Close Calls but Few Upsets in Opening Round
Colorado is off to round two yet again, dispatching the Predators in six games.
After a few close calls, teams in both conferences gear up for showdown of elite talent. In the West, all four of the top seeds advanced to round two, though only the San Jose Sharks needed fewer than six games to do so. Two teams, top-seeded Calgary and third seed Los Angeles, took a full seven game slate to move past some stubborn opponents.
In the East, the New York Islanders pulled off what would be considered the biggest upset, defeating the New Jersey Devils in just five games. New Jersey was one of the hottest teams in the league in the second half, but despite this they only finished 12 points ahead of the Islanders.
The success even extended to the minor league, when all eight series went to the top seed. It's a good year to have home ice advantage.
But will that continue into round two? There are some great teams who won't be the top seed in their respective series this round, most notable is the Colorado Avalanche, the two-time defnding champions. They will need to buck the current trend in order to complete their quest of a three-peat.
Here are my predictions for round two:
Western Conference
(1) Calgary Flames vs. (4) Colorado Avalanche- It was a scary situation for the Calgary Flames, who had to battle to the bitter end to defeat the eighth seeded Columbus Blue Jackets in round one, needing a last minute goal in game seven to finally put away they pesky Blue Jackets. Their reward? The Avalanche, the same team that rallied from a 2-0 deficit against the Flames in round three last year to go on and win the WCHL Cup for the second straight year.
Calgary may have needed the scare Columbus gave them. The lone team to go through the entire regular season in the Western Conference without a major regular season stumble, the Flames were snapped out of their near robotic march through the season by the Blue Jackets. Now they need to get back into gear for Colorado, who will be much harder to put away.
Colorado is looking stronger by the game meanwhile. The Avalanche have just kept getting better as the season went along and in games five and six against Nashville in round one they posted back to back shutouts. Not bad for a team which had terrible goaltending most of the season. A strong offense, deep defense and now good goaltending? They could be unstoppable.
Expect there to be a lot of bad blood in this series, but after that it's hard to say what will come of this. If Calgary snaps back to their regular selves, this series could go seven games. If not, and Colorado stays hot, this could be a fast win for them. Colorado in six games.
(2) San Jose Sharks vs. (3) Los Angeles Kings- The battle of California is back on for the first time in several years, and it could be the last one for some time. The aging Kings look to continue their strong season by getting through their state rivals in San Jose.
The Kings will need to rely on their dynamic duo at centre in Paul Stastny and Evgeni Malkin and netminder Tim Thomas to go further. A seven game battle against the Red Wings didn't give much confidence that the Kings could drive through a now well rested Sharks squad.
San Jose is ready to go after needing just five games to get through the Minnesota Wild. After a few seasons of playoff disappointment, the Sharks are back into the second round, good news for the current core of this team. After several struggles, one had to figure changes could be in order if the Sharks were unable to get through round one again. An appearance in round three would go a long way to solidifying the Sharks cores future in San Jose.
San Jose figures to be the favorites in this series, but they've heard that before only to lose in the playoffs. It should be a good series but this time expect the Sharks of old to reemerge. San Jose in six games.
Eastern Conference
(1) New York Rangers vs. (6) New York Islanders- The battle of New York renews itself for the third time in three years, this time with the Islanders needing to pull off yet another upset after pushing through the New Jersey Devils in surprisingly quick fashion.
The Rangers have had a near dream season and looked in fine form in round one as well, knocking off the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games, storming out to a 3-0 lead in the process. Keeping that tide rolling won't be as easy against the much more talented Islanders, but the Rangers certainly have the firepower and depth to do so. Add into that the hunger to win their first WCHL Cup after twice being denied in the finals and the Rangers could be more than motivated to push past the Islanders.
On the island, the Islanders are hoping to complete some unfulfilled expectations of their own. Long considered a cup threat, the Islanders have only made the finals once, losing out to the Avalanche in seven games two years ago. Considering there has been a New York based team in the finals in three of the last four seasons, there's a good chance the winner of this series could go on to represent the East in the finals.
Last year the Rangers swept the Islanders. The Rangers may win again but don't expect it to be that easy this time. New York Rangers in six games.
(2) Ottawa Senators vs. (5) Montreal Canadians- The top seeded Senators have no real statistical advantage over the Canadians in this round, as both teams finished with 113 points.
Ottawa will have home ice, something they had in round one against the Buffalo Sabres. They needed it too, as the Senators went to overtime in game seven before finally moving past the Sabres. Now they need to try to duplicate that success against a Montreal squad looking to win this all-Canadian battle.
Montreal and the Rangers finished tied for the best goals against average in the league in the regular season, and Montreal proved that by limiting a very skilled and deep Pittsburgh Penguins line up to just 12 goals in five games. Ottawa will have their work cut out to get through the stingy Habs defense. Combine that with an offense that scored four goals a game in the opening round and the Montreal figures to be the favorite in this match up.
Ottawa is progressing nicely, but Montreal has loaded up this year for a reason. Montreal in six games.
ACHL:
Western Conference
(1) Abbotsford vs. (4) Houston- Abbotsford in six games.
(2) Manchester vs. (3) Peoria- Peoria in seven games.
Eastern Conference
(1) Albany vs. (4) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in five games.
(2) Hershey vs. (Conneticut- Hershey in seven games.
