NHL Season 08-09

[BadKarma]

Stealing Palin's format.

#1 Boston Bruins vs. #8 Montreal Canadiens
Boston in 7

#2 Washington Capitals vs. #7 New York Rangers
Rangers in 6

#3 New Jersey Devils vs. #6 Carolina Hurricanes
New Jersey in 5

#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Philadelphia Flyers
Flyers in 7


#1 San Jose Sharks vs. #8 Anaheim Ducks
San Jose in 7

#2 Detroit Red Wings vs. #7 Columbus Blue Jackets
Detroit in 5

#3 Vancouver Canucks vs. #6 St. Louis Blues
Vancouver in 6

#4 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #5 Calgary Flames
Flames in 6

[Ishido]

#1 Boston Bruins vs. #8 Montreal Canadiens
Boston in 6

#2 Washington Capitals vs. #7 New York Rangers
Capitals in 6

#3 New Jersey Devils vs. #6 Carolina Hurricanes
Devils in 7

#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Philadelphia Flyers
Flyers in 6


#1 San Jose Sharks vs. #8 Anaheim Ducks
San Jose in 7

#2 Detroit Red Wings vs. #7 Columbus Blue Jackets
Detroit in 5

#3 Vancouver Canucks vs. #6 St. Louis Blues
Vancouver in 5

#4 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #5 Calgary Flames
Blackhawks in 6

[Makaveli]

#1 Boston Bruins vs. #8 Montreal Canadiens
Boston in 5

#2 Washington Capitals vs. #7 New York Rangers
Capitals in 6

#3 New Jersey Devils vs. #6 Carolina Hurricanes
Hurricanes in 7

#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Philadelphia Flyers
Flyers in 6


#1 San Jose Sharks vs. #8 Anaheim Ducks
San Jose in 5

#2 Detroit Red Wings vs. #7 Columbus Blue Jackets
Jackets in 7

#3 Vancouver Canucks vs. #6 St. Louis Blues
Vancouver in 7

#4 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #5 Calgary Flames
Blackhawks in 6

[Sepukku]

Stealing Palin's format.

#1 Boston Bruins vs. #8 Montreal Canadiens
Boston in 7

#2 Washington Capitals vs. #7 New York Rangers
Rangers in 6

#3 New Jersey Devils vs. #6 Carolina Hurricanes
New Jersey in 5

#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Philadelphia Flyers
Flyers in 7


#1 San Jose Sharks vs. #8 Anaheim Ducks
San Jose in 7

#2 Detroit Red Wings vs. #7 Columbus Blue Jackets
Detroit in 5

#3 Vancouver Canucks vs. #6 St. Louis Blues
Vancouver in 6

#4 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #5 Calgary Flames
Flames in 6

Very ballsy picks. Calgary is doing God knows what lately and Chicago is pumped for the return of playoff hockey. I can't see the Habs pushing it to 6, or even 7 games. Carolina has been red hot as of late (even if they cooled a little the final weekend after they clinched). I also think Columbus won't lay down for the Wings, even if the Wings have more playoff experience than the rest of the NHL combined practically. Lidstrom has to have played more playoff games than Steve Mason's regular season career, easily. Same with Chelios.

[Ishido]

Lidstrom has to have played more playoff games than Steve Mason's regular season career, easily. Same with Chelios.

10 players with more playoff appearances than Mason has regular season appearances. Several with triple the number, Chelios has over quadruple (though he's not a starter).

[Brill Weave]

Wednesday can't come soon enough! It's playoff hockey time bitches!!!!

[Ace-o-fire]

#1 Boston Bruins vs. #8 Montreal Canadiens
Canadiens in 6

#2 Washington Capitals vs. #7 New York Rangers
Ranger in 7

#3 New Jersey Devils vs. #6 Carolina Hurricanes
Nj in 5

#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Philadelphia Flyers
Flyers 4

#1 San Jose Sharks vs. #8 Anaheim Ducks
Sharks 4

#2 Detroit Red Wings vs. #7 Columbus Blue Jackets
Detroit in 6

#3 Vancouver Canucks vs. #6 St. Louis Blues
St. Louis in 7

#4 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #5 Calgary Flames
Flame in 5

also we should have a beard off.

