Another year, another dream, another goal to reach the Stanley Cup!
We are here once again with the playoffs in the not so distant horizon (actually, more like 30 minutes away). While I probably won't be as consumed this year by all things hockey, I'm going to try to post as often as I can.
WARNING: this post contains excessive amounts of hockey-related content. If you feel like reading 2 pages of hockey-related ramblings written by someone who knows little about hockey and have that kind of time to spare, read on!
First of all, they changed the playoff format this year after the realignment that happened at the beginning of this season. So now the Eastern Conference has 16 teams and the Western Conference has 14 teams and playoff positioning or home-ice is more relative to your positioning within your own division rather than across the conference as it was in years past. There are now 4 divisions in the league, Metropolitan and Atlantic in the East, Pacific and Central in the West. This causes a lot of confusion especially when you throw in the wild-card teams that sit at 7th and 8th in each conference. Basically, the top 8 teams still qualify for the playoffs BUT if you have more than an even number of teams qualifying from the same division, another team from a different division that's short a team will qualify regardless of how many points they have (I think?). So now the standings in the playoffs will be divided based on each division and there isn't a "8th seed" anymore but rather 2 sets of 4 teams from each division. Confused yet? I know I am. Anyways, this is a total mess and I even screwed up my own bracket that I make up every year trying to sort out this new format.
Again, I'm a Penguins fan. I know that the Penguins really aren't looked to be the winners this season either because while they are a dominant team in the regular season, they've been very disappointing in the post season since they won the Cup in 2009. Marc-Andre Fleury has had some epic meltdowns and the coaching of Dan Bylsma has been questioned repeated, which admittedly, is not without my own doubts as well. Nonetheless, I remain a Penguin faithful and wish for their best.
Now, for what I think will happen. Keep in mind that this is MY own opinion and not that of someone else's. I know I'm going to get things wrong and not everyone (or anyone) is going to agree with what I have say. I'm just writing what I know about each team and what I think may (or may not) happen.
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
#4 Detroit Red Wings vs. #1 Boston Bruins: the hate between these two teams haven't really had a chance to build because, honestly, the Red Wings just moved back into the east with this year's realignment. This series is pitting the best of the league and the overwhelming favourite to win the Cup in Boston, the team who made it to the Cup Final last year with the perennial playoff contenders in Detroit. This is the 23rd consecutive year for the Red Wings qualifying for the playoffs and you can't be a team that people don't take seriously if you've made it to the playoffs more times than some teams have existed in the league. At the same time, Detroit hasn't made it far in the playoffs since 2009 while Boston has won a Cup and played in the most recent Cup Final since then so this Boston team is a very hungry team. The Bruins play a physical style that will really test the finesse game that the Red Wings have really perfected over the years in the Western Conference. For me, this is one of the 2 VERY interesting series to watch because while these two teams have no real animosity or even a slight dislike for each other, they will probably build some VERY quickly with the way Boston plays. The biggest questions heading into this series for Detroit is the health of Pavel Datsyuk and the fact that they will have to play without their captain Henrik Zetterberg. While for Boston, they have to wonder how their style is going to hold up against the finesse game of Detroit. --> Prediction: Detroit in 7. (not the popular pick at all since, you know, Cup favourite out in first round isn't great for television)
#3 Montreal Canadiens vs #2 Tampa Bay Lightning: so we have the lone Canadian team in this series against the Steven Stamkos show. Tampa Bay goes into the series without their top goaltender after an upper-body injury. Montreal goes in with gold medal winning goalie Carey Price and Norris Trophy winning defenseman PK Subban. Oh good, this series looks like it's going to be exceeding lopsided just on paper alone. While it's not to say that Tampa Bay won't put up a fight since they did manage to claim home-ice advantage, and a lot of players in Montreal are coming off injuries or extra play during the Olympics...it's a grim look for that team. Major questions of Tampa's ability to score now that Stamkos is permanently without his set-up main (who was traded away at his request). All Montreal has to do is sit tight and maybe they'll be okay? --> Prediction: Tampa Bay in 6 (I'm not crazy, I swear. I'm going on a gut feeling here)
Metropolitan Division
#4 Columbus Blue Jackets vs #1 Pittsburgh Penguins: well, I'm already thinking of all the ways people are saying that the Blue Jackets aren't really contenders yet since this is only the 2nd appearance in the playoffs for the franchise HOWEVER! this is a young team that has a lot hunger in wanting to prove themselves so I won't count them out right off the hop. For the Penguins, this playoffs will hopefully see them finally chase some of their demons in recent past playoff meltdowns. Marc-Andre Fleury will have to prove that he can be that #1 goalie again and that their system in the playoffs works. The Penguins will have to watch their discipline and stop giving away the puck because playing with the puck is easier than without it, usually. There will hopefully be some good news on the injury front for the Penguins as well as they are anticipating the return of Evgeni Malkin for the first round. On the flip side, the Blue Jackets are confident in their Vezina Trophy winning goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, a Philadelphia Flyers goalie carousel castoff and a man who gave the Penguins nightmares a few years back. The Blue Jackets are going into the series with essentially nothing to lose, which is a scary thing because those are teams that often do a lot better than anticipated. Also, this is the first time Sidney Crosby will be facing his former classmate and good friend, Jack Johnson, a defenseman for Columbus. --> Prediction: Penguins in 5 (the Blue Jackets have to prove they can before we believe they can)
