I only got 50% of the teams moving on to the conference finals correct and I was wasn’t exactly right on either of them. I predicted that the Flyers would beat the Bruins in 6 (not 7) and that the Blackhawks would need 7 (not 6) games to eliminate the Canucks. I thought the Penguins would beat the Canadiens, not be the second team to be eliminated in 7 games by the very determined Montreal team. I’m sure it’s got to be hard for a team that just won the Cup to be as motivated as a team that hasn’t won it since 1993, but that series is still one of the most surprising of the playoffs for me so far. I also thought the Red Wings would beat the Sharks. Instead, the Sharks became the first team to advance, beating the Red Wings in just 5 games. The Sharks have broken through the glass ceiling that’s been in place since the NHL lockout. The last time the Sharks made it to the conference finals was in 2004. The Sharks have never gotten past the Conference Finals into the Stanley Cup Finals. Will this be the year they make it there? I don’t think so, but time will tell. They’re bound to make it eventually.

Normally, the conference finals are a pretty perfect round for hockey lovers. There’s a hockey game every day, but that still leaves time for other things in your life and all the games are nationally televised. I understand having the first two hockey games in the conference finals on the same day. Sunday is a weekend day and the day that NBC has a playoff game. So, there is a game on NBC and a game on Versus. However, having two games for the second day of games in this round is really silly when playoff games could last a lot longer than a typical hockey game, since there is no shootout. Though the games are set three hours apart (7pm and 10pm Eastern), there could be overlap. If there is, fans outside of Chicago and San Jose may not be able to get the full second game of the day. Some television providers may have alternate channels for Versus set up so you can get all of both games, but in order to find out if that will happen and what channel to watch, one must be watching the games live. Those of us who live on the west coast and work 8-5 jobs can’t do that to start and may not be able to get home in time to catch up to live fast enough without missing the beginning of the game. (Besides, some of us prefer not to watch commercials and don’t watch games live until later in the playoffs.) It would be nice if Versus would announce their backup plans for all providers early so those of us who really care and can’t or won’t turn in to the games live have the opportunity to record the extra channel just in case it’s necessary. Thankfully, they didn’t schedule any games at the same time (or a half hour apart) and as of game 3 of this round, things get straightened out and there is a game per day. I’m sure that the schedules of the arenas had something to do with the way this round starts, but it’s still a shame that they couldn’t work things out. Here’s hoping that the eastern conference game 2 doesn’t go into overtime for too long…

Here are my Conference Final predictions.

Eastern Conference

Flyers vs. Canadiens
Flyers in 7 – This was a very difficult choice for me. Both the Flyers and the Canadiens have the momentum coming into this round. The Flyers won 4 games in a row to do something no hockey team had done in years and beat the Bruins after being down 3-0 in the series to start. The Canadiens won their last three games in a row to come back from being down 3-1 to the Penguins. Clearly, both teams are determined to win and have taken out teams ranked higher than them twice. The Flyers and Canadiens were ranked 7th & 8th in the eastern conference. They’re the teams in the 2010 playoffs tied with the least points of any team that made the playoffs this season. They’re both ranked below Anaheim (who finished 11th in the west) overall. This series should be very exciting no matter who makes it to the Stanley Cup Finals from the East. The part of this equation that may sway things the other way is Halak. He’s been the best goaltender of the playoffs with a save percentage of .933 and is definitely the main reason Canadiens have made it this far, in spite of Cammalleri’s offensive performance. This is definitely the series I’m looking forward to watching more than I have any other series of the 2010 playoffs.

Western Conference

Sharks vs. Blackhawks
Blackhawks in 6 – In contrast to the teams left in the east (the lowest ranked teams in the east and NHL to make the playoffs), San Jose and Chicago are the two highest ranked teams in the western conference (though the 2nd and 3rd ranked in the NHL). I thought Chicago’s goaltending wasn’t strong enough to get them this far when the playoffs started and didn’t see San Jose getting past the first round, let alone the second. Both teams have their weaknesses, but I think the Blackhawks will beat the Sharks. It should be a great series, but the Hawks have the advantage of not being over-rested, the top scorer in the playoffs by points and points/game (Jonathan Toews), the goaltender with the better save percentage (though not by much), the better power play, and the best penalty killing left in the playoffs (the Bruins had a better pk than the Hawks).

