ok playoff predictions. in the east, i think ottawa, new jersey, washington and the leafs will make it out. well toronto because i’m a fan and i would be a bad fan if i thought otherwise =p. i think khabibulian will help tampa bay give washington a run for it’s money, as he seems to play well under pressure, but tampa’s just too young of a team to topple washington’s experience.

the bruins are suspect with steve shields in goal, and since goaltending is so important in the playoffs new jersey should have the upper hand having brodeur. the ottawa-islanders series is going to be pretty tight. on the one hand ottawa has complemented their skilled players with a lot of toughness this season, but seeing how the islanders played against the leafs last season, ottawa may not have enough. then again it’s hard to ignore those 113 points they racked up this season, although the president’s trophy winners are known to suffer upset. but let’s give ottawa the benefit of the doubt.

i think the west is pretty easy to predict, the top seeds should advance without too much trouble. detroit, dallas and colorado all have a good mix of firepower and experience. vancouver’s still a young team, but i think they gained a lot of experience last year (when they lost to detroit), so they’ll likely get past the first round. however, i don’t think that highly of cloutier and i’m guessing that their opponent will concentrate heavily on the naslund-morrison-bertuzzi line. if they can’t get offense from any of their other lines, they maybe in tough.

i’m not sure what to make of st louis tho, they’re kind of like tampa bay in that they have a good money goalie, but they also have the experience and talent to win. if vancouver plays st louis that might be an upset.

Posted by Kevin in Blogs Tags: hockey