Second Round Preview

After a tough loss for the Cyclones in roller hockey there is nothing else to do but preview the second round starting tomorrow night in Vancouver, as I sit here and watch the last ever Chuck, unless you people save it!

#3 Vancouver vs. #4 Chicago: This is probably the toughest match up to predict, the Canucks have been off for eight days while the Blackhawks gained some valuable experience in a first round win over the Flames. The best goalie left in the playoffs is in this series, Roberto Luongo only let in 5 goals in a 4 game series vs St. Louis and needs a good series to reach that next level which everyone has expected him to be at. Chicago does have the offense to pepper “Bobby Lou”; the Baby Hawks outscored the Flames 21-14, and not only did Kane and Toews play well but so did Calder finalist Kris Versteeg, who led the team in first round scoring with 7 points. So a typical strength vs. strength series, but I think it will come back to the Big Boy from Montreal, he is the difference in this series and will finally take his place as the elite goalie in this league. Vancouver in 7 games

#2 Detroit vs. #8 Anaheim: Who would have thought the Ducks would be here and because of Jonas Hiller, who stopped 220 of 230 shots vs the Sharks, and 2nd in save percentage only to Luongo. This is not the under achieving Sharks offense he is facing in this series, and I would not be surprised to see some J.S. Giguere in this series. The Ducks made an under the rador deadline move by getting Ryan Whitney and with a healthy Francois Beauchemin and of course Pronger and Niedermayer surprisingly they match up defensively against this offensive juggernaut that are the Red Wings. The one thing that might hold back the Red Wings, like it did with the top seeded Sharks, will be overconfidence. They had an easy time with the virgin Blue Jackets and might come out flat against the hot Ducks. This might give the Ducks some early victories, but I just don’t see that being an overall factor. The Red Wings are just too deep, with 11 players with at least one goal and 15 of the 18 dressed players had at least one point. The defending champs will advance but all the games should be close. Detroit in 6 games

#1 Boston vs. #6 Carolina: 19:28 of the third period was when big game Eric Staal scored his series clinching goal, and tying him for the playoff leading in goals in the first round (5). I am still shocked that the Hurricanes won the series down 3 games to 2 vs. the best goalie ever. So how can I not jump on the bandwagon of this hot team? The top seeded Bruins took care of business against a bad goalie and overall dysfunctional team. I am sorry but Britney Spears at her worst was not in as much turmoil as the Canadiens were at the end of the year, just shows you how bad the Florida Panthers are. The best matchup of this series will be Zdeno Chara vs. Eric Staal, which is 157 inches of hockey players clashing shift after shift. The clutch Staal now has 35 points in 37 career playoff games, but does have some help as people forget that Ray Whitney led the team in points during the regular season and tied Staal and energy guy Chad LaRose with 7 points. Needles to say Vezina Trophy candidate Tim Thomas will have to step up his play in this series, his first real test as a pro. Bruins are a very deep team and the top line of Savard, Kessel and Axelsson are all snipers (12 combined 1st round points). Michael Ryder proved to the Canadiens he still had something left, by leading the Bruins with 7 points, but this series will come back to the goalies. Don’t forget that Cam Ward has won a Conn Smyth trophy and has a Stanley Cup ring, and I feel we have not seen his best yet in this postseason. Carolina in 5 games

#2 Washington vs. #4 Pittsburgh: Saving the best series for last, the dream matchup for the NHL with three of the top players in the same series, The Ovechkin vs. Crosby series. I have said it here before that the Penguins against the Flyers showed the moxy needed to win in the playoffs. The Capitals problem is they start out slow, in both of their last two playoff series they have gone down 3-1, and luckily for them the Rangers remembered they could not score goals. The insertion of Simeon Varlamov has made a difference for this team, and the big guns have produced as Ovechkin, Backstrom and Semin have combined for 22 points in those 7 games. The other side’s big weapons are 1 and 2 in playoff points as Malkin 9 point’s leads the league, just like Art Ross winner did in the regular season. This series will be amazing to watch and I hope for the benefit of the league it goes 7 games just so we can watch these bright stars shine. I just feel Marc-Andre Fleury and the resilience of the Penguins will be the ultimate swinging point, though people will argue battling back from a 3-1 deficit also shows a great bounce back mentality, I just feel the win in that series was more a Rangers coming back to life than a Capitals dominance. Pittsburgh in 7 games

