Pick 'em
Alright I've got my last exam tomorrow so I'm gonna try to make this quick. Here are my thoughts on the first round matchups, throw yours in the comments and we'll see who has the best record at the end of the playoffs.

Western Conference:

Detroit (1) over Edmonton (8) - I'm taking the Wings to win the Cup so it only makes sense that they'd win in the first round.

Dallas (2) over Colorado (7) - If Colorado had a goalie that might make this interesting. But they don't and they won't.

Calgary (3) over Anaheim (6) - The Ducks might not even score in this series. Thats how much of a freak Kiprusoff is.

San Jose (5) over Nashville (4) - The Sharks are on fire and the Predators don't have Vokoun to put it out.

Eastern Conference:

Ottawa (1) over Tampa Bay (8) - I think the Sens are going to get upset in the playoffs, but the Lightning don't have a goalie to do it.

Carolina (2) over Montreal (7) - This could be close. Huet could have that magical Montreal rookie goalie in the playoffs thing going for him, and Kovalev can score with the best of em. But do you remember what Gerber did to Canada in the Olympics? Thats when I really took notice of him. I think this could be one of the more entertaining first round matchups.

New Jersey (3) over New York (6) - If anyone can stop Jagr its Brodeur, and apparently Gionta is a goal scoring machine. Plus this is the first time the Rangers have seen the playoffs in like 50 years (at least it seems like it) so that can't help.

Buffalo (4) over Philadelphia (5) - Remember what happened when Calgary beat Detroit in the playoffs cause the Wings had some slow defencemen that got burned a lot? Well its gonna be deja vu for Hatcher, at least for the rest of the D this will only be the first time. The goalies for both teams are kinda sketchy. If Philly goes with Esche its a mistake, and Nittimakki could he hit or miss. I'll take my chances with Ryan Miller, but he could crash and burn pretty easy too.
- posted by Mike @ 4:31 PM