Word.
Most of the round table has returned to pick winners (but mostly losers) and talk some smack along the way. So if anyone’s forgot who’s who, here’s a quick refresh:
Alex: Still sour NY Rangers fan.
Ian: First of the Calgary Flames followers. Has Phaneuf jersey up for sale i’m sure.
Trish: May still be hanging on to some Boston Bruins love.
Keith: Another Calgary Flames follower, i wouldn’t be surprised to see some Flames references in his picks.
Matty: A Washington Capitals fan, could this be the year for his guys?
Nate: More Flames love, and is a really big Stajan fan.
Robbie: Die hard Edmonton Oilers fan. tough times…
Mr.Gun: His Pittsburgh Penguins won it all last year so it’s all down hill from there.
Eastern Conference:
(1) Washington Capitals vs (8) Montreal Canadiens
Braden: Capitals in 6 (not sold on Washington yet though)
Alex: Capitals in 6 (but they get beat up real bad!)
Ian: Capitals in 5 (We’ll see Price before the end of Game 2)
Trish: Capitals in 4
Keith: Capitals in 6 (Too much offense, even though Halak steals a couple)
Matty: Capitals in 5 (I would have suggested a sweep, but didn’t want to sound that confident!)
Nate: Capitals in 5 (Both Price and Halak see time (and plenty of the goal light) in this series as the Caps light up the Habs)
Robbie: Capitals in 5
Mr.Gun: Capitals in 5 (Habs aren’t good)
(2) New Jersey Devils vs (7) Philadelphia Flyers
Braden: Devils in 4 (If NJ plays their game, it’ll be over quick)
Alex: Devils in 5 (Philadelphia has as much goaltending as a swimming team)
Ian: Devils in 6 (If anyone fucks this up. It will be Kovalchuk)
Trish: Devils in 5
Keith: Devils in 7 (It comes down to goaltending. Marty is the difference)
Matty: Devils in 6
Nate: Devils in 5 (Boucher? Really?)
Robbie: Devils in 6
Mr.Gun: Devils in 6 (Noooooo!!! Prove me wrong Philly … please)
(3) Buffalo Sabres vs (6) Boston Bruins
Braden: Bruins in 6 (Something’s wrong with Buffalo offensively so it’ll be tough to score enough especially on the road)
Alex: Sabres in 5 (Boston is leaking… they’re only around still because they had a good enough lead)
Ian: Bruins in 6 (Buffalo is awful outside of Miller…plus they’re soft and have terrible d)
Trish: Sabres in 6
Keith: Bruins in 7 (Two teams with good tending but no offense. Rask takes this one)
Matty: Sabres in 7
Nate: Sabres in 7 (I like Rask a lot but I just don’t think Boston have enough firepower to get past Miller.)
Robbie: Sabres in 5
Mr.Gun: Sabres in 6
(4) Pittsburgh Penguins vs (5) Ottawa Senators
Braden: Penguins in 6 (The pens aren’t as good as they were last year though)
Alex: Penguins in 6 (this will be a good series… but Ottawa just doesn’t have the fire-power)
Ian: Penguins in 6 (Elliott wins 2 games in this series)
Trish: Penguins in 5
Keith: Penguins in 5 (Defending champs roll over the Sens, Malkin wakes up)
Matty: Penguins in 6
Nate: Penguins in 6 (Ottawa’s second pairing isn’t good enough to stop Malkin)
Robbie: Penguins in 4
Mr.Gun: Penguins in 5
Western Conference:
(1) San Jose Chokes vs (8) Colorado Avalanche
Braden: Avalanche in 6 (Could be horribly wrong on this one)
Alex: Sharks in 4 (Marleau line lights them up)
Ian: Sharks in 6 (If Duchene and Mueller were healthy. I’d pick them to win)
Trish: Avalanche in 6
Keith: Sharks in 7 (Avs give them a scare but prove to be too much for them)
Matty: Sharks in 6 (Battle of the worst series ever!)
Nate: Sharks in 6 (Anderson looks really tired lately. TSN will talk about how Thornton finally learned how to win from his time at the Olympics. Then they’ll get ousted in the second round when they play quality opponents)
Robbie: Sharks in 6
Mr.Gun: Sharks in 5 (I should know better than to pick these guys)
(2) Chicago Blackhawks vs (7) Nashville Predators
Braden: Blackhawks in 5 (If Nashville wins 2 games, they’ll win the series)
Alex: Blackhawks in 6 (Nashville is out of their league… they’re about to find out how much)
Ian: Blackhawks in 5 (Duncan Keith)
Trish: Blackhawks in 5
Keith: Blackhawks in 5 (Too deep and last years experience pays off)
Matty: Blackhawks in 6
Nate: Blackhawks in 6 (Chicago is just the better team. It’d be nice to see Nashville win a series some day. They always have good teams. If they could afford to spend to the cap they would be a perennial top seed)
Robbie: Blackhawks in 6
Mr.Gun: Blackhawks in 4
(3) Vancouver Canucks vs (6) LA Kings
Braden: Canucks in 7 (Not a great matchup for my guys, but we should have enough to win. Reminds me of Dallas series a few years back)
Alex: Canucks in 5 (I like LA… but Vancouver is playing really well!)
Ian: Canucks in 4 (AIDS town gets lucky again and wins their first round series easily)
Trish: Kings in 7
Keith: Canucks in 7 (This one is going to be closer than people think. The sisters have a good series)
Matty: Canucks in 7
Nate: Canucks in 6 (Neither goalie is playing well, so this could be a high scoring series. I’d love to say that the 8 goals LA scored on Luongo was a sign that LA will whoop Vancouver, but it’s not. Though it would be nice to see 7uongo replaced with Lu8ng8. Even with it’s depleted D core I think Vancouver can beat the Kings handily)
Robbie: Canucks in 7
Mr.Gun: Canucks in 7
(4) Phoenix Coyotes vs (5) Detroit Red Wings
Braden: Wings in 6 (My comment from my email was meant for those who are going to pick detroit all the way to the finals, i think they’ll win one round… that’s all)
Alex: Wings in 6 (Detroit is Detroit and Phoenix gets reminded of what a 1st round exit is)
Ian: Wings in 7 (This will be the best series. I hope Phoenix wins, but Detroit’s experience will get them through)
Trish: Wings in 6
Keith: Coyotes in 7 (Veterans vs Kids. Youngsters in the desert get to Howard)
Matty: Wings in 5 (Brandon, Phoenix is poo! and if you like them because you call them the Jets, they’re not, they are called the Coyotes and they play in Phoenix, they have been located there for so long that they have changed their jerseys 3 times! BUT most importantly I hate Phoenix more, because you love them!)
Nate: Wings in 5 (Unfortunately for Phoenix there’s no shootout in the playoffs. Detroit is gonna win the conference. Book it)
Robbie: Coyotes in 7
Mr.Gun: Wings in 6
Will update point totals for each person after round 1 and post the round 2 picks.
Stay Tuned.
UPDATE (April 29th):
Leaderboard (1 pt for picking correct team to win & 1 pt for picking correct # of games series ends in)
Ian: 10 pts
Nate: 10 pts
Matty: 8 pts
Braden: 8 pts
Alex: 8 pts
Robbie: 7 pts
Trish: 6 pts
Keith: 6 pts
Mr.Gun: 6 pts
