San Jose Sharks (1) vs. Anaheim Ducks (8)
Records: Sharks, 53-18-11 (117 pts); Ducks, 42-33-7 (91 pts)

Season Series: Sharks, 3-3-0; Ducks, 3-3-0

Analysis: New Sharks coach Todd McLellan must be feeling a lot of pressure right now.  The Sharks desperately want to shed the label of playoff chokers, and the way the Sharks rolled through the regular season suggested they’re on a mission to do exactly that.  But now is the time to put up or shut up.  Get bounced before the conference finals, and this season will be yet another wasted year.  On the positive side, home ice is a significant advantage for the Sharks – having lost only five games in regulation at HP Pavilion all year – and Evgeni Nabokov is a rock in goal.

The Ducks struggled mightily (Get it?  Hyuk hyuk) just to make it this far.  They just haven’t been consistent enough.  The top line of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, and Teemu Selanne/Bobby Ryan is as good as it gets, but goaltending has been a concern.  Jonas Hiller has clearly outplayed incumbent JS Giguere, but former Conn Smythe winner Giguere is the one with playoff experience.  What’s a coach to do?  Even Ducks coach Randy Carlyle doesn’t know who he’ll start yet (as of this writing).

Who I’m rooting for: The Sharks have always been my Western Conference team, if you believe in that sort of thing.

Who will win: These two teams really, really hate each other, so it’ll be fun to watch. The Sharks are more complete and consistent, but the Ducks won’t go down without a fight. Sharks in 6.

Detroit Red Wings (2) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (7)
Records: Wings, 51-21-10 (112 pts); BJs, 41-31-10 (92 pts)

Season Series: Wings, 3-2-1; BJs, 3-3-0

Analysis: The Wings won the Central Division for the 250th year in a row, they’re playoff-tested, they’ve got an unbelievable amount of talent, they’re healthy, and all their good players are signed for the next million years.  No #7 seed will ever have a shot of knocking them off any time soon…. but wait, we’ve found a chink in the armor!  It’s goaltending.  (Isn’t it always?)  Likely playoff starter Chris Osgood had a rather abysmal goals-against average of 3.09.  I haven’t looked at all the stats, but that’s gotta be the worst GAA of any starting playoff goalie since the lockout, or at least in the bottom five.

It was a little weird finally being able to write “Columbus Blue Jackets” in a playoff preview up there.  Columbus was the last NHL team to have never made the playoffs, so they’re probably happy just to be here.  But here’s something little-known outside Ohio: the Jackets are actually good.  The BJs have a ton of confidence in likely Calder Trophy winner Steve Mason, who led the league in shutouts.  Coach Ken Hitchcock won a Cup in Dallas with his defensive system, which the Jackets are playing to perfection.  Trade-deadline acquisition Antoine Vermette, clearly the best center on the team, has clicked well with Rick Nash and in fact has fit in much better than he ever did in Ottawa.

Who I’m rooting for: Definitely Columbus. I’m no Hitchcock fan, but they’re an easy team to get behind and their long-suffering fans deserve to see playoff success.  Plus, I get to chant “Let’s go BJs”.  How can you go wrong there?

Who will win: Welcome to the playoffs, Columbus.  Unfortunately, you get to play your most hated rival – a team that is better and more experienced than you in every way (except goaltending, at least as far as experience is concerned).  Good luck with that.  As much as I’d like to see the BJs win, and as possible as it is that Mason steals a game or two, it won’t be enough. Wings in 5.

Vancouver Canucks (3) vs. St. Louis Blues (6)
Records: Canucks, 45-27-10 (100 pts); Blues, 41-31-10 (92 pts)

Season Series: Canucks, 2-2-0; Blues, 2-2-0.

Analysis: You know how everyone assumed New Jersey would fold like a tent if Martin Brodeur ever went down with an injury?  Well, the same thing happened to the Canucks and Roberto Luongo when he hurt his groin in November – but unlike the Devils, Vancouver did in fact suck without their best player.  When he returned after the All-Star break, Luongo and the Canucks played lights-out, taking advantage of a Calgary team in disarray and storming back from 13 points down to steal the Northwest Division.  They’re on a roll right now, the top six forwards have been playing great, and there’s that Luongo guy too.

Hands up – who expected the Blues to make the playoffs?  Didn’t think so.  Low expectations for St. Louis’ season got even lower when Erik Johnson tore his ACL in a freak golf cart accident before the season even began.  Freak accidents come in pairs apparently, because starting goaltender Manny Legace got hurt tripping on a red carpet laid out for Sarah Palin just two weeks into the season.  As if that wasn’t enough, forwards Andy MacDonald and Paul Kariya missed a lot of time with injuries of their own. Yet despite all this, St. Louis turned in the season’s best second half, going 25-9-7.  Led by a bunch of kids like TJ Oshie, David Backes, David Perron, Patrik Berglund, and half a million other players you’ve likely never heard of that were forced to grow up in a hurry, St. Louis completed a stunning turnaround to move up from last place in the West all the way to 6th.  Chris Mason replaced the waived Manny Legace in goal and started the final 38 games, playing very well and going 24-8-6 over that stretch.

