You may not have been a college football fan, but in January, you probably tuned into see the BCS title game. You may not be a fan of the NFL, but in February, you tuned in to see the Super Bowl. You may not be a college basketball fan, but in March (and April) you tuned in to see the NCAA tournament. You may not be a golf fan, but you may have turned on the Masters for a while as well. Where I am going with this? Well you may not be a hockey fan, but do yourself a favor and tune into the Stanley Cup playoffs the next few months. Trust me on this one.
First off, if you're an NHL fan and living in New York, there are two really cool things going on tonight. The first is an NHL Tweetup at the NHL Store. It seems like there's going to be a lot of awesome giveaways there (and I'm going). The second is that the Rangers will have viewing parties for game one tonight at Stout NYC near MSG and Black Bear in Hoboken. Some cool stuff to get you excited for the playoffs.
Here are my quick breakdowns and picks for the series:
Boston vs. Montreal - This is a series of two rivals who finished in the exact opposite places when they played each other in the first round last year. Although Boston still needs to prove they can get past the first round, I think they're a lock for this one against a shaky Montreal team. Bruins in 5
Washington vs. N.Y. Rangers - A really tough one for me to pick as a Rangers fan. A lot of people picking this game have the Rangers losing because Washington plays the exact opposite game. I think that's actually to the Rangers advantage in the first round. If they played Boston or New Jersey, the two teams around Washington in the standings who play the same type of defensive game as the Rangers, but do it better, they would get killed. The Rangers have had a tough time scoring goals all season and maybe it's a blessing in disguise to have the playoffs team that gave up the second most goals in the Eastern Conference. That being said, I'm not sure the Rangers have a good answer for Alexander Ovechkin. If Sidney Crosby is Michael Jordan (and Malkin his Pippen), then AO is Hakeem Olajuwon. This guy is huge and can dominate a game and I don't think that Marc Staal is the answer. And this is a Rangers team that gave up 8 more goals in the regular season than they scored. The Rangers are also 17-19-5 on the road. I could see the Broadway Blueshirts pulling this one off if Henrik Lundqvist puts them on his back, but I can't say that I'm confident about that one. Jose Theodore isn't great, but he has a history of winning the first round and then collapsing. So good luck in the second round, Caps! Capitals in 7
New Jersey vs. Carolina - This is actually a much better matchup than people are giving it credit for. You need a hot goaltender and a big scorer to win the playoffs. That's why I really like Carolina. They have Eric Staal and Cam Ward to matchup against Zach Parise and Martin Brodeur. Usually you can't bet against the latter pair but old age and lack of playoff success for Brodeur and a stumbling Devils team down the stretch makes me think that the red hot Canes have an advantage. Should be a good one! Hurricanes in 7
Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia - The Phillies won the World Series and the Steelers won the Super Bowl and now the two Pennsylvania teams meet in the first round of the playoffs. Pittsburgh almost joined that crew when they made a run to the Stanley Cup Finals last season but lost to the Red Wings. They seem to still have some fight left in them and overtaking the Flyers for 4th place and home ice advantage was huge. This one will be hard fought and there will be a LOT of scoring. Penguins in 6
San Jose vs. Anaheim - Amazingly, San Jose and Boston completed a trade with Joe Thornton as a centerpiece and a few years later both are #1 seeds of their respective conferences. The Ducks have playoff experience and the Sharks have a history of playoff collapses. So this one won't be easy. By any means. But I think that, in the end, San Jose has too much firepower (though it'll be close). Sharks in 7
Detroit vs. Columbus - Columbus is a great story and against a lot of other teams, the Blue Jackets would have a chance. But I think the Red Wings are the best team in the West. This is a team who won the Stanley Cup last year and may have gotten better. That's scary. And that's against a franchise that's never been there. Red Wings in 5
Vancouver vs. St. Louis - After the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994, these two teams stole their heart (Messier to the Canucks) and soul (Keenan to the Blues). They haven't been back to a Stanley Cup finals since. I won't be bitter; I'll just go with a former Rangers goalie in this one. Canucks in 6.
Chicago vs. Calgary - This problem of the NHL being on ESPN not only has to do with games not being broadcasted on the World Wide Leader, but the WWL was so cruel as to cancel NHL2Night. Every other sport (including boxing and racing) have recap shows. So I have to admit I haven't seen either team play this season. But I know the teams. And I like Chicago. Blackhawks in 6.
Some other people's opinions:
John Buccigross on the playoff matchups. The rest of the ESPN Experts weigh in (though I'm not sure how Matthew Barnaby made that list). The real ESPN experts answer 10 burning questions. Fanhouse gives picking the series a shot and looks at Eastern Conference matchups.
Rangers stuff:
Pierre LeBrun looks at the series as a whole, zones in on Theodore, and talks about how Tortorella has the Capitals facing a different Rangers team than they've seen before.
Lastly, as I said earlier the NFL needs to take cues from the Masters, the NHL's biggest improvement could come from being like MLB and letting guys like Sean Avery be Sean Avery (in the MannyBeingManny comparison). MLB doesn't suspend Manny for the stupid shit he does or says and neither should the NHL with Avery (unless he intentionally injures someone on the ice...then I'm all for punishment). Deadspin had a great piece about being in Madison Square Garden for a Rangers/Devils bout and seeing how much Rangers fans love him and how exciting he is to have in the game. The general public doesn't understand him, but he's a character who does and says some odd things at times...but he's fun. Rangers fans loves him and everyone else in the league hates him. Devils fans especially. And, I know that someone will be upset by this, but for the life of me, I can't understand why that "sloppy seconds" comment was so bad that he had to be banned from a team and shunned from hockey. The NHL desperately needs guys like him. I'll conclude like the Deadspin article: "Avery makes every game he is in more fun—and he makes the Rangers better—so what's more important than that?"
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment