Next Round

LA in 7
NSH in 6
Philly in 6
Rangers in 7

Yeah baby 6 out of 8 last round! Too bad I didn't write an exact # of games...I'll do that for round 2.

ROUND 2 PREDICTIONS:

LA vs STL - I'll take St. Louis to win it in 6 games. I much prefer LA (and hope they win) but I think they both have equally great goaltending, but St. Louis has a bit more offense which will be the deciding factor. Certainly going to be a low scoring series.

PHX vs Nash - I'll take Phoenix to win it in 7 games. I know Nashville is the favourite, but I seriously think it's Phoenix's year to make a serious run. It will all come down to Mike Smith, whether he can have another dominant round or not. Also Radim Vrbata needs to wake up, 35 goals in the reg season but just 1 assist (no goals) so far in the playoffs? Come on dude.

Wash vs NY - New York wins it in 6 (possibly 5, but I'll say 6). We have a Vezina favourite (an possibly even Hart) candidate goalie in Lundqvist against a rookie who just weeks ago was playing in the AHL in Holtby. I think Holtby's luck will wear off and NY will light Washington up like a Christmas tree. Especially if Gaborik and the other Ranger scorers can wake up. But who knows, maybe Holtby will continue playing great, and Ovy, Semin and Backstrom will carry Washington to the East finals. But regardless, I have NYR in 6.

NJD vs Philly - I hate the Flyers. But I'll take them to win it in 5. I could even see a sweep happening, but I'll go with 5 games for now. NJ barely squeaked by a weak Florida team that barely made the post-season, so I don't expect them to beat a high scoring Philly team. But of course the deciding factor will be Bryzgalov...we know Philly can score, but the question is will Bryzgalov be able to stop a beach ball this series, something he couldn't do against the Penguins? If Brygalov continues to be a pasta strainer in net, and Brodeur remains solid...maybe NJ could advance to the east finals. But anyways, Philly in 5.

Well the above are my predictions. But just so the record is clear I'm cheering for Los Angeles and Phoenix in the west...and Washinton and New Jersey in the east.

I think the western conference is a toss up, but I've gotta think the favourites in the east (NYR and Philly) are gonna take it no problem.

@ AJ Concerning Florida, it would be nice to see Florida have success since the 1996 loss too the Avs in the finals, but I must say the fans annoyed me at the end of the overtime. They threw all their rats and empty battles on the ice. So non-classy to the point I hope they were all really drunk from a long game.

Pretty lousy predictions from me. Here we go agai:

StL over LA in 6.

Nash over Phx in 7.

Phi over NJD in 5.

NYR over Was in 6.

Excellent predictions everyone but me and Hollaback.

...and another year the Cup is in America.

i predict anyway.


StL Blues over Kings in 6
Preds over Coyotes in 7

Rangers over Caps in 7
Flyers over Devils in 6

and for the record, i know it means nothing, but i would have gotten 6/8 correct. i would have only missed rangers and capitals winning.

Phoenix does it again! Damn dude the Desert Dogs are at home in overtime! Way to go.

I like Marks predictions

Blues over Kings in 5
Coyotes over Preds in 7

Rangers over Caps in 6
Flyers over Devils in 6

Another overtime win for Pheonix, very impressive. Surprised by the score too, gives me hope for the rest of these series.

okay late to the party, but here goes

Predators over Phoenix cause I am salty over them beating the Blackhawks (7 games)

Blues over the LA trappers in 5 games

Rangers over Capitals in 6, but we might be surprised

Philadelphia over the Devils in 7because I still hate them for popularizing the trap all those years ago even though Brodeur is a beast and better retire after this season.

Still will accept late picks until 11:59 pm mountain time as I am a rule monger.