NHL Round Two

Oh dear readers...well, I don't know if you exist of not, but whatever, not the point.

The first round of the NHL Playoffs are over, my predictions have proven pretty good thus far, my record is 6-2, so here's to hoping I can do as well or better for the next round. Here's my thoughts:

Stars/Sharks: I will be rooting for the Sharks, and I think that they can win it. However, the Sharks took too long to finish of the Flames. The Stars are a much better team than the Flames are and they've got veterans who have been deep into the playoffs, pretty much as many as the Sharks have. Mike Ribiero came up big for them last round, so we'll see what he can pull together here. Stu Barnes also has a knack of coming up big for his team especially in the playoffs, and if Sergei Zubov can get healthy, the Stars defense will be in pretty good shape. And shall we not forget Mike Modano, who this season claimed the title of highest scoring American-born player in NHL history. The Sharks need to be the team that was hot in the last month of the regular season and muscled their way into second place in the West. They need to be the better team. In theory they are, but they relied too much on their offense in the first round and it almost got them eliminated. Defense needs to be better (cannot rely on the offense to score more goals than hey give up) and the offense needs to be able to consistently put the puck in the back of the net regularly. Nabokov is a better goalie than Turco, Kiprusoff is a better goalie than Turco, they have that going for them too. It's basically in the Sharks hands, they have to play like their in the playoffs and that they want it. As much as I love them, they're not playing the kind of hockey they need to in order to beat the Stars. I'm choosing Dallas and hoping I'm wrong.

Red Wings/Avalanche: Oh the greatest modern rivalry of the NHL, this will be an awesome series for fans and I hope it goes to seven games so that we can see passionate hockey at it's best. Kudos the Avs for bringing back the usual suspects. It must be great for Joe Sakic to see Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote back on the bench for their run to the playoffs, and it's great to see Jose Theodore back on his game. In the end, Detroit hasn't choked yet. They're playing really well. And how awesome it must be for that team to have Osgood winning the top spot in goalie for now and knowing that if he starts making mistake you have another hall of fame goalie, Dominik Hasek waiting to prove himself in the playoffs again. I think what it comes down to the fact that Detroit is just a better team over all, and unlike San Jose, they've been showing it all year and they haven't stopped. Detroit will take this series, and I think destroy Dallas in the conference finals and get a chance to hoist the cup again.

Rangers/Penguins: Rangers have been doing well, kudos to them. Look for the Penguins to come up big here though. They were the only team to sweep their first round and against the team that represented the East for the Stanley Cup last year. They're well rested, look for the Rangers to give them more problems than Ottowa did, but the Penguins will take this series too.

Canadians/Flyers: The Flyers eeeeked their way into round two against an underrated Washington team, but Montreal is a very good team. It's not even that they've got some good players, they've got a bunch of nobodies besides Koivu, they're good because they're a balanced, good team. The Flyers have been doing well, but I'd be stunned if they can pull this one off. Briere is doing amazingly well, but you can't fight a balanced team with a good player on a hot streak who has carried his team thus far. Philly just doesn't have the team to play against Montreal. Look for the Canadians to continue to be underrated as they end the streaking Flyers run into the playoffs and do so rather quietly. This is probably the series with the least hype so the Canadians will take care of things quietly. Then watch them stun the Penguins in the Conference finals.

Canadians/Red Wings: That's two balanced teams going for the Cup, it should be good.