First, the results from the first round of the 2010 playoffs… I was bound to do worse than I did last year (7/8). This year, I only got 5 out of 8, though I did get 4 of the series exactly right (winner and number of games), so I guess I could have done worse. I definitely don’t know many people who picked the Canadiens or the Flyers to win and who would have guessed that the Flyers would be the first team to advance to the next round?

I can’t remember a first round of the playoffs that was this interesting. Almost all the series went to 6 games or more. I hope that round two is as interesting and that this doesn’t mean we’ll have a boring second round.

Here are my predictions for round two…

Eastern Conference

Bruins vs. Flyers
Flyers in 6 – I know I didn’t pick the Flyers to beat the Devils, but they did it well from what I hear (I didn’t get out to the bars to see any of their full games, so I can only judge on what I read and heard from others in addition to the clips I saw). They split their regular season match-ups, but for the playoffs I have to pick Philly.

Penguins vs. Canadiens
Penguins in 5 – The Canadiens looked good against the Canadiens and coming back from being down in the series 3-1 will probably give them a good boost, but I don’t think they’re much of a match for the Penguins’ fire power. Sidney Crosby has 2.33 points per game so far. He has 4 more points than the Habs’ Michael Cammalleri, though Cammalleri played in one more game. The Pens won the regular season series and I think they’ll advance in the playoffs, too.

Western Conference

Sharks vs. Red Wings
Red Wings in 6 – I predicted that the Sharks would lose in the first round as they had last year against Anaheim. They managed to beat the Avalanche, but I can’t see them doing the same against the Red Wings. Though the Red Wings had to fight to get through the first round, they proved in game 7 that when it comes down to the wire they are a great playoff team. They know how to battle through and play well when it counts. The Sharks have years of experience at buckling under pressure and leaving the playoffs before the conference finals. Everyone keeps saying that one of these years the Sharks are bound to break through. I’m sure it’ll happen at some point, but I don’t think this is their year. The Red Wings won their regular season series and I think they’ll advance to the conference finals.

Blackhawks vs. Canucks
Blackhawks in 7 – This is the hardest series for me to predict. The Canucks have the top scorer in the NHL and he seems to have started to score a bit in the playoffs now. They also have the second highest scorer of the 2010 playoffs in Mikael Samuelsson. I think before the playoffs started I would have picked the Canucks to win this one, since Luongo is such a great goalie. However, Luongo has looked a bit shaky in the playoffs this year. Though the Hawks don’t have the most solid goaltending, I think they’ll get past the Canucks.

In 2009, I went 7 for 8 in first round predictions. Somehow, I think that’s very unlikely this year. It was difficult for me to decide who I think will win a couple of the series this year, which I hope means there will be some great match-ups. Here are my predictions…

Eastern Conference

Capitals vs. Canadiens
Capitals in 5 – I don’t think this will be at all challenging for the Capitals, but I think the Canadiens will win a game, hopefully at home for their fans.

Devils vs. Flyers
Devils in 6 – I think the Devils will take this one unless they have a completely unexpected breakdown or the Martin Brodeur of the Olympics resurfaces. It seems like Marty is determined to make everyone forget about his horrible performance in the 2010 Olympics, which will probably help the Devils, but the Flyers are still a very good team in spite of how they were playing the last couple weeks. I think they’ll bounce back and win a couple games.

Sabres vs. Bruins
Bruins in 6 – I know it’s not a popular choice, but I think the Bruins are going to step up and beat the Sabres. Buffalo hadn’t been doing that great in their last couple weeks and Boston may just take their winning streak into the playoffs.

Penguins vs. Senators
Penguins in 4 – A lot of those who know me will say I’m being too much of a fan in this prediction, but I disagree. I think that the Penguins (especially their Captain Sidney Crosby) still remember the 2007 meeting with the Senators in the playoffs. The Penguins swept the Senators when they faced the team the following year in the quarterfinals and I think they’ll do the same 2 years later.

