NHL Playoff Predictions

JeffersonDavis

Active member
Thrashers will win stanley cup finals with keith tkachuk leading blueland to their first cup, lehtonen will win conn symthe for playoff MVP as he will shut out the vancouver canucks in 3 games. Thrashers over canucks 4-1

Ottawa, Buffalo, and Anaheim will be eliminated in the first round
 
true but i think the penguins will make a run. if i had to pick somone to win it all i think it will be the red wings against the sabres. i hope hasek gets lit up. i pick the sabres.
 
anaheim is out second round. calgary will get knocked out in the conference finals. i think the devils or vancouver will get it.
 
Im putting my money on the Sabres...hopefully the whole team doesn't go down with injuries like last year...
 
buffalo will win, they are too deep down the roster. the only team that will knock buffalo off is new jersey with their veteran leaders
 
pens got that shit

defensive core anchored by veteran gonchar

developing defensive star in scuderi and awesome goal tending from fleury will complement our highlight reel offense very nicley in the postseason
 
not even close, gonchar wouldnt even be considered a top4 defensemen if he hadnt scored 20 plus goals before the lockout.

The fact is that fleury hasnt been stellar as of late and y'all have had to rely on thibault, who is hardly a top goaltender. Crosby will be useless in the playoffs with the extra pressure put on him and malkin by cagey veterans on other teams. The penguins are riding a hot streak that is masking some serious problems with the team.

Its going to be thrashers, devils in Eastern Confrence finals, and the thrashers will sweep the devils, like they have been doing all season long.
 
HAHAHAHA Dupis? Are you serious? I have watched Dupis play for years in Minnesota, and he absolutely CAN NOT finish. He's got great speed and agility, but put give him the puck and an open shot and he's completely useless. He would be a 30+ goal scorer easily if he had any semblance of aim on his shot. (And hitting the goalie's logo does not count as aim)

And while the Thrashers made some good deadline moves, I still don't think they have what it takes. NJ and Buffalo are much better teams, and really deserve it much more. Of course, the Devils will pretty much ride Brodeur, much like the Canucks will be riding Luongo. That would make for a boring finals though...

And while I'd love to say the Wild are gonna take it, I just feel like there's something missing still. But if Gaborik and Detmitra really start clicking (ever more so than they are now), the defense holds up (read: Skoula doesn't fuck up), and goaltending/2-4th lines play like they have been the past few weeks, there's definitely a chance they'll go far.

Red Wings are always a favorite too. With Zetterberg and Datsuk up front and Lindstrom and Hasek in back, they're pretty intimidating. Especially if Bertuzzi comes back.

I honestly don't think the Canucks can ride Luongo and if the Flames don't start clicking soon, they could be out in the first round. Anaheim will definitely make it far.

I'm not so sure about San Jose and Dallas though. I just haven't seen enough of either team to say anything definite about them.

I'd probably have to say Anaheim-Detroit in West finals and Buffalo-NJ in the east. Although, Pittsburgh may be able to power their way up there (whoever said Crosby will burn out is just ridiculous. He's 19 and he's easily in the best shape of his life so far. He's been carrying that team for almost 2 years now and showed no signs of wavering. You don't have to like him, but don't say he's gonna choke, because honestly, he's the real deal.)

I think Buffalo will end up coming out of the East, but only if Miller stays healthy and at the top of his game. They're too deep in scoring for Brodeur to hold them back alone.

Anaheim is gonna come out of the West. Detroit just doesn't have the depth or experience to make it all the way.

And as much as the West deserves it (sooooo much better than the East right now), I think Buffalo will end up taking the Cup, but only if they don't go to 7 against NJ. Anaheim (or whoever comes out of the West, really) is just gonna be too beat up to keep up with the Eastern team.

And yes, I do follow hockey a lot...
 
Honestly, you sound just like a bandwagon fan in this whole thread. You say arguably the best player in League is going to "collapse under pressure" and the only evidence you present for your team going all the way is they've beaten the Devils in the regular season. And that Lehtonnen is going to somehow get 3 shutouts in the Finals. Those are honestly some of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. I addressed the Crosby comment in my last post. And anyone who has watched hockey for more than a year or two knows that the regular season doesn't mean squat. Look at the Sens for example. They've been amazing in the regular season the past few years. How many finals appearances do they have? None. And look at the West last year. 5-8 seeds won in the first round. The playoffs are a clean slate. And really, 3 shutouts in finals? C'mon. You might as well say their gonna win 10-0 every game or something like that. The west is easily better than the East this year and the only reason an eastern team will take the cup is because they'll be able to outlast the western team.

Oh, and I forgot Nashville in my last post. If Forsberg is healthy, I think they might beat Detroit out and get into the Conference finals. I still think Anaheim will come out of the west though. They are just an all-around solid team.
 
crosby is SO overrated, im not going to even go into it.

If the Thrashers come into the playoffs hot they have the talent to destroy almost any Eastern Conference team. I'm only worried about how they will fare against Vancouver Nashville or Detroit if they get to the stanley cup final.

Dont forget Bob Hartley has won a stanley cup and knows how to win in the playoffs.

