Nick's Picks
STL/NSH: St Louis in 6
The planets were indeed aligned and my darkhorses stampeded all over the Wild in a quick 5 games. And the planets shift ever so finely in line as somehow, some way, the Predators SWEPT the Blackhawks. SWEPT! Who could've seen that coming? But it works out just fine for the Blues. I'm gonna eat this series up with a spoon. Tight, low scoring affairs with plenty of blocked shots and great goaltending. Sign me up. The Blues scorers push them over the edge here and on the darkhorses gallop into the Western Conference Finals.
ANA/EDM: Anaheim in 7
We got a wild first round but we didn't get any Game 7's! Whats up with that? Now I don't really believe in my bleak heart that this one goes seven as the Ducks are looking like the team to beat in the West. Especially after seeing how easily they dispatched the tiny Flames. But if the Oilers bring the forecheck and the big bodies they have and make it a slugfest; Things could get interesting. You gotta remember one big thing, the Ducks decided to rebuild their greatness by supplementing their veteran core with Vancouver scraps. Unraveling is in their DNA! The Ducks are still too good to lose to em in the end, but the Oilers can pull at the loose string and extend the series all the way to seven.
OTT/NYR: New York in 5
The Sens ruined my perfect first round! Only pick I missed, and I'm fine with that. It was my hardest pick to make and going off the cuff caught up with me. A little research into the Bruins blue line situation and I could've sang a different tune. But as the great Dr. Farthing said after missing his bet against Rocky, "hindsight is 20/20 my friend". And you know what, I'd be fine with them ruining my picks again this round too! I like em. So why pick the Rangers? Goes right back to what I said in round 1. The Metropolitan is well ahead of the Atlantic. I think it all clicks and they finish off taking advantage of that crossover. And a quick shout out; Zuccarello is easily my favorite Eastern Conference player and has been since the Kings beat them in the Finals. He left it all out there in that series and still does, he lives for the playoffs and its contagious.
WSH/PIT: Washington in 4
NBC's wet dream. Overchicken vs Crosby. Chokers vs the darlings. Caps vs Pens! I felt Washington was gonna put everybody on notice out of the gate with a thorough dismantling of the Leafs but 7,217,244 OT games later they looked more like they "survived" if anything. The Leafs decided to announce themselves all over the Caps' party. And you know, this might work out. Let the Pens doubt them, let Vegas oddsmakers doubt them, let the talking heads doubt them. I still saw everything I thought I had seen during the regular season. They are stupid good. The notice is just coming one series later than I expected. Sweep though, really? Yes. *hipshot* Pew-pew.
Bill's Picks
This quote from MLB Hall of Famer Tom Glavine (drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in 1984) always pops into my mind when the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin, “If you're giving me tickets to the football game, baseball game or hockey game, I'm taking the tickets to the hockey game. For me, it's by far the most fun sport to go and watch live and be part of. I just don't know why it doesn't translate as well on TV.” When I meet people that dislike hockey, my argument for the game is always “you have to experience hockey live.” And then the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin and all I can think is YOU PEOPLE ARE CRAZY! Did you watch the first round!? 18 of the 42 games required overtime (42.9%), a record for any round in the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 28 of the 42 games were decided by 1 goal. 18 of the 42 games were tied in the final 5 minutes of the 3rd period, 2 in the last 60 seconds. Open your eyes people, there is nothing remotely close in the world of sports to the theater of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
My picks and actual first round results (bold):
Caps in five… Caps in 6
Pens in six… Pens in 5
Canadiens in seven… Rangers in 6
Bruins in six… Senators in 6
Hawks in six… Predators in 4
Wild in six… Blues in 5
Ducks in six… Ducks in 4
Oilers in seven… Oilers in 6
Round Two! Let’s start with the Western Conference where the first round featured a shocking sweep, the further rise of the next next next one and more convincing series victories.
