EHM The Blue Line

Posted: **Tue Apr 24, 2007 2:41 pm**

Systemfel wrote:Sabres in 4 - Dubielewicz can't hold that offense back (NY might win a couple if DiPi comes back)
Devils in 6 - New Jersey has had some problems with Tampa during the season
Rangers in 6 - New York is on fire
Senators in 7 - unpredictable series really

Flames in 6 - a realistic prediction that doesn't get my hopes up
Ducks in 7 - the Wild are no push-overs
Canucks in 7 - Turco shows he can play, but gets outduelled by Luongo
Sharks in 6 - this is just a gut feeling

Pretty good.

Now to my conference semi-final predictions.

Sharks in 4 - San Jose is like Calgary+offense
Ducks in 5 - the Ducks are just better

Sabres in 6 - sounds like a solid prediction
Sens in 5 - New Jersey could barely handle one line, the Sens have a ton of players that can score

Posted: **Tue Apr 24, 2007 4:03 pm**

Well, I will try my own predictions:

Sharks in 6
Ducks in 5

Rangers in 6
Sens in 6

Iam the only one who thinks the Sabres werent looking that great on the first round???

....well, maybe its because I absolutely dont like Lindy Ruff!!!

Posted: **Tue Apr 24, 2007 4:12 pm**

My turn:

batdad wrote:Det-Cal God how to predict this one. No idea. Guessing outright. Bert scores OT winner in game 7.
ICK Detroit in 7
Ana-Min Minnesota in 6. Anaheim just does not do it for me. No idea why. Minny scares me.
Van-Dal SNOOZE. SNOOZE.. Vancouver in 7 boring 2-1 OT games. Nazzy gets his first goal of the series in Game 7.
Nas-SJ San Jose in 4. Nashville is the weakest team in the western playoffs.

East

Buf-NYI Buffalo in 5. Islanders have no hope here.
NJ-TB New Jersey in 6. Brodeur has 2 shutouts and in game 2 Tampa scores at least 5 goals.
Atl-NYR Lundqvist plays brutal, Weekes even worse. Atlanta in 6.
Ott-Pit Time for Pitt kids to learn something about playoff hockey, from a team which has been accused of not learning. Biggest learners: MA Fleury, Malkin. Ottawa in 5.

WOW! I got 6 out of 8 series with the right winner. And 4 of them were in the right number of games. Edging out CatchUp Scary. (Please just skip talking about my atlanta and Minny picks okay. Apparently I was asleep...

Now Series #2...

Buffalo-New York Rangers
Will be giving the Rags a little credit this time. They have a good team, and Avery will drive Briere crazy. Unfortunately Avery cannot drive Briere, Connolly, Roy, Mair, Afinogenov,Vanek, Pommi, Campbell, Hecht, Drury, and the rest of the Sabres nuts all at once. Sabres in 5

Ottawa vs New Jersey

Ottawa is good, but Brodeur is great. Emery is not. Time however for the Sens to overcome the issues, and elevate to playoff level. Ottawa in 6

Detroit vs San Jose

Bah! what to say. I hate the Detroit goalie, I am extremely jealous of Joe Thornton. But I like the kids on the Sharks d. nabby outduels Hasek Sharks in 6

Anaheim vs Vancouver

Everyone knows what I want to say. But I can't. It makes no sense to. Anaheim in 6

Posted: **Tue Apr 24, 2007 10:12 pm**

Thundercleese wrote:Here are my bold predictions for the West:

Det-Cal - Detroit is the only team that Calgary has a chance against in the first round. Their point total is inflated thanks to weak sisters Chicago, Columbus and Phoenix, so I don't consider their record that intimidating. As long as the Flames work hard, they can keep key guys like Datsyuk and Zetterberg away from danger zones, and I think Kiprusoff can outduel Hasek 8 times out of 10. Calgary in six.

Ana-Min - This could be interesting if Backstrom stays stellar. I don't think Giguere is all he's cracked up to be and if the Demitra-Gaborik line is as creative as they can be, Giggy's fundamentals (and nothing else) won't go far. But they have to get past Pronger first. Anaheim is fast and skilled enough to break the trap and unbelievably well balanced as a team. Anaheim in six.

Van-Dal - Marty Turco has something to prove, and he may well do it against an offensively challenged Canucks team. If Markus Naslund doesn't get going RIGHT NOW, the 'Nucks won't go far. Still, if the blue line stays healthy the Canucks are well poised to take this series with their solid fundamentals and smart hockey. Vigneault has a shot at coach of the year, I think....Vancouver in seven.

