, advantage goes to Washington for the next game. Coach Tortorella…your team entered the playoffs seated 7th, up against 2nd seated team and beat them on their turf in the first two games therefore it was a little much that you were publically hostile towards your players. 2 minutes for uncoachmanlike conduct.

Boston 4 : Montreal 2

Boston leads series 3-0
Montreal accomplished two things this game – they scored first to give them their first lead in the series and even though the Habs lost, this time around they made Boston earn the win. Time to call this series for Boston, although I hope the Habs win on Wednesday for their fans and to tucker out Boston a bit for the next round. Both Boston and Detroit have had it a little too easy.

Chicago 2 : Calgary 4

Chicago leads series 2-1
The tug-of-war is alive and well between these two teams and with each game it intensifies. No doubt this will be a fight to the finish series, a lot more hockey equipment will be dropped to the ice. After watching this game, I’m going to go with Chicago for the series because their response to losing (while they are playing) errr how do I translate this…Calgary’s win didn’t seem like a win that would contribute to them coming back to take the series, it seemed like a bump in the road to Chicago moving ahead to round 2. Chicago’s drive is strong and their demeanor is sober, I’d be very surprised if they did not go far in the run for the Cup.

Round 1 Continues: Saturday, April 18

Rangers 1 : Washington 0

Rangers lead series 2-0
Just because the Rangers were ranked 7th, doesn’t mean that they were going to play that way – same for the Capitals on the flip side. This season I’ve watched probably every team play in one game or another but I didn’t watch the Caps, something about the team repels me which means their energy is probably unbalanced or dark. I’m also not a big fan of #8, beyond recognizing him for the stand out player he is. Advantage goes to Washington for the next game despite the Rangers in the lead and playing on home ice. The Caps played way beneath their ability this game and yet look how much effort it took the Rangers to score 1 goal and keep the Caps to none. Sooner than later being ranked #2 with #8 on the team is going to surface, let’s see if Washington can recognize that moment and build on it. As for the Rangers an image for them to build upon would be a v-shaped flock of geese with Henrik Lundqvist as lead goose. Curious to see who will be in net for Washington.

Columbus 0 : Detroit 4

Detroit leads series 2-0
Anyone shocked about how this series is going? A meditation going out to Columbus in advance of the next game is that they win at least one game on home ice, not only for themselves but also for their fans.

Montreal 1 : Boston 5

Boston leads series 2-0
Kind of the same situation as Columbus/Detroit except the Bruins are gaining momentum that could serve them beyond this series.

Calgary 2 : Chicago 3

Chicago leads series 2-0
If Calgary can step up its defense and gain some traction on home ice, the tug-of-war between these teams will be awesome to watch.

NHL Teams Skating in Round 1 of Playoffs

Wednesday, April 15th

(7)Rangers 4
(2)Washington 3

The advantage goes to the Rangers because of who they are matched up with in the first round – they have nothing to lose. In order to ever advance further in their bid for the Stanley Cup, the Rangers will have to somehow reconcile with the notion that that a team has to earn its way to a Cup – step by step. Washington has done this and will most likely reap the rewards. If the Rangers can avoid player egos turning on each other at the first sign of adversity, which they can be sure will happen against the Caps, they just might have a chance to force Washington to say, “Phew that was a close call” at the end of this series.

(5)Philadelphia 1
(4)Pittsburgh 4

Although I am thrilled the Penguins beat the Flyers, it doesn’t mean much because the Flyers played sloppy and unless Philly completely falls apart, no doubt they will recover quickly from this loss and come out swinging Friday night. Don’t know if his leadership will be enough to break the Flyer’s habit of getting in their own way and choking when it comes to the post season but John Stevens is one clever coach – if the Pens drop their style of play for a second, the Flyers will seep into that space, however trading Scottie Upshall created vulnerability in the team chemistry so it’s an uphill climb for the Flyers to begin with, especially if any resentment is buzzing around the team towards management.

(6)Carolina 1
(3)New Jersey 3

New Jersey is a more seasoned team so let’s see if Carolina can regroup and utilize their speed and figure out a way around the Devil’s defense. Looking beyond the playoffs, Carolina is building nicely as a team. The outcome of this series will most likely be based on the Devils already being a nicely built team and if they were any more organized, it would be a team deficit.

(6) St. Louis 1
(3) Vancouver 2

Both teams are probably just glad to have made it over the playoff race finish line and compared to other teams, are in a playoff world of their own. This will be an interesting series to watch due to the skill set each team possesses. With both Chris Mason and Roberto Luongo in net, even more reason why this series will be interesting to watch.


Thursday, April 16

(7)Columbus 1
(2)Detroit 4

Columbus making their first appearance in the playoffs is a win all on its own. Having to play against the Red Wings is a great learning opportunity for Columbus, who will get to experience what’s ahead for them in future playoff years – what kind of effort it will take to be a Stanley Cup contender and what kind of force they will feel coming their way from an opponent should they make it that far – can’t say enough about how much can be learned from the force of resistance. Out of all the series, I am most curious to see what will happen between these two teams.

(5)Calgary 2
(4)Chicago 3 (OT)

Probably going to be to most ‘spirited’ series – as in it’s gonna get nasty out there. Anyone watching these games is in for quite a push and pull experience – which is some of the best hockey to watch.

(8)Montreal 2
(1)Boston 4

While watching Boston beat the Isles on Sunday I thought to myself – if Boston plays like this (lackluster) in the playoffs, they will get hammered. Don’t think Montreal has the endurance to chip away at Boston’s numero uno spot in the standings but they are capable of energy surges so the Bruins better make sure they recharge effectively between each game.

(8)Anaheim 2
(1)San Jose 0

San Jose has been the only team echoing in my mind in regards to the Stanley Cup. Either things are going to go really well or really bad for this team because of what and which teams they will have to endure to make it to the top of the NHL hill. This game, it appeared as though their bodies came out on the ice but their spirit did not. Probably a necessary loss for the Sharks, a bite on the butt from the Ducks as a reminder that there is no free lunch. My guess is the Sharks will bite back and chomp their way through this series.