Western Conference

Sharks vs. Avalanche
Avalanche in 6 – I know everyone keeps saying the Sharks are bound to break out of their playoff slump some year, but I don’t see it happening any time soon. The one thing that makes me a bit skeptical about this pick is that (unlike recent playoff years) the Sharks went 8-1-1 in their last 10 games of the season as opposed to barely squeaking by to win the western conference title. The Avalanche have struggled at the end of the season, so if the Sharks don’t crash and burn early, they may get past the Avalanche and lose in round 2.

Blackhawks vs. Predators
Blackhawks in 6 – I think the Blackhawks will take the series, though it’ll be more difficult for them than it would if they had a better goalie. A team can win the Stanley Cup with an amazing defense and an okay goalie, but Huet is near the bottom out of all ranked goalies. Niemi has been doing well, but has very little experience. Of course, many new goalies (even those like Hedberg with the Pens, who had played only 9 regular season games) have great playoff runs, so I think the Blackhawks will get through the first round in spite of the goaltending questions.

Canucks vs. Kings
Canucks in 6 – I’ve talked to a lot of people who think the Kings will win this one, but I have to go with the Canucks for a few reasons. First, the Canucks have a lot more playoff experience than the Kings. I don’t see them making it to the Stanley Cup Finals, but I do think they’ll get past the Kings. In 2007, I was sure the Penguins would beat the Senators and then collapse. Instead, they were out of the playoffs in 5 games. I think the Kings will win one more game than the 2007 Pens, but they don’t have much playoff experience and I think that’ll hurt them. The other issue in this match-up is the goaltending. Luongo just won the gold medal with Canada in his home arena in Vancouver. Conversely, Quick (who Terry Murray keeps reminding everyone is the “number one guy”) had never played as many games as he did this season (72). He played only 44 last season and came from college hockey, where he played fewer games. It’s been speculated that part of Nabokov’s problem in the playoffs is that he’s so tired (he played 71 games this season). If a lot of games affect a seasoned goalie the way they have Nabokov, what will it do to a goalie with a lot less experience? As if that’s not enough, the Canucks have the number one scorer in the NHL (and 3 of the top 25). All those factors add up to me thinking the Canucks will win this round and a picture similar to that of Sidney Crosby’s depressed locker room shot of captain Dustin Brown.

Coyotes vs. Red Wings
Red Wings in 7 – This series was the hardest series for me to pick a winner, which is why I had to predict that it’ll go to 7 games. The Red Wings have been doing so well lately (8-1-1 in their last 10 games) that I had to pick them. Until I started writing this, I was going to pick the Coyotes. I think it’ll be a great series. The Red Wings do seem to already be in playoff mode, though, and their playoff goaltending has been amazing lately (leading them to two Stanley Cup Finals in the last two years and one Cup). I don’t think the Red Wings will get as far this year, but I don’t think they’ll collapse until at least the second round. The Coyotes have been playing really well this season, but recently they’ve been good, but not great and I don’t think that’s quite enough to beat the playoff Red Wings. Would anyone have predicted that the Coyotes would have home ice advantage in this series? It’s doubtful. The Red Wings didn’t play that well overall this season, but they know how to win in the playoffs. They have a history of winning for a reason.

Hopefully, a lot of the match-ups will be exciting this year. I think that’s all most serious hockey fans want (other than their own team winning the Cup, of course, but we can’t have that every year).

Enjoy the playoffs!

As a Yankees fan, I was disappointed that the NHL chose to have the 2010 Winter Classic at Fenway Park in Boston instead of the brand new Yankee Stadium, but I’m still interested in watching the Bruins play the Flyers outside on New Year’s Day. I haven’t attended a Winter Classic yet and will always regret not getting to Buffalo for the first Winter Classic with the Penguins and Sabres. I know I’ll get to a Winter Classic someday, but since I missed the first one I might as well wait for a Winter Classic that means a lot to me or works around visiting friends and family in another part of the country.

