NHL Playoffs: First Round Thoughts

There's not much better than the NHL playoffs.  Even those who do not regularly watch the sport are willing to check out some of the action.  The opening round concluded Wednesday night with three game sevens -- two of which were very exciting and one that was awful (way to join the history books San Jose).  Anyway, here are my thoughts of the opening round.

Eastern Conference

1. Bruins beat the Red Wings in five games.  As a huge Red Wings fan, I didn't hold out much hope for this series, especially since I picked Boston to win it all.  Pavel Datsyuk showed his magical skills to steal game one of the series and got my hopes up.  Then things came crashing down as the Bruins dominated the rest of the series.  The funniest moment of the series was Brendan Smith trying to fight Zdeno Chara.  What a mismatch.  I have no clue what Smith was thinking.  Thankfully for his sake the refs stopped it before Chara pummeled him.  I must say that Smith played better defense in the playoffs than he has during his entire career up to this point, so maybe that points to better things to come.  Detroit's kids disappeared during this series.  Boston is going to be tough to beat.

2.  Canadians sweep the Lightning.  Montreal is lucky that Ben Bishop was hurt.  Tampa was not the same team with Anders Lindback in goal.  Lindback is terrible.  He goes to his knees as soon as anyone enters the zone and never gets back up.  Carey Price flopping on the non-goal call in game three was ridiculous.  NHL needs to improve the goalie interference rules.  Montreal seems to get a lot of calls go their way, especially at home.  Not saying its a conspiracy or anything, I'm just saying, come on!

3.  Penguins beat Blue Jackets in six.  How crazy were the first 4 games in this series?  In each game the team that went up 3-1 ended up losing the game.  The Pens were up 4-0 in game six and almost let Columbus tie it.  This series showed that Pittsburgh is beatable, just not by Columbus.  Marc-Andre Fleury is still a head case who lets in bad goals.  He can make a fantastic save and follow it with an easy goal.  Columbus has a bright future.

4.  Rangers beat the Flyers in 7.  I actually didn't watch this series until game seven, which was a very exciting game.  I can't believe I'm saying this but the Flyers are lucky they have Steve Mason.  If not for Mason, game seven would've been a complete blow out.  Rick Nash didn't score in the series, but he was dominating with the puck.  He created so many opportunities for himself and no one could take the puck from him.  His only kryptonite was Mason.

Western Conference

1.  Blackhawks beat the Blues in six.  The scary thing about Chicago is that they got healthy in this series.  Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane started the series looking fragile, but by the end of the series, they were the best players on the ice.  The Blues tried to beat up Toews but he just fought through it and did nothing but score game-winning goals (3 to be exact).  St. Louis has no real scoring up front.  No depth after the first two lines.  Chicago is the deepest team in the league, with Boston a close second.  I wouldn't be shocked to see the Blackhawks repeat as Stanley Cup champs.

2.  Ducks beat the Stars in six.  Anaheim head coach Bruce Boudreau is a great coach in the regular season, but something happens to him in the playoffs.  His choice to continue to play a shaken rookie goalie almost cost the team.  Ducks were fortunate that the Stars flopped in game six.  The Stars also have a bright future.  Dallas captain Jamie Benn was a monster in the series.

3.  Kings somehow beat the Sharks in seven.  Sharks up 3-0 and lose the series.  That sound you hear is choking.  Sharks dominated the first 3 games.  How ironic is it that the Sharks have no killer instinct?  Antti Niemi is awful in goal.  Sharks need to pursue Ryan Miller in the off season.  Kings are just built for the playoffs.  Jonathan Quick is really good in goal -- sort of the anti-Niemi.

4.  Wild stun the Avalanche in seven.  Matt Cooke is still the dirtiest player in the league.  His dirty kneeing of Tyson Barrie might have been what changed the series.  Barrie was having a very good series on defense.  His replacement was nowhere near as talented.  Nathan MacKinnon is going to be scary good.  He is only 18 years old and he was impressive.  I was not sad to see Patrick Roy go home early.

Other thoughts

1.  Apparently the NHL is totally fine with spearing.  Milan Lucic gets a $5000 fine for ending Danny Dekeyser's thoughts of having any children.  Corey Perry spears Jamie Benn and gets no fine.  Ryan Garbutt received a minimal fine for a nasty spear on Perry.

2.  My original finals prediction was the Bruins beating the Sharks.  Well since the Sharks decided to let their fans down early this year, I guess I will go with the Blackhawks making the finals out of the west now.  I think I'll still go with the Bruins winning it, just because I believe in Tuuka Rask more than Corey Crawford.

And were off to the second round.  Enjoy!


~Brad