NHL PLAYOFF PREVIEW

(Note: Someone remind APT to get a knock hockey board)

EASTERN CONFERENCE


#1 Washington Capitals vs. #8 Montreal Canadiens

The Washington Capitals finished with the most points in the NHL this season 121, and won the President’s Trophy as best team in the league. It would seem that this should be an easy first round, seeing as the Canadiens finished with a measly 88 points on the season. The Habs have a quality team, with two good scoring lines, and two solid starting goalies. The Caps are able to score goals in bunches, and have an extremely potent offense. As I stated in the mid-season review, the only thing that could be the Caps tragic flaw would be their goaltending. While Varlamov and Theodore have performed solidly in the regular season, they have shown bouts of inconsistency, especially in the playoffs where Theodore got pulled midway through the first round series last year against the Rangers, and the Habs have much more firepower than the Rags did last year. That being said, I don’t think that the Caps should have much trouble in the first round

BOLT pick: Caps 4-1


#2 New Jersey Devils vs. #7 Philadelphia Flyers

My thought is that this series could be the most entertaining of the first round. These are two bitter rivals from the Atlantic Division, and they do not like each other in the least. This year’s Devils are a pretty standard Devil team, with sold defense and goaltending, and a couple of good scoring lines. The Flyers are also a stereotypical Flyers team, with a lot of physical, borderline dirty players and shaky goaltending. The X-factor in the series could be Ilya Kovalchuk, who the Devils acquired at trade deadline. Kovalchuk has the ability to break open any game he is in, and with the shaky play of the Flyers goalies throughout the season, Kovalchuk’s wrist shot could do some serious damage. The Flyers have enough grit and power to make this a great series.

BOLT pick: Devils 4-3


#3 Buffalo Sabres vs. #6 Boston Bruins

There are many who will say that this is the series that will be most likely to result in a first round upset in the East. The Sabres are a team that relies very heavily on their ability to play defense and goaltend. Their defense is lead by a rookie in Tyler Myers, and they are lead in net by Team USA standout Ryan Miller. They are not a particularly adept team at goal scoring, with many small skilled forwards and only one real goal scoring threat in Thomas Vanek. If Myers does not perform up to snuff, the defense could falter, and it will be squarely on the shoulders of Miller to win the series. The Bruins have been playing well as of late, having finally made the move to bench Tim Thomas in favor of Tuukka Rask. They too have had some goal scoring woes, but have been able to pucks in over the course of the last month of the season. I do think that the Bruins have a great shot of taking the series, but Miller has played in pressure situations before, and has shown the ability to put a team on his back. At least for this round, I think he will.

BOLT pick: Sabres 4-2


#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Ottawa Senators

This series, in my opinion is the easiest to pick. The Senators have overachieved significantly this year, and will be overmatched against the Pens in the first round. The Sens have a good team, but not one that can match the depth of the Pens, especially in the playoffs. The Penguins are a playoff tested team, and are lead by the best one-two punch of centermen in the league. Add in Jordan Staal, arguably the best third line center in the league who can shut down opponents top lines, and the Pens will be a very difficult team to beat.

BOLT pick: Penguins 4-0



WESTERN CONFERENCE


#1 San Jose Sharks vs. #8 Colorado Avalanche

The San Jose Sharks were the best team in the league for the first two months of the season, and have kept up their stellar play throughout the course of the season. There has been a tendency in the past, however, for the Sharks to be unable to replicate their success in the playoffs. There are many who have labeled them simply as chokers, and who won’t pick them in the playoffs until they show they can actually win in the playoffs. The Avalanche played better than many would have expected this year, as they are an extremely young team. They were dealt a serious blow last week when a suspect hit by Shark Rob Blake gave Peter Mueller a concussion that has left him out indefinitely. Mueller was traded to the Avs at the trade deadline and had been a fixture at the point on their powerplay. The Avs certainly have the ability to pull off the upset, but I think they may be a year or two away from a deep playoff run.

BOLT pick: Sharks 4-2


#2 Chicago Blackhawks vs. Nashville Predators

This is another series that I think will be a fairly easy pick. The Predators are a good team lead by a great pair of young defensemen in Ryan Suter and Shea Weber. They have a quality goalie in Pekka Rinne, and a veteran corps of forwards including Jason Arnott and Steve Sullivan. The Blackhawks, however, scored the third most goals in the league this year and are lead by a pair of great young forwards and a pair of great young defensemen. With Pat Kane and Jonathon Toews up front and Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, the Hawks will be difficult to beat. Much like the Capitals, the only weakness that could doom the Hawks playoff run would be some shaky goaltending from Cristobal Huet and Antti Niemi.

BOLT pick: Hawks 4-0


#3 Vancouver Canucks vs. #6 Los Angeles Kings

This series will contend with the Flyers/Devils series as the best in the first round. The Canucks have the Art Ross Trophy winner in Hank Sedin, and Roberto Luongo in goal. They have been a very hot team at the end of the year, and have shown that they can bring it against anyone, as they scored the 2nd most goals in the league this year. The Kings are a team that is loaded with young talent, and depending on the night, can beat absolutely anyone in the league. As a young team, however, they are prone to bouts of inconsistency, and as such will have a hard time putting together a deep playoff run. If they are able to fire on all cylinders, however, everyone needs to look out because the Kings could do some damage. I think this series should go the distance, with a lot of great games and some great performances along the way.

BOLT pick: Canucks 4-3


#4 Phoenix Coyotes vs. #5 Detroit Red Wings

Of all the first round series, this one was by far the hardest to pick. On one hand, you have the Coyotes. The Coyotes started the year under turmoil with their team going bankrupt and the NHL taking control of the team. With all that, coach Dave Tippett (a slam dunk for the Jack Adams award) has turned this team into the biggest surprise of the year. The Coyotes are, as always, led by captain Shane Doan, and have had a career year from goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. They made a deal with the Leafs at the deadline to get Lee Stempniak, who has been on fire since he came to the Coyotes. Against these upstart Yotes, there are the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings started out the year with a significant amount of injuries, and were on the edge of a playoff position. Since the new year, however, they have gotten healthy and have a quality starting goalie in Jimmy Howard. The Wings are a veteran group of playoff tested players, who have been to the Stanley Cup Finals the past 2 years, and many on occasions before then. The only element that could lead them to lose would be the playoff inexperience of Howard, but he has shown throughout the year to be a very quality starting goaltender. Although I would love to see the Yotes make a run, I just think that the Wings have too much experience to get ousted in the first round.

BOLT pick: Red Wings 4-2


I’ll go through how I think the rest will shake out, but after each round I’ll give a short preview of the matchups.

A Train picks

EAST
Devils over Sabres 4-1
Capitals over Penguins 4-3

Capitals over Devils 4-2

WEST
Red Wings over Sharks 4-2
Canucks over Hawks 4-3

Canucks over Wings 4-2

FINAL
Canucks over Capitals 4-3

-THE-A-TRAIN-