I’m very surprised that the games in Europe are being played at the same time the rest of the season starts in the US. It seems that this change will put more travel pressure on the teams involved in the games overseas, but I guess the impact of starting the season is hard to judge. The Penguins started in Sweden last season and won the Stanley Cup. Since they also lost in the Stanley Cup Finals (to the Red Wings) in 2008, the Penguins had the shortest off season and still managed to win the Stanley Cup. Perhaps it’s just me, but I think this weakens the argument that the Ducks’ first round loss to the Stars could basically be blamed on their starting in Europe and having such a short off season. Perhaps it was more of a Stanley Cup hangover. There always seems to be one team from the previous year’s finals starting in Europe (first the Ducks, then the Penguins, now the Red Wings). The teams are chosen early enough that this hasn’t been specifically chosen by the NHL. It’s just the way things have worked out so far.

I still firmly believe every NHL team should play every other NHL team twice each year (once at home, once away), but I’m glad that the teams all face each other at least once in the season still.

I haven’t had time to closely analyze all 30 team schedules, but skimming the combined schedule, it seems like the NHL has done a better job with the end of the season schedule this season. Though I see the Red Wings playing the Flyers on April 4th, most of the games in the last couple weeks seem to be within the same conference (and many in the same division). Though no one knows which of these games will be the most important for playoff standings, having teams play within their own conference should ensure that more games that affect the playoffs happen during the last couple weeks.

After the tight series the Penguins and Capitals had (only one game decided by more than one goal, a 5-3 win by the Penguins in game 4), 3 of their first 6 games of the series went into overtime, one of their games had Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin’s first playoff hat tricks… This was the series to watch in the 2009 NHL playoffs, so game 7 should be an amazing contest that keeps me on the edge of my seat and makes me a nervous wreck (since I’m a Penguins fan), right? Wrong.

The Penguins had a 2-0 lead by the end of the first period. Not even close to a huge lead with Washington’s fire power. Just 28 seconds into the 2nd period, Guerin increased the Pens’ lead to 3. Less than 2 minutes later, Letang scored Pittsburgh’s 4th goal. By this point, Penguins fans everywhere breathed a sigh of relief. In spite of the hell the Penguins put their fans through earlier in the series with the Capitals; they decided to win decisively in game 7. The final score was 6-2 and Guerin (who many seemed to think the Pens shouldn’t have picked up) had the game winning goal.

Sidney Crosby had 2 power play goals in the game as he started and ended the Penguins’ scoring. The last Penguins goal of the game was a great goal Sid scored on a breakaway. This is why Sidney Crosby is so much fun to watch and why fans of other teams enjoy watching players like him. The NHL would have wanted a closer game, but they couldn’t have asked for a much closer series.

One game 7 down, 2 to go. Tomorrow there are two game 7s being played in the NHL and unless they have Center Ice or live in the Carolina or Boston areas, you can only see the Ducks/Red Wings game and the end (assuming the Ducks/Red Wings game doesn’t last too long) Hurricanes/Bruins game. It’s really a shame, since game 7s really are the highlight of the playoffs and in spite of ¾ of the current round having 7 games, they’re not that common. Hopefully, tomorrow night’s games will be more interesting, though I’m sure the fans of the Hurricanes, Bruins, Ducks, and Red Wings will disagree with me a bit on that one.

I haven’t heard anyone predicting that the Hurricanes win the series with the Bruins yet. I’m sure there are some. Finding people who thought the Ducks were going to beat the Sharks was almost impossible and I talked to members of the media and fans in Anaheim. Since I haven’t been to Carolina in years, I’m sure I could find some people there who truly thought the Hurricanes would win the series against the Bruins before this round of the playoffs started. If most people had been told that the Hurricanes would be up 2-1 in a series with the Bruins, they probably would have believed it about as much as most people would have if you told them the Ducks would have been leading the series with the Sharks 2-0 to start.

Two overtime games in one day again and the Penguins and the Hurricanes were a part of the madness this round, too. Thankfully, my DVR from hell (made by Motorola and supplied by the horrible Orange County Cox Cable company) worked and I got to see both games today (the Devils/Hurricanes game recorded, but the DVR couldn’t play it – so sad!). It’s interesting to me that both times there were two OT games in the playoffs this year on the same day they involved the only two teams who were in both rounds of the playoffs. Incidentally, the team who won the OT game in question won the series and went on to the next round of the playoffs. Wonder if that’ll happen this time, too.