[BadKarma]

THANK YOU ACE, someone else who fucking thinks the rangers will win. I think the Rangers will outduel the Caps, and i honestly dont think that the Canes can keep it up.I Honestly think this is the Sharks year to win, they have played too well to shut down now, I think they will finally win in the playoffs.

[Brill Weave]

No beard off you fuckers! I just shaved on Saturday!

[Sepukku]

I don't think the Rangers stand a chance. 10 of their 43 wins came in a shootout, more than any other team. I just can't see a team who gets roughly 25% of its wins in a format that doesn't exist in the playoffs continuing that success against one of the most skilled teams in the playoffs.

[BadKarma]

I don't think the Rangers stand a chance. 10 of their 43 wins came in a shootout, more than any other team. I just can't see a team who gets roughly 25% of its wins in a format that doesn't exist in the playoffs continuing that success against one of the most skilled teams in the playoffs.

Be that as it may, they have a top 4 goaltender and have played incredibly well the last month.Theyve beaten Boston, Theyve manhandled the Devils and the Flyers, they can win.

[Brill Weave]

I think the Rangers have a shot against Washington. They have a fantastic goalie. The problem is that their scoring is iffy at best. Which I think the key to beating Washington is to fire an absurd amount of pucks at Theodore. I don't feel that he is mentally strong enough to stand up throughout the entire playoffs. He never has been. Should be an interesting series to say the least.

[Ratatapa]

We have a game they play on RDS with telus it's called a chain of player

The goal is you choose 1 player each Playoff day, from any game in that day (but cannot choose more then 1 player per game day)

and the goal is to go highest chain possible, you get +1 in the chain if your choosen player get 1 pt in the game at least eithe a goal or an assist

Prize is a Meeting with Martin Brodeur + money



So i picked Gomez for April 15 game

And Kovalev for April 16 game.

They better not deceive me lol

[Vedder]

Format Steal!

#1 Boston Bruins vs. #8 Montreal Canadiens
Boston in 5

#2 Washington Capitals vs. #7 New York Rangers
Washington in 5

#3 New Jersey Devils vs. #6 Carolina Hurricanes
CANES in 6

#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Philadelphia Flyers
Pens in 6


#1 San Jose Sharks vs. #8 Anaheim Ducks
San Jose in 7

#2 Detroit Red Wings vs. #7 Columbus Blue Jackets
Detroit in 6

#3 Vancouver Canucks vs. #6 St. Louis Blues
St. Louis in 7

#4 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #5 Calgary Flames
Chicago in 7


Most everyone hating on my Canes, but they were one of the hottest teams coming down the stretch and pretty much owned the Devils during the regular season. Only reason I don't have them winning in 5 is because Brodeur will pull a Brodeur and win a game in the series all by himself.

P.S. - And hurray for Buffatucky missing the playoffs this year! :D

[Oxyminus]

#1 Boston Bruins vs. #8 Montreal Canadiens
Boston in 5

#2 Washington Capitals vs. #7 New York Rangers
Rangers in 6

#3 New Jersey Devils vs. #6 Carolina Hurricanes
Canes in 7

#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Philadelphia Flyers
Pens in 6


#1 San Jose Sharks vs. #8 Anaheim Ducks
San Jose in 7

#2 Detroit Red Wings vs. #7 Columbus Blue Jackets
Detroit in 6

#3 Vancouver Canucks vs. #6 St. Louis Blues
Vancouver in 6

#4 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #5 Calgary Flames
Chicago in 7

For the only series I care about...I see it like this:

Nobody is going to question the Caps have more offense than the Rangers. Ovechkin is a total beast and as a good supporting cast around him in Semin, Backstrom, Nylander, Green, Etc... The Rangers don't have the same kind of firepower, and is evident by their struggles to score (consistently) all season. What they at least have going for them now is they are getting BALANCED scoring. Drury is finally getting hot, Dubinky had 2 goals last game, Naslund/Zherdev/Gomez have all been point/game players down the stretch. Callahan continues to work hard and get results. Antrapov has been a force since getting to NYR. Can they keep it going? No idea. But the whole forward corp has been better since Tortorella took over.