Crosby vs Ovechkin

The young Capitals learned from their experience last year. Although the first period was not an example of how to win a game 7, the better team ended up winning the game and the series when the ageless wonder with the hot girlfriends, on his expected last hurrah, scored 15:01 into the third period. So Ovechkin suits up for the second round finally, and it is all thanks to a 21-year-old countryman who ended up saving the series for the Caps. 4 goals on 21 shots is what the million dollar Paris Hilton-loving former Hart Trophy winner, Jose Theodore, could muster in game 1. Then steps in 2006 1st round pick Simeon Varlamov, and the series immediately changed. And as the dust cleared in the 7-game series, Sir Simeon ended up stopping 138 of 145 shots in a Cam Ward circa 2004 performance. One great stat I saw about this kid was that he had the least regular-season experience (6 GP) for a playoff starter since Miikka Kiprusoff started for SJ in 2001 (5 GP). What if Brent Johnson, who was 12-6-2 with a .908 save percentage, had not injured his hip? Lastly, the NHL will enjoy the Crosby vs. Ovechkin series.


In the other game, all I can say is WOW! So I guess even the best have their worst days, as Martin Brodeur looked more like Ron Hextall vs. Claude Lemieux, as Eric Staal beat him with 32 seconds to go. Cam Ward moves to 3-0 in Game 7s and wins his first on the road, making 32 saves in the victory. I am shocked that Brodeur missed that shot; it was like watching the Patriots go undefeated and choking away the Super Bowl. The Hurricanes are a gritty bunch and have some serious scorers from their blue line, and I predict them to take down the top-seeded Bruins. I will have a full preview of the second round later in the week.


Lastly, on a personal note, as maybe you have heard through my Facebook status or Tweets, I won the 2009 George Wensel Technical Achievement Emmy Award. I would like to thank the great ESPN Technology department for allowing me to be a part of the EA Sports Virtual Playbook. It was a true honor to be involved in this cutting edge innovation. One person I would like to single out is Aaron Thiel, who was such a big help and stayed patient with us as we tried to learn such a difficult program. Thank you Aaron, it was a pleasure to work with you.

The Hat Trick

You heard it here first that the Capitals will win this series, and now King Henrik is looking more like Martin Biron, as this series comes down to one game on Tuesday. This brings me to my weekly Hat Trick or the three things I am looking forward to this week.
1) Game 7: How can you not look forward to a Game 7? Two of them are on Tuesday, as the Capitals try to pull off the comeback they could not finish last year vs the Flyers, and face the reeling Rangers. Go with the hot hands in this one as the Capitals have finally figured out Lundqvist, the only reason the Rangers have won 3 games in this series. I will again call out Mr. Ovechkin and want to see him step up and make the second round to help promote this league. The other do-or-die game is at the Rock as the Hurricanes face off against Martin Brodeur and the Devils. Back to back shutouts from both goalies have shown how important the net minders are in this series. Now who do you take; a hall-of-famer who is 5-3 in Game 7’s or the Saskatoon upstart who is a perfect 2-0 in decisive games? I like the Devils in this one, just feel they are deeper and have the home ice advantage and most important have Brodeur, though Ward is a great goalie in this league. We also might have two more from the West, so keep an eye on those series.



2) Who can beat Pittsburgh in the East? Crosby and Malkin are big time players in this league and Marc Andre Fleury, aside from his 2004 blunder off Bryadon Coburn that cost his team a gold medal, has come up big and has seemed to finally reach his full potential as a former number 1 overall pick. This team took out a very talented Flyers team, and in the process showed the bounce back, forget what just happen in the game/period before needed. This is what a team needs to have a long and successful run in the playoffs. Also, I think the Penguins just beat the only opponent that was a true threat to their run to back-to-back Cup finals. No other team in the East side matches up against the two power house players down the middle.