Colorado is off to round two yet again, dispatching the Predators in six games.
After a few close calls, teams in both conferences gear up for showdown of elite talent. In the West, all four of the top seeds advanced to round two, though only the San Jose Sharks needed fewer than six games to do so. Two teams, top-seeded Calgary and third seed Los Angeles, took a full seven game slate to move past some stubborn opponents.
In the East, the New York Islanders pulled off what would be considered the biggest upset, defeating the New Jersey Devils in just five games. New Jersey was one of the hottest teams in the league in the second half, but despite this they only finished 12 points ahead of the Islanders.
The success even extended to the minor league, when all eight series went to the top seed. It's a good year to have home ice advantage.
But will that continue into round two? There are some great teams who won't be the top seed in their respective series this round, most notable is the Colorado Avalanche, the two-time defnding champions. They will need to buck the current trend in order to complete their quest of a three-peat.
Here are my predictions for round two:
Western Conference
(1) Calgary Flames vs. (4) Colorado Avalanche- It was a scary situation for the Calgary Flames, who had to battle to the bitter end to defeat the eighth seeded Columbus Blue Jackets in round one, needing a last minute goal in game seven to finally put away they pesky Blue Jackets. Their reward? The Avalanche, the same team that rallied from a 2-0 deficit against the Flames in round three last year to go on and win the WCHL Cup for the second straight year.
Calgary may have needed the scare Columbus gave them. The lone team to go through the entire regular season in the Western Conference without a major regular season stumble, the Flames were snapped out of their near robotic march through the season by the Blue Jackets. Now they need to get back into gear for Colorado, who will be much harder to put away.
Colorado is looking stronger by the game meanwhile. The Avalanche have just kept getting better as the season went along and in games five and six against Nashville in round one they posted back to back shutouts. Not bad for a team which had terrible goaltending most of the season. A strong offense, deep defense and now good goaltending? They could be unstoppable.
Expect there to be a lot of bad blood in this series, but after that it's hard to say what will come of this. If Calgary snaps back to their regular selves, this series could go seven games. If not, and Colorado stays hot, this could be a fast win for them. Colorado in six games.
(2) San Jose Sharks vs. (3) Los Angeles Kings- The battle of California is back on for the first time in several years, and it could be the last one for some time. The aging Kings look to continue their strong season by getting through their state rivals in San Jose.
The Kings will need to rely on their dynamic duo at centre in Paul Stastny and Evgeni Malkin and netminder Tim Thomas to go further. A seven game battle against the Red Wings didn't give much confidence that the Kings could drive through a now well rested Sharks squad.
San Jose is ready to go after needing just five games to get through the Minnesota Wild. After a few seasons of playoff disappointment, the Sharks are back into the second round, good news for the current core of this team. After several struggles, one had to figure changes could be in order if the Sharks were unable to get through round one again. An appearance in round three would go a long way to solidifying the Sharks cores future in San Jose.
San Jose figures to be the favorites in this series, but they've heard that before only to lose in the playoffs. It should be a good series but this time expect the Sharks of old to reemerge. San Jose in six games.
Eastern Conference
(1) New York Rangers vs. (6) New York Islanders- The battle of New York renews itself for the third time in three years, this time with the Islanders needing to pull off yet another upset after pushing through the New Jersey Devils in surprisingly quick fashion.
The Rangers have had a near dream season and looked in fine form in round one as well, knocking off the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games, storming out to a 3-0 lead in the process. Keeping that tide rolling won't be as easy against the much more talented Islanders, but the Rangers certainly have the firepower and depth to do so. Add into that the hunger to win their first WCHL Cup after twice being denied in the finals and the Rangers could be more than motivated to push past the Islanders.
On the island, the Islanders are hoping to complete some unfulfilled expectations of their own. Long considered a cup threat, the Islanders have only made the finals once, losing out to the Avalanche in seven games two years ago. Considering there has been a New York based team in the finals in three of the last four seasons, there's a good chance the winner of this series could go on to represent the East in the finals.
Last year the Rangers swept the Islanders. The Rangers may win again but don't expect it to be that easy this time. New York Rangers in six games.
(2) Ottawa Senators vs. (5) Montreal Canadians- The top seeded Senators have no real statistical advantage over the Canadians in this round, as both teams finished with 113 points.
Ottawa will have home ice, something they had in round one against the Buffalo Sabres. They needed it too, as the Senators went to overtime in game seven before finally moving past the Sabres. Now they need to try to duplicate that success against a Montreal squad looking to win this all-Canadian battle.
Montreal and the Rangers finished tied for the best goals against average in the league in the regular season, and Montreal proved that by limiting a very skilled and deep Pittsburgh Penguins line up to just 12 goals in five games. Ottawa will have their work cut out to get through the stingy Habs defense. Combine that with an offense that scored four goals a game in the opening round and the Montreal figures to be the favorite in this match up.
Ottawa is progressing nicely, but Montreal has loaded up this year for a reason. Montreal in six games.
ACHL:
Western Conference
(1) Abbotsford vs. (4) Houston- Abbotsford in six games.
(2) Manchester vs. (3) Peoria- Peoria in seven games.
Eastern Conference
(1) Albany vs. (4) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in five games.
(2) Hershey vs. (Conneticut- Hershey in seven games.