#3 Philadelphia Flyers vs #2 New York Rangers: the match up TO WATCH in the East. These two teams have met enough times over the years as division rivals when they were both still part of the Atlantic division and now part of the Metropolitan. These 2 teams know each other well and the physical play of the Flyers up against the...uh...style of the Rangers. I'm not sure what I can call the style of the Rangers since they basically rely entirely on their goalie Henrik Lundqvist and hope that their forwards can manage 1-2 goals before the game ends so...yeah. That being said, they did add veteran presence in Martin St. Louis who ditched Tampa Bay after the Olympic disaster in not being named to the team and all. Philadelphia will have to show the world that they're more than just the "Broad Street Bullies". They will also have to prove that their goalie carousel will actually produce something of use rather than for it to continue spinning as they continue to find some stability in net. --> Prediction: Philadelphia in 6 (again, not the popular choice but it's my gut feeling)
Now flipping over the left coast, where the writing for each team drops even more dramatically because I have no idea what to say! I live on the East Coast so I rarely if ever catch any of the late games so I have a very limited knowledge of some of these teams.
Western Conference
Pacific Division
#4 Dallas Stars vs #1 Anaheim Ducks: the surprising Stars against the Duck machine. The Ducks are the 2nd best team in the league this year and a team to be feared UNLESS you can get by their 1-line scoring machine. The Ducks are entirely dependent on their top line to score and the rest of the team are almost just along for the ride so it'll be interesting to see what happens when secondary scoring becomes that much more important in the playoffs. Also, the goaltending that was a hallmark of the team has suddenly seen a massive stumble so regardless of who they put in net, it's still a major question mark. Lastly, this is Teemu Selanne's swan song of playoffs (so he says anyways) so will the team rally behind that and maybe give him one last run? On the flip side, the Stars are a team that no one really thought would make the playoffs but are here because of the new format. The team doesn't have much big name talent but they are like the borg, they work together. They do have Tyler Seguin, a guy with a lot of playoff experience despite being only 23. --> Prediction: Anaheim in 5 (because Anaheim is a better team)
#3 LA Kings vs #2 San Jose Sharks: the biggest match-up in the West. Body for body, pound for pound, the biggest 2 teams in the West. The Kings are a team literally built for the playoffs with physical play, offense, defense and good goaltending in Jonathan Quick. The Sharks are the perennial question mark of whether they can finally get over the hump or just fade into the sunset like they've done every year. Either way, whoever emerges from this bloodbath series victorious will likely either be in very good shape to take a solid run in the West or just go down in flames because they'll be so banged up and injured just from surviving this series. --> Prediction: LA Kings in 7 (the Kings are just that good in my mind)
Central Division
#4 Chicago Blackhawks vs #1 St Louis Blues: both of these teams were amazing before the Olympics and suddenly forgot how to play down the stretch. The Blues are coming into the playoffs having lost their last 6 straight games while the Blackhawks struggled in early April before finally finding their footing again a week before the playoffs start. While the Blues can blame all the injuries and fatigue from the Olympics, you still have to question whether that slide will continue into the playoffs. Also, will this be the time Ryan Miller can finally prove to the world that he is that world-class goaltender we thought he was or will he forget how to play like the rest of his team did? Chicago will be getting captain Jonathan Toews back for the playoffs and they continue to have the core group that they had from last year's Cup win so this is a team that knows how to win, having won 2 Cups in the last 4 years, more than any other team post salary cap era. --> Prediction: Chicago in 7 (a hard-fought win for Chicago but playoff experience has to count for something)
#3 Minnesota Wild vs #2 Colorado Avalanche: the feel good story of the season with Colorado making the playoffs with rookie head coach Patrick Roy at the helm. The team's motto this year was "Why Not Us?" and they have definitely answered that question and will continue to do so as they begin their march into the playoffs. This is a young team, a team that doesn't have big names but a team that really bought into their system and plays well together and shares the scoring load. They have young captain Gabriel Landeskog, former #1 pick Nathan MacKinnon, and the possible swan song for JS Giguere, so will this team rally behind the possibly retiring goalie to give him the best send off possible? As for Minnesota, this is the other team that no one really knows about. They score as a group, they have depth at every position and the only real question is in net because they honestly have no one. --> Prediction: Colorado in 6 (continuing the feel good story)
Now that the playoffs have officially begun, we can sit back and watch the drama unfold!
