The Second Round!!

What a first round!!!

What an amazing first round of hockey that was! With the exception of the series between Philly and New Jersey that went fives, the others went to six and two of them to seven! It is Incredible to think that this is only the first round of the playoffs. My belief was that this round would be very completive and too close to call in some cases, and I only thought that would be the case for the west, but the east was just as tough to call! Some of the big surprises were of course the elimination of New Jersey, Chicago’s lack luster game against Nashville and of course the Montreal Canadians coming back from a three games to one deficit to eliminate the Washington Capitals. I watched the game today (Wednesday) and was amazed at how Montreal shut the Caps and did not allow any clean shots the entire game. Ovechkin was incapacitated the entire game and Washington just did not have any gas in the tank for the game. The Canadians, albeit the last two minutes, controlled the Caps the entire time and won the game deservingly.

Up next….Round 2!

The Wild, Wild West

Sharks versus Red Wings have all the makings of an exciting match up. Forget the season records, what you have here is a Red Wing team looking for respect, and looking to prove they are not too old to head back to the Stanley Cup finals for a record third year in a row. How great would it be for a Detroit fan to have your team return to the finals for a third year and go two for three in three years? I would love it, if it were my team!

Blackhawks versus the Canucks on paper looks like an evenly matched series. The only problem is the way Chicago performed against Nashville. The Hawks could not dispose of the Preds as easily as everyone thought, including yours truly, and I think are really going to be tested by the Nucks. Meanwhile, the Nucks played a hot Los Angeles team in the best series of the first round, in the west. Vancouver looks like they are in true championship form, except for what I suspect might be an injured Luongo in goal.

East Coast

Philly versus Boston is going to be a black and blue affair! These two teams are big, rough and tough and I think the winner will be worse for wear in the end. I only have two words for this series…Chris Pronger. This guy is a play maker and game changer. He did it for Anaheim and will do it for Philly in this series.
Montreal just came off the biggest high in a long while. I think they may have just won their Stanley Cup by defeating Washington. That being said, I anticipate a good series against the Penguins, but have to think that Sidney and the boys will outplay the Canadians. I hope t be proven wrong and have a Cinderella team play the winner of Philly versus Boston as the sacrificial lamb!