Who I’m rooting for: The Blues.  Partially because of Jay McKee, partially because Chris Mason won me a fantasy championship, but mostly because they’re a fantastic story.

Who will win: St. Louis’s reward for being the hottest team in the NHL is… getting
to play the second hottest team in the NHL (23-7-2) in the first round.  Some
reward.  Vancouver is more experienced, Luongo is healthy, and although St. Louis may get Kariya back soon, they’re still mostly a bunch of kids without much playoff experience.  Except for Keith Tkachuk, who has never won anything of note at any time during his career.  Canucks in 6.

Chicago Blackhawks (4) vs. Calgary Flames (5)
Records: Hawks, 46-24-12 (104 pts); Flames, 46-30-6 (98 pts)

Season Series: Hawks, 4-0-0; Flames, 0-3-1

Analysis: Hawks fans must have been praying for Bill Wirtz’s death. Don’t believe me?  Hawks fans actually booed during a tribute and moment of silence for Wirtz during the 2007 season opener.  The Hawks were rarely, if ever, competitive under Dollar Bill’s ownership, but that culture has changed since his son Rocky took the reins.  Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews blossomed into superstars, Brian Campbell and Cristobal Huet were signed, and Joel Quenneville replaced Denis Savard as coach.  Huet and Nikolai Khabibulin form a nice 1-2 punch in goal, Martin Havlat has stayed (relatively) healthy, and Patrick Sharp has progressed.  Why, the Hawks even started showing home games on TV!  In short, there’s a lot to like about this team.

Calgary started strong, but has backslid considerably.  They built a big lead in the Northwest, then started to fritter it away with a four-game losing streak to begin February, and in the end cost themselves the #3 seed by failing to hold off Vancouver, sealing their fate with a 4-1 loss to the Canucks in the 80th game of the season.  The trade deadline brought in Olli Jokinen, which so far hasn’t worked out well.  Injuries are mounting at the worst possible time, and Miikka Kiprusoff hasn’t been good enough in net to stop the bleeding.  Jarome Iginla and Michael Cammalleri have been outstanding scorers, but it drops off a lot after that.

Who I’m rooting for: Gotta go with Chicago.  Not rooting for Kane and Soupy would be sacrilege for someone from Western NY.

Who will win: I don’t see Calgary bouncing back after blowing the Northwest Division title – that’s going to weigh on them heavily from a psychological standpoint.  The Blackhawks are less playoff-tested, but are a better team overall.  Blackhawks in 5.

#1 Boston Bruins vs. #8 Montreal Canadiens
Records: Bruins, 53-19-10 (116 pts);  Canadiens, 41-30-11 (93 pts)

Season Series: Bruins, 5-0-1; Habs, 1-3-2

Analysis: The Canadiens began the year as the favorites to win the East, but instead celebrated their centennial by becoming the NHL’s version of the Dallas Cowboys.  The 100th anniversary expectations were apparently too much to handle because the Canadiens were an inconsistent mess, going 3-11-1 during one stretch in January and February.  Carey Price took a major step back in goal, Alex Kovalev was benched, the Kostitsyn brothers became linked to organized crime, quite a few players were widely criticized for being notorious partiers, and – in a move borne of sheer desperation – coach Guy Carbonneau was fired near the trade deadline despite insistence from GM (and now coach) Bob Gainey that he’d never do such a thing.  Only Octo-mom provided more ridiculous drama over the past few months.

The Bruins, meanwhile, were consistently the best team in the conference all year long save for a little slide in February and March, and for good reason: they have the best depth of any team in the East.  Players such as Phil Kessel, Milan Lucic, and David Krejci had breakout years, Patrice Bergeron appears to have put his injury problems behind him, and they reloaded at the trade deadline with some guy named Mark Recchi.  (Anyone know if he’s any good?)  The defense with Zdeno Chara, Dennis Wideman, and Mark Stuart is solid, and Tim Thomas has his best statistical season ever, winning 36 games with a 2.10 (!) GAA and .933 (!!) save percentage.  The Bruins were #2 in the NHL in goals scored and #1 in goals against.

Who I’m rooting for: Bruins, I guess.  I’m not really fond of either team.

Who will win: Montreal will find a way to steal a game, but it’s hard to give them any more than that. Bruins in 5.