WARNING: this post contains excessive amounts of hockey-related content. If you feel like reading 2 pages of hockey-related ramblings written by someone who knows little about hockey and have that kind of time to spare, read on!
First of all, they changed the playoff format this year after the realignment that happened at the beginning of this season. So now the Eastern Conference has 16 teams and the Western Conference has 14 teams and playoff positioning or home-ice is more relative to your positioning within your own division rather than across the conference as it was in years past. There are now 4 divisions in the league, Metropolitan and Atlantic in the East, Pacific and Central in the West. This causes a lot of confusion especially when you throw in the wild-card teams that sit at 7th and 8th in each conference. Basically, the top 8 teams still qualify for the playoffs BUT if you have more than an even number of teams qualifying from the same division, another team from a different division that's short a team will qualify regardless of how many points they have (I think?). So now the standings in the playoffs will be divided based on each division and there isn't a "8th seed" anymore but rather 2 sets of 4 teams from each division. Confused yet? I know I am. Anyways, this is a total mess and I even screwed up my own bracket that I make up every year trying to sort out this new format.
Again, I'm a Penguins fan. I know that the Penguins really aren't looked to be the winners this season either because while they are a dominant team in the regular season, they've been very disappointing in the post season since they won the Cup in 2009. Marc-Andre Fleury has had some epic meltdowns and the coaching of Dan Bylsma has been questioned repeated, which admittedly, is not without my own doubts as well. Nonetheless, I remain a Penguin faithful and wish for their best.
Now, for what I think will happen. Keep in mind that this is MY own opinion and not that of someone else's. I know I'm going to get things wrong and not everyone (or anyone) is going to agree with what I have say. I'm just writing what I know about each team and what I think may (or may not) happen.
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
#4 Detroit Red Wings vs. #1 Boston Bruins: the hate between these two teams haven't really had a chance to build because, honestly, the Red Wings just moved back into the east with this year's realignment. This series is pitting the best of the league and the overwhelming favourite to win the Cup in Boston, the team who made it to the Cup Final last year with the perennial playoff contenders in Detroit. This is the 23rd consecutive year for the Red Wings qualifying for the playoffs and you can't be a team that people don't take seriously if you've made it to the playoffs more times than some teams have existed in the league. At the same time, Detroit hasn't made it far in the playoffs since 2009 while Boston has won a Cup and played in the most recent Cup Final since then so this Boston team is a very hungry team. The Bruins play a physical style that will really test the finesse game that the Red Wings have really perfected over the years in the Western Conference. For me, this is one of the 2 VERY interesting series to watch because while these two teams have no real animosity or even a slight dislike for each other, they will probably build some VERY quickly with the way Boston plays. The biggest questions heading into this series for Detroit is the health of Pavel Datsyuk and the fact that they will have to play without their captain Henrik Zetterberg. While for Boston, they have to wonder how their style is going to hold up against the finesse game of Detroit. --> Prediction: Detroit in 7. (not the popular pick at all since, you know, Cup favourite out in first round isn't great for television)
#3 Montreal Canadiens vs #2 Tampa Bay Lightning: so we have the lone Canadian team in this series against the Steven Stamkos show. Tampa Bay goes into the series without their top goaltender after an upper-body injury. Montreal goes in with gold medal winning goalie Carey Price and Norris Trophy winning defenseman PK Subban. Oh good, this series looks like it's going to be exceeding lopsided just on paper alone. While it's not to say that Tampa Bay won't put up a fight since they did manage to claim home-ice advantage, and a lot of players in Montreal are coming off injuries or extra play during the Olympics...it's a grim look for that team. Major questions of Tampa's ability to score now that Stamkos is permanently without his set-up main (who was traded away at his request). All Montreal has to do is sit tight and maybe they'll be okay? --> Prediction: Tampa Bay in 6 (I'm not crazy, I swear. I'm going on a gut feeling here)
Metropolitan Division
#4 Columbus Blue Jackets vs #1 Pittsburgh Penguins: well, I'm already thinking of all the ways people are saying that the Blue Jackets aren't really contenders yet since this is only the 2nd appearance in the playoffs for the franchise HOWEVER! this is a young team that has a lot hunger in wanting to prove themselves so I won't count them out right off the hop. For the Penguins, this playoffs will hopefully see them finally chase some of their demons in recent past playoff meltdowns. Marc-Andre Fleury will have to prove that he can be that #1 goalie again and that their system in the playoffs works. The Penguins will have to watch their discipline and stop giving away the puck because playing with the puck is easier than without it, usually. There will hopefully be some good news on the injury front for the Penguins as well as they are anticipating the return of Evgeni Malkin for the first round. On the flip side, the Blue Jackets are confident in their Vezina Trophy winning goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, a Philadelphia Flyers goalie carousel castoff and a man who gave the Penguins nightmares a few years back. The Blue Jackets are going into the series with essentially nothing to lose, which is a scary thing because those are teams that often do a lot better than anticipated. Also, this is the first time Sidney Crosby will be facing his former classmate and good friend, Jack Johnson, a defenseman for Columbus. --> Prediction: Penguins in 5 (the Blue Jackets have to prove they can before we believe they can)
