The rivalry continues.
-Alaina Scarano-Isbouts
I’m sure I’ve lost plenty of credibility after my round 1 matchups, but I’m giving round 2 a shot anyway.
Here’s a recap of my round 1 picks and who advanced:
Boston v. Montreal – Boston in 6 – actual was Boston in 4
Washington v. New York – Washington in 6 – actual was Washington in 7
NJ v. Carolina – Carolina in 7 – actual was Carolina in 7
Pittsburgh v. Philadelphia – Pittsburgh in 7 – actual was Pittsburgh in 6
San Jose v. Anaheim – San Jose in 5 – actual was Anaheim in 6
Detroit v. Columbus – Detroit in 6 – actual was Detroit in 4
Vancouver v. St. Louis – St. Louis in 6 – actual was Vancouver in 4
Chicago v. Calgary – Chicago in 6 – actual was Chicago in 6
So actually I only guessed wrong in two teams… let’s see if I can do a better job here. This time, let’s preview the western conference first since they were decided much earlier – no series in the West went to 7.
Detroit (2) v. Anaheim (8): Well I’m not going to pretend that I saw this coming, because I posted my no-love for Anaheim on the internet. But I do have to say that I feel much differently now. While I didn’t think that Anaheim had the power to get past San Jose, I now have much more faith in them. They didn’t just beat San Jose – it was a 6 game series in which Anaheim outscored 19-10. Jonas Hiller has played fantastically, even getting a shutout against the President-Trophy-winning 1st round opponent. In this series, Anaheim proved that they not only have the necessary goaltender — or the necessary scoring power — but they also have the physical power needed to overthrow a top seed. This is not to say that Detroit doesn’t have those same power points; after all, they were able to sweep Columbus and score at least 4 goals in each game. But if there is going to be an upset in the West — and there will be — this will be the series. I mean, someone has to beat the Red Wings at some point, right? Detroit proved, once again, what I claimed about them back on April 13th – that they aren’t even fun to watch. Let’s hope this series proves me wrong (at least in that aspect). Both teams will be well-rested coming in to this series, and I think Anaheim wants it more. They have the momentum after beating the big guns at home and I think they’ll keep it going. My drastic pick will be Anaheim in 7.
Vancouver (3) v. Chicago (4): Can’t believe that Vancouver made it. I really thought the big 1st round collapse of a western team would be the Canucks, not San Jose. If Chicago’s young and powerful defensemen can shut down the ever-annoying Sedin twins, they might have a shot. If Chicago’s young and powerful forwards can get past Roberto Luongo’s 0.962 save percentage, they might have a shot. If Chicago’s Bulin Wall stays strong the way he did for the 03-04 Tampa Bay Lightening, they might have a shot. There’s a great chance that Vancouver is going to come in to this series with a little too much ease, coming off of a sweep. But they need to remember: the season series was split. Chicago won the first two meetings and Vancouver took the last two, and this Chicago team isn’t afraid to get down and dirty and play physical with players such as Adam Burish, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Kris Versteeg — who have all showed they aren’t afraid to drop the gloves when needed. On top of which Chicago was able to score a total of 21 goals in the first round – and Vancouver was able to win with only 11. There’s no doubt that this Vancouver team is older, wiser and has more experience than the Hawks, but I think youth will ultimately rule in this series. I’ll take Chicago in 6 for two upsets in the western conference.
Boston (1) v. Carolina (6): This will be the first post-season meet-up between these teams since 1999. My husband was already telling me he could see NJ going all the way to the finals as Jussi Jokinen turned it all around for the Canes. I don’t want to say that Carolina got lucky in this series. After all, Carolina and New Jersey faced each other 11 different times since December 4th and they knew what to expect from one another. But when the whole series ended up coming down to the last 1:20 of game 7, I think luck can’t be completely thrown out of the equation. The bottom line here is that Boston finished 1st in the East and for a fantastic reason – they are an amazing team this season and have a ton of faith in their goaltender, Tim Thomas, who only let in 6 goals in the first round. And on top of it all, Boston swept Carolina in the regular season series. I think this is going to be a great series, of course. I’ll go with Boston in 6 for this one. Sorry, Carolina.
Washington (2) v. Pittsburgh (4): This is what we call “the money series.” If you aren’t even a hockey fan, this is still a series you’d want to watch. Washington fans hate Sidney Crosby (and Evgeni Malkin) and Pittsburgh fans hate Alex Ovechkin. I’m going to take a lot of heat from my Rangers-fan-friends for this, but it’s almost worth NY bowing out in the 1st round to see this match-up. Ovechkin and Crosby will get to renew their mutual hatred of one another (check out the highlights of the individual series here). While this will be the first post-season meet-up between these teams since 2001, there was plenty of meetings during the regular season; the Caps won three of the four meetings during the regular season and the last game was determined by a shootout. The bottom line here is I really don’t want to have to pick between these two teams here. But if I had to… I think I’d say Washington has the edge. They now have a fantastic goaltender in Simeon Varlamov, who they should have a lot of faith in. They have the perfect balance if young talent and mature veterans. I know Bill Guerin is in Pittsburgh but… I think I’d take Sergei Fedorov over him. I’ll say Washington in 7.
There are no games until Friday, but as Barry Melrose said last night, “There are no days off during hockey season.” Click here for the full upcoming round 2 schedule. The hockey is only going to get better from here and there isn’t a game you’ll want to miss out of these match-ups.
