Stanley Cup Playoffs: First Round Predictions

Well, as cliche as it sounds, it is that time again.  I'll get straight to the chase, below are my predictions for the first round of the National Hockey League Stanley Cup Playoffs!

First Round - Western Conference

First up is the President's Trophy winners, the Vancouver Canucks, against the eighth seeded Los Angeles Kings.  This one is a no-brainer.  David isn't beating this Goliath.  It's just that simple.  The Kings will be lucky if they manage to pull even a single win out of this series.

Next up is the second seeded St. Louis Blues versus the seventh seeded San Jose Sharks.  The Sharks are typically a team that does well during the post season, but those occasions are usually preceded by a very successful regular season, which San Jose did not have this year.  The Blues will take this series in six games.

Third place Phoenix Coyotes are matched up against the sixth place Chicago Blackhawks.  This series will be the only upset in the Western Conference with Chicago taking this series in six games.  The Coyotes will come out strong in their first two home games after not recording a single win in last year's playoffs, but will then lose four straight once Chicago gets a taste of their crowd at the United Center during playoffs.  Also, with the return of Chicago's forward Jonathan Toews coming up, Phoenix cannot match the star power that Chicago has.

Since you already know that the only upset will occur in the series mentioned above, it should be no surprise when I say the fourth place Nashville Predators will knock off the Detroit Red Wings.  This will be the tightest series in the west, and will likely extend over a full seven games.  Detroit is always stellar when it comes to playoff performances, but Nashville has something special this year.  The Predators have a solid combination of scoring and defense, with a more than capable goalie in Pekka Rinne.

First Round:  Eastern Conference

First up in the east we have the conference winning New York Rangers up against the eighth seeded Ottawa Senators.  Although the Senators have given the Rangers a tough ride during the regular season, they will not be able to match the depth of the Ranger's roster.  The Ranger's should win this series in no more than six games.

One of the two Eastern Conference upsets will occur in the next series, involving the Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals.  There's a few reasons why I think the seventh seed Capitals will eliminate last year's Stanley Cup Champion.  The first reason is that Tim Thomas, the goalie of the Boston Bruins will have to play in a city in where he is not appreciated.  Expect boo's to fill the arena in Washington DC every time Tim Thomas touches the puck.  This will be caused by Tim Thomas declining to go to the White House to celebrate last year's championship due to political disagreements.  Also, Ovechkin has recently been sparking and is due to ignite very soon.  It will be a hard fought series which could even go down to the last goal scored.

Next up we have the third place Florida Panthers against the sixth place New Jersey Devils.  This is where the other upset will occur except that this one is a lot simpler.  The Panthers do not have the playoff experience in their roster to eliminate a star-filled roster like the Devils'.  The Panthers will likely only get one win in this series, two at most.

Now for the most exciting series of the first round.  Fourth place Pittsburgh Penguins are matched up against the fifth place Philadelphia Flyers.  The regular season games between this two teams have been insane.  Either of these teams would be lucky to make it out of this series alive, never mind win it.  After the dust settles and all the pushing and shoving is over, I think the Penguins will take this series.  The difference will be Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin, who will lead his team with the help of Canadian hockey sensation Sidney Crosby.

Stay tuned for the round two predictions!