#3 Philadelphia Flyers vs #2 New York Rangers: the match up TO WATCH in the East. These two teams have met enough times over the years as division rivals when they were both still part of the Atlantic division and now part of the Metropolitan. These 2 teams know each other well and the physical play of the Flyers up against the...uh...style of the Rangers. I'm not sure what I can call the style of the Rangers since they basically rely entirely on their goalie Henrik Lundqvist and hope that their forwards can manage 1-2 goals before the game ends so...yeah. That being said, they did add veteran presence in Martin St. Louis who ditched Tampa Bay after the Olympic disaster in not being named to the team and all. Philadelphia will have to show the world that they're more than just the "Broad Street Bullies". They will also have to prove that their goalie carousel will actually produce something of use rather than for it to continue spinning as they continue to find some stability in net. --> Prediction: Philadelphia in 6 (again, not the popular choice but it's my gut feeling)
Now flipping over the left coast, where the writing for each team drops even more dramatically because I have no idea what to say! I live on the East Coast so I rarely if ever catch any of the late games so I have a very limited knowledge of some of these teams.
Western Conference
Pacific Division
#4 Dallas Stars vs #1 Anaheim Ducks: the surprising Stars against the Duck machine. The Ducks are the 2nd best team in the league this year and a team to be feared UNLESS you can get by their 1-line scoring machine. The Ducks are entirely dependent on their top line to score and the rest of the team are almost just along for the ride so it'll be interesting to see what happens when secondary scoring becomes that much more important in the playoffs. Also, the goaltending that was a hallmark of the team has suddenly seen a massive stumble so regardless of who they put in net, it's still a major question mark. Lastly, this is Teemu Selanne's swan song of playoffs (so he says anyways) so will the team rally behind that and maybe give him one last run? On the flip side, the Stars are a team that no one really thought would make the playoffs but are here because of the new format. The team doesn't have much big name talent but they are like the borg, they work together. They do have Tyler Seguin, a guy with a lot of playoff experience despite being only 23. --> Prediction: Anaheim in 5 (because Anaheim is a better team)
#3 LA Kings vs #2 San Jose Sharks: the biggest match-up in the West. Body for body, pound for pound, the biggest 2 teams in the West. The Kings are a team literally built for the playoffs with physical play, offense, defense and good goaltending in Jonathan Quick. The Sharks are the perennial question mark of whether they can finally get over the hump or just fade into the sunset like they've done every year. Either way, whoever emerges from this bloodbath series victorious will likely either be in very good shape to take a solid run in the West or just go down in flames because they'll be so banged up and injured just from surviving this series. --> Prediction: LA Kings in 7 (the Kings are just that good in my mind)
Central Division
#4 Chicago Blackhawks vs #1 St Louis Blues: both of these teams were amazing before the Olympics and suddenly forgot how to play down the stretch. The Blues are coming into the playoffs having lost their last 6 straight games while the Blackhawks struggled in early April before finally finding their footing again a week before the playoffs start. While the Blues can blame all the injuries and fatigue from the Olympics, you still have to question whether that slide will continue into the playoffs. Also, will this be the time Ryan Miller can finally prove to the world that he is that world-class goaltender we thought he was or will he forget how to play like the rest of his team did? Chicago will be getting captain Jonathan Toews back for the playoffs and they continue to have the core group that they had from last year's Cup win so this is a team that knows how to win, having won 2 Cups in the last 4 years, more than any other team post salary cap era. --> Prediction: Chicago in 7 (a hard-fought win for Chicago but playoff experience has to count for something)
#3 Minnesota Wild vs #2 Colorado Avalanche: the feel good story of the season with Colorado making the playoffs with rookie head coach Patrick Roy at the helm. The team's motto this year was "Why Not Us?" and they have definitely answered that question and will continue to do so as they begin their march into the playoffs. This is a young team, a team that doesn't have big names but a team that really bought into their system and plays well together and shares the scoring load. They have young captain Gabriel Landeskog, former #1 pick Nathan MacKinnon, and the possible swan song for JS Giguere, so will this team rally behind the possibly retiring goalie to give him the best send off possible? As for Minnesota, this is the other team that no one really knows about. They score as a group, they have depth at every position and the only real question is in net because they honestly have no one. --> Prediction: Colorado in 6 (continuing the feel good story)
Now that the playoffs have officially begun, we can sit back and watch the drama unfold!