3) With the NFL Draft this past weekend, and watching Mel Kipers hair stand still for 24 hours, makes me think forward to the June 26th night in Montreal, and the big pick for the New York Islanders. Though I still think at the end of the day Toronto will move up and select homeboy John Tavares, but some intrigue has developed at the second slot. The latest International Scouting Services rankings have Brampton Battalion centre Matt Duchene moving past Chara wannabe, and 6’6’’ Victor Hedman. Duchene currently 2nd in the OHL playoffs in goals with 13, and is coming off two straight 30 goals regular seasons, and an amazing +32. The Battalion have march their way to the OHL finals starting on Wednesday and will face off against the Windsor Spitfires. So with no Tavares in the OHL finals, I am interested in seeing how Duchene performs in the finals to increase his buzz for the draft in June. Not to mention his teammate and number 2 ranked prospect by Hockey News, Canucks Cody Hodgson.

The Tough Fourth Win

As the series in the first round come to a close a trend has began to show, that the hardest game to win in a series is the fourth and deciding game. Teams are winning on the road, winning big, and why? Because they have that one intangible called desperation in their favor. The team I am most interested to see what kind of desperation is left is the Sharks. The Ducks are vying to become the eight 8th seed, since 1994, to eliminate a number 1 seed in the first round, just seems like yesterday that Arturs Irbe and the up start Sharks were beating the top seeded Red Wings. Now the tables could be turned thanks to the Ducks young guys, Bobby Ryan (team leading 4 goals) and Jonas Hiller (stopping 139-of-145 shots) have been on fire for this team. Looking at the other side of the spectrum, as usually Joe Thornton is no where to be found in the playoffs for the Sharks (2 assist, -4). I think San Jose will follow suit with the other teams this week down 3-1; win on Saturday to only loose the series. If I had to pick one team that could overcome a 3-1 deficit in this year playoffs it would have to be the Capitals over the Rangers. The Capitals are the better team, they just were having a tough time beating the first round Conn Smyth winner Henrik Ludqvist, they will continue to figure him out and I predict a 3-1 collapse by the Rangers.



Speaking of the Rangers, and their sloppy seconds, but I have to say that their decision to bench super-pest Sean Avery in Game 5 was a great decision. Though the coach dodged the question, "I'm not going to explain it in this forum," Rangers head coach John Tortorella said. "It was my decision and that's what it was." The real reason was his two undisciplined third-period penalties in Game 4 that almost cost the Rangers an important win. One might argue that the team looked as flat as a soda that has been sitting in the fridge for months, that they were missing that spark plug that the Bad Boy of Broadway has given the team in the last couple of months. I argue that the Rangers, though the have the best PK in the league, can’t afford to keep giving the Capitals power plays in the third period and can’t afford having a distraction as they try to win the hardest victory in the series. I really hope that next year Sean Avery is working at Vogue talking about what the latest fashion faux pas of the red carpet was, instead of talking to reporters about how he just doesn’t fit in with this or any team.

Congrats Columbus Fans

First of all I want to congratulate the fans of Columbus for being able to see as many playoff hockey games as fans from Atlanta in their first playoff series. They did deserve a better fate than tonight, not their fault they had to face an All-Star team in the first round. Again, who is going to beat Detroit? I guess the Chris Osgood questions have been answered for now, it will be interesting to see who they get in next round, if it is the Ducks they will get pushed a bit more in that series. But back to the fans in Columbus, hold your head up high and salute those boys, and let’s hope your GM doesn’t become anything like Don “How do I still have a job” Waddell in Atlanta.

Am I having flashbacks to 2001? Or did I just see Brian Boucher talking to Jeremy Roenick on the Sharks bench, man I loved those guys when they were with the Flyers. So what do you think the NHL will want to happen Friday in the Capitals, Rangers series? On one hand you have a very high market in New York which always helps with television ratings and just overall buzz about the league. Though the team is absolute awful to watch reminds me of watching Observe and Report. Seth Rogen is better as a side kick guy not a main guy; I don’t know how he pulled it off in Knocked Up, but boy were the other movies he was in just horrid to watch. On the other hand, you have one of the league’s most exciting, if not the most exciting player to watch in Alex Ovechkin, tricked you thought I was going to say Sergei Fedorov, though I must admit that Fedorov’s girlfriends were entertaining to watch. I guess as a fan of the league either one advancing will be good for the sport, but if you are Alex Ovechkin at some point in your career you are going to have to make a deep playoff run to be considered one of the best to play this game.

