Pretenders contenders in NHL playofffs | Page 2 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Pretenders contenders in NHL playofffs

MARINO1384 said:
How far do u think the Ducks will go? I absolutly love Teemu Selanne he has one of the best wrist shots i've ever seen. Unfortunetly i don't get to watch like any games cuz i don't have the nhl package so i can't really tell how there playin except for stats and little espn briefings.
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As far as Jean Sebastian Gigure can take them, now if you remember the last time we saw him in the playoffs he may have had the greatest goaltending playoff performance i've ever seen. If he can repeat that magic and dominate between the pipes the Ducks are going to be a dangerous team out west. I just hope that if they reach the finals we dont have to watch clips from Disney movies every five seconds :tantrum:
 
EAST

Carolina - A cinderalla story all season. Martin Gerber may be the biggest surprise of the season. This team is young,fast and skilled. I see them however having problems with the more experience and physical teams of the east. They could reach teh conference finals but i see them bowing out second round.

Ottawa - An offensive powerhouse with exceptional defensive corps. Hasek went down in the Olympics and hasnt played since and took himself off the ice on friday practice. Is their offense powerful enough to make it so Emery doest have to be spectacular? I say no. I think, depending on who they draw, they could be gone after teh first round.

New York Rangers - Another cinderalla team. This team got its success with the stellar backstopping of rookie Henrik Lundqvist. This team can win without Jagr scoring, but cannot without Lundqvist in net. They go as far as Lundqvist will take them. Their D is soft and rather slow though sio they may not be able to skate with teams like Ottawa or Carolina.

Philadelphia Flyers - It seems like it is the same every year. They dont have a consistent goaltender. Esche or Nittymaki? It looks like it will be Esche to start the playoffs and thats not good. How healthy is Forsberg's groin? This team will not go far.

New Jersey Devils - The hottest team in the NHL right now. Their offense is the X factor for them. It has been hott as of late but its 90% from teh gionta,gomez,elias line. Shut down that line and their is little offense. For as hott as they are now, i can see them burning out.

Montreal - Riding the coattails of Cristobal Huet, this team comes in huge underdogs IMO. Huet can only carry them so far. I dont like their Offense or their Defense. a fast exit IMO.

Tampa Bay - This one is real easy. No goaltending. Worse off than the flyers actually and thats sad. They do however have experience. If Grahame can catch fire, watch out.

West coming up in a lil bit
 
Slappy8800 said:
EAST

Carolina - A cinderalla story all season. Martin Gerber may be the biggest surprise of the season. This team is young,fast and skilled. I see them however having problems with the more experience and physical teams of the east. They could reach teh conference finals but i see them bowing out second round.

Ottawa - An offensive powerhouse with exceptional defensive corps. Hasek went down in the Olympics and hasnt played since and took himself off the ice on friday practice. Is their offense powerful enough to make it so Emery doest have to be spectacular? I say no. I think, depending on who they draw, they could be gone after teh first round.

New York Rangers - Another cinderalla team. This team got its success with the stellar backstopping of rookie Henrik Lundqvist. This team can win without Jagr scoring, but cannot without Lundqvist in net. They go as far as Lundqvist will take them. Their D is soft and rather slow though sio they may not be able to skate with teams like Ottawa or Carolina.

Philadelphia Flyers - It seems like it is the same every year. They dont have a consistent goaltender. Esche or Nittymaki? It looks like it will be Esche to start the playoffs and thats not good. How healthy is Forsberg's groin? This team will not go far.

New Jersey Devils - The hottest team in the NHL right now. Their offense is the X factor for them. It has been hott as of late but its 90% from teh gionta,gomez,elias line. Shut down that line and their is little offense. For as hott as they are now, i can see them burning out.

Montreal - Riding the coattails of Cristobal Huet, this team comes in huge underdogs IMO. Huet can only carry them so far. I dont like their Offense or their Defense. a fast exit IMO.

Tampa Bay - This one is real easy. No goaltending. Worse off than the flyers actually and thats sad. They do however have experience. If Grahame can catch fire, watch out.

West coming up in a lil bit
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you forgot the sabres:shakeno:
 
My pick from the East is Ottawa(I chose them to win the Cup at the beginning of the year)

Darkhorse of the East: New Jersey even though they lack size for the physical part of the playoffs there offense is good and goaltending is best in the East.

My pick for the West is Calgary I was unsure if they would perform the same way as they did when they went to the Stanley cup during that playoff run but they did play well this season and have my pick!

Darkhorse Pick of the West: Edmonton! I know this sounds a little outrageous because you have anahein and San Jose playing amazing and Edmonton set up to face Detroit first series but I think Detroit is overrated because they got to face Chicago Columbus and St louis 24 times combined thats a little under one third of there season!
 
ok west playoff bracket is finalized

Detroit vs. Oilers - Detroit in 4 easily
Stars vs. Avs - Stars should win in 4-5 games
Flames vs. Ducks - GOOD GOOD series. I like Anaheim to upset in 6
Predators vs. Sharks - Sharks in 5 if that
 
Oilers vs. Red Wings

The Red Wings got 21 of their wins (37%) against Chicago, Columbus and St. Louis, three of the worst five teams in the NHL. They had to do almost no travelling as well. The Oilers played in arguably the toughest division in hockey.

