NHL Playoffs - Round 2 Players to Watch

All right, on April 11th I wrote a post about which players to watch in round 1 of the playoffs and my prognostications were pretty good.

I told you that Pavol Demitra and Alexei Yashin would disappear, that Pavel Datsyuk would figure out how to score in the playoffs and that Dominik Hasek would stay healthy through round 1. I also told you to stay away from Jaromir Jagr and that Scott Niedermayer would be at the top of the score sheet for defenseman. Hey, I can't always be perfect and I used up a lifetimes worth of luck by marrying my beautiful wife.

Here is my snapshot of players to watch at each position in Round 2.

My top 5 Center Picks:
Daniel Briere
Chris Drury
Scott Gomez
Joe Thornton
Pavel Datsyuk

Disappointments: The Sedin twins are pretty much the only scoring option that the Canucks have right now but don't expect much from them against Detroit.

Surprises: Jason Spezza was outscored by teammate Chris Kelly during round 1. This isn't really a surprise but expect him to rebound in round 2.

Stay away from: I am unsure just how well the EGG line of New Jersey will do against Ottawa's top defensive pairing of Anton Volchenkov and Chris Phillips. Not quite worried about the EGG line getting shutout, but I would expect a serious drop-off in point production. If it wasn't for the power play I would be wary of using any of these guys in my pool (in fact I didn't use any of them).

My top 5 Winger Picks:

Daniel Alfredsson
Thomas Vanek
Zach Parise
Milan Mihalek
Dany Heatley

Disappointments: Again I am suggesting that you stay away from New Jersey's top line of Elias, Gionta and Gomez. Ottawa will surely key in on these three in round 2.

Surprises: Zach Parise and Brendan Shanahan will provide some 2nd line scoring punch for the Devils and the Rangers respectively.

Stay away from: The Detroit vs San Jose series could be a wide open high scoring affair, or it could be tighter than a newly minted choir boys bottom. I would lean towards the top players in the other 3 series and stay away from this one if possible.

My top 5 Defenseman Picks:

Niklas Lidstrom
Chris Pronger
Brian Campbell
Brian Rafalski
Joe Corvo

Disappointments: Wade Redden again, I can also see Mattias Ohlund disappearing in round 2, not because of lack of talent, but simply because the Canucks are going to have difficulty scoring at all against Anaheim.

Surprises: Brian Campbell has already surprised with 2 goals and 2 assists, Joe Corvo and Anton Volchenkov stepped up for Ottawa in place of Redden. Look for Francois Beauchemin to pick it up for Anaheim and both Craig Rivet and Fedor Tyutin to continue to produce in round 2.

Stay away from: The entire Vancouver Canucks defense core. If the front lines aren't scoring the back end won't get any points either.

My top 2 Goaltender Picks: (because who needs 5?)

J.S. Giguere
Ryan Miller

Disappointments: Henrik Lundqvist will come crashing back to earth against the high powered Buffalo Sabres offense.

Surprises: Domink Hasek will stay healthy, again, but lose anyway.

Stay away from: Martin Brodeur and Ray Emery. What? Yeah I know, that's Martin Brodeur we are talking about here. But he didn't play true to form in round 1 and if Ray Emery forgets himself and plays out of his head you could see a round 2 upset. And don't forget that Ottawa has more than just 1 scoring line to throw at the Devils.

Leafs and Canadiens get a second chance at the cup

David Martin of the Ottawa Citizen is reporting on a new NHL playoff format that sees the bottom 16 teams in the NHL playing for the Rabinovitch cup.

The second tier playoff series is the brainchild of the CBC which has named it the Rabinovitch Cup after their president Robert Rabinovitch.

The CBC is faced with a declining television audience with the absence of the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers from the Stanley Cup playoffs this year. They are predicting a 30% loss in viewership over the length of the playoffs.

In a further brilliant move the Rabinovitch Cup sees the 9th seed teams in each conference go through to the second round automatically. This ensures that the Toronto Maple Leafs will make it to the second round and that at least one Canadian team will still be in the hunt for the new cup after the first series play themselves out.

