I've said it before and I'll say it again: the Stanley Cup Playoffs are the best sporting event of the year. Most people wouldn't agree with me, which is fine seeing as how I'm biased, being a hockey fan first and foremost. Still, it's hard to argue against the passion, intensity and beards of playoff hockey. The Olympic tournament is always fun to watch, and this year's was a great one for the game in North America, but the NHL playoffs are on a whole other level
With that being said, here are my thoughts from the first round of this season's postseason and a look ahead to the second round (yes, I'm aware the first game of the second round has already started).
1st Round Recap
Best Series: Vancouver - Los Angeles
I'm glad this is the series I probably ended up seeing the most of. The Kings are an extremely young team and hadn't been to the playoffs in ages. Vancouver boasts one of the game's best goalies in Roberto Luongo and the regular season scoring champ, Henrik Sedin, but the Kings didn't look out of place. Their young forwards and defensemen kept up with the Canucks, producing some of the most exciting end-to-end action I've seen in some time. Even though the Kings got shelled in game 5 and lost the series in 6, most of the series was fun to watch and hopefully a preview of more series to come.
Runner-up: San Jose - Colorado
Biggest Disappointment: Washington's 7-game exit
The Capitals cruised through the regular season, winning 54 games and scoring 313 goals, 45 more than the next closest team. Then came the playoffs. Montreal barely snuck in to the playoffs and proceeded to take down the mighty Caps in seven games. After winning just one series over the past three seasons, it seems to me that Washington might be the new San Jose: great in the regular season, can't get it done in the playoffs. I've said before that it doesn't seem like Bruce Boudreau actually coaches his team, and now I'm almost sure of it. They don't seem to run any sort of system, they just rely on their incredible talent and wing it. This works in the regular season, especially in a condensed regular season like this year's. In a seven-game series, though, teams have the time to prepare for their opponents, and Montreal simply out-prepared the Washington. The Canadiens' defense played good, positional hockey, blocked shooting lanes, and got great goaltending from Jaroslav Halak. If the Capitals ever want to succeed in the playoffs, "winging it" won't cut it.
Runner-up: Martin Brodeur and the Devils
Biggest Surprise: Phoenix pushing Detroit to the limit
The Coyotes made their first trip to the postseason since 2002, before they even played in their current arena. While they finished fourth in the Western Conference and had home-ice advantage over Detroit, nobody gave the Coyotes much of a chance. Still, the Coyotes fought until the very end, even though they played without captain Shane Doan for most of the series. Phoenix doesn't have a big-name superstar, but the team's strong defense and goaltending almost got it into the second round.
Runner-up: Bruins eliminate Ryan Miller and the Sabres
2nd Round Preview
Western Conference
With that being said, here are my thoughts from the first round of this season's postseason and a look ahead to the second round (yes, I'm aware the first game of the second round has already started).
1st Round Recap
Best Series: Vancouver - Los Angeles
I'm glad this is the series I probably ended up seeing the most of. The Kings are an extremely young team and hadn't been to the playoffs in ages. Vancouver boasts one of the game's best goalies in Roberto Luongo and the regular season scoring champ, Henrik Sedin, but the Kings didn't look out of place. Their young forwards and defensemen kept up with the Canucks, producing some of the most exciting end-to-end action I've seen in some time. Even though the Kings got shelled in game 5 and lost the series in 6, most of the series was fun to watch and hopefully a preview of more series to come.
Runner-up: San Jose - Colorado
Biggest Disappointment: Washington's 7-game exit
The Capitals cruised through the regular season, winning 54 games and scoring 313 goals, 45 more than the next closest team. Then came the playoffs. Montreal barely snuck in to the playoffs and proceeded to take down the mighty Caps in seven games. After winning just one series over the past three seasons, it seems to me that Washington might be the new San Jose: great in the regular season, can't get it done in the playoffs. I've said before that it doesn't seem like Bruce Boudreau actually coaches his team, and now I'm almost sure of it. They don't seem to run any sort of system, they just rely on their incredible talent and wing it. This works in the regular season, especially in a condensed regular season like this year's. In a seven-game series, though, teams have the time to prepare for their opponents, and Montreal simply out-prepared the Washington. The Canadiens' defense played good, positional hockey, blocked shooting lanes, and got great goaltending from Jaroslav Halak. If the Capitals ever want to succeed in the playoffs, "winging it" won't cut it.
