Last year, I picked Calgary to beat Montreal in the Stanley Cup final. I was a little bit wrong on that one.
I come back rejuvenated and ready to make a fool of myself once again. This time, I will not only pick the conference standings, but the winners of each postseason series based on my results. Call it an experiment on how much can go wrong.
The match ups for the playoffs will be highest seed against lowest seed for each round. The bracket will be reset.
The reason I am doing it like this, this year is to differentiate the good regular season teams and the good playoff teams.
For reasons on the regular season standings, read my team-by-team capsules on the last two pages
(* – denotes division winner)
EASTERN CONFERENCE
1. Ottawa*
2. Rangers*
3. Carolina*
4. Buffalo
5. New Jersey
6. Atlanta
7. Montreal
8. Philadelphia
9. Tampa Bay
10. Boston
11. Toronto
12. Florida
13. Washington
14. Pittsburgh
15. Islanders
WESTERN CONFERENCE
1. Anaheim*
2. Nashville*
3. Calgary*
4. San Jose
5. Dallas
6. Detroit
7. Edmonton
8. Columbus
9. Minnesota
10. Phoenix
11. Vancouver
12. Los Angeles
13. Colorado
14. Chicago
15. St. Louis
FIRST ROUND
(8)Philadelphia over
(1)Ottawa
(7)Montreal over
(2)Rangers
(3)Carolina over
(6)Atlanta
(4)Buffalo over
(5)New Jersey
(1)Anaheim over
(8)Columbus
(2)Nashville over
(7)Edmonton
(3)Calgary over
(6)Detroit
(4)San Jose over
(5) Dallas
SECOND ROUND
(3)Carolina over
(8)Philadelphia
(4)Buffalo over
(7)Montreal
(4)San Jose over
(1)Anaheim
(2)Nashville over
(3)Calgary
SEMI FINALS
(4)Buffalo over
(3)Carolina
Call it sweet revenge. The Sabres have a healthy team in this year’s version, and defeat the Hurricanes who run out of magic this season.
(4)San Jose over
(2)Nashville
The Sharks defeat the Predators in a hard-hitting series. The difference maker is Patrick Marleau who is a mismatch the entire series.
STANLEY CUP FINAL
SAN JOSE OVER
BUFFALO
in seven games
In the best Stanley Cup final in recent memory, two high flying teams go at it head-to-head. The Sharks win game seven in overtime after Buffalo tied the game up with less than a minute remaining in the third period.
Patrick Marleau is once again the star as all the attention is paid to the Bell-Thornton-Cheechoo line. Marleau scores seven goals in the series, including the winner in overtime.
Vesa Toskala outperforms Ryan Miller, but the series is all about scoring and less about goaltending.
Marleau takes home the Conn Smythe trophy for Playoff MVP. A close second is Joe Thornton and Buffalo’s Derek Roy is third
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