Conference Semi-Finals

What a first round it was for the Eastern Conference that finds itself much different looking then many anticipated at this point. The Eastern Conference looked to be all about the top 4 teams as the bottom 4 limped into the playoffs on the last few days of the season. The way the bottom half of the East was playing this year had many calling for the top 16 teams to be in the playoffs as opposed to the top 8 from each conference. After the first round finished the Eastern Conference said goodbye to seeds 1,2 and 3 as Washington, New Jersey, and Buffalo were all eliminated by Montreal, Philadelphia, and Boston. The only team that moved on that was expected to was the Pittsburgh Penguins as they defeated the Ottawa Senators in 6 games. Philadelphia, the last team to make it into the playoffs, disarmed the 2 seed New Jersey Devils in only 5 games and were the first team into the second round. The Boston Bruins took care of the Buffalo Sabers quite easily and the Montreal Canadians took care of the top team in the Washington Capitals in 7. All of that leaves us with is Pittsburgh, Boston, Philadelphia and Montreal.

1. 4  Pittsburgh Penguins vs 8 Montreal Canadians
The Pittsburgh Penguins are coming off back to back seasons making it to the Stanley Cup Finals while the Montreal Canadians are running on fumes after just taking out the team everyone felt would be not stopped in the East, the Washington Capitals. The Penguins are basically the same team as last year and are not looking to surprise anyone. They won their title last year and are looking to repeat. Sidney Crosby had another great season as he is once again a contender for the Hart Trophy. Evgeni Malkin was less impressive this year as was the play of Marc-Andre Fleury. This team will need both of them to step up and be solid if they are seriously looking at repeating. Montreal is a team I didn't think I would be talking about still but here they are. Down 3-1 to Washington, the Montreal Canadians shocked everyone when they won three straight to take down the President's Trophy winners. The main reason for the upset was the tremendous play of G Jaroslav Halak. Halak allowed only 3 goals against in the final 3 games of the series on 134 shots. Just incredible numbers for a goalie who was not considered the number 1 throughout the entire season. Montreal has exactly what it needs to surprise not only Washington but Pittsburgh as well and that is a hot goalie and a team that believes. The Penguins are not going out easy and will make this quite the series. Being safe will get you know where though and sometimes you have to branch out and go with the unexpected. Will beats skill, every time.

Montreal in 7

2. 6 Boston Bruins vs 7 Philadelphia Flyers
 The Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers were teams that at the beginning of the season were picked to fight for the top spot in the conference. Tim Thomas finished last season with the Vezina as the best goalie in the league and the Flyers traded for Chris Pronger and signed G Ray Emery. They were eventually the pre-season pick for the annual Winter Classic, then the season started. Neither team started the season the way anyone thought they would. Tim Thomas was not the same from the year before and the team missed the scoring from Phil Kessel after he was traded to Toronto. Although at this point it looks like Boston won in that trade as they will be receiving next years 2nd overall pick in the draft. Tukka Rask took over for Tim Thomas and is looking incredibly strong. Philadelphia then started out the season playing well and looking strong, then injuries set in and the poor play began. The play of Ray Emery was not too impressive but the drop off was noticeable 
when Brian Boucher came in when Emery needed hip surgery. Micheal Leighton was eventually brought in off waviers as a short time solution. Unexpectedly, Leighton came in and was sensational and even matched Emery in total season wins in less games played.All seemed to be right again in Philly until down went Leighton and back in came Boucher. Boucher has struggled mightily at times but he was able to play well enough to help the Flyers fight into the playoffs on the last day of the season. Players that need to step up include David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, Marc Savard and Milan Lucic for Boston. For Philadelphia it's Daniel Briere, Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell and James Van Riemsdyk. Injuries are key in this series as the Bruins are without Marco Sturm and are just welcoming back Marc Savard who hasn't played since March 7. The Flyers lost Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne, Ian Laperriere and Michael Leighton. Gagne and Leighton have potential for a return but Carter and Laperriere look to be done for the year. This will be a gritty series with a lot of phyisicality. The Bruins were the lowest scoring team in the league this year and are where they are because of team defense. The Flyers will need Boucher to stand on his head and will look to leaders such as Mike Richards and Chris Pronger to carry them. Tukka Rask started a total of 5 games before this season but is looking great for Boston but will his lack of experience be an issue? Going on hart and belief...


