Ha-ha, good one...

Something tells me he'll get his third consecutive MVP trophy this year.

I'm happy with the matchup vs LA - way better travel than against the Wings or Predators.

My first round predictions:

Washington beats Montreal
New Jersey beats Philadelphia
Buffalo beats Boston
Pittsburgh beats Ottawa

San Jose beats Colorado
Nashville beats Chicago (hardest series to predict IMHO. Goaltending is the factor)
Vancouver beats Los Angeles
Detroit beats Phoenix

Pretty safe votes, but it should become much closer to a crapshoot in the second round.

And you would have lost to the Wings.

No, I think Sammy would tell alert everyone of the Wings secrets, allowing us to win in 3. Yes, we would a best of 7 in 3 games.

Chicago sweeps Nashville.

Who in their right mind thinks Nashville would win? It comes down to the goal tending? Niemi is a better goalie than Rinne and Huet = Rinne and Rinne is better than ellis

Nashvilles highest scorer has just as many points as a man who was out for the first third of the season for Chicago.

Chicago -

3rd in GF

5th in GA

16th in PP%

4th in PK

On top of the PK they've scored 13 times SH being number 1

1st in so with Niemi and Huet

Nashville -

14th in GA

18th in GF

24th in PP%

28th in PK

5 SH goals being 22nd

5th in SO

They've been shut out 8 times against Chicagos 2 times.

Out of the 6 times these teams met up Chicago has taken 4 in regulation.

Blackhawks - 17 goals Preds 12 goals

Chicago >>>>>>> Than Nashville in almost all stats.

brackets up!

first set of playoff games are tomorrow, can't wait

EASTERN CONFERENCE

(1) Washington Capitals VS. Montreal Canadians (8)  5 games

(2) New Jersey Devils VS. Philadelphia Flyers (7)       7 games

(3) Buffalo Sabres VS. Boston Bruins (6)                   5 games

(4) Pittsburgh Penguins VS. Ottawa Senators (5)      6 games

WESTERN CONFERENCE

(1) San Jose Sharks VS. Colorado Avalanche (8)          5 games

(2) Chicago Blackhawks VS. Nashville Predators (7)    4 games

(3) Vancouver Canucks VS. Los Angeles Kings (6)       5 games

(4) Phoenix Coyotes VS. Detroit Red Wings (5)           7  games

I have a feeling Phoenix is a much, much better team than people give them credit for, and the Wings, late surge notwithstanding, are just too tired to go deep.

Brodeur will flame out in the second round, and take the team with him. I'm shocked that the Devils will play a 38-year old man for 75-80 games, and then act surprised when they don't go deep in the playoffs.

Boston can't score. The Sabres have little beyond Ryan Miller, and against the Bruins, they might not need him.

Washington doesn't play defense and their goaltending's shaky - recipe for playoff success there. Montreal doesn't do anything well, though, so they'll go the second round.

Ottawa's tough enough to go the conf. finals or beyond. They're deep when it comes to skaters - but I don't like the idea of riding a Cinderella rookie goalie to the Stanley Cup. Patrick Roy aside, it doesn't happen.

Chicago's going to the SCF. Pencil it in.

If they don't, Vancouver will.

San Jose - why bother? We know how this will turn out.

The Penguins are maddeningly inconsistent, but I can't tell if that's because they were tired or if they were simply coasting.

This is the first time in a while I don't see a definite upset coming, but I think Philly and Detroit have the best chance of doing so.