Early NHL 2006-2007 Predictions, Part 3: The Playoffs

Cristobal Huet will come crashing back down to earth because Kipper he most certainly is not and Aebescher will take them to the 2nd round but no further. Koivu will unfortunately not recover completely from his eye injury and Ribiero will continue to miss the net from 5 feet out and be about as useful as an overpriced bag of pucks. Biggest bright spots will be the meshing of Kovalev and Samsonov.

Wings will make the post-season. They will have to ride Osgood for more than 50 games due to another injury to Hasek. Osgood will be respectable, but the heart is gone from that team and they've got too many peripheral players (exception Holmstrom) and their defense will start to show their age. Only reason they make the playoffs? It's easy! Detroit gets to play in the tyke division of the NHL! They get to play 24 games against the likes of St.Louis (Legace will take at least 4 games from the wings though), Columbus (traded their starting goaltender away... HAH!), and Chicago (Havlat will be hurt again and Khabibulin is washed up). Detoit barely makes it into the dance and is out without a whimper. Lidstom will captain the team well but become frustrated. He's good... but Yzerman he is not.

Ottawa will have a fine reg season, but will not make it deep because Gerber doesn't have the ability to carry a team deep in the playoffs and Emerey will not benefit from sitting out most of the year. That and Alfredsson + Playoffs = well... nothing good. 1st or second round exit for Ottawa (again)

Ranger's will bust because of question marks in the crease after a sophmore slump by Lundqvist and an unenlightened campaign by Mr. Jagr. Miss the playoffs. Plus they have too many soft players... even for the softest conference in hockey.

Biggest 'surprise' out of the West will be the 50+ goals scored by Gaborik with Minnesota finishing in the top 4 of the conference. They'll make it to the Western Conference semi final.

San Jose won't make the playoffs though Thornton will repeat as the Art Ross winner with Cheechoo coming close to winning the Richard. They'll find out that both their goaltenders are riddled with holes as more and more snipers take advantage of Toskala's twitchy glove hand and Nabokov's inconsistency.

The Ducks will not beat the Flames again in the playoffs. Yes they have Niedermeyer and Pronger, but that will prove to be their achilles heel against the Flames. The Oil relied on Pronger qutie a bit during the regular season and look how much that helped them against the Flames. Biggest reason they will not go deep is their swiss cheese goaltending.

I agree putting Calgary at the top of the division because of these factors.

Jeff Friesen is a huge upgrade over Shaun Donovan. Donovan had speed, heart and grit, but hands of stone. Friesen will surprise with a 20+ goal campaign (more if he winds up on the left wing of the Iginla line). Tanguay and Iginla will mesh quite well as Tanguay plays like Marc Savard (though Tanguay can actually skate where Savard can't). Iggy will pot 60+ this year. Out with Jordan Leopold and in with the talented and under-rated Zyuzin. Calgary has a bonafied puck moving d-man. Calgary will again have the lowest GAA in the league due to Kipper and the best D in the league. Why do I say best D? Imagine if you could cross breed hockey players skills like you could dogs. Imagine then crossing Scott Stevens' bone crushing hits, Ray Bourque's all around defensive capabilities with Al Iafrate's shot (I'd like to say McInnis, but no one will ever shoot the puck like him again). Then imagine having this conglomeration score 20 goals in his rookie season, play through 7 games in the playoffs with a broken foot and have everyone in the hockey world forget that he's just 20 years old (turned 21 in April)... Enter Dion Phaneuf... anyone who doesn't agree, just watch the kid play hockey. Oh, and Playfair will let the team be a bit more free on offense while Sutter works his magic behind the scenes.

Calgary will come out on top in the west.

Jersey will come out on top in the east.

Stanley cup final goes 7 games with the 2 best goaltenders in the world with Calgary winning the final game by a single goal (scored by Friesen of course).

And yes, I do know 'things' as you put it, I've been playing hockey since I could walk, watching since I could understand how to change the channel. Just because my opinions don't mesh with yours doesn't make them ridiculous, just different. My opinions are definitely biased towards my team, but again... not ridiculous, just mine. You don't like them? Oh, well... I won't lose any sleep. Oh, and by the by, for the Sabre's being "America's" underdog team?

Here's the roster breakdown for you...

Canada 34.78% USA 21.74% Czech 13.04% Russia 8.70% Finland 8.70% Sweden 4.35% Austira 4.35% Germany 4.35%

I think the original playoff predictions are very incredibly wacky, the stanley cup final you predict is a pretty damn reasonable one. That's a bet worth bidding on!!!

stars are not gonna lose to the flames but i think we're gonna lose to the ducks in the semifinals

1. 1 DETROIT
2. 2 ANAHEIM
3. 3 VANCOUVER
4. 4 NASHVILLE
5. 5 SAN JOSE
6. 6 DALLAS
7. 7 MINNESOTA
8. 8 CALGARY

EASTERN CONFERENCE

1. 1 BUFFALO
2. 2 NEW JERSEY
3. 3 ATLANTA
4. 4 OTTAWA
5. 5 PITTSBURGH
6. 6 TAMPA BAY
7. 7 NEW YORK ISLANDERS
8. 8 CAROLINA

1. 8 CAROLINA 1 #6 TAMPA BAY 2

1. 2 NEW JERSEY 4 ----------#1 BUFFALO 3

1. 7 NEW YORK ISLANDERS 2 #4 OTTAWA 3

1. 3 ATLANTA 3

1. 6 TAMPA BAY 4

1. 4 OTTAWA 4

1. 5 PITTSBURGH 2

If the season was starting I would say that it was a good prediction except for St Louis.

While I thought the Wings wouldn't clinch the conference, having Hasek, Datsyuk, Lidstrom, and Zetterberg indicated they'd at least make in to the playoffs.

However, although I am a die-hard Wings fan, I don't see them making it past the second round this year. They can't consistently produce substantial offense, and the frantic, competitive nature of the playoffs will render their puck-possession strategy less viable (as it has done in the past two playoffs). Likewise, their shut-down defense won't have an easy time given the brutal checking in the playoffs. Unfortunately, the Wings have few clutch players in the offensive category. Unless Bertuzzi or Calder can instill something new (they were added largely to counter the lethargic, anti-grit style the Wings have come to be known for since the Grind Line was disbanded), I see the Wings floundering yet again. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Hasek go down with an injury (or three) if the Wings go into the second or third round.

I think the Ducks and the Sharks will do well in the West.