Nas-SJ - This is going to be a great series to watch. I don't think the young Predator defense can handle Joe Thornton, however. If this guy is really, truly ready to show his stuff in the playoffs, look out Conn Smythe. It's going to be a back-and-forth series as the weak-ish SJ defense will similarly have a hard time containing four lines that can score. Nabokov has been awesome lately but the Preds have a surprising tandem with Chris Mason stepping into his own and Tomas Vokoun as one of the more underrated goalies in the NHL (I know he's sucked lately, but if you could have any backup in the world...) Nashville in six.

And now for the East:

Buf-NYI/Tor - If the Leafs make it, they're toast. If the Islanders make it and get DiPietro back, they have a slim chance. Either way, the team against Buffalo is going to have to beat the bejeezus out of the Sabres' forwards for sixty minutes each night to even have a prayer. Buffalo in five, regardless.

NJ-TB - All the individual excellence in the world can't beat the Devils. Of course, they're built on the individual excellence of Marty Brodeur, but he's more a god among men than a hockey player. He just chooses hockey to entertain himself with the mortals. Tampa will have to find a way to spread their attack and pray that their goaltending holds up for more than ten minutes at a time. Jersey in five.

Atl-NYR - I thought the Rangers were going to the Cup last season, but the injury bug hit and Lundqvist fell off the face of the planet. Shanahan will be even huger in this situation than he has been all year for the blueshirts. Lundqvist has been playing his best hockey of the season and it seems that he'll be ready to bring it in the playoffs. Atlanta, meanwhile, has really just scraped in...Lehtonen has been shaky and their deadline acquisitions aren't proving to be the consistent gamebreakers they had hoped. Kovalchuk and Hossa just don't seem to care to me. New York in four.

Ott-Pitt - This is the Nashville-San Jose of the East. Both teams have relatively young and experienced goaltenders they're going to have to rely on against some of the most high-powered forwards in the game. Ottawa will need to find depth in their attack and hope that Alfredsson proves everyone wrong about his sub-par leadership capabilities. The kids in Pittsburgh have much stronger veteran leadership in Gonchar, Recchi, Roberts and Laraque than the Sens do anywhere in their lineup. Pittsburgh in six.

Well the Flames pick was obviously wishful thinking on my part...Otherwise, pretty decent. I'm proud of the Rangers sweep pick but I really underestimated the Sens and the Sharks. Other than that, pretty close, within a game of all series correctly predicted, if not right on the money.

Round 2 - Buf-NYR - This could be an interesting series if Buffalo continues their half-hearted play and the Rangers beat them up a bit. The sweep against the Thrashers feels like months ago, though, and too much rest in the playoffs can be worse than not enough. Buffalo still has more than enough talent to play 20 minutes a game and come out on top. Buffalo in six.

Ott-NJ - If the Penguins can't score on the Sens, the Devils won't have a prayer. Ottawa has completely changed their playing style and Bryan Murray must be Satan if he can trick Jason Spezza into playing defense. The Devils and Brodeur were awfully shaky at times against Tampa, I don't like their chances at all. Ottawa in five.

Det-SJ - The Sharks are what the Flames SHOULD be--a great combination of teamwork and individual talent. They're also one of the better road teams in the league (if not the best, I don't recall their record). Detroit is in for a shock the first couple games when they realize they're up against an opponent that plays with confidence and consistency. Datsyuk faded after a strong start early in the series and Bertuzzi looks like he's more comfortable with every game, but there's just not enough depth to contend. The Sharks have different guys stepping up each night and are likely the only team that can stop the Ducks. Sharks in five.

Ana-Van - A lot of people have counted the Canucks out already, but I think they make this series last as long as they can. Luongo will steal a game or two and if the Sedins/Naslund/Linden are in top form they can win one together as well. Still, the Ducks have much more consistent scoring depth than the Stars. Do I need to mention the defense? No? Vancouver's teamwork will take them to game seven. Ducks in seven, though.

Posted: **Wed Apr 25, 2007 3:47 am**

Well since it seems to be all the rage to look back at your post:

I called Isles matching up well with Buffalo and anyone who watched these games will agree that this series was much closer than their scores and a series totals were and it certainly showed that Buffalo is beatable. I'm happy with that as not many even gave Isles a chance. Ted Nolan for Coach of the Year!