Everyone's calling for it, the Thrashers are going to win
 
hahahhaha thrashers???????? ya right hahhaha

out of the east im gonna say buffalo or maybe even ottawa

in the west im gonna say nashville or detroit/calgary(i wish)

 
as much as every one may dissagree, but i think its gonna be the canucks.. htey are number one in their confrence.. so i think they will kick major ass in the playoffs... they seem to be pretty damn unstoppable
 
I'm not saying he isn't overrated (I'm not a fan of him personally, he's a whiny bitch), I'm just saying he's not gonna cave. Like I said, he's carried that team for almost two years now. If he was gonna cave, he would have done it already.

And honestly, you're still not really putting forth any supporting details ("Everyone's calling for it"? C'mon.). Almost every coach that will be in the playoffs has some experience with the playoffs. Hell, if we're going on coaching history, the Wild would take it all easily. Jacques Lemaire's playoff resume` is intimidating to say the least.

If you really believe your Thrashers are going to win it, you should at least have better arguments than "OMFG CONN SMYTHE WITH 3 SHUTOUTS" and "he's won a stanley cup before."
 
Number one in their conference? They're barely first in their division. And that's only in the standings. They definitely have one of the best goalies in the league though. That alone will carry them pretty far.
 
i dunno about you, but thats what its been saying on our news.. and i know the media lies, but i kinda trust them, they have won more games than any other team i know... but then again i only follow the canucks
 
um, pardon? depth or experience? are osgood and hasek experienced enough for you? no eh. then take a look at the blueline. lidstrom, chelios, markov... experience? how about maltby, draper, and holmstrom? the red wings have some of the best leaders and most experienced playoff warriors in the league. and depth? throw zetterberg, datsyuk and lang into the mix... and you, my friend, are on crack.
 
are u kidding me? the pens play and skate harder than anyother team in the NHL hands down. and theres noone that can stop crosby and stahl
 
Giguere and Ilya are probably the best 1-2 goaltending tandem in the league, remember how injury prone and bad Hasek was last year, it could happen again.

But im betting on Vancouver to take the west.

Hopefully Colorado can kick the flames out of the 8th spot, but people other than statsny need to start producing.
 
Thank you for correcting me there. I was a little out of it when I was posting last night and was only thinking of the fact that they've lost Yzerman and Shannahan in the past two years, not the fact that any other player that has been with the team for more than this year is playoff experienced and that they have more than just zetterberg and datsyuk. Although, I did think that Chelios died of old age or something. (Kidding.)

And to JeffersonDavis, just because someone says he's gonna get hurt doesn't prove your point. You said he would cave under the pressure. That's completely different than getting hurt. And honestly, relying on him getting hurt is just a bad idea too.

And to the canucks fan, heres a link to the current standings: http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/standings You'll see that the canucks are leading their division by 1 point, and they're 5+ points back on the top 3 teams in the Conference (Detroit, Nashville and Anaheim).

And Detroit beating Nashville 3 times in 2 weeks this close to the playoffs really makes me start to doubt Nashville can beat them...
 
wings or anaheim out of the west. canucks and dallas are wildcards. both dependent on goaltending.

devils out of the east. other than the sabres, no one else comes close.
 
Your first statement is entirely subjective, and in my opinion, wrong... but that's cool. Remember, Hasek and Osgood have both won cups as starters, so I'd say they have the advantage come playoff time. Even more so when you couple in the fact that Detroit rarely even lets the opposition shoot. So stop and think about that... amazing defensive system that allows the fewest shots in the NHL, with Dominik Hasek in goal, and Chris Osgood there to bail him out? They will excel at playoff hockey.

Also, you said Hasek was 'bad' last year. You're wrong. With Ottawa, he was on his way to another Vezina before he was injured in the olympics. Which, pretty much ruined my year, because the Sens would have breezed through the playoffs had he remained healthy.

And finally, Joe Sakic is busting his ass in Colorado, not only Paul Stasny.

 
I'd love to see the canucks win it, and this is by far the best team that vancouver has had in a long time. luongo + a solid defensive core (ohlund, salo, sopel, mitchell, etc etc) = wins, and with the sedins producing on one line up front and naslund helping out on another line, as well as smolinski, cowan and others scoring, they can still get a lot of goals. evidence: 4-1 against detroit last night.

to whoever said that the canucks are "barely first in their division": you're right, but what you have to realize is that they're in easily the most balanced division in the league, and you can't argue with that.
 
Yes, I completely agree - all the Northwestern teams are better than their records indicate - however, I was responding to someone who claimed the Canucks were first in the conference, and I was just pointing out that he was mistaken. I would love to see a Wild-Canucks first round game though. The playoff series from a couple of years ago was amazing, and if the regular season games are any indication, a series this year would be just as epic.
 
I'd be stoked if either the Sens or Canucks made it to the finals. Sens will probably choke first round, Canucks 2nd or 3rd. I can dream on, right?
 
out of the west i expect nashville dallas and vancouver all to fall in the first round. that of course depnds on where everyone ends up at the end of the season. detroit will go on to the confrence final based on their experience and strong defense where they will meat either the ducks or the wild.

as for the east i expect all top 4 seats to advance. and of course i am predicting ottawa to take home ice against the penguins and eventualy take them in 7 (remember there is no shootout in the playoffs, to bad penguins.) expect ottawa to win another 7 game series against the sabres and eventualy meet the devils in the confrence final.

im really feeling ottawa this year and expect them to match up well against either detroit or minny in the stanley cup finals.
 
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