Even Don Cherry was reported as being supportive of this new cup and says "This is great. I love it. At least my Leafs have a chance to win something for a change."

Toronto Maple Leafs fans are excited that they can finally be assured that the Leafs will make it past the first round... unless the team ends up being disqualified when they can't get enough players off the golf course to field a team when round 2 rolls around.

David Martin is an Ottawa humour writer and you can read his original article "One Cup the Leafs can win" here.

NHL Playoffs - Round 1 Players to Watch

The 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs are under way this evening with 4 games on tap.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Ottawa Senators @ 7:00 pm
San Jose Sharks vs Nashville Predators @ 8:00 pm
Dallas Stars vs Vancouver Canucks @ 10:00 pm
Minnesota Wild vs Anaheim Ducks @ 10:30 pm

In round 1 of the NHL playoffs there are several tough matchup's which should produce some great games and some great scoring. I already went over my 1st round predictions here, today I will take a look at who I think will be the top 5 performers at each position as well as the disappointments, surprises and players/teams to stay away from in round 1.

Centers: I see the Penguins and Senators series as the one which will produce the most points. Sidney Crosby and Jason Spezza will probably lead all centers in scoring through round 1.

My top 5 Center Picks:
Sidney Crosby
Jason Spezza
Daniel Briere
Vincent Lecavalier
Chris Drury

Disapointments: Demitra almost completely disappeared through the last few weeks of the regular season, expect that to continue into the playoffs. Alexei Yashin will continue his lackluster play from past seasons as well.

Surprises: Pavel Datsyuk is not known as a playoff performer, expect that to change this season as he feels he has something to prove. Also keep an eye on Daymond Langkow in Calgary.

Wingers: Back to the Sens vs Penguins series, I look for Dany Heatley to continue his dominance here closely followed by Martin St. Louis of Tampa Bay.

Stay Away From: New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders, the Devils won’t score and the Islanders won’t last.

My top 5 Winger Picks:
Dany Heatley
Martin St. Louis
Marian Hossa
Jonathan Cheechoo
Henrik Zetterberg

Disappointments: Ryan Smith of the Islanders is a clutch performer, but I see the Sabres knocking out the Islanders in 5 games which limits his production in round 1. The Canucks Markus Naslund has had a let down season, expect it to continue into the playoffs.

Surprises: Thomas Vanek will likely play on the Sabres 3rd line but he will put up some good numbers as will Jason Pominville. Paul Kariya in Nashville will have a resurgence as the Predators prevail in 7 over the Sharks.

Defensemen: There are some obvious choices here, Niklas Lidstrom, Sergei Gonchar and Chris Pronger will be at the top of this list.

Stay Away From: Alex Tanguay may show up, he may not. Jaromir Jagr, he will probably show up but who can guess who else on the Rangers will join him.

My top 5 Defensemen Picks:
Niklas Lidstrom
Sergei Gonchar
Chris Pronger
Sergei Zubov
Scott Niedermayer

Disappointments: Wade Redden will perform, but not at the level you are looking for from him and the Senators and Marek Zidlicky will continue his subpar season on the blue line.

Surprises: Brian Campbell will push the Dman scoring leaders and Tom Preissing will step up for the Senators in place of Redden.

Stay Away From: Mattias Ohlund and Sami Salo, the Canucks scoring issues make them a scary bet. Matt Carle, tough series to call, could be a barn burner or a low scoring affair. Don’t gamble on any defensmen from either San Jose or Nashville… except maybe Shea Weber.

Goaltenders: Domink Hasek will remain healthy and single handedly pull the Red Wings over the Flames in Round 1. Expect this series to be low scoring as Hasek and Kiprusoff combine for a healthy number of shutouts.

My top 5 Goaltender Picks:
Dominik Hasek
Miikka Kiprusoff
J.S. Giguere
Roberto Luongo
Ryan Miller

Disappointments: Kari Lehtonen will crack under the pressure of his first NHL Playoffs, as will the rest of the Thrashers team. Ray Emery, yes he will win 4 games but his GAA and Save % will be horrendous.

