BT's 2011 NHL Eastern Conference Playoff Preview

Turns out that all 1229 games mattered this NHL season as the playoff picture only cleared up when the Dallas Stars’ season was ended on Sunday by the Minnesota Wild.

It was that loss that allowed the Chicago Blackhawks to continue their journey to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.

Before that, the other 15 teams that would compete for the Stanley Cup had already been determined, with all of the Eastern Conference matchups already set. In one day it’ll be time to play the games and see who will be crowned the king of the NHL this season after the others fall by the wayside.

Of course, that precious time between the end of the regular season and the playoffs is reserved for one thing, and one thing alone: Predictions.

Everyone’s got them including your mother, doctor, and that guy that just stole your parking spot. Maybe if you weren’t reading this as you were driving, that wouldn’t have happened.

Typically, I try to spice up these predictions up by inviting a celebrity guest. Unfortunately, with time (and a surprisingly shallow pool of quality celebrities), this year there won’t be a celeb joining me.

For half of the people that didn’t stop reading after finding out that Katy Perry giving her input, we’ll look at some of the things that are good, and bad, about the playoffs away from the ice.

1. Washington Capitals vs. 8. New York Rangers

What Washington has going for them: Alexander Ovechkin is still one of the best forwards in the game, despite people moaning about a career-low 32 goals.

Ovechkin was still one of nine players with 80+ points in the league this year without losing his physical edge (241 hits). The Caps have also improved defensively with a much better penalty kill than last year and fewer shots against and goals-against per game.

What New York has going for them: The return of Captain Chris Drury not only gives New York an emotional spark, but may help offensively too.

Drury’s season was crippled by injuries and he must be hungry to prove himself after just five points in 24 games. The Rangers should have the same motivation and drive as the Flyers last year, as few people ever believe in the team that makes it on the last day.

Who wins?: The Capitals can’t stand to be disappointed with a third quarterfinals exit in the last four years and have discovered themselves defensively allowing two or fewer goals in their last three games. New York pushes them, but the Caps push back.

Washington wins 4-2.

What New York needs to prove me wrong: The only advantage the Capitals have in net is numbers. Not that their stats are better, but that they have three goalies to the Rangers’ one. Only problem is, that one goalie is Henrik Lundqvist. If he’s on his game, King Henrik frustrates the Caps.

What’s great about the playoffs: Random foods, aquatic wildlife, or small rodents getting thrown on the ice. Despite the time spent cleaning those things up detracting from the game, it adds character to the game and the team.

2. Philadelphia Flyers vs. 7. Buffalo Sabres

What Philadelphia has going for them: Despite not carrying a player with more than 80 points, the Flyers have five players who finished the regular season with more than 50 points, one who had 49 and two more with 40. The Flyers also have the experience from last year’s run, and the drive to prove it wasn’t a fluke and win the cup.

What Buffalo has going for them: The momentum from a half-season launch up the standings, a healthy Ryan Miller, and two 30-goal scorers in the same year for the first time since 2007-08 when Derek Roy and Thomas Vanek did it.

Who wins: The Buffalo Sabres magical run continues and they prove to be the surprise team of the post-season. Their young scorers come up big against an experienced Flyers team and they stun the city of Philadelphia.

Buffalo wins 4-3.

What Philadelphia needs to prove me wrong: To use their size on defense and knock around the smaller Buffalo forwards. If Philly can keep Buffalo to the perimeter of the ice and punish them against the boards, it’ll wear out the key pieces in Buffalo’s offense.

What’s great about the playoffs: What it can do to a city. For places that are truly passionate about hockey, things get put on hold in these markets for two months as they pray that their teams that can bring the cup home. These are two cities that can really get passionate about a deep playoff run.

3. Boston Bruins vs. 6. Montreal Canadiens

What Boston has going for them: Everybody knows that the Bruins have size on their side, especially against the smaller Canadians, and love punishing their opponents. They also have one of the best goalies in the league in Tim Thomas who could made heads turn all year with show-stopping saves. Beantown also have a gritty centre in Greg Campbell who could be a key in this series with the attention paid to Milan Lucics, Patrice Bergeron, and Nathan Horton.

What Montreal has going for them: As great as Tim Thomas has been, Carey Price has been just as good, arguably better. Many feel that Price kept the Habs in playoff contention when things got murky surrounding the performance of the rest of the team, and he personally is still driven to prove his doubters wrong. PK Subban will be a key in this series as Boston will surely try to get Montreal’s most enigmatic player off of his game.

Who wins: Montreal gets the matchup they wanted to prove they’re the real deal, but Boston proves to be too big and tough. The Bruins punish the Canadiens and systematically open up the defense and exploit them with a couple of high-octane offensive wins.

Boston wins 4-1.

What Montreal needs to prove me wrong: The performance that Carey Price gave them during the season, and a level-headed effort from PK Subban. He is Montreal’s most-dangerous player both in the fact his skills can bury Boston, but he can bury his own team if he gets frustrated and reckless. As a team they can’t get thrown off either if they hit a wall physically.

What’s not so great about the playoffs: When players downplay a series. The phrase “just another series” bothers me. You’re playing for the Stanley Cup…if you’re not motivated and just shrugging this off, you don’t deserve to move on.

Just say what you really feel. I have a hard time believing that the players on the Canadiens A) Aren’t looking at this any different than if the played the Tampa Bay Lightning or someone else and B) Don’t want to make a statement against a team that some have given a pretty good chance of representing the East in the Cup final. Come on. Just say it: We want to stick it to the other guys. We don’t like them.

4. Pittsburgh Penguins vs. 5. Tampa Bay Lightning

What Pittsburgh has going for them: Despite missing Sidney Crosby (Who is still the team’s leading scorer by 16 with 66 points) and Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins saw Jordan Staal start to regain his rookie season form after dealing with injuries for the first half of the season. The Penguins also grew closer in the face of adversity after losing their two stars, and that cohesiveness is what the playoffs are all about.

What Tampa Bay has going for them: Five players had 90 points or more, and the only two to do it in the Eastern Conference are from Tampa Bay (Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos). They also had ten players reach double-digits in goals, and got the goaltending they needed out of Dwayne Roloson that they couldn’t get out of Mike Smith or Dan Ellis.

Who wins: The Pittsburgh Penguins have the experience to win in the playoffs, even without their stars. The series will come down to goaltending because both offenses have weapons, and Marc-Andre Fleury has the advantage in the tender department. Despite this, there’s nothing to take away from the Lightning. Besides. Who expected a work-in-progress team like this to come this far?

Pittsburgh wins 4-2.

What Tampa needs to prove me wrong: An out-of-this world performance by Vincent Lecavalier and relapse to high-end goal scoring for Simon Gagne. If Roloson can rediscover that mojo from his Finals run with Edmonton, Tampa could go farther than just one round.

What’s not so great about the playoffs: How way too many teams use the “White Out”. Seriously, everyone has white home jerseys. Take a note from rival Philadelphia, and use a real colour as your intimidator, not just boring old white. Pittsburgh should be using gold towels, or black, white, and gold towels. White is so cliché. Or Pirates jerseys. No one likes those.