The Official NHL Playoffs Thread

[Hopey]

In the interest of getting this thread restarted...I posted this before they 'down-graded' the forums and lost all of posts that were made over the last 24 hours. It was saved in my clipboard:


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You guys are giving too much credit to Pittsburgh. Ottawa matches up extremely well against them -- probably better than every other opponent the Pens could have faced. Ottawa has a very similar team to Pittsburgh in many ways, but the Sens' depth will win them the series in the end.

Everyone talks about the scoring power of Pittsburgh, but the reality of the situation is that Ottawa scored 11 more goals that Pittsburgh did this year. Pittsburgh has Crosby, Recchi (who has been slumping since he got taken off of Crosby's line once Roberts arrived) and Malkin. Ottawa has Heatley, Spezza, and Alfredsson. If anything, Ottawa has a slight edge here, but it's close enough that we can call it a wash.

However, the ondoing for the Pens will be that they give up way too many goals. Of the teams who made the playoffs this season, the Pens gave up the second most goals (only Tampa Bay gave up more). Ottawa's defence isn't as strong as in previous years, but overall they're still superior to the Pens' blue-liners. Pittsburgh can score 4 or 5 goals and still end up losing 5-4 or 6-5 due to their inability to shut down Ottawa's attack.

As for goaltending, Emery hasn't been spectacular, but he's been solid. Fleury is going to be expected to stand on his head in order to keep the Pens in games. He might be able to do this for a game or two, but it's a rare goaltender who can do this for a whole series.

With home ice advantage, Ottawa will be able to trot out their top line against the Pens' 3rd and 4th lines. This will be a huge advantage in the first 2 games in Ottawa, and may end up deciding the series if it goes to game 7. Since the Sens' are much stronger defensively, being able to match up Crosby's line against Ottawa's 3rd and 4th lines (when the Pens have home ice) won't be as much of an advantage -- as Ottawa is strong defensively from top to bottom.

It'll be Ottawa in 6. It may only go 5 games if Ottawa wins the first two at home. It'll go 7 if Fleury is spectacular and Crosby carries the team on his shoulders, but I still think Ottawa will end up taking the series.

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[kolotoure]

Quack Quack

[g-bebe]

As long as Nashville flops, I'll be happy so I can bump my other thread to further prove my point that acquiring Forsberg wasn't as great of an idea that it sounded. Nashville seriously cooled off during the last 20 games of the season, and I don't think they'll go far, if they even get past the Sharks.

Being a Vancouverite, I obviuosly take the Canucks over the Stars in 5 or 6. In fact, the only teams that I think the Canucks don't match up great against are Anahiem and Minnesota, and if Luongo keeps on doing what he's doing, there's no reason why the Canucks can't march into the conference final and stanley cup final.

My first round picks are:

East:
BUF over NYI in 5 (maybe 6... doubtful without DiPietro)
NJ over TB in 5
ATL over NYR in 7 (provided Kovalchuk wakes up)
PIT over OTT in 7 (very tight matchup... but everyone always says "This is the year Ottawa breaks thruogh in the playoffs"... sorry, Ottawa is destined for dissapointment)

West:
DET over CGY in 5 (maybe 6)
ANA over MIN in 6
VAN over DAL in 6
SJ over NSH in 6

I can't see any series finishing in 4, with the exception of NJ-TB... Brodeur could shut the door pretty quickly.

[Triumph36]

And I will bump my point that the Predators are in the best position to win now - this was their year to go to for it. In the salary cap era, you cannot sit on your hands like Brian Burke is out in Anaheim - you MUST make moves when your team is a contender, or risk ending a winning cycle without the Stanley Cup. The Senators are in danger of this as well, and the Sabres too, though to a lesser extent.

[Hopey]

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And I will bump my point that the Predators are in the best position to win now - this was their year to go to for it. In the salary cap era, you cannot sit on your hands like Brian Burke is out in Anaheim - you MUST make moves when your team is a contender, or risk ending a winning cycle without the Stanley Cup. The Senators are in danger of this as well, and the Sabres too, though to a lesser extent.

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I would have agreed with you a few months ago, but Nashville has been on a bit of a slide lately. Vokoun hasn't been sharp since he came back from injury, Forsberg is basically skating on one good foot, and Sullivan has been out with a back injury.

I'd love to see Nashville have a good run, as I have been following them closely for the last two years, but I think they'll fall in 6 to SJ.

[DonkeyKongSr]

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And I will bump my point that the Predators are in the best position to win now - this was their year to go to for it. In the salary cap era, you cannot sit on your hands like Brian Burke is out in Anaheim - you MUST make moves when your team is a contender, or risk ending a winning cycle without the Stanley Cup. The Senators are in danger of this as well, and the Sabres too, though to a lesser extent.

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Burke made the biggest move of the year before the season n getting Pronger. He didn't need to make a major midseason move.

A pile of injuries in late Decmeber through January is the only thing that kept this team from winning the President's Trophy. Other than Todd Marchant, their #4 center, the Ducks are healthy right now.

[Gobias Ind.]

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And I will bump my point that the Predators are in the best position to win now - this was their year to go to for it. In the salary cap era, you cannot sit on your hands like Brian Burke is out in Anaheim - you MUST make moves when your team is a contender, or risk ending a winning cycle without the Stanley Cup. The Senators are in danger of this as well, and the Sabres too, though to a lesser extent.

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Do me a favor, get a clue before you open your mouth. We have/had several key players out with injury. We made the move for Zubrus, which has been huge. Max and Connelly are both back now. Connelly is/was a gamble that had to be taken. He was argueably our best offensive player last year in the playoffs before going out with injury. Not securing a roster spot for him would've been suicide. We are running 4 amazing lines in the playoffs and I challenge any team to match us in the depth dept.

[gjv76]

I will be at the Sabres game tonight. Hopefully the Sabres will come out on fire, put this first game away early and kill any hope NY has for winning this series.

[Zurvan]

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And I will bump my point that the Predators are in the best position to win now - this was their year to go to for it. In the salary cap era, you cannot sit on your hands like Brian Burke is out in Anaheim - you MUST make moves when your team is a contender, or risk ending a winning cycle without the Stanley Cup. The Senators are in danger of this as well, and the Sabres too, though to a lesser extent.

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Do me a favor, get a clue before you open your mouth. We have/had several key players out with injury. We made the move for Zubrus, which has been huge. Max and Connelly are both back now. Connelly is/was a gamble that had to be taken. He was argueably our best offensive player last year in the playoffs before going out with injury. Not securing a roster spot for him would've been suicide. We are running 4 amazing lines in the playoffs and I challenge any team to match us in the depth dept.

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He was talking about salary cap problems. Ottawa lost Chara because of no cap space, and Buffalo is going to lose at least one of Drury / Briere this summer, if not both, because of the cap. Buffalo will not be as good next year as they are now. They have to win this year.

[GambleGamble]

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And I will bump my point that the Predators are in the best position to win now - this was their year to go to for it. In the salary cap era, you cannot sit on your hands like Brian Burke is out in Anaheim - you MUST make moves when your team is a contender, or risk ending a winning cycle without the Stanley Cup. The Senators are in danger of this as well, and the Sabres too, though to a lesser extent.

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Do me a favor, get a clue before you open your mouth. We have/had several key players out with injury. We made the move for Zubrus, which has been huge. Max and Connelly are both back now. Connelly is/was a gamble that had to be taken. He was argueably our best offensive player last year in the playoffs before going out with injury. Not securing a roster spot for him would've been suicide. We are running 4 amazing lines in the playoffs and I challenge any team to match us in the depth dept.

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He was talking about salary cap problems. Ottawa lost Chara because of no cap space, and Buffalo is going to lose at least one of Drury / Briere this summer, if not both, because of the cap. Buffalo will not be as good next year as they are now. They have to win this year.

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With the youth we were able to see due to the injuries and the system Ruff runs...we will be contenders for years to come....I understand the entire Drury/Briere thing...but we easily have people in the wings that can step right in...and we actually will have enought to sign both if they choose to, but will have to lose Kotalik/Zubris to do it and signing 2 30 yr olds to 5-7 yr deals is not good for the cap etc....

....with the emergemce of Vanek, essentially being a Chris Drury clone (defense aside, but he is improving greatly) and the difference in salaries we can sign him for Ill assume keeping Briere over Drury will be inevitable...

...we will lose Teppo, but again with the emergence of Paetsch its a big salary reduction

So essentially
Drury goes
Teppo goes
Resign Briere, Vanek, Kotalik, Zubris...everyone else is under contract, we will still have a plethera of talent with Connolly, Stafford, Max, Briere, Kotalik, Hecht, Roy, Pominville, Campbell, Miller, Vanek, Mair, Paille, Gaustad...etc etc...

..So while this may be the best chance right now to win, as the young guys gain the experience I believe we will always be in the mix for the next 3-5 years