As a Penguins fan, the Penguins game drove me nuts. The Capitals’ late tying goal and all the chances and the way the Pens were skating initially and… I could go on forever about the gut-wrenching experience I know most Penguins fans went through tonight. I think we can all agree that the comeback the Red Sox made against the Yankees a few years ago is too rare to hope for it and that if the Penguins had lost tonight at home it would have been the end of their 2009 playoff run. Fortunately for Pens fans everywhere, Pittsburgh won game 3 and the Penguins are now only behind 2-1 in the series to the Capitals.

Apparently, the Penguins want to play in the first back-to-back games of the 2009 playoffs. Personally, I think back-to-back games should never happen in the playoffs. I realize that arenas have schedules to work around, but think they should figure something out to avoid back-to-back games. On the bright side, of course, both teams have exactly the same recover time. On the down side, this is the playoffs. To me playoff hockey means teams at their best and the Penguins and Capitals will not be at their best when they played the day before. As another point, this is the playoffs – I know, it seems like the same point as my first, but bear with me. Since this is the playoffs, game 4 of the Pens/Caps series in Pittsburgh Friday could last until sometime Saturday morning. I know the players’ contracts have rules about game turnaround time; I’m guessing these restrictions are waived for the playoffs. However, think about how horrible and boring the Pens/Caps game could be on Saturday if the game Friday goes into triple overtime (or longer). Don’t the fans deserve more during the playoffs – especially for a weekend game? I think they do. Too bad Gary Bettman disagrees with me.

At this point in the season, a lot of teams are normally set in stone for the playoffs. The eastern conference has 3 teams that have been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs (Atlanta, Tampa Bay, and NY Islanders) and Boston has clinched their division title/playoff spot. The western conference is a lot more up in the air. Other than San Jose (clinched the division title & playoff spot) and Detroit (clinched playoff spot), everything in the western conference is up in the air. The closer it gets to the playoffs, the less likely it is for some of the lower teams to make it into the playoffs, but there is definitely a lot more excitement this year surrounding the playoff race than I can remember in recent years.

It’s been suggested that this is largely due to the points for losing in overtime and shootouts. I didn’t feel like completely redoing the standings again this year to figure out if that’s the case. I suspect that the points for losing are a factor. Teams have been moving in and out of the playoffs for weeks in the western conference and it seems very likely that the last day or two of the season (April 11 & 12) will be very important to some of the teams in the western conference.

In spite of all the people I’ve heard who believe so strongly that the western conference is the stronger/tougher conference (due to the top two NHL teams coming from the west), teams in the eastern conference need 83 points to be in playoff standing (Montreal is in 8th place with 83 points). Teams like Edmonton (in 7th place in the west with 79 points), Anaheim (currently in 8th in the west with 78 points), and Nashville (tied with Anaheim in points, but with fewer wins) would be in 9th – 11th place in the eastern conference. The 6th place team in the western conference would just barely beat out the Montreal Canadiens for the 8th spot if the Blue Jackets were competing in the other conference. The eastern conference has more teams in the 80s & 90s than the west. Of course, the fact that each team doesn’t play every team from the opposing conference at home and away each year makes it even more difficult to argue either side of that dispute, but I think it’s worth thinking about the fact that the teams in the last two playoff spots in the west (a quarter of the qualifying teams) would not be in the playoffs if they had to qualify by the eastern conference point scale.

The LA Kings still have slim playoff chances. They haven’t been mathematically eliminated – yet. However, it’s clear that they (and probably the Ducks, slated just ahead of them in the standings with 2 more points) will not make the playoffs this year. I was surprised by how many people said that last night’s game was “it,” meaning the end of the playoff hopes for the Kings. I understand wanting your team to do well. I definitely wanted the Kings to make the playoffs. I really enjoyed seeing the players happy and in the race for the playoffs, blasting Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” in the locker room. Most of the Kings’ current roster had never been in a position where it was possible (if all the stars aligned) for them to make it to the playoffs until this season. They’re young and the Kings have not been good since most of them joined the NHL. The excitement of the playoff hunt didn’t change the fact that the problem the Kings faced was not the points in the standings, but all the teams between them and the 8th and final playoff spot in the western conference. Last night at the game, someone mentioned that all they had to do was change the number of points they had to get into the playoffs. However, that’s not a realistic view of the situation. In order to advance, a team needs to win and have other teams lose. Since the Kings face east coast teams (Boston and Pittsburgh) in the beginning of their road trip that starts Thursday), they can only control their result. They have no way of keeping teams they’re competing against from getting points unless they’re playing them at the time.

