Welcome back to our Predictacular, just when we thought things couldn’t be any crazier after the first round, things get even crazier. The 8th seed Habs rock the defending Stanley Cup Champion, the fourth 3-0 comeback in North American Professional Sports takes place, the Sharks find a way to not choke, and the Hawks rally from losing 5-1 at home. These are a host of things that would have been difficult to predict, but we’ll try our best here…
After going 0-4 last round, keeping his total at 3 is…The Coin
Coin Says: HEADS!!!
Then the proprietor of this person bit of cyber space earned 2 points from the Chicago Blackhawks 6 game win is Glen! This brings his total up to 8.
Glen Says: I would like to take this moment to officially retract my repeated comments that the East is Boring. I know that I’ve said that hundreds of times, but after the Habs made it to the Eastern Final and a 3-0 comeback I officially take it back. Somehow we have a 7-8 Eastern Final and a 1-2 Western Final. I would have bet millions, and I mean millions of dollars against that. Thankfully nobody tried that with me.
And now we have one of the most interesting final fours in recent memory, all four teams have a lot to prove here.
The Habs are the most storied franchise in sports in the middle of their longest cup drought ever. They are also the last Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup, and after three recent “close enoughs” our nation would love to see the Cup come home.
The Flyers were the first ‘67 Expansion team to win the Cup in 1974, and were able to repeat the next year. However, they have yet to win it since then. To make matters worse, they have been the runners up 5 times in that span. That is tied for the most of any team since expansion.
The Blackhawks are the only team in the league with a longer Stanley Cup drought than the Leafs, having not won the Cup since 1961. To make it even more astonishing, they have won the Cup twice before that, giving them the lowest total of all the original six teams.
Lastly there are of course the San Jose Sharks. They may have played their first season the last time the Blackhawks made it to the final and the year before the Habs won their last Cup, so they may seem like they don’t have the historic expectations of the other franchises. However, if you look at the the level of talent that this team has had for the better part of the past decade, it is simply amazing that they have yet to win the Cup, but teams like Tampa and Carolina have. They have been bar none the biggest chokers in the league and really need to win at least one Cup to avoid becoming a parody of themselves.
So with the stakes being so high, it’s going to be interesting to see who rises to the occasion.
In second place, after earning 2 points for correct predictions in San Jose and Philadelphia, with the Flyers earning him an extra point for their seven game win, bringing his total to 10, is the two time champion, Jeff.
Jeff Says: Well, that was an interesting round….I had faith in a few teams, but that came crashing down. I honestly thought Vancouver was gonna do something special. They tried….it looked good after the start, but well, we all know what happened…..and Pittsburgh, wow….who saw that coming….Montreal is turning heads…..again it goes to show, if you have a hot goaltender, big things can happen.
On with the 3rd round!
Currently in the lead, is a story perhaps more surprising than the Flyers comeback, is perennial quitter in the playoff challenge Troy! Troy was 3 for 4, only doubting his beloved Habs, and earned an extra point for the Flyers seven game win, his total is now 11.
Troy Says:
Well how about that second round! That is easily the best second round I’ve ever seen. I’m happy to say that I went 3 for 4 with my predictions for the second round and the only series I was wrong about was the one series I wanted to be wrong about which is of course my Habs beating the Pens. Montreal hasn’t had this kind of clutch goaltending since that guy who wore 33. And Cammalleri….holy crap…..how much would Calgary give to get him back?
But how about the Philly/Boston series. That may be the best series I’ve ever seen. It’s easily the biggest comeback in NHL playoff history. I love the poetic justice in game seven. Philly was down 3-0 in the series and came back to force a game 7 and then they go down 3-0 in game seven and come back with 4 unanswered goals to take the game and the series. Insane!
I was sorry to see Vancouver fall from grace once more against the Hawks. I think massive changes are needed in Van City and the first one should probably be a new captain. Luongo doesn’t need that distraction anymore. It always feels like this team is right on the edge of greatness but then in playing a deep team like Chicago their weaknesses are exposed.
As for the San Jose/Detroit series; when Detroit won game 4 who didn’t start thinking the Sharks were gonna choke? Well they didn’t choke and in fact it was two of their oft criticized superstars that came through huge with a goal each, Thornton and Marleau. That could be huge for the Sharks going forward.
