The Dan Lacey Special.....that can only mean one thing: Hockey

2008 Stanley Cup Playoff Picks

Well folks, I had these picks on paper by 3pm on April 9^th, a solid 4 hours before the first games began, but I slacked and did not put them down. So better late than never, here they are:

Western Conference

Quarterfinals

1) Detroit vs. 8) Nashville

Detroit is too well rounded in my opinion, I think this is there year, but I’ll get to that later. While J.P. Dumont and Jason Arnott are certainly good players, I don’t see a team led by this tandem really having enough offense to stay in games against a Detroit team that allowed the fewest goals in the league. Norris Trophy frontrunner Nicklas Lidstrom is the anchor of a defense with a solid veteran stopper platoon of Dominik Hasek and Chris Osgood who had 9.02 and 9.14 GAAs respectively. And we haven’t even begun to discuss the motor city’s offense explosiveness.

Red Wings in 5

2) San Jose vs. 7) Calgary

Great matchup between 2 very strong goaltenders, and although Calgary’s Mikka Kiprusoff had a decent season by league standards, he took a step back from an impressive 06-07 season, and was inferior to San Jose counterpart Evgeni Nabokov in every major goaltending category. Center Joe Thorton led a Sharks team that got a point in the standings for every game in the month of March, winning 13 games with 2 overtime losses to boot, catapulting the team to the eventual 2-seed in the west. For the Flames, stars Jarome Iginla (3^rd in the NHL in both goals and points) and Dion Phaneuf (arguably the most punishing hitter in the game) both played excellent in the regular season, but I think that the Sharks are the more balanced team from forward to goalie. Still it should be a great series, I think it will go the distance but as stated before, I’ll take the more well-balanced squad.

Sharks in 7

3) Minnesota vs. 6) Colorado

Minnesota had an impressive season, starting in net with goalie Niklas Backstrom, who had an incredible year in net for the Wild. While the Wild got off to a great start, they were below average in March and April, and only ended up with 3 points more than the Avalanche to take the Northwest division. It feels like they don’t have enough guys who could make tremendous impact in the playoffs, as the change in level of play is just night and day from regular to postseason. On that note, this series comes down to two names, Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg. Too much playoff experience on a team whose goalie (Jose Theodore) played really strong down the stretch, and has multiple players that can compliment the big 2 as scoring threats.

Avalanche in 6

4) Anaheim vs. 5) Dallas

Another great series featuring a battle between 2 teams who are very familiar with each other will come down to a war of attrition. Anaheim struggled early without defenseman Scott Niedermayer in the early months of the season. They eventually put it together and dominated at home, claiming the second best home record in the league. Dallas attempted to invigorate its lineup by a trade acquiring Center Brad Richards from Tampa Bay, yet as far as wins and losses the trade did not seem to do much for the team. This series should be a hard fought, relatively low scoring affair, and I like the defending champs to out-muscle their divisional foes, winning decisively at home in game 7.

Ducks in 7

Semifinals

1) Detroit vs. 6) Colorado

You have to love a throwback to the 90’s Western Conference powerhouses. Granted the lineups have changed a good deal, but a few players carry on the memories from those great Rocky Mountain/Motor City battles. Maybe we could get Patrick Roy back to fight Chris Osgood again for old times’ sake. This Colorado team is not what it was then however, and as good as Theodore is he sure isn’t Patrick Roy. The experience that Colorado used to beat Minnesota in round 1 won’t be a factor in this round, as Detroit has plenty of players who have been there as well, and, in my opinion will overcome early round letdowns of years past to take this series. Detroit has better forwards on every line, with the emergence of Johan Franzen as a scoring force, along with perennial awesomeness (that’s right I said perennial awesomeness) of Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. Detroit has the slight edge in goaltending as well. It won’t be the 90’s but there should be a few somewhat entertaining games in the series.

Red Wings in 6

2) San Jose vs. 4) Anaheim

You know what, as good as San Jose looks, something about them does not feel like they can make a run and go all the way this year. Maybe it’s just because they feel like the chic pick, I don’t know. I feel like San Jose and Anaheim both will finish their respective 7 game series’ and guess what? They’ll have to play another. 2 very strong teams top to bottom, I like Jean-Sebastien Giguere to outplay Nabokov in the final 2 games of another long series for both teams. When it comes down to a coin-flip in my mind, I’ll take the more experienced team with the goaltender I like more in a big game.

Ducks in 7

Conference Finals

1) Detroit vs. 4) Anaheim

Two teams with skill and experience, both on defense and in net. Both teams have great young forwards, who pose threats to score at will. This series will come down to the fact that the beat up Ducks will have faced a tougher division all year, and two tougher opponents in longer series’ in the postseason. The Wings had the largest disparity between goals for and goals against during the regular season, and I don’t see this changing throughout the Western Conference playoffs. Detroit has choked as the 1 seed three years straight. It won’t happen for a fourth straight year.