#2 Washington Capitals vs. #7 New York Rangers
Records: Capitals, 50-24-8 (108 pts), Rangers, 43-30-9 (95 pts)

Season Series: Caps, 3-0-1; Rangers, 1-2-1

Analysis: The Capitals built on last season’s rebirth, winning 50 games for the first time since 1985-86 and capturing the Southeast Division easily (not a major feat in years past, but the SE nearly fielded three playoff teams this year).  They scored the third-most goals in the NHL (#2 in the East), Ovechkin again led all goal scorers in the NHL with 56, and four players (Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin, Mike Green) scored 70+ points, helping overcome somewhat inconsistent goaltending from Jose Theodore.  Many people assume the Caps are a one-man army, but their role players and defense are better than most people realize.

The Rangers, meanwhile, have been very up-and-down.  A 10-2-3 start was wiped out by a 2-7-4 stretch in January and February that helped get coach Tom Renney fired.  Since being taken over by John Tortorella and re-acquiring Sean Avery, the Blueshirts are a very different team, playing a more aggressive attacking style than that of the more conservative Renney.  The pre-Tortorella Rangers trapped a lot and were often accused of being New Jersey Lite; Tortorella’s Rangers are most certainly not that.  The big knock against the Rangers is a lack of goal scoring; Markus Naslund led the team with just 24, and in fact, Ovechkin had more goals than Naslund and #2 goal scorer Nikolai Zherdev all by himself.  Unless Henrik Lundqvist is Superman, the Rangers will need someone to find a scoring touch to have a prayer in this series.

Who I’m rooting for: The Rangers are the only other team I wouldn’t mind seeing in the Finals, but my huge mancrush on Ovechkin dictates I must root for the Caps.  If the Rangers win this series, they become my East team for the rest of the playoffs.

Who will win: The Avery and Tortorella factors make this somewhat tough to call, as the season series was played out before they arrived in New York.  But as long as Theodore doesn’t melt down, the Caps don’t let Avery get under their skin, and Lundqvist lets in a goal every now and then, the Caps can punch their ticket to Round 2.  Caps in 6.

#3 New Jersey Devils vs. #6 Carolina Hurricanes
Records: Devils, 51-27-4 (106 pts); Hurricanes, 45-30-7 (97 pts)

Season Series: Devils, 1-3-0; Canes, 3-1-0

Analysis: Yet another ho-hum 50-win season for the Devils, as Martin Brodeur carried them by playing in nearly every game and a set of 12 interchangeable forwards trapped the life out of opponents resulting in a ton of 2-1 victories.  I tell you, if Brodeur ever got injured that team would be exposed as a fraud… wait a minute, what’s that you say? Brodeur missed 50 games with an injured elbow?  Zach Parise finished 5th in the NHL in scoring… and plays for the Devils? Huh, what do you know.   The truth is, the Devils aren’t the defense-only team we’re all used to – they’re decidedly middle-of-the-pack now when it comes to goal scoring.  Hey, that’s a really big deal in Swampland!  The Devils have lots of depth at forward and defense, but their problem is momentum, ending the season on a 5-7-1 run in which Brodeur was very un-Brodeurlike.

Carolina, on the other hand, ended the season on an 18-6-2 tear since Valentine’s Day, including a nine-game winning streak in March and 12 straight at home.  Carolina is yet another team that showed its coach the door during the season, and this was yet another instance of it actually working.  A deadline-day deal brought Erik Cole back into the fold from Edmonton, rejuvenating both his career and Eric Staal’s.  Cam Ward has been unbelievable over the last couple months, and enough pieces are left from the 2006 Cup that lack of experience won’t be an issue.

Who I’m rooting for: New Jersey aren’t the trap hacks they used to be, but they still ruined hockey in the mid-90′s.  Carolina crushed my Cup dreams in 2006.  Do I have to root for either one?   Too bad hockey doesn’t have a double disqualification like wrestling.

Who will win: I’m going with the team that has more momentum.  The Devils don’t have their usual goaltending advantage in this series – remember that Cam Ward won a Conn Smythe three years ago, and he’ll outplay Brodeur.  Canes in 7.

#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Philadelphia Flyers
Records: Penguins, (45-28-9, 99 pts); Flyers, 44-27-11 (99 pts)

Season Series: Pens, 4-2-0; Flyers, 2-2-2

Analysis: With the amount of talent Pittsburgh has, they should have easily won the East.  They boast two of the league’s top three scorers in Crosby and Malkin, for crying out loud.  Yet if the season ended in January, the Pens would be watching the playoffs on TV like the rest of us. What happened?  Injuries (Sergei Gonchar, Crosby), and apparently, Michel Therrien. His Valentine’s Day card from the team had a pink slip inside, and since replacing him with Dan Bylsma and adding Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz, all of a sudden the Penguins are as good as they’ve ever been.