Runner-up: Martin Brodeur and the Devils
Biggest Surprise: Phoenix pushing Detroit to the limit
The Coyotes made their first trip to the postseason since 2002, before they even played in their current arena. While they finished fourth in the Western Conference and had home-ice advantage over Detroit, nobody gave the Coyotes much of a chance. Still, the Coyotes fought until the very end, even though they played without captain Shane Doan for most of the series. Phoenix doesn't have a big-name superstar, but the team's strong defense and goaltending almost got it into the second round.
Runner-up: Bruins eliminate Ryan Miller and the Sabres
2nd Round Preview
Western Conference
(1) San Jose vs. (5) Detroit
With Washington assuming the Sharks' old role of early choke artists, this could finally be San Jose's year. They had their hands full with Colorado in the first round, but some players finally stepped up and closed out a series. While Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau still haven't proven themselves as clutch performers, they have more support than ever before, namely in the form of Joe Pavelski. He played a big part in getting Team USA to the Olympic gold medal game, and came through in the clutch more than once against the Avalanche. Pavelski's performance, along with a gritty and skilled defensive corps and the always strong Evgeni Nabokov, the Sharks could be tough to beat.
Where Detroit has an advantage is in experience and coaching. Mike Babcock and almost all of his players know how to win in the playoffs, but they haven't been as intimidating as past postseasons. Jimmy Howard will need to stay strong in net for the Red Wings to have a shot against the Sharks.
My Prediction: Sharks in 7
Where Detroit has an advantage is in experience and coaching. Mike Babcock and almost all of his players know how to win in the playoffs, but they haven't been as intimidating as past postseasons. Jimmy Howard will need to stay strong in net for the Red Wings to have a shot against the Sharks.
My Prediction: Sharks in 7
(2) Chicago vs. (3) Vancouver
This should be fun. I love this Blackhawks team, except for their goaltending. Though Anti Niemi played well against Nashville in the first round, the Sedin twins are several steps ahead of the Predators' "offense." While Chicago took care of Nashville in six games, the Blackhawks didn't look particularly good for much of the series. They'll need to bear down and play a tougher all-around game to get past Luongo and back to the conference finals. If the Canucks hope to advance, they'll have to play with a lot more discipline, particularly defensively. None of their blue-liners looked very good in round one, and powerplays alone almost won the series for Los Angeles. Vancouver needs to play a much tighter game to take down the high-powered Blackhawk offense.
My Prediction: Blackhawks in 7
Eastern Conference
(4) Pittsburgh vs. (8) Montreal
While nothing is guaranteed at this point of the year, the Penguins have a fairly easy road left to reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the third straight year. This is nothing against Montreal, but the Canadiens just don't have the horses to match the Penguins. Montreal's defense was phenominal in shutting down Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals, but the Penguins play a better team game than the Caps, so shutting down one player won't do anything for the Canadiens. Halak will have to play even better than he did in the first round to give his team a chance. While he should play well, it won't be enough.
My Prediction: Penguins in 5
(6) Boston vs. (7) Philadelphia
These teams are both confusing to me. I maintain that the Flyers have one of the best rosters in the NHL, but it took a win on the last day of the season to get them into the playoffs. The Bruins traded their best scorer early in the season and have last season's Vezina winner as their backup goalie. Still, it's hard to argue what both these teams did in the first round of the playoffs. Philadelphia won its series faster than any other team in the conference quarterfinals, while Boston eliminated one of the frontrunners for this year's Vezina Trophy, Ryan Miller. Marc Savard will return for the second round, which will give the Bruins a big boost offensively, regardless of how many minutes he plays. Both Tuukka Rask and Brian Boucher played great in net in the first round, but I don't know that either will be able to play at the same click in the second round. I give Rask the advantage over Boucher, but the Flyers the edge offensively and defensively. Even though it looks like Jeff Carter's season is over, Philadelphia's depth should win-out in this series.
My Prediction: Flyers in 6
