Predictions For The Second Round

It’s probably been a couple of years since I’ve made predictions on all of the upcoming playoff series’, but thought I’d take a stab at it again.  There’s a lot of interesting matchups, and some seem like they’re easy on the surface, but if you really take a look at it, there’s a lot more involved.  So, without anything further, here we go:

Canucks vs Blackhawks

No point in drawing this one out and leaving it till the end.  The Canucks want revenge for what happened in the second round of last year’s playoffs.  No one feels it more than Roberto Luongo, and that counts for a lot.  Dustin Byfuglien notwithstanding.  Maybe someone knocking the guy on his ass a few times will get him away from the net.  Regardless, the Canucks’ scoring has improved vastly over last year, and their secondary scoring in the first round did exactly what it needed to get them through.  Now if Alex Burrows and Ryan Kesler start scoring the way that they did during the regular season, this thing will be over in a hurry.

Not to say that this thing is going to be an easy series in any way, shape or form.  There’s going to be a lot of emotion come out, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see a fight or two in the first game.  The first ten minutes or so will probably go a long way to show what this one’s going to be like.

Canucks in six.

Sharks vs Red Wings

How do you pick a winner here?  The Sharks were the best team in the west this year.  But they have a long and glorious history of flaming out in the playoffs.  The Red Wings are, well, the Red Wings.  They’ve made the Finals the last two years.  However, the Wings are getting not getting any younger, and they’re trying to ride a rookie goaltender through all of this.  Sure it’s been done before, but it ain’t going to be easy.

In the long run I think I’d have to side with the team that has an incredibly vast amount of playoff experience and go with Detroit.  And while I’m predicting that the Sharks will win a couple, they really won’t really be in this series.  They might win games three and five.

Wings in six.

Penguins vs Canadiens

The Sens didn’t provide much of a challenge to the Penguins.  Or maybe it was just the fact that Sidney Crosby was so dominating in the first round.  The Habs pulled off the upset of the playoffs this year.  Regardless of whatever else happens for the final three rounds. 

But Jaroslav Halak is NOT going to be able to do what he did to the Caps for a whole series against Pittsburgh.  As much as I’d love to see the Habs go deep into the playoffs, I have a feeling that they’re about to get run over by the Sidney Crosby express.

The Habs will win a couple, but like the Sharks, they really won’t be in this series all that much.

Pens in six.

Bruins vs Flyers

I can remember when the Flyers and Bruins played in the Stanley Cup Finals back in the mid-70s.  Absolutely brutal.  While I don’t think that this series will be like those ones were, I think that this one has the potential to be the most emotional series in the second round. 

Particularly if the Bruins play the way that they did during their series with the Sabres.

This is going to be a long, drawn out series and I really would be surprised if it did anything other than go the full seven games.  Which of course would lead to the Bruins getting their matchup against Matt Cooke and the Penguins.  Which could, in my opinion could be an even more interesting ECF than the Pens and Capitals would have been.

Bruins in seven.

Canucks 2nd Round Playoff Schedule

The second round begins on Friday for the Canucks in Chicago.  If there’s anything good about this, it’s not having to wait until 7pm for the game to start.

1. Friday, April 30 – 5pm – Vancouver @ Chicago
2. Sunday, May 2 – 5pm – Vancouver @ Chicago
3. Tuesday, May 4 – 7pm – Chicago @ Vancouver
4. Thursday, May 6 – 7pm – Chicago @ Vancouver
5. Saturday, May 8 – 5pm – Vancouver @ Chicago (if necessary)
6. Monday, May 10 – 7pm – Chicago @ Vancouver (if necessary)
7. Wednesday, May 12 – TBD – Vancouver @ Chicago (if necessary)

Friday seems like a long way off now.  Time for the media to get worked up in to a froth over this second round match-up.  Gonna be good.

Go Canucks Go.

Canucks Advance

As was pointed out on TEAM 1040 this morning, the Canucks got all kinds of scoring from those who weren’t really counted on to provide it.  Sure the Sedins picked up right where they left off at the end of the regular season.  And yeah, Alex Burrows and Ryan Kesler only got one apiece (and empty netters at that), but Mikael Samuelsson led all scorers in the post season.  And who would have thought that Steve Bernier would pick up four goals in six games?

If Roberto Luongo keeps getting stronger, which he did as the series went on, the Sedins and Samuelsson keep doing what they’ve been doing, and Alex Burrows starts scoring the way that he did in the regular season, the Canucks are going to go deep into the playoffs this year.

Do they still have some issues?  Sure.  The penalty kill, while it’s been much better the last couple of games, still needs to be ironed out so that they don’t wind up with another game where every time the Canucks are shorthanded they give up a goal.  That will end your season really fast as you get later into the playoffs.  Roberto Luongo also needs to be consistent, which he is starting to show signs of doing.  Getting pulled from a game (particularly in the playoffs) would tend to have that sort of an affect on a guy like him.

The Canucks could know as early as tonight who they’ll be facing in the next round of the playoffs.  If the Hawks beat the Preds, the Canucks get to face the Hawks again, in a rematch of last year’s second round.  But if Nashville wins, it’s the winner of the Phoenix – Detroit series.  The Coyotes give the impression that they’re going to find some way to win, no matter how improbable it seems.  Kind of like the Canucks teams of ‘82 and ‘94.  The Red Wings have massive amounts of deep playoff experience, but age may be starting to creep up on them finally. 

Personally, I’d like to see the Canucks play Chicago again, if for no other reason than Luongo can finally get the image of last year’s game 6 out of his mind, and move on.  It’d be a hell of a series.  Particularly if they can find some way to take Dustin Byfuglien on his ass, and out of the series. 

But, more on that when we know for sure.  In the meantime, this is going to be the temporary home for CanuckNation.ca for the time being.  Some hosting issues have come up that I’m working to resolve, but may not be be able to get worked out before the end of the season.  The site will have a new look next fall anyway, so I may just go ahead and keep posting here until the end of the playoffs this year, and then tighten up the design for next season during the summer.

And now, some thoughts from various places around the Canucks and Kings blogs.

• Another Third Period Rally Helps Canucks Advance – Nucks Misconduct
• A Farewell To Kings, Thanks to Jekyll, Not Hyde – Canuck Puck
• Canucks Beat Kings 4-2 – LAKings.com
• Why – Jewels From the Crown
• Kings 2, Canucks 4: So That’s How It Ends – Purple Crushed Velvet