NJ didn't 'breeze through' but it was because of Marty and the lack of scoring depth on Tampa that gave the series to NJ.

I nailed Atlanta/NYR in saying:

"Have I mentioned how little faith I have in Atlanta as a top team? I think they're fantastically overrated as a #3 seed. Has anyone seen Ilya Kovalchuk lately? He seems to have fallen into that elusive 'Plays great when nothing is on the line...' category. They are one of two teams that have goalies as the key to their success (or failures) and here it's Lehtonen who needs to decide for himself if he wants to be a NHL goalie or an AHL one."

Now the organization needs to answer the questions about Lehtonen and decide what to do going forward. I think there's little you can do with a goalie you replaced with a pretty mediocre backup in the franchises' most important games.

Nailed Pitt/Ott with

I also don't believe in the youngsters on Pittsburgh being able to pull it together under pressure they've never felt before in their lives.

Nailed CGY/DET

And I'm sorry I don't 'buy' Kipper as one of the best let alone one of the best ever as some people do. He's good. Very good. But so was Belfour when playing behing smothering defenses. Kippersoft is Belfour or Kolzig that led Washington through many a Cup run pretty much on his own. Kip might steal one here but he's not going to anchor a Cup run with this team in front of him. Iginla? Again, like Kip he's very good. But I still don't feel he's an 'elite' player. Both are terrible overrated by those listening to the hype not watching the games.

Ducks sweep and then go home and relax waiting to see who they get next.

Yup.

In the only series to make a Game 7 I called it 100%:

"I think this is going to be a great series and Luongo is enough for me to give the Game 7 edge to Vancouver."

Also Kekkonen, care to recant this message?

Kekkonen wrote:
Minstrel wrote: Will the real Marty Turco please stand up? This could be the series he establishes his reputation as an elite goalie or cements it as a playoff flop.
To me it looks like this issue will most likely go undecided this spring. Poor Marty; he's been playing very, very well all series, perhaps excluding the first 60 minutes of it. In the first game, he kept his goal clean for almost 4 overtime periods, but the Dallas offense was nowhere to be found; then in the last 3 games, his team has spotted him a grand total of 4 goals, and he still managed to get one win. I don't think the Stars are going to win 3 straight, so Turco's legacy for this spring will consist of losing heroics. That's not enough to shed the play-off choker label.

Nailed The Series To Watch as well in calling SJ/NAS:

Holy Hand Grenades is this going to be a WAR! Seriously, this is the can't miss series of the first round . . . It'll be a war but San Jose will be too much for Nashville

Yeah, I'm pretty happy with that performance.

Posted: **Wed Apr 25, 2007 7:18 am**

Yeah, I'll gladly recant it... but honestly, did anyone believe that once Dallas was in a 1-3 hole, Turks would go on a 160+ minute shutout streak?

Posted: **Wed Apr 25, 2007 9:02 pm**

Canucks are in trouble. No Bieksa tonight for sure, and Salo listed as doubtful. One 25+ minute guy, and one 20+ minute guy. Oh geez.

Mitchell-Ohlund
Krajicek-Sopel
Fitzpatrick-Edler.

Posted: **Thu Apr 26, 2007 12:44 am**

Okay so with the games upon us again let's see how I do with my predictions/thoughts on the semifinals:

Buffalo v NYR

I see this as a lot closer than other people I think and you know that the Rangers have dissected the tapes of NYI/BUF to see the vulnerabilities. I think Jagr and Shanny can sway the difference on the offensive side and Lundqvist can be a difference maker in nets. All three have to be on top of their games though and Avery has to stay out of the box and on the scoresheet as well. I see it being a 7 gamer in the end coming down to who plays better between the pipes between Miller and Lunk. I'm still going to call this one closely to BUF.

Ottawa v Jersey

I still don't believe in Emery, but I have zero questions about Ottawa's offensive depth. The thing is Marty isn't in the heads of Ottawa like we was in the heads of Tampa at the end of their series so I can see Ottawa taking the first two before Marty steals one and team d and offensive outburst by the EGG line is worth another but in 6 it's Ottawa.

Detroit v San Jose

Too many rebounds by Dom the Floptastic and too much toughness/speed/scoring balance by San Jose will be the difference in this one. History repeats itself but this time it's no shocker when San Jose puts the Wings down in 5.

