Playoff Predictions and Preferences

With all of the games that Buffalo has against the eastern conference teams, I tend not to like too many of them. With that said though, I have to root for the Capitals in the East. While I think Pittsburgh or Montreal is more likely to come away with it, I really have to root for the Washington and Ovechkin and hope that they win. Fortunately I think they will at least win their first round match up against the Flyers.

I think that Montreal will have an easy time against Boston, and that the Penguins will dominate the struggling Senators. The Rangers remind me alot of last years Rangers, and once again I think they are good enough to win in the first round (versus the Devils this season), but are not a real contender and will lose after that.

For the later rounds I guess that leaves me with Montreal over the Rangers and the Penguins over the Capitals (despite what I want). I have to pick Montreal and their killer powerplay in the Conference Championship over Pittsburgh.

Out west there are more teams that I like and can root for. Of course the top two are playing each other in the first round. I kindof like the San Jose Sharks, with two former Sabres in Grier and Campbell (plus a really good goalie). On the other hand I also like Calgary with Iginla (does anyone not like him?) and Phanuf (spelling probably wrong) and Kipersofv (probably messed up the spelling again). In the end, I guess I have to root for the Flames, but realistically San Jose is more likely to win.

I don't really like Dallas, but I'm a fan of Marty Turco so I have to root for the Stars as well (still kindof like Stu Barnes, I guess). While their first round opponent is the Ducks who I cheared for last season, I'm really not feeling that now. After Sealane and Niediemier sat out most of the season, the team traded away McDonald, and decided to pick up Bertuzzi, there really isn't too much reason to cheer for them. Also considering that I don't really like Pronger anymore, and their opponent isn't the Senators I really want them to lose. However, due to a lack of offense from Dallas, I think that Anaheim has to be the favorite to win.

While I still like JP Dumont, I don't like the rest of his team, and hope that Detroit eliminates them in the first round. In all likelyhood that will happen. The Wild should be able to beat Colorado in a matchup, where I'm not really rooting for anybody.

In the Second round, I would guess it will be Detroit over the Ducks, and the Sharks over the Wild. With the San Jose Sharks beating out Detroit to go to the final.

With Montreal and San Jose facing off for the cup, I'll pick the Sharks to win a close one. Oddly enough, that just so happens to be the same outcome predicted by the video games.