Blues v Predators… the Preds flat out shocked me and destroyed all my brackets. I know they are a good team and arguably have one of the best lines in hockey with Forsberg-Johansen-Arvidsson. Despite this knowledge I never imagined them sweeping the Blackhawks. Convincingly. On the flipside, the Blues surprised me with a very solid effort in ousting a very good Wild team in 5 games. The Blues tend to whimper in the playoffs but not this season. Makes for an interesting matchup but I’m riding with Smashville. Preds in 6.
Ducks vs Oilers… every hockey fan already knew how good Connor McDavid was before the Playoffs began but he took it to another level in the first round. He’s simply incredible to watch and his skating ability in unrivaled in the history of the game. The Ducks swept the Flames by simply overwhelming them in all the crucial moments. In the regular season the Oilers bested the Ducks 3-2 and I think the second round will continue that trend. Good chance this is the first series to go seven. Oilers in 7.
Capitals vs Penguins… thanks to the NHL’s laughable playoff format, the two best teams in hockey faceoff in the second round. Face meet palm. As painful as it is to admit, if this matchup is going to happen it has to be in the Eastern Conference Finals. Ovi vs Sid. Caps inability to advance in the playoffs vs the Pens winning Cup after Cup. Good-ish vs pure Evil. The Caps played the Pens in the second round in 2009 and 20016, they lost both series and the Pens went on to win the Cup both years. It’s easy to argue the winner of this series will play for the Cup. The question is can the NHL’s top team finally defeat the chosen ones? Yes. This is the year. Caps in 6.
Senators vs Rangers… I had Montreal vs Boston in the second round. If you are a hockey fan, you know the history of this fierce rivalry. I’m sure this played a part in my first round selections. The Sens defeated the Bruins in 6 games thanks in large part to Boston’s numerous injuries, including key man David Krecji, but also because of a mammoth effort by Erik Karlsson and a boatload of emotional energy. The return of Clarke MacArthur after missing nearly two years from concussions and Craig Anderson following his wife’s battle with cancer boosted the Sens to a big first round victory. The Rangers are familiar with this kind of boost making a Cup run after the passing of Martin St. Louis’ Mom (do you remember him scoring on Mother’s Day?) in 2014. I picked against the Rangers in round one, despite my allegiance, because I questioned how they could handle a physical series, if their less than stellar defensemen could show up and not sure if Henrik Lundqvist could turn the clock back a bit. The King was sensational, the Rangers out-hit the Habs and the D-men were a mess but played better than I expected-especially Captain Ryan McDonagh. Lundqvist stopped 195 of the 206 shots he faced, a save percentage of .947, despite facing an insane number of high-danger shots. You’re my boy Blue. Rangers in 6.
Lastly, SHUT UP PIERRE MCGUIRE. We all hate you.
Kevin's Picks
Kevin didn't write anything, but he did make his picks.
Nashville in 6
Edmonton in 7
New York in 6
Washington in 7
Ben's Picks
Washington v. Pittsburgh
This is the battle you were waiting for, right? Ovechkin v. Crosby? You won’t be disappointed, but one of these dudes is catching a severe case of the injury bug in game two or three. That will be the death blow for that fellow’s team’s chances. My bet right now is that Crosby ends up with a wrecked knee and all of that bending will take the Pens down with it. Washington in 6.
Edmonton v. Anaheim
Last round I bet against both of these teams and was wrong on all counts. If I bet against them both in the second round, I’ll only be half-wrong. I still can’t get behind any Disney inspired sports team. It just feels wrong. And, to be honest, I might be wrong in thinking that the Ducks are Disney inspired, but I’m too lazy to check and feel plenty comfortable in knowing that I’m right about things like this. The first hockey game I ever saw on tv was when we first got ESPN back in ’83 or ’84 and the Oilers were killing it because Gretzky was playing out of his mind. That seems like a good enough reason to pull for the Oilers. Edmonton in 5.