Some fans may still believe the Kings have a shot at the playoffs this season, but their long shot just got more unlikely when they lost a four point game (as Terry Murray always calls the division games, but last night’s was more of a four point game than a game against the Coyotes this season) last night against the then 9th place Nashville Predators (last night’s game moved them into 7th place). The Kings will most likely finish where I expected them to finish (not in the playoffs, but not far from it). They’re definitely outside looking in this year, but at least they can see the playoffs in their future. Last year at this time, the Kings’ locker room was one of the most depressing places one can imagine. Now, the Kings see what they need to do to improve and realize that they are capable of making the playoffs… just not this year.

Unfortunately for NHL fans in southern California, the only hockey team in the area making the playoffs this year might just be the Ontario Reign. In good news, the arena is beautiful, prices are lower, and parking is free. The down side, of course, is that all the NHL playoffs may have to be on TV or require travel for those who live in southern California. There is the possibility that the not-so-distant future will have both the Kings and the Ducks in the playoffs, though. The future looks bright for hockey fans in the LA/Orange County area.

Today, I watched the Rangers/Flyers game on NBC in HD and the Penguins/Bruins game (not on the NHL Network in HD, in spite of what the guide said – good thing I checked and recorded it on Center Ice where it was on in standard definition, but at least it was playing – the NHL Network chose to show replays of the Maple Leafs/Flames game from yesterday and then the Canadiens/Devils instead of airing the Penguins/Bruins game live. I can’t even begin to understand that programming choice, but I’m sure there was a good reason.

Those of you who watched the Penguins game know that Chris Kunitz (acquired from the Ducks in an early trade around the trade deadline along with Eric Tangradi for Ryan Whitney) scored his first hat trick with the Penguins… or did he? What you might not know if you didn’t look at the stats a while after the game is that Kunitz’s one goal (and, therefore, his hat trick) away. When I was watching the game, I didn’t think he had touched the puck (clearly they later found out that Kunitz hadn’t tipped the puck in), but I think there should be some time limit on when they can change the scoring of a goal in the NHL.

In talking to one of the NHL employees who works on that in Anaheim after the game, I found out that there really is no time limit. Guys sometimes remember after the game that they might have touched the puck or the team’s people look at the goals a little bit more closely and realize that a certain guy did or didn’t touch the puck. They said at that point it’s up to the main NHL office in Toronto to make the call and take closer looks at the goal and make the scoring change. It was my understanding that the Toronto office looked at every goal and closely analyzed it at the time of the goal, so I don’t really see how this can happen. I would assume the offices in Toronto have HD feed even though all games aren’t televised in HD and are looking at the goals very closely. I know the NHL officials at the rink don’t always have HD capabilities, but I assume that the office where they make all the final decisions has the latest technology and closely examines each goal right after it happens. It would seem in that case the goal scoring records would not need to be changed after the fact.

I don’t know exactly when Kunitz’s goal was taken away from him, but I know it wasn’t announced until after the game, since my dad (who was at today’s game in Pittsburgh) learned about the change while listening to the post game show on his way home from the game. Considering the fact that it was not a late goal, I think they should be able to make that call earlier and not change that late.

The goals are reviewed at the time for a reason. The goal announcements are often delayed as the NHL powers that be try to determine who scored a goal, the assists, etc. I think once the final whistle blows all goals (other than the goal or goals in the last couple minutes of the game) should be finalized and no more changes should be made to the scoring. Would mistakes be made occasionally? Sure. Mistakes are made sometimes in baseball and football on whether a home run is a home run or should be called a foul ball. They review the plays at the time and sometimes they make the wrong call. In hockey, they’re not taking back a goal – that is reviewed at the time and I’ve never heard of a goal being disallowed after the fact. Changing who scored a goal is clearly not as drastic a change, but I still think it’s something they should determine in a specified amount of time.