Anaheim v Vancover

Anaheim wins the Battle of the __ucks in 6 but VAN may be counted out by many after the first two games. Luongo can keep them in it but with the injuries and lack of scoring depth I think they're just shooting to "make it a series" here. They absolutely need to stay out of the box and think defense first and hope to take advantage of mistakes/turnovers but can they shut down Anaheim well enough ans still pitch in enough offense to make a difference? I don't think so over a 7 game series...

From a fans/storyline point of view it would be really interesting if Jersey does make it past Ottawa though, as we'd have two Conf Finals with teams in close proximity of each other and it would be like ye ole East Coast/West Coast battles with the battle for Cali and the battle for the East Coast.

Posted: **Thu Apr 26, 2007 1:38 am**

batdad wrote:Canucks are in trouble. No Bieksa tonight for sure, and Salo listed as doubtful. One 25+ minute guy, and one 20+ minute guy. Oh geez.

Mitchell-Ohlund
Krajicek-Sopel
Fitzpatrick-Edler.

All I can say is : Vote for Rory...
This will be a tough one

Posted: **Thu Apr 26, 2007 3:46 am**

Anaheim is absolutely FEASTING on Vancouver right now.

The Canucks look slow and unfocused. Sopel looked like a moron on the Selanne goal - and the third goal was vintage Selanne/Kariya except Kariya is McDonald.

3 goals on 9 shots - Lou is getting hung out to dry.

Posted: **Thu Apr 26, 2007 3:46 am**

Sopel--1 give away, 1 OLE (missed body check) Selanne one goal.

Krapicek-One bad pinch, not fast enough to catch Macdonald. Selanne 1 assist.

Naslund or Morrison (not sure which is responsible)--1 horrid play on the Macdonald 2nd goal. I think it is the C job to back the D-man in the Canucks system on that pinch. It did not happen.

Final score will be 5-2

Posted: **Thu Apr 26, 2007 3:50 am**

You guys can always count on batdad and I for tandem in-game comments.

Posted: **Thu Apr 26, 2007 4:41 am**

Heh. And I was thinking Anaheim just looked 15x as fast as Dallas or Vancouver. Man I knew MacD was quick...but holy Hey SEUSS. He is lightning. And S. Nieds is freaking as unbelievable as always.

Selanne-Burrows. Finally Burrows gets a guy he might be able to take and he flops to the ice like freaking Hasek. Arggh....Burrows grates.

Posted: **Thu Apr 26, 2007 6:04 am**

wow. Who would have thought the Canucks would come out like that. Flat, Flat, Flat. The Ducks were practically unimpeded through the neutral zone. I held my breath every time I saw a Duck blazing with speed down the middle of the ice. McDonald was everywhere - so freaking fast.

Luongo has now been pulled only 3 times all year. Twice now by the Ducks. Anyone know who the other team to chase him was?

Hint - they didn't make the playoffs.

Posted: **Thu Apr 26, 2007 7:24 am**

YIKES!!! That was just rediculous hockey wizardry put on display by Selanne and Niedermayer the kind of crazy schitt that makes you question your own eyes... the pace of this game was just rediculous and Anaheim looked like an absolute juggernaut. I edited in just one word in my previous post as I forgot to proofread it so it looked unclear but this is what I meant that a lot of people might count Vancouver out by game two of this series (I origianlly forgot to put VAN in there so it looked like I was saying people might count ANA out due to my loose grammar

) but I think they will adjust and rebound from the injuries and series they've just been through where every game was a one chance once goal leads to a win series.

They're just like a dog that's hit the end of his chain right now YOINK!!!

I think Ana still takes this series but they won't all be demolitions like this one was though I think VAN will have to settle with a 'moral victory' of just not getting embarrased next game and build from there. I love watching Andy Mac, peopel that haven't seen much of him due to being on the Ducks have now been officially introduced I guess

To hear the commentators you'd think the Rangers were equally outmatched but to me that one reminded me of the VAN/DAL series actually... indicitive of a long series. Not sure what game they were watching... although a game like ANA/VAN can make you rethink your definitions of total dominance though.

Posted: **Thu Apr 26, 2007 7:57 am**

Minstrel, you're so, so wrong if you think Kiprusoff's performance in the playoffs was anything other than elite. He's the ONLY reason it got to a game six. The fact that his season was relatively average has me uptight though--if he's going to slouch all year only to turn it up for the playoffs I don't like what that says about his character.

Injuries were directly responsible for at least two Anaheim goals...Sopel and Krajicek were victimized in situations that one would expect to see Bieksa and Salo in. If those two get back in the lineup in a hurry it'll tighten up.

