The first round is complete. We began with sixteen teams; now, only eight remain. So, what of the other eight? We won't be hearing from these teams until the Draft (unless any of them fire their coaches), so let's devote some space to where they may be going from here. Think of it as sort of a eulogy for those teams who couldn't make it out of the first round.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
- 3)Washington (Lost to Philadelphia in 7). Heading into these playoffs, I saw the Caps as this year's version of last year's Penguins - a young team that had the potential to be great, but wasn't ready to make a playoff run just yet. I can't say I saw the Capitals and Flyers going at it in overtime of Game 7, but that's hockey for you. It's a shame that the Caps lost, but they have a tremendous future ahead of them.
- 4)New Jersey (Lost to Rangers in 5). The Devils seemed to think they'd be able to beat the Rangers if they simply pounded them into submission and let Martin Brodeur take care of everything else. Maybe they could have done better with a more offense-oriented philosophy. But it doesn't matter now. Brodeur wasn't as sharp as he needed to be, and maybe that's because he's played over 70 games in every season but one since the lockout - and I mean the lockout in 1995.
- 7)Ottawa (Lost to Pittsburgh in 4). What can you say about Ottawa that hasn't already been said about the 2007 Mets? The latest in Ottawa is that Ray Emery is on the trading block - tell us something we don't know, Bryan Murray. He's a lock to end up going somewhere else and excelling. Anyway, it's hard to imagine the Senators bringing back the same team next year. Something's got to change.
- 8)Boston (Lost to Montreal in 7). The Bruins had a great season, especially given their talent level, so you really can't fault them for going out in the first round. Who knows where they go from here. In my eyes, the most important thing they did (aside from getting three home games worth of playoff revenue) was generate a good amount of interest in hockey in Boston. Milan Lucic seems perfect for Boston, and if they can build around him, they may have a winner sooner rather than later.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
- 3)Minnesota (Lost to Colorado in 6). The Wild seem to have settled nicely into the "Great Regular Season, Lousy Playoff Team" mold. It's a shame that Marian Gaborik's prime has been pretty much wasted in Minnesota - he's one of the league's best, and yet nobody knows about him. Minnesota deserves a great team; you'd hope the Wild can acquire the pieces necessary to make a Cup run before Gaborik's best years are behind him.
- 4)Anaheim (Lost to Dallas in 6). So it turns out that Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne impersonating Roger Clemens had the same effect - a first-round exit. I still can't figure this team out. J.S. Giguere is unstoppable in the playoffs in odd-numbered years (2003, 2007), yet is absolutely a sieve in even-numbered years (2006, 2008). If the NHL is serious about reducing the size of goaltender equipment, Giguere may be in serious trouble next year.
- 7)Calgary (Lost to San Jose in 7). In March, I predicted Calgary as a sleeper in the playoffs. In April, I picked the Sharks to beat the Flames in five games. I guess I should have stuck with my gut. The Flames did a tremendous job against the Sharks, and they very nearly pulled off the upset. They sort of remind me of the Islanders in that they play teams tough, but don't seem to ever be able to put forth a serious Cup threat. One thing to watch this off-season is a potential feud between coach Mike "Captain Hook" Keenan and goalie Miikka Kiprusoff. Kiprusoff was benched twice in this series; I'm sure he didn't appreciate that.
- 8)Nashville (Lost to Detroit in 6). Another team that always gets in, draws a crappy seed, and gets bounced in the first round. It's unfortunate because even though people love to trash Nashville and its fanbase, they draw 17,000 a game and probably could get behind a great team. The problem is building that team. This is a team that has brought in Peter Forsberg, Paul Kariya, and countless others over the past few years; none of them could get the job done. What's the answer? They may find it on July 1.
Now that we've gotten all that out of the way, let's look at the first round predictions. To make things easier, let's do this with a points system. We'll give one point out for picking the winning team, and four extra points if the correct number of games were picked. If the number of games is only one off (i.e. picking Pittsburgh in 5 games), that gives out three points. Within two games, that's two points. One point would be given if a sweep was predicted and the series went seven games, or vice versa. And, just to be fair, we'll give one point if a seven-game series was predicted and actually happened, but the wrong team won. Got it? Good.
In the East, Zach had Montreal in 5 (three points), Ottawa in 7 (zero), Washington in 7 (one), Rangers in 7 (three). That's seven points. Out West, he had Detroit in 5 (four), San Jose in 5 (three), Colorado in 7 (four), and Anaheim in 6 (zero). Eleven points in the West means Zach gets a score of 18.
For the East, Bryan had Montreal in 6 (four points), Pittsburgh in 4 (five), Philadelphia in 7 (five), Rangers in 6 (four). Eighteen points so far. In the West, he had Detroit in 6 (five), San Jose in 7 (three), Colorado in 7 (four), and Anaheim in 7 (zero). Twelve points out West gives Bryan a total of 30.
So, for the first round, the final ends up being 30-18 in favor of yours truly. Let's see how the second round shapes up. We should have predictions up sometime soon. Or at least Zach will. The new baby runs my life. Tonight I got a taste of what's in store for me - I wanted to get home from the hospital in time for Sharks-Flames. So I told my wife I'd stay until she fed the baby one last time. Of course, it took two hours for the baby to stay awake long enough to be fed. Then, we had to change her, wheel her down to the nursery, get my wife into bed, get dinner for myself, then get home. I turned on Versus just in time to see the intro to WEC Wreckage. How nice.
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