The first round saw 3 lower seeds advance with a chance to follow in the Bruins Season 10 footsteps as a Cinderella team. The Ducks and Rangers are the clear cut favourites to meet in the finals if only they aren't lulled to sleep by weak opponents in this round. Here is the preview of all four WCHL playoff series.

Anaheim - Vancouver
Season Series: Vancouver 3-2 (10-9)

Anaheim (1st – 116 points)
Beat Edmonton 4-0
Leading Scorer: Ilya Kovalchuk – 5-3-8
Goaltending: Steve Mason – 4-0, 2.44, 0.875
Special Teams: PP-25.00% (3rd), PK-68.42% (16th)
Vancouver (6th – 95 points)
Beat Dallas 4-3
Leading Scorer: Radek Dvorak – 0-7-7
Goaltending: Miikka Kiprusoff – 4-2-1, 2.31, 0.924
Special Teams: PP-13.64% (10th), PK-93.10% (3rd)

The Canucks knocked off one of the hottest teams in the league (Dallas) to get to the second round and will be looking to keep the momentum going against the top team in the West. Radek Dvorak was a man possessed by the ghost of Adam Oates as he set up 7 goals in the first round. The Canucks can also feel good knowing that they took the season series against the Ducks and have to feel good about their chances. This might be one of the first times ever that we can say that a team that swept their first round opponent is struggling. The Ducks were taken to OT 3 times against a comparatively mediocre Oilers squad, and their PK was abysmal (worst of all teams in the 1st round) against the team with the worst PP in the regular season. The Kovalchuk-Nash-Crosby line carried the team through that series and will need to continue their pace otherwise the Canucks could be in line for a second upset.
Prediction: The quack attack gets sacked – Canucks in 6

Calgary - Colorado
Season Series: Calgary 4-1 (22-8)

Calgary (2nd – 102 points)
Beat LA 4-1
Leading Scorer: Mike Richards and Patrik Elias – 4-4-8
Goaltending: Tim Thomas – 3-0-1, 1.49, 0.927
Special Teams: PP-22.22% (4th), PK-83.33% (8th)
Colorado (4th – 102 points)
Beat San Jose 4-2
Leading Scorer: Doug Weight 5-5-10
Goaltending: Ilya Bryzgalov – 3-2-0, 3.77, 0.865
Special Teams: PP-29.73% (2nd), PK-91.30% (4th)

These two clubs might have tied for first in the Norris Division but looking at the season series, it would be difficult to suggest that Colorado has a chance against the Flames. The Flames simply had their way with the Avs this year including 8-2 and 6-1 drubbings. However, the Avs knocked off the always strong San Jose Sharks, winning three straight to finish off the series. They’re going to need Bryzgalov to turn things around as his GAA and SV% were horrendous and can’t continue against the high-octane offence the Flames can throw at them. The other big question is whether Doug Weight can continue his 1st round turn-back-the-clock performance? For the Flames, Tim Thomas has been nothing but stellar allowing only 7 goals in 5 games including 2 shutouts. Although Richards, Elias and Hossa had great 1st rounds, Steven Stamkos was unable to find the back of the net and I’m sure GM Allen would like to see him turn his game around in this series.
Prediction: Flames melt away the Avalanche in 5

New York Rangers – New Jersey
Season Series: Tied 2-2 (16-12)

New York Rangers (3rd – 117 points)
Beat NYI 4-1
Leading Scorer: Tim Connolly – 1-5-6
Goaltending: Henrik Lundqvist – 4-1-0, 2.12, 0.897
Special Teams: PP-17.65% (7th), PK-100% (1st)
New Jersey (8th – 95 points)
Beat Pittsburgh 4-2
Leading Scorer: Ryan Suter 1-4-5 Bryan McCabe 0-5-5
Goaltending: Dwayne Roloson – 4-2-0, 1.77, 0.914
Special Teams: PP-10.00% (12th), PK-88.00% (6th)

So I said two things last round about New Jesey’s series with Pittsburgh: It would be ugly, and the Devils would need Roloson to come up big. Both happened, only the ugliness was on the part of the Pens’ play and not New Jersey’s. The Devils have to be riding a high after knocking off the top team in the league and now they get a chance to knock off #2. They’re going to need more production from the forwards to have a chance since it’d be difficult to lean on Suter and McCabe to provide the offense. They also need Antropov to improve upon his 1 point first round. The Rangers will be looking to steamroll another local rival. The Islanders didn’t put up the fight that we all expected and now one has to wonder if the Rangers will be at risk of looking beyond the Devils to the conference finals. If not you have to think this Rangers team is the favourite to come out of the East.
Prediction: The Rangers end Cinderella’s ball early – Rangers in 5.

Philadelphia - Buffalo
Season Series: Philadelphia 3-1 (13-8)

Philadelphia (4th – 111 points)
Beat Boston 4-1
Leading Scorer: Ryan Getzlaf – 2-4-6
Goaltending: Niklas Backstrom – 4-1-0, 1.89, 0.913
Special Teams: PP-20.00% (5th), PK-82.61% (9th)
Buffalo (7th – 106 points)
Beat Atlanta 4-3
Leading Scorer: James Langenbrunner – 2-3-5, Tobias Enstrom – 1-4-5
Goaltending: Jimmy Howard – 4-3-0, 2.00, 0.916
Special Teams: PP-4.76% (15th), PK-80.65% (11th)

If you just looked at the seeds then the Sabres win over Atlanta was a big upset, however, as we pointed out in the 1st round preview, there wasn’t much to distinguish the two teams and we suspected it would be a close series. The Sabres made it much closer than it should have been though by blowing a 3-0 lead and nearly losing in game 7. The Sabres need to make some adjustments to keep pace with a Flyers team that is much better than the Atlanta team they faced. Their special teams were atrocious and by far the worst of the remaining teams and they’ll need every player to contribute to keep pace. The Flyers will be looking to continue their strong play from the first round that provided them with a break while they waited for the Sabres to finish their series. They got strong goaltending from Backstrom but Jeff Carter and Mike Green were snake-bitten only scoring once on 31 shots between them. On paper the Flyers are just too strong with too many weapons to be considered as an upset candidate so it wouldn’t be a surprise for this to end early.
Prediction: The drought in Western New York continues as the Flyers take it in 5.