Surprises: Johan Holmqvist will put up some good numbers, especially GAA and Save %, but will eventually lose against Brodeur and only get two wins. Niklas Backstrom will continue his strong play but it is not enough against Giguere and the Ducks, he will get 3 wins and probably 1 shutout though.

Stay Away From: The Nashville vs San Jose series. I picked Nashville to win the west but it could just as easily be San Jose, add that to the uncertain goaltenders issues in both cities and you want to stay away from both teams. Also keep away from the New Jersey vs Tampa Bay series, this is also a tough one to call and with the firepower up front for Tampa you could see Brodeur get shelled a few times.

Leaf fans pray for Brodeur's swollen head

Last night I posted a story about the upcoming New York Islanders vs New Jersey Devils game today and the implications that it has for the continuation of the Toronto Maple Leafs season into the playoffs.

I had heard and read hints that the New Jersey Devils were planning to sit many of their star players today in order to give them some extra rest prior to the playoffs since the game against the Islanders meant nothing in respect to either the regular or post season.

Well, things have changed.

Martin Brodeur holds the record for the most goaltender wins in a single season at 48, but as of last night he holds that record in tandem with Roberto Luongo. Who incidentally grew up a mere stones throw from the Brodeur home in St-Leonard, Quebec. Luongo and the Canucks play Phoenix tonight and I am sure that everyone is willing to bet that Vancouver will get Luongo the win.

That means Brodeur will lose his record to Luongo later today.

So Leaf fans, pray today and pray hard that Marty Brodeur's ego gets the best of him and he wants to play, and win, against the New York Islanders today in order to keep ahold of this NHL record. If he does, and they do, the Leafs make the playoffs. God help us all.

On a side note, this Leafs fan is pulling for the New York Islanders, the sooner we realize that this team will never be good enough to win the Stanley Cup and gut it in order to rebuild the better.

Why? Three words. 2009, Julian Tavares (Editors Note: His name is John Tavares, not Julian! Julian Tavarez is a relief pitcher for the Boston Redsox). By 2009 we need to be one of the worst teams in the League so that we have a chance at Tavares. Probably the most exciting prospect in the NHL since some guy named Sidney Crosby (or Evgeni Malkin, or Jordan Staal, or Alexander Ovechkin).

So, GO Isles GO!

Maple Leafs make the playoffs? Don't be too sure

So the Toronto Maple Leafs pull off a miracle tonight and win their final game of the season against the Montreal Canadiens. Woohoo! The Leafs make the playoffs... wait a sec. Not yet.

I am a Leaf fan, have been since I was I wee nipper. If you look at my picture at the top of the page you will notice my Mike Palmateer jersey. Anyone who was a fan of those Leaf teams is a die hard fan. So I know exactly where I come from when I tell you that at least 80% of the Leaf fans in this city now think that the Leaf's are in the playoffs.

I hate to be the one to break it to you Leaf fans, but if the Islanders beat the New Jersey Devils tomorrow we will be eliminated from the playoffs. Sounds like a good deal doesn't it?

I mean, what are the odds of the New York Islanders beating Martin Brodeur, Patrick Elias, Brian Gionta and the rest of the Atlantic leading New Jersey Devils.

There is only one problem with that, rumors around town are saying that Lou Lamoriello is planning on sitting as many as 7 of the Devils usual starting lineup, including Martin Brodeur, Patrick Elias and Brian Gionta.

This scenario sounds likely to me and if it does turn out to be the case, I would put my money on the Islanders beating the Brodeur-less Devils.

So Maple Leaf fans, stop your celebrating and make sure that you are in good enough shape to head out to church on Easter Sunday to pray for the New Jersey Devils.

And just in case my cousin's are reading this. Ok Ok... The Leafs actually pulled out the win. But they will still miss the playoffs when the Islanders beat the Devils tomorrow... so.

Nah nah nah nah nah naaaaahhhh.

UPDATE: Since the Vancouver Canucks (and Roberto Luongo) won tonight it is very likely that you will see Martin Brodeur in net tomorrow as he tries to hold off Luongo for the wins record. He has already been quoted as tell Looney Lou that he wants to play, and if he wants to play he wants to win. Strangely enough, the Leafs should thank Vancouver for winning tonight as it may get them in to the playoffs!