Now let’s move onto my weekly Top Shelf segment or the scorer to watch in the playoffs. It is tough to be the person drafted after Sidney Crosby, but Bobby Ryan has finally come onto the scene. I am a big fan of this guy, and not just because he was born in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, but because he never let the yo-yoing back and forth from Portland/Iowa detract him from his goal. When you are such a high pick people expect greatness out of you right away, especially when you are 6’2’’, 213 pound power forward, and worst of all drafted after the “Next One”. Ryan has been assigned to the Ducks AHL team 5 times, and people were starting to wonder if he was a bust at number two overall, but then it stuck. Ryan led all rookies in goals with 31 this year and in only 64 games, and never once complained about not being a full time player with the Ducks until November. This kid has a bright future in the NHL and I will be excited to watch him make more highlight reel goals like the one below.

High School Reunion

So far I am 2-3 on my picks; I just thought Kris Versteeg tailed off a bit at the end of the season, only 17 points in his last 34 games. Interested to see Wednesday if 6-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom gets nominated or we see some young blood in Shea Webber joining Mike Green and Zdeno Chara. So if you were unhappy with the way your life was going would you send a stripper to your high school reunion? Some California loser did that, I mean you don’t want to be remembered as the nerd who got a good job, but as the girl who gave all the old fat football players lap dances at the reunion.

The Canucks on Monday became the first team to advance to the second round which brings up the discussion of rest vs rust. It is a hard decision, at one end you get your players as healthy as they can be during this hard run. On the other hand seems like the team on a roll who just sit and wait will just loose that momentum. My opinion because that is why you are visiting this site is go with the rest. In a playoff series the healthier team usually wins out. As a Flyers fan how many times did I say boy we would of won that series if we had a healthy Eric Lindros. The Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win, you play 82 regular season games and then drooling physical series, to have rest during this time is an added bonus so take it and run.

Now time to put someone in my penalty box. Colin Campbell has been the czar of discipline since the 1998-99 season, and not once have I agreed with his decision on suspensions. Then I hear an interview with him on XM defending his judgment’s just made me sick. He has been running the league at a different standard all depends if you are a “repeat offender”, my question to you is how can someone be called a “repeat offender” if you don’t suspend them once? Just call it even and make decisions based on what you are trying to get rid of in this league, head shots, scuffles when the game is over, sending a message, not on who is a guy you want out of the league. Colin Campbell you get two minutes for not doing your job right.

Awards

With the playoffs in full gear we can't forget about the regular season. The NHL this week will start to announce the finalist for the end of the season award show in Las Vegas, June 18th. Here are my picks for the three finalists with my pick on top in red. Also included are when the real finalist will be announced.

Wednesday, April 22 Calder Memorial Trophy (top rookie)

Steve Mason - Columbus

Bobby Ryan - Anaheim

Pekka Rinne - Nashville

Thursday, April 23 James Norris Memorial Trophy (top defenseman)

Mike Green - Washington

Zdeno Chara - Boston

Nicklas Lidstrom - Red Wings

Friday, April 24 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (skill/sportsmanship)

Pavel Datsyuk - Detroit

Patrick Marleau - San Jose

Saku Koivu - Montreal

Monday, April 27 Vezina Trophy (top goaltender) Tuesday, April 28

Tim Thomas - Boston

Steve Mason - Columbus

Miikka Kiprusoff - Calgary

Frank J. Selke Trophy (top defensive forward) Wednesday, April 29

Mike Richards - Philadelphia

Pavel Datsyuk - Detroit

Mikko Koivu - Minnesota

Hart Memorial Trophy (MVP) Thursday, April 30

Alexander Ovechkin - Washington

Evgeni Malkin - Pittsburgh

Steve Mason - Columbus

Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (perseverance and dedication to hockey) Friday, May 1

Martin Brodeur - New Jersey Devils

Simon Gagne - Philadelphia

Martin Havlat - Chicago

Jack Adams Award (Coach of the Year) Monday, May 4

Claude Julien - Boston

Todd McClellan - San Jose

Ken Hitchcock - Columbus