The Wings can and will score because of Edmonton's lack of goaltending. The Oilers will stay in the series because of their speed and ability to play a fast, physical, hard forechecking game.

I think the Wings will have a harder time the longer the series goes on.

My pick: Red Wings in six.

Av's vs. Stars

The Stars are an odd team in my opinion. They play a Euro-style at times and they play a North American style at times. One thing they do have is a great goaltender in Marty Turco. That being said, Turco is untested in playoff time. They are a very responsable defensive club.

The Av's are an intersting playoff team in my opinion. They have one of the best line in hockey (when they play together) in Sakic, Tanguay and Hejduk. They don't have a lot of scoring depth with Svatos injured though. They have a third line that can shut down the other teams first line though. Goaltending issues could doom them.

It's the Av's playoff experienced veterans versus the Stars experienced playoff veterans. The Stars have the edge in the most important position in hockey...golatending.

My pick: Stars in seven.

Flames vs. Ducks

The Ducks are the best team in hockey over the last 3 months. They are fast and play an entertaining, up tempo, forechecking style. They have an experienced goaltender who has shown the ability in the past to take his team on his shoulders and drag them kicking and screaming into the next round. Lack of scoring depth and overall inexperience could be an issue though.

The Flames have Miika, and that could be all they need. They forecheck and hit you all night long. They have incredible depth on defense that can match up your top line with one of two high end defensive pairings all night. They are a horrible offensive hockey club though.

The Flames are basically the same, experienced, veteran club that went to the Finals last year. Their goaltender will get them to the Western Finals.

My pick: Flames in six.

Predators vs. Sharks

The Predators were the "sleeper" pick before the season started. With the new rules, their small, fast forwards and a great goaltender they looked like a team that was built for the "new" NHL. Somewhere along the line their small forwards began to wear down from the long season and their goaltender got sick.

What do you do when your team needs a spark? You call Mike O'Connell and swindle him for the possible NHL M.V.P., and scoring champion. You let him turn Jonathan Cheecho into a legit NHL sniper and your whole team wakes up. The Sharks can roll their lines on you all night and have good enough goaltending to win some games. Their defense is a little young but, Hannan and McLaren are dependable, 30 minute a night guys.

The Sharks have playoff experience (Western Conf. Finals the last time we had hockey) and the most dominant 1-2 punch in the league. I see them getting on the Preds and getting on them early.

My pick: Sharks in five.
 
ill make my eastern conference picks tomorow when we find out the matchups

hopefully we wont have to play the devils :(
 
unifiedtheory said:
I went in-dpeth again Slappy...:tongue:

I'll do the East picks tomorrow.:D
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i cant do the west too well because i dont see the games :boohoo:
 
Slappy8800 said:
i cant do the west too well because i dont see the games :boohoo:
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I'm the same with the East...I only get to see who the Leafs or the 'Nucks play so I have to do a lot of reading and listening on the net.

I'm happy the playoffs are here though. Since the Bruins season swirled around the bowl all year I can actually start watching hockey again...

The only thing that annoys me is watching the Sharks. I'm happy Joe is doing what he is doing though. Nothing would make me happier then seeing him hoist up the Cup...just another way of making the Bruins look like what they truly are...

The 2nd worst organization in professional hockey.
 
Looks like Forsberg is out until the playoffs start as he does not want to re-injure himself. :rolleyes:
 
RedHotCulpepper said:
Keep waiting.....:(

The Buffalo Sabres are the biggest pretender in the playoffs. I'd much rather have the Flyers face them in the first round, they haven't played well for a while now, both of their goalies aren't right. Everyone says they have the "speed" and will carve up the Flyers but i honestly think the Sabres are the team that the Flyers could beat in a 7 game series and i'm much more confident playing them then playing Jersey/New York/Lina'/Ottawa etc.

The biggest contenders i think are the Calgary Flames. With Jerome Iginla and Tony Amonte and all of those solid players they have, backed by the goaltending of Mikka Kiprusoff and coming off a cup run the last time we had Hockey i think they may be one of the most dangerous teams in the playoffs. Detroit is powerful, but they have a tendancy to fold early in the playoffs much like the Senators. Calgary i picked to win the west at the beginning of the season anyway and since i hate Detroit i'm being a Flames homer :)
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Sabres always rolled the Flyers in the Hasek era, and nothing has changed.

Flyers don't scare me at all. It's pretty funny considering Nitty and Esche have both said that Buffalo is a very scary team, Nitty even said we have 4 #1 lines.

Philly is by far the weakest team we could have the oppurtunity to play, unless the refs call games like pre-lockout, the Sabres should be scary come playoff time, especially with Miller getting hot now.
 
Oh, and I don't get the thing about the Wings being overrated. They're a damn good team.

No regulation losses in 19 straight games? 16-0-3 I believe? And they just beat Dallas.
 
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