Predictions

The first round of the NHL Playoff’s are well underway, and for many people, this is the best time of the year.

This is how I believe the playoffs will play out.
The Blues and Blackhawks will meet in the next round and the Hawks will win in seven.  They’ll meet the Ducks in the semi-finals after the Ducks beat the Flames in six.  Of course, the Hawks will win that easily in five games and they will represent the West in the Cup Finals.

In the East, the Canadians will meet the Red Wings in the next round and the Red Wings behind Pavel Datsyuk will prevail from that series.  Then there’s going to be a great New York vs New York series where the Rangers will come out on top.  All Rangers fans will be excited thinking they’ll make it to the Finals for the second time in a row, and they will. They’ll beat the Red Wings in six games.

The Finals are where it will really get interesting.  The Hawks will manhandle the Rangers in four games.  The Rangers will be embarrassed for the second year in a row and Parker’s heart will be broken.  The Rangers lack speed, discipline, and most importantly depth, but it will be enough for them to make it through the weaker East Division.

I can hear it now “HAWKS WIN HAWKS WIN!”

The Playoffs Start This Week

That title is code for “people will start actually caring about hockey and the players will actually start playing”.

So if you are one of those people that will start watching hockey for the postseason, here are some insider tips about the playoffs:

Don’t watch the playoffs expecting fights.

Fights are one of the main reasons hockey is popular.  Fights were originally allowed because there would be larger players (aka goons) who would bully the smaller players. The fights were designed to keep the goons from ruining the skill aspect of the game and replacing it with pure size. But in the playoffs is where goons thrive.  There are no fights because it is much more important for the player to stay on the ice instead of in the box for five minutes.

Watch the playoffs for huge hits and cheap shots.

Since people don’t fight in the playoffs, they take their anger out with cheap shots after the whistle.  Just watch some of last years series between the Blues and Blackhawks.  They beat the flippin’ heck out of each other and the refs didn’t blow the whistle because they didn’t want to change the outcome of the game.

Don’t watch the playoffs if you are expecting the Rangers to win.

They’ll lose in five games to the Penguins.

Watch the playoffs.

The playoffs are the best time of the hockey season.  They show off the best players in the league at the highest level of competition.

P.S. This weeks blog was too much about hockey.  I promise next weeks will be much less productive and on topic.