St. Louis v. Nashville
I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to bet against the Blackhawks last round because I didn’t want to upset Taylor. I wanted to believe the ‘Hawks could pull it off. But this Nashville team is ridiculously stocked, especially at forward. The second line is one of the best in NHL history. Maybe the best. Look for a lot of scoring from the blue line in this series. I just used all that jargon and don’t know about any of it. Just needed to give an ESPN hot take on this one. Jesse Ventura and the Predators are going to Smashville the shit out of the Blues. Nashville in 4.
Ottawa v. New York
At this point in the playoffs, all I really care about are the feelings of my dude Chill Gordon. Dude is a hella big Rangers fan. I’m choosing to look at this as a battle between Chuck Norris and Jesse Helms. It’s one Ranger vs one Senator, and even though the one Ranger is a d-bag with shitty facial hair and a bunch of wack ass memes that entertain middle school kids who don’t even know how bad Bruce Lee beat the shit out of Chuck Norris, the Senator is dead AF. So are Ottawa’s chances. Rangers in 6.
Taylor's Picks
Well, shit, huh? I mean, if you're not a Blackhawks fan, whatever, but I am... so, shit, huh? I had a bad feeling about the Preds, so I said almost everything about the Hawks that I wanted to in my round 1 prediction, but I had no idea it would be like that (the one good part: I said Anisimov was healthy and that if he wasn't, the Hawks were boned. Turns out, he was not healthy at all and looked like shit... and they got swept. Fun consilation prize! Being right on a site no one reads!). It wasn't even close. I talked about hot goalies in my Habs v Rangers preview, but didn't even touch on Rinne or Jake Allen. The lesson, really, is I have no fartin' clue what I am talking about and should be ignored at all times. That said...
Round 2!
St Louis Blues vs Nashville Predators
St Louis beat the Minnesota Wild in 5 games (I said Blues in 7)
Nashville beat the Chicago Blackhawks in 4 games (I said Chicago in 6)
Who cares?
Nashville in 6.
Ottawa Senators vs New York Rangers
Ottawa beat the Boston Bruins in 6 games (I said Boston in 6)
New York beat the Montreal Canadiens in 6 games (I said Habs in 6)
I have a soft spot for Ottawa because a friend of mine likes them. He doesn't even watch hockey anymore, but he likes the Sens. I also have a friend who likes the Rangers. He likes hockey and appears on this page. I'll pick the Sens to get my stench off of the Rangers, even though I still want Kevin Hayes to be sad. Thanks for writing, Bill. You're welcome.
Ottawa in 7.
Washington Capitals vs Pittsburgh Penguins
Washington beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in 6 (I said Capitals in 4)
Pittsburgh beat the Columbus Blue Jackets in 5 (I said the Pens in 6)
This is going to be a fun one. I think this is the series that Letang being out really hurts the Pens, but the Caps have some injuries as well. Should be interesting to see what happens if Murray comes back, but Fleury is still playing well. Tough to pull him, isn't it? But, I figure he implodes and they beg for Murray to get back quickly. I love Ovie and have always liked him more than Sid (Sid is the greatest player in the world, don't get me wrong) and I want him to win one. So...
Caps in 6. I wanted to pick the Pens for the jinx, but I can't abuse my jinx powers.
Edmonton Oilers vs Anaheim Ducks
Man, I want the Oil to win this one. I want it bad. Not because I particularly love their team or even McJesus, but I just do not like the Ducks at all. I backed the Sharks pretty hard last year for JOE and joe and Marleau and them against the Pens entering our “best team of the cap era” conversation. I do not feel anything like that for any Ducks at all (I know some of them have Cups, save it). Plus, I kind of like the Cam Talbot redemption story. It's like the Devan Dubnyk story, but for a team I don't fucking despise.
Oilers in 6. McJesus.
I'll make a cute graphic soon, but, as it stands, Nick is winning the points pool handily.