The first round of the playoffs are over. I didn’t watch a lot of it but caught parts of a few games (stuff that was on CBC – MTL/Tampa and Pens/CBJ). My prediction record in the first round was an impressive 7 out of 8! The only series I got wrong was STL/Chicago. It was not looking so good in the early going though as Minnesota was losing to Colorado and my LAK pick was down 3-0 to SJ. It’s becoming more and more frequent that teams rally from a 3-0 deficit, but you really must feel for SJ. This seemed like the year they would shake off their playoff curse – nope. Try again next year.

Here are my thoughts for Round 2:

Boston vs Montreal
Montreal are on a high after knocking off Tampa, but Boston is entirely different. Plus Boston had a few days off too. I think Boston will win this one.

NYR vs Pittsburgh
If I were a Pittsburgh fan, I would be confused about what team I have. Until Malkin broke out in the last game, the stars weren’t scoring. The goaltending can flip on a heartbeat (and MAF doesn’t have a real backup right now). NYR have a solid team and seem to be more consistent. I’m just not confident that Pittsburgh can right their ship so I’m going to pick NYR.

Minnesota vs Chicago
I’m happy (and kind of surprised even though I picked them) that Minnesota won, but I don’t really think they can challenge Chicago.

Anaheim vs LA
I never know what to expect from Anaheim, but they seem to be successful somehow. I think the LAK are rolling on all cylinders now, full playoff mode. I think LA will win this one.

Posted by Kevin in Blogs Tags: hockey, predictions