Flyers in 7

The Western Conference playoffs could have had a new look to them had a few teams advanced to the second round but it was not to be. The Phoenix Coyotes took the Detroit Redwings to 7 games before going down and the Los Angeles Kings went 6 before losing to the Vancouver Canucks. Both the Kings and Coyotes spent the last 8 years watching the playoffs from home. The San Jose Sharks survived a quick scare from the Colorado Avalanche as they looked to not repeat last years fiasco of bowing out in the first round as the top seed. Then the Chicago Blackhawks took care of the Nashville Predators in 6 games, a series that showed some weaknesses for the eventual winners. This then left San Jose, Chicago, Vancouver and Detroit. 


1. 1. San Jose Sharks vs 5 Detroit Redwings
The San Jose Sharks are the top team once again in the West but this time they find themselves in the second round. The Detroit Redwings fought threw early injuries and the possibility of not making the playoffs to eventually sitting at the 5 seed. The Sharks had some early difficulties with the Colorado Avalanche and didn't get much scoring from the big names such as Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley and Patrick Marleau. Joe Pavelski, Devin Setoguchi and Ryan Clowe will all also need to chip in if San Jose is going to finally break over the hump. The Detroit Redwings must be an exhausted hockey team. This team has been to the finals the last two seasons and hasn't missed the playoffs since 1990. Think about the fact that they have played 2 months more hockey than every other team except for Pittsburgh the last two seasons. That's that much less rest for a team that is here and ready to do it again. They fought through the injuries and quickly became the team no one wanted to play. It took them 7 games to get through a Phoenix Coyotes team that was destined to prove the world wrong. They still have all the talent and all the experience with Niklas Lidstrom, Paval Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen and Brian Rafalski. The one thing they no longer have is complete confidence in their goaltender. As much a Detroit fans want to credit Jimmy Howard with the success at the end of the season, when that team got healthy is when they began to pick it up again. Both teams have the star power up front but I'm not psyched on either G Jimmy Howard or G Evgeni Nabakov. Detroit is a very strong team and will be for years but Jimmy Howard will be the reason for this seasons failures. In time he may be the answer but not quite yet.


San Jose in 6

2. 2. Chicago Blackhawks vs 3 Vancouver Canucks
The Chicago Blackhawks burst onto the playoff scene last year with the emergence of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. It looked good to have a big market like Chicago with a team primed to make so serious playoff noise. Experience caught up to them when they eventually met the Detroit Redwings in the Western Conference finals. Here they once again meet the Vancouver Canucks in the semis after beating them last year. The Blackhawks have a bit of a new look this year with the loss of G Nikolai Khabibulin and Martin Havlet and the addition of Marian Hossa. The Vancouver Canucks are a story that involves the same players as last season just playing better hockey. The Vancouver Canucks were led by the sensational play of Henrik Sedin who finished the regular season with 112 points. He and brother Daniel Sedin are very difficult to stop along with Alex Burrows, Ryan Kesler and Pavol Demitra. Don't forget about Mikael Samuelsson whom the Canucks got from Detroit, a player with a lot of talent and perfect for this team in the playoffs. The Blackhawks will be once again relying on great hockey from Kane and Toews along with Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa, Brian Campbell, Duncan Keith and John Madden. Chicago has the talent and should be able to win this series on paper. Vancouver does have one advantage that may be a big one, Roberto Luongo. Roberto Luongo is the captain of the Canucks and will look to lead them in this series but will he be able to stop all of the Blackhawks weapons? Antti Niemi has looked shaky and this may mean we could see Cristobal Huet in the lineup at some point. Will the loss of Khabibulin and Havelt for Marian Hossa be the answer for the Blackhawks? Or will it prove to be the wrong move?


Chicago in 6