The Rangers were in charge of their game early on, only Miller kept the Sabres alive long enough for one of their patented offensive explosions (is Anaheim guilty of copyright infringement?)--if Lundqvist can keep from getting rattled I think the Rangers can make this interesting. The loss of Roszival hurts though...

Posted: **Thu Apr 26, 2007 9:51 am**

Pronger finished with 32.57 of ice time. Yikes.

Well, I suppose it's OK as long as he's still only 2nd behind Giguere.

Posted: **Thu Apr 26, 2007 3:53 pm**

Hold it! Luongo was not pulled because of his performance. I hope no one thinks that. Sheesh.

But yeah...Anaheim flew. Ducks apparently fly fast.

Canucks had lots of chances--Maybe more than in 7 games vs Dallas...Linden 2 times, Pyatt 2 times, Sedin, Naslund, a few rebounds...this was a whole lot different than Dallas. Anaheim was not that strong in its own end, and Vancouver needs to capitalize on its chances.

Anaheim was not that dominant..just Vancouver made bigger mistakes...and the speed killed em when they did....and although Luongo was amazing..he can't stop verything. And Sabby appparently too.

Not to say the Ducks are not good..they are great. But not that great that the Canucks cannot win against em. Game 2 will be different. Provided Sopel does not have to play 22 minutes.

The Rangers-----OVER RATED. The Sabres---OVER RATED. But one team here is more overrated than the other. You guess which.

Posted: **Fri Apr 27, 2007 7:21 am**

Did someone slip the same mickey to both Luongo and Broduer before their games? All of a sudden it's back of the neck tan via red light in their first games out

This highlights though my concerns about Ottawa an Emery... No reason that game should have gotten that close after they were up that far early. However it does I'm sure light up talk radio in Ottawa today asking if this team has learned that killer instinct or not. Old questions come to the front once again when a team lets down that much in a playoff game I'd think.

The San Jose game was the equivalent of a pitcher in baseball working through it when he doesn't have his best stuff. They still got the win and on the road that's all that matters really.

Posted: **Fri Apr 27, 2007 8:55 am**

Minstrel wrote:No reason that game should have gotten that close after they were up that far early. However it does I'm sure light up talk radio in Ottawa today asking if this team has learned that killer instinct or not.

How much of it is due to the Devils not learning the dead instinct?

Posted: **Fri Apr 27, 2007 5:57 pm**

Alot..but Ottawa clearly went trapside and sat back and watched the game...The players all said it too. They know better, and just rested.

Also has to do with the fact that for some time in that game Ottawa was giving pretty much equal ice time...Mercy idea from EHM...comes to real life as it always does, and a team just relaxes. Other than lose..the next thing you do not want to do in a Game 1 is embarrass a team like New Jersey. Cause they will come back fighting/scrapping harder than ever before.
Now if you embarass a fragile team (confidence wise)like Vancouver...that is different.

Posted: **Sat Apr 28, 2007 3:46 am**

Vancouver looked really strong in the first period. The puck movement is much faster -very crisp - and they're looking focused. Could it be that this team feels embarassed by their 5-1 defeat? Maybe they do have some heart after all.

Indvidual comments:
-The Sedins look fine, but they need to drive the net much harder.
-Edler is NERVOUS!

Posted: **Sat Apr 28, 2007 4:51 am**

40 good minutes from a Canuck team. Now does that mean the Canucks are finished playing tonight? Or will they go hard for a full 60. The last 20 is the test. Anaheim started bringing their game as soon as Nazzy scored.

Maybe Vancouver should not score against the Ducks until OT. Cause it is the only thing that seems to wake the Duckies up.

Edler does not look nervous anymore, does he? Great period from him. Hansen is flying. Nazzy actually did something...good and bad. Hmmm....

Best 40 minutes from Morrison all season long.

Oh and the real reason this game is 1-1.....LUUUUUUUUUU

Rangers-Sabres...great game. Exciting, entertaining, controversial, and Lindy at his best. Love it.

Posted: **Sat Apr 28, 2007 5:45 am**

Edler did look much calmer that period.

My picks for OT Heroes:
Vancouver - Morrison
Anaheim - Kunitz

Posted: **Sat Apr 28, 2007 6:38 am**

I'm getting sleepy. Thank god this is actually exciting and good hockey through 80 minutes. Way better than the Dallas OTs. Good hockey. As Jim just said "Here we go again."

EHM The Blue Line

Official™ 2007 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Talk