Ok, on to the picks!
EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL
#7 Philadelphia Flyers vs. #8 Montreal Canadiens
Coin Says: Montreal in 6
Glen Says: It looks like we have the ultimate showdown for Cinderella of the Year. I really don’t know what to think about either of these teams. They are both beyond logic at this point, I mean on paper they should have barely won two games, let alone two series. I think that this will come down to goaltending, and the Habs are riding one of the hottest goaltending runs ever and the Flyers are on their 29th string goaltender. (EDITOR’S NOTE: I know that both games ones happened before the posting, but this write-up should prove that this was written before…)
Prediction: Montreal in 6
Jeff Says: So, who would have called these teams being in the conference finals…..well, I can say I called 50% of it 
….but Montreal….did not see that coming! Anyways…Phili has gotten rolling, although the goaltending is a gong show…but really, when hasn’t it been this season, lol….as for Montreal, Halak has just stamped himself a contract….things don’t look good for Price’s future in Montreal….unless…an offer for Halak is just getting sweeter and sweeter with every coming game….anyways….I think Phili is built for the playoffs, more so then Montreal….and I do think they will get it done….although….once again I am going to have to give them time to do it…..
Prediction: Philidelphia takes it in 7
Troy Says: The last time Montreal made it this far in the playoffs I was 10! I can’t lie, I definitely did not see this coming but this is what can happen when you have a ridiculously hot goalie and a clutch sniper.
How amazing is it that the two remaining teams in the East are the 7th and 8th seeds. This is a tough series to call because the irony here is that even with being the 8th seed Montreal can be argued to be favoured in this series because of how they handled Washington and Pittsburgh. Make no mistake though, Philly is a completely different animal than the front end loaded Pens and Caps. Philly is going to make life hell for Halak and the Flyers big defencemen will be all over Montreal’s smaller forwards so I think this is going to be a much tougher series than some think. However at the end of the day this team seems to have something going for it, something similar to the ‘93 team that went all the way so for the first time in these playoffs my prediction will follow my heart and I’ll go with my Habs. I think their speed and the safety net of Halak can pull them through this series.
Prediction: Montreal in 6.
WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL
#1 San Jose Sharks vs. #2 Chicago Blackhawks
Coin Says: Chicago in 7
Glen Says: Well I certainly didn’t see the Sharks looking so damn good so far. Really, when they were up 3-0 and then lost 7-1, would it have been all that surprising to see the Sharks blow the lead? The Hawks on the other hand have tip-toed between looking dominant and very beatable. I think that after a deep run last year, they have a real feeling like their time is now, especially with their Capocalypse coming this summer. I think this comes down to which teams best players are being their best players, and if you look up Toews and Kane against Thornton and Heatley, it’s pretty obvious who should win here.
Prediction: Chicago in 6.
Jeff Says: San Jose sure did come to play in round 2. I knew they would, and here we are. I was hoping Vancouver would beat Chicago….but I guess they have the Hossa curse on their side…which means they may just make it to the cup lol…..I really wanna hope San Jose has gotten over the hump, and believe they have. Chicago is obviously a great team, and built much like Pittsburgh so its damned if you do, damned if you don’t…..but my gut is telling me San Jose is for real this year and they will battle through adversity and come out on top. Goaltending will either win it or lose it in this series…and lapse in goaltending and games will become out of reach….
Prediction: San Jose takes it in 7
Troy Says: The reason I picked San Jose over Detroit was because in the first round it seemed as though their big guns were finally starting to produce and this is why I think this team can be very scary. In game five against Detroit they won 2-1 to clinch the series and even though a 2-1 win isn’t exactly enthralling, consider who scored for the Sharks in that game; Thornton and Marleau. That is huge. This team is on another level when these two are going and I really think they can handle Chicago if they can keep things going. Chicago was excellent against Vancouver but I still think the Hawks are a little young and cocky and that’s just not going to work against the Sharks. Last year after dispatching the Canucks Chicago got taught a lesson by the Red Wings and I think this year there will be a new teacher, the San Jose Sharks.
Troy Says: San Jose in 5.
..and now we wait to see what will happen next.
Until next time,
G
Tags: Hockey, Laying it on the line, Stanley Cup
