@Kevin11 159585 wrote:
nick777
Based on regular season standings, Detroit has been the “team to beat” for a few years. But, they don’t seem to meet expectations in the playoffs.
The teams that have a shot at the cup (Imho) this year are:
– Montreal
– Calgary
– New York Rangers (dark horse)Pittsburg will walk on Ottawa, but I don’t think they will get past the 2nd or 3rd round.
San Jose is in tough against a game Calgary side. Iginla had a record season and has an all-round game that can push Calgary a long ways. 50/50 on this one but my nod goes to Calgary because they are Canadian and Iginla is a force.
The Habs have a good shot at winning it all unless they fall apart. Their specialty teams are hot – #1 powerplay in the league in regular season.
Dallas should dispose of Anaheim unless the Ducks start to use their size and tougness to maximum effectiveness – but I don’t see this happening enough for them to win the series. Dallas won’t go far after this series.
As far as the rest of the series, not all that interested at this stage and this Cup is a hard one to call I think – so my 3 choices are made with hesitation.
Kevin11 – Canucks Fan Sometimes
I was watching San Jose and Calgary, and secretly cheering for Calgary to win game 3 when they were down 3-0, Sarich with the big hit changed the mental perspective of the series, showing champ form from his Tampa Bay cup win, he basically announced, we can kick San Jose’s ass in a fight, and they turned it into that kind of a series, and Calgary fought hard for their goals and took the lead in the series and the momentum.
Looking at it another way, San Jose looks a bit fresher, they slacked through game 3 and should have more energy left, when they get the momentum back they will be dangerous, they can score fast, expect Marleau to show off some of his creative talents and push this series to 6-7 games.
It’s a bit of a tough call, i like the way Calgary plays, but it’s always the young players that rise in the playoffs and make a difference, the 2 forwards from each team with the most shots on goal so far in the series are Joe Pavelski – 24 years old (SJ) 18 shots, Ryan Clowe – 26 years old (SJ) 15 shots, Jarome Iginla – 31 years old (CAL) 15 shots, Craig Conroy – 37 years old (CAL) 7 shots, give the edge to San Jose in the youngblood category.
That’s the edge i see for San Jose, they look like they can improve while Calgary can’t play much better than they already are, and if Roenick remembers how to use his jedi skills and Thornton starts scoring, Calgary might not win another game.
Pittsburgh looks good, they should roll past everyone in the East, with the exception of Montreal, and that’s my prediction for the East Final, either one of them will skate circles around your Rangers and their cheating ways
Detroit is the team to beat every year because they are consistently good, changes this year for the playoffs, on defence, In – Nick Kronvall, Brad Stuart, Brian Rafalski, Out – Matthieu Schneider, Danny Markov, Brett Lebda < big improvement in speed, youth and offense, on offense, In - Mike Hartigan, Darren McCarty, Dallas Drake, Out - Robert Lang, Kyle Calder, Todd Bertuzzi < more speed and hustle They improved their overall speed a lot, and that’s why i like all 4 of the teams i picked, Montreal, Pittsburgh, Detroit, San Jose, they look like the 4 fastest skating teams in the playoffs, and have those young, fresh speedsters that make a difference
I still do It’s been a pretty exciting series so far, with both games on the weekend going into OT. I still think the Habs will take the Bruins in 5 though.I think Pittsburg and Detroit are two other teams to look out for.
I agree with everything u said, including your spelling of Pittsburg, stupid H serves no purpose in that word