Red Wings in 5

Eastern Conference

Quarterfinals

1) Montreal vs. 8) Boston

The top seed in the East faces off against their divisional foe that were not picked by many to be in the playoffs before the season began. The Bruins used 4 goaltenders this year, the “ace of that staff” being Tim Thomas who posted nice stats for the team. The other two standouts on the Bruins were Center Marc Savard and the gigantic defensemen Zdeno Chara, both of whom made sizeable contributions to the turnaround in Beantown. For Montreal, Andrei Markov stepped up and had a career year after the departure of Sheldon Souray, and goaltender Carey Price played phenomenal in net after getting the full-time call. The Habs are a quick, gritty team whose depth matches almost any other squad in the NHL. They epitomize the “no one guy, just a team” cliché but it led them to the best record in the East, and should also lead them to an easy series victory over the Bruins.

Canadians in 5

2) Pittsburgh vs. 7) Ottawa

Pittsburgh’s got Crosby. Pittsburgh’s got Malkin. Marc-Andre Fleury is healthy and playing very well. Ottawa’s first line is strong, but past it has little. Ottawa collapsed big time as the regular season came to a close, and Ray Emery and Martin Gerber have been anything but consistent in goal. Pittsburgh just has too many weapons, Ottawa has too many issues. There are too many reasons the Pens will run away with this series.

Penguins in 4

3) Washington vs. 6) Philadelphia

At the risk of sounding like a complete homer, I love the Flyers in this series. I think that if Alexander Ovechkin is contained, there’s not enough around him to carry the load. Martin Biron played incredible down the stretch and will carry his hot streak into the playoffs, at least for this round. The Flyers offensive load will begin on the shoulders of Mike Richards and Daniel Briere, but there are plenty of other scoring options for them as well. Cristobal Huet has not proven much in this league yet, and the Flyers, the more complete team in this series, will spoil Ovechkin’s first trip to the playoffs.

Flyers in 6

4) New Jersey vs. 5) New York

The Devils and Marty Brodeur are staples of the Eastern Conference playoffs, and can never be taken lightly. That said, the players in front of the future Hall of Famer are far from what they have been in the past. Scott Gomez will be looking to help his current teammates beat his past ones, and the addition of he and Chris Drury have certainly paid dividends for the Rangers this year. Henrik Lundqvist has become the premier goaltender in the game, and will outduel Brodeur in this series. New Yorkers are rumored to be taking over Newark, so home ice advantage will not be as much of a factor in this series.

Rangers in 6

Semifinals

1) Montreal vs. 6) Philadelphia

This series does not seem like a good match up for the Flyers who could not get their act together against the Habs during the regular season, and lost games to them that were both low scoring and high scoring. Defensemen Markov and Mark Streit make life miserable for the Flyers on both ends of the ice, subsequently making life a whole lot easier for young stopper Price. On the other end Biron will face a constant barrage of shots on by Montreal’s multiple talent-filled lines. The Fly guys may take a couple games, but I don’t feel that the series will be as close as the number of games might suggest. I like my boys to put up a fight against the 1 seed.

Canadiens in 6

2) Pittsburgh vs. 5) New York

These two teams usually play each other close. They both have firepower, but also have great young goaltenders to contend with the other team’s weaponry. A guy like Sean Avery may be a pain in the ass, but in a series against a younger, very emotional team, I could see him possibly having an impact. Still, this series come down to which goaltender plays better. I will take the best goaltender in the league and his team to win the series, in a very memorable Semifinals matchup. The Pens are close, but I’m going against them for one more year. (If they can pull it off in the Semifinals, I love them in the Eastern Conference Finals)

Rangers in 7

Conference Finals

1) Montreal vs. 5) New York

Again, a matchup of two young goaltenders who have been enormous contributors to their respective clubs 2007-08 runs. I’ll take Lundqvist over Price, and I’ll also take Detroit over Montreal as far as the 1 seed that I could see in the Stanley Cup Finals more. I think two 1 seeds meeting is unlikely and I like the Rangers play down the stretch enough to believe they can make a legitimate run at the Cup. Plus a New York/Detroit finals would be miserable for Philadelphia fans, who have no love for either team. When all logic fails pick the team that the Philly fan would not want to see in the Finals. Then again I guess the Devils and Pens could make it by this way of thinking, but now I’m rambling since it’s 2:28 in the A.M…

Rangers in 6

Stanley Cup Finals

If I am right about even some of the 2007-08 Stanley Cup playoffs to this point I’ll be happy, so I won’t even waste time explaining the pick, shoot I don’t even know if I have an explanation. Just going with a finals that I can envision.

The Detroit Red Wings OVER the New York Rangers in 6 games.