Playoff Journal Part III

Well round two definitely did not go as expected. I didn't expect three teams to jump out to 3-0 starts or for Montreal to fall in five to Philly. Detroit easily handled a Colorado team that had shaky goaltending at best. Johan Franzen continues to rip it up, and yes I picked him in all my playoff pools thank you. I continue to underestimate Dallas and overestimate the San Jose Senators.


1. Montreal vs. 6. Philadelphia
Prediction: Montreal in six
Actual: Philadelphia in five

2. Pittsburgh vs. 5. New York
Prediction: Pittsburgh in seven
Actual: Pittsburgh in five

1. Detroit vs. 6. Colorado
Prediction: Detroit in seven
Actual: Detroit in four


2. San Jose vs. 5 . Dallas
Prediction: San Jose in six
Actual: Dallas in six

East
2. Pittsburgh vs. 6. Philadelphia
Easy, Pens will win right? Not so fast tomato. Philadelphia has already unseated two division champions in the playoffs and would like to add their hated rivals to the list. Remember there were rumors circulating that the Pens tanked their last game against the Flyers so they wouldn't have to play them in round one. The Flyers play a pounding style (and often dirty I might add) that wears the other team down, a team well built for the long playoff grind. On the other side of the coin we have Pittsburgh who has been absolutely dominating through the first two rounds. So this is going to be a big battle, a rough series, and ultimately the strongest team will win. Prediction: Malkin will two hand Hatcher in the face because he can't handle the abuse he puts up.
Prediction: Pittsburgh in seven

West
1. Detroit vs. 5. Dallas
I predicted Dallas would lose both to San Jose and to Anaheim but boy was I wrong. Both teams have been dominating and Dallas has had some third period and overtime heroics that have really excelled their quest for the cup. Detroit has also been dominating with Johan Franzen finding the back of the net almost every game, even notching two hat-tricks in four games in their sweep of Colorado. This will be another close and good series that I predict the winner of this one will win the Stanley Cup. After the trade deadline I said Dallas would win the Cup, so I'm going to stick to that now.
Prediction: Dallas in seven




Note: My cousin Ben has started a hockey blog. Find it here.