in a couple of day (april 15th to be more exact) the nhl playoffs are set to begin. after an 82 game regular season, the match ups are set…and someone will get to play till june to hold up a cup. may not be as simple as i just put it, but overall it should bring with it lots of fun games, crazy hits and most likely some big brawls…after all it’s the nhl. with this i mind, here are the match-ups (with the conference standing in brackets) and then my predictions of who will win each one. i’ll try to keep track and see how i fare up till the end of the playoffs.
Eastern Conference
Boston Bruins (1) vs. Montreal Canadiens (8)
- my prediction: Boston Bruins
Washington Capitals (2) vs. New York Rangers (7)
- my prediction: Washington Capitals
New Jersey Devils (3) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (6)
– my prediction: New Jersey
Pittsburgh Penguins (4) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (5)
- my prediction: Pittsburgh Penguins
Western Conference
San Jose Sharks (1) vs. Anaheim Ducks (8) - my prediction: San Jose Sharks
Detroit Red Wings (2) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (7) – my prediction: Columbus Blue Jackets
Vancouver Canucks (3) vs. St.Louis Blues (6) - my prediction: Vancouver Canucks
Chicago Blackhawks (4) vs. Calgary Flames (5) - my prediction: Chicago Blackhawks
mostly i’m thinking the higher seeded teams will take care of the match-ups, given they do have home court advantage. although, i must say as well as the red wings have been playing all season, the blue jackets have a point to prove. so i’m thinking upset in seven games. the rest, i guess i’m being conservative, but in the east boston has been playing well as of late, washigton has ovechkin (enough said), new jersey is running with a goalie that is on top of his game given the records he set this year, and then pittsburg for some reason or another has been playing better and better in the last few weeks. as far as the west goes, san jose has a point to prove given the last few years of failed playoff showings, columbus i’m thinking will try to make the best of their first appearance in the playoffs in a long time (i think it’s their first overall), the canucks got luongo (and this guy could potentially win a series all by himself) and then the calgary flames can’t seem to be consistent while chicago is playing amazingly well.
the tv schedules are up, and here’s the one for the canucks with times in pacific time, for the rest see the link to the nhl website:
| Wednesday, April 15 |
at Vancouver, 7:00 p.m. |
CBC, VERSUS, RDS |
| Friday, April 17 |
at Vancouver, 7:00 p.m. |
CBC, VERSUS, RDS |
| Sunday, April 19 |
at St. Louis, 4:00 p.m. |
CBC, VERSUS |
| Tuesday, April 21 |
at St. Louis, 5:00 p.m. |
CBC, VERSUS |
| *Friday, April 24 |
at Vancouver, 7:00 p.m. |
CBC, VERSUS, RDS |
| *Sunday, April 26 |
at St. Louis, 5:00 p.m. |
CBC, VERSUS, RDS |
| *Tuesday, April 28 |
at Vancouver, TBD |
CBC, VERSUS, RDS |