Blue And White Beat: Round One Recap

Round One recap

Here’s a look back at the first round results, compared with my predictions from two weeks ago (in brackets)

Western Conference:
Vancouver over Chicago in 7 games (Vancouver in 7)
San Jose over Los Angeles in 6 games (San Jose in 5)
Phoenix over Detroit in 7 games (Detroit in 4)
Nashville over Anaheim in 6 games (Nashville in 6)

Eastern Conference:
Washington over NY Rangers in 6 games (Washington in 5)
Buffalo over Philadelphia in 7 games (Philadelphia in 7)
Boston over Montreal in 7 games (Boston in 6)
Pittsburgh over Tampa Bay in 6 games (Tampa Bay in 7)

So in terms of picking winners, I went 5-for-8, with two series – won respectively by Vancouver and Nashville – also being predicted correctly in terms of duration.

The biggest flub was the selection of Phoenix to beat Detroit. With much speculation about the team’s departure to Winnipeg, the unconvetional wisdom was to assume that the potential move would serve as a rallying cry, a la “Major League” (minus Wild Thing Charlie Sheen, of course). In fact, the opposite held true, as talk of the reborn Winnipeg Jets appeared to serve as a distraction, as evidenced by the fourth and deciding game of the sweep.

Here are my second round predictions:

West
Vancouver over Nashville in 7 games – As was the case in the Conference Quarter-Final, the Canucks’ opponents will give them all they can handle. Norris Trophy finalist Shea Weber will make life very uncomfortable for the Sedins, whose pictures are on milk cartons everywhere in BC, despite the opening round win. But Vancouver is too deep upfront to be completely neutralized by the Predators suffocating style. This will be a close series, but the only way that Nashville squeaks out the upset is if too many Canucks players are distracted by Carrie Underwood’s presence in the stands.

Detroit over San Jose in 6 games – Niemi was exposed by the Kings despite the series win. Yes Joe Thornton scored a big overtime goal, but that shouldn’t convince skeptics that Sharks big guns can carry the team over more than one playoff round. Detroit’s depth will be the prevailing factor.

East
Washington over Tampa Bay in 6 – Credit goes to Steve Yzerman’s team for rallying down 3-2 to Pittsburgh. However the Penguins were missing their key superstar, whereas the Capitals’ premier forward is not only healthy, but is making his presence felt. Ovechkin is the difference in this matchup.

Philadelphia over Boston in 6 – Don’t worry Bruins fans, there won’t be repeat of last year’s ultimate collapse, but that’s only because the series won’t even get to seven games. Boston’s special teams have been atrocious, a weakness that nearly cost them a date in the second round at the expense of the Habs. Philadelphia will emerge the victors, and will complete the task more efficiently than last year when they staged the comeback after being down 3-0.

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Random thoughts:

Every hockey fan should thank the Minnesota Wild for beating Dallas on the final day of the regulars season. The Stars’ loss was the difference in Chicago squeaking into the playoffs. Would a Canucks-Stars series have been as compelling as the one we just saw with the Blackhawks as Vancouver’s opponents? I think not.

While many observers have tagged the Blackhawks-Canucks series as the best opening round matchup ever, my vote still goes to the 1991 Smythe Division Final between Edmonton and Calgary. Game Six had one of the more memorable finishes with Theoren Fleury’s game winning goal in overtime, followed by his ecstatic celebration. The Flames scored the first three goals of the seventh game at home before the Oilers storming back with 4 tallies to take the lead. While Calgary forced overtime, Esa Tikkanen would break the hearts of their provincial rivals with the series-winner.

The $2,500 fine to Andrew Ference for his obscene gesture in Game Four was an absolute joke. To put things into perspective, Ference made $2,250,000 in 2010-11, which works out to about $27,439 per game. On a pro-rated average of 18 minutes ice time per game for the Bruins defender, he would earn back his money in all of 1.64 minutes of work. It’s the equivalent of fining a person who makes $15/hour a grand total of 41 cents. If the NHL wants to send a message, they should make the financial penalties more of a deterrent.

In Leafs news, the team signed 21-year-old Mark Owuya today, a goaltender from Djugarden of the Swedish Elite League. Interestingly Owuya is also a rapper who goes by the name Mark in Da Park, and has appeared on Swedish idol. Had Kris Versteeg – who made a name for himself rapping during Chicago’s Stanley Cup parade – not been traded from the Leafs, it may have made for some interesting “music” collaborations in the Leafs dressing room.

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