Remember when the Flyers completely sucked a couple years ago?  Yeah, I hardly remember it either.  What a turnaround this team has undergone since 2006-07.   Mike Richards has developed into one of the best young captains in the league, Jeff Carter has become a goal scoring machine, and although they’ve been just fine without Danny Briere for the vast majority of the season, he’s now healthy as well.  The Flyers were playing so well that they actually had some difficulty getting him back into the lineup.  Goaltending is a question mark, but you could copy and paste that phrase from year to year and it would still apply.  The Flyers usually find a way to compensate.

Who I’m rooting for: My hatred of both teams runs very deep – the Flyers have always been dirty and Crosby is a diving, crying little punk – so I’ll go with double disqualification once again.

Who will win: By the numbers, these teams are as even as it gets.  First, note the regular season records above.  Pittsburgh scored 264 goals in the regular season; so did Philly.  Pittsburgh gave up 239 goals, Philly gave up 238.  Pittsburgh’s PK was 82.7%: Philly, 83%.  Pittsburgh’s home record was 25-13-3 and away record was 20-15-6.  Philly?  24-13-4
and 20-14-7.  And – get this – both teams play in the state of Pennsylvania!  How about that!

When the numbers are this close, I have to look at two things: goaltending and momentum.  Advantage: Pittsburgh in both cases.  Penguins in 7.

Ryan Miller’s stats are the reason this is interesting to me.  Sure he gives up the occasional bad goal, but “Mr. Softee”, as the stats show, is one of the biggest reasons the Sabres’ penalty killing has been so very good this year.  And on a team that loves to take dumb penalties (I’m looking at you, Toni Lydman), that’s huge.

Ranking the best shorthanded goalies in the NHL – Puck Daddy – NHL – Yahoo Sports

As a big believer in the notion that the success of a sports league is the continued strength and success of its oldest franchises, I am really happy to see this.  Just two short years ago the Blackhawks were a complete joke, and the quick turnaround has been a pleasant surprise.

Fans warm to Blackhawks after decade of apathy – NHL – Yahoo! Sports

Nowadays, the Blackhawks are such a hot ticket even seats way up high in the United Center are filled. The Indian Head logo is all the rage, spotted across the city on men and women, young and old, on everything from jerseys to caps to pajama bottoms.

As a video on the Jumbotron before a recent game proclaimed, “Hockey never left Chicago, but it has definitely returned.”

A year after the season ticket base dwindled to 3,400, it’s now a franchise-record 14,000. Every game so far has sold out, including a regular-season record 22,690 for the Oct. 25 game against the Red Wings. Merchandise sales are up a whopping 60 percent from last year.

I am hereby predicting another last-place finish for Tampa.  Guess 12 years of watching Barry on ESPN wasn’t enough to prove to the Lightning’s new owners that Barry knows absolutely nothing about hockey.  (And as for how Barry was employed by ESPN for so long: ESPN doesn’t know a lick about hockey either.)

Lightning hires Barry Melrose as coach – NHL – Yahoo! Sports

Now that the playoffs are in full swing, lest anyone forget how heated things can get, here’s a little reminder…

Last year, Chris Neil leveled Chris Drury with a blindside hit a full second after the puck was shot, driving his shoulder into Drury’s head.  Drury missed 4 or 5 games with a concussion, and when the hit was called dirty, Ottawa fans screamed “You gotta keep your head up”.   Daniel Alfredsson apparently didn’t listen.  Mark Bell just proved to the Senators that karma is a bitch by doing almost the exact same thing to Alfie – a guy who, by the way, proved how high-class he is last year by intentionally shooting the puck at Scott Niedermayer during the finals.

Ottawa fans, don’t you dare tell me the Bell hit was dirty after defending the Neil hit.  Don’t you dare.

Exhibit A right here. LOL

… the bright side is that there are now only 14 games left in Dmitri Kalinin’s Buffalo Sabres career.

Now THAT is something to celebrate!

Mr. Regier, if your team truly has a need for a slow-skating defenseman who mishandles the puck, commits countless giveaways, and allows breakaway after breakaway, please give my agent a call.  I’ll offer my services for much less than the soon-to-be free agent Kalinin will surely fetch on the open market.

(Dmitri, you didn’t seriously wonder why your agent hasn’t been called yet, did you?)

Well, it’s official – the NHL has finally announced the outdoor game between the Sabres and Penguins on New Year’s Day.  For all Gary Bettman’s faults and missteps, he’s finally done something I can be happy about on a personal level.  This is gonna be insane and I can’t wait.