Defensively the Caps have Mike Green...an offensive dynamo who is not much of a player in his own end...nor are the rest of them. The Rangers still are one of the best TEAMS defensively around. Outside of Staal they don't have any legit "shutdown" Dmen, but the one good thing Renney left in this group is it takes all five skaters to play defense. Personally I think the Staal V. Ovechkin matchup will be a ball to watch. I don't know if Staal can stop him (can anyone really stop Ovechkin?) but Staal has been put in the position of being "the guy" all year for this team and answers the call. Washington is not nearly as good a defensive team...but who on the Rangers is going to force them to be? Rangers lack a legit game-breaker and will have to cash in on nearly opportunity they generate.

Goalie matchup isn't even close. This is the Rangers saving grace. Lundqvist can steal a game, maybe a series. He's been white hot to close out the season (sunday in philly not withstanding) and he loves high pressure situations. He has to be 111% every game, no softies, or anything. Theodore is serviceable, but it's likely he won't win the Caps any games on his play alone.

If the Rangers offensive can peak while Theodore is not playing so hot, things look good. Even though the Rangers have the best PK in the league, for the love of god don't take dumb/lazy penalties. Rangers PP has always been a joke, but come playoffs time it's about timely goals, that's all I can ask for.

If the games turn into shootouts, the Rangers will lose. They simply don't have the firepower to stay with the Caps in 5-4 type games. As much as their up-tempo style is made to generate more offense, they've remained a VERY good defensive team and have been playing playoff type hockey for a while. Keep the scores low, win games, advance.

And of course there's Sean Avery...As someone once said (not here) "Avery's antics work as much as the other team lets him". I don't know who he will "go after" but love him or hate him (as everyone but Rangers fan do) he gets people off their game. Does he drastically change the series? Doubt it. But if he can goad Ovechkin into a fight at some point in the series, I'll take those 5 minutes any night.

Short Version:

Offense - Caps
Defense - Rangers
Goaltending - Rangers
Special Teams - Draw
X-Factor - Rangers

Rangers in 6

Don't like it? Call me a homer? fine with me. Didn't root for my team for 82 games to stop rooting for them at game 83 when it finally matters. Can't wait to be @ MSG next wednesday (stupid class I have to miss game 3)

LETS GO RANGERS!!!

[Abraxas]

pens in 6 is lol

[Ivaden]

I have no doubt the Pens-Flyers series will go to seven games. Gonna be a tough series but if the Penguins come out of it alive and manage to go to the next round, I think momentum from beating their biggest rival will carry them. We have a lot more playoff experience with the players added to our roster throughout this season, and I think that'll go a long way in helping our younger stars keep level headed. The Pens depth is incredible, too. I'd think the Penguins are pretty lucky to have people like Talbot, Dupuis, Satan, Adams ready for a fourth line... where two of them were playing on the first two lines pretty consistently last year. Our third line is like another second line right now, too.

Fuck, I can't wait for tonight. Playing Philly is always a blast. Let's go Pens!

[Abraxas]

idk, the pens lost alot of good players from last year's run. and i wouldnt be too ecstatic about Satan being on the fourth line. he's there due to being demoted throughout the year, which wasnt suprising. he's one of the biggest flukes in the NHL, year in and year out.

the Pens may have depth, but i think they are outmatched by the Flyers in that department.

tbh, i think the deciding factor will be Bylsma vs Stevens. This is Dan's first time in the NHL playoffs. Therien had the first round knockout 2 yrs ago to prep for last year's run, while Stevens had last year's conference finals run. Bylsma hasnt been there before.

and ouch at Crosby being +3.

[Sepukku]

pens in 6 is lol

Yeah you're right, pens in 4 sounds much better

I don't think it'll end in 4, 6 is the bare minimum, but I look forward to our victory.

[Abraxas]

you're awfully confident.

i think Pens fans are spoiled from last year. i hope the flyers send you guys on vacation