Who do you think will Win the Stanley Cup

[aaron flyers]

i hope the canucks can do it......but i dont think they will.

im sayin rematch of last year :)

[mugatu471]

I wish I could say Detroit, but I don't see it. Never been a fan of SJ (choking) but they're sort of under the radar this year and I think they could make a deep run. I do like Washington as well.

[TheBoxBreaker]

My guess is Vancouver. Why? Because it seems like they have the complete package this year: Awesome goalie, fantastic defense and some forwards that light the lamp really often.

[cnshockey]

I think San Jose will at least make the cup final. Although it would be incredibly lucky for Niemi to win the cup twice, he has experience. They have solid defence with Danny Boyle, and a tough guy which is Ryan Clowe. Their offense is solid with players such as Thornton (big body which makes him tough to play against), Heatley, Pavelski, Marleau, and way more lines of offense which makes that team a winner. Don't really think Vancouver will make it, but hopefully they do.

Go Nucks! Great 5-0 win tonight :)

Niemi is garbage. Sharks will NOT win the cup. I'd drop every penny I had on it. Realistically it'll be one of the teams in the 3-5 seeds that wins. I still think Nashville is my darkhorse team to win. My team from the east is either Boston or Philly.

[30ranfordfan]

Very hard to say.

Vancouver, to me, is just the Canadian version of San Jose. Stacked team, always choke. Luongo has to have a good playoff run before I'll even consider them true contenders.

Detroit, I don't know. I have no reason to be a doubter - but something about their team the last couple of years has made me think "championship days are gone".

San Jose - The annual dissapearing act has gotten old.

That's the top three West Seats. Absolutly one of them could prove me wrong, I just have a hard time believing it until I see it.


Los Angeles, I think, would be a good pick..... but then Kopitar went down. Going to be tough without him.

Phoenix, only if Bryzgalov carries them

Nashville, I don't expect to get out of the first round.

Anahime - it really wouldn't shock me. They way they've been playing down the stretch, and most of the core has won before.

Chicago - stranger things have happened. I'd be surprised, but don't count out the defending champs.



Then there's the East (where I think the winner will come from).

Boston and Philly are big, strong, and physical. I like both of their chances.... though Philly's goaltending could be their undoing.

Washington, meh. Don't see it happening.

Pittsburgh, only if Crosby comes back and is playing to form (which I doubt)

Tampa, see Phoenix. Need their goalie (in this case Roli) to be a monster during the playoffs. Stamkos / St. Louis can only score so much.

Montreal, see Tampa Bay. If Price can pull a Halak.... they could go far?

Buffalo, NY Rangers, Carolina (whoever makes it).... winning 2 games in the first round would surprise me.

[cnshockey]

Sean I agree about LA. With Kopi, we had a chance. Then he went down and we're done. If the Kings win the cup, you could bet every game would have to be a prototypical Terry Murray game. Low scoring, good defense, one goal game, almost always 2-1. If we don't have Williams back for the playoffs, we have ZERO chance at a cup run.

[30ranfordfan]

It's too bad. I was expecting LA to be my guilty pleasure come playoff time. With the collection of ex-Oilers (Smyth, Stoll, Penner, Greene) and goalie coach Ranford...... they're an easy team for me to cheer for. Doughty is a pleasure to watch too

I like the goaltending, I like the defence core..... but they've lost too much up front.

Is Kopitar done for the year? Or is he a 'maybe' if they get out of the first round?

Sean I agree about LA. With Kopi, we had a chance. Then he went down and we're done. If the Kings win the cup, you could bet every game would have to be a prototypical Terry Murray game. Low scoring, good defense, one goal game, almost always 2-1. If we don't have Williams back for the playoffs, we have ZERO chance at a cup run.

[scottkoz20]

Buffalo, NY Rangers, Carolina (whoever makes it).... winning 2 games in the first round would surprise me.

Why is this Sean? Because the they are going to be tired from playing "playoff" hockey for 2+ months already?

Look at the number of lower seeds that do well in the playoffs, especially recently.

Montreal and Philly last season in the East
Anahiem 2 seasons ago
Western Seeds 5-8 in the 2006 playoffs


Granted, none of these teams ended up winning, but they got more than 2 wins. I will tell you right now, the only matchup that I would hate as a Sabre fan would be Pittsburgh in the 1st round. I would want nothing to do with them (even w/o Crosby and Malkin).

[30ranfordfan]

All three teams have had to play well down the stretch to get in, where as some of the top seeded ones (I'm looking at you Philly, Boston) have been able to just put things into cruise control. I agree.

Maybe I don't watch enough Sabres hockey, but I just don't see the matchup with one of those top three teams working out well for them.

Miller could steal a round or two (ala Halak). No question.

Philly is a really interesting case though. Where I think Montreal was a legit "low playoff seed" right from the get-go.... Philly was predicted to win the Cup by THN last season (before the season started) and a lot of other pundits too.

Yes they needed to win the last game of the season to get in, but they were in that spot as a result of a poor first half.... and started playing at the level everone expected at the start of the season, and got back into it.

Using Buffalo as the example - what was the consensus at the start of the season? I would assume you'd be hard pressed to find someone who picked them higher than 6th, but not many should have said lower than 10th either. Expectations were a "middle of the pack" Eastern team, and that's what they've been most the year.

Why is this Sean? Because the they are going to be tired from playing "playoff" hockey for 2+ months already?

Look at the number of lower seeds that do well in the playoffs, especially recently.

Montreal and Philly last season in the East
Anahiem 2 seasons ago
Western Seeds 5-8 in the 2006 playoffs


Granted, none of these teams ended up winning, but they got more than 2 wins. I will tell you right now, the only matchup that I would hate as a Sabre fan would be Pittsburgh in the 1st round. I would want nothing to do with them (even w/o Crosby and Malkin).

[cnshockey]

It's too bad. I was expecting LA to be my guilty pleasure come playoff time. With the collection of ex-Oilers (Smyth, Stoll, Penner, Greene) and goalie coach Ranford...... they're an easy team for me to cheer for. Doughty is a pleasure to watch too

I like the goaltending, I like the defence core..... but they've lost too much up front.

Is Kopitar done for the year? Or is he a 'maybe' if they get out of the first round?

Done for the year. Surgery to repair broken ankle and torn ligaments. Our D is easily a top d core in the league. With the emergence of Alec Martinez, we have zero question marks on d. We've got 3 pure shutdown guys in Scuds, Greene, and Mitchell; 3 guys who can contribute offense in JMFJ, Doughty, and AMart; and all 3 of our offensive guys have been playing VERY sound defensive hockey. If Quick plays like he CAN, we really can go far still but that means we have to make no huge mistakes on D, no big turnovers, quick getting the puck out of our zone, and NO WEAK GOALS FROM QUICK. Williams back means we have no Westgarth in the playoffs, a critical thing for us if we want to win. I still give us zero shot at the cup but hey far greater hockey miracles have occurred.