Western Playoff 1st Round predictions

[scottkoz20]

#1 San Jose vs. #8 Colorado
Conventional wisdom says, you are #1 for a reason and you are #8 for a reason. However, when we talk about the Sharks, that wisdom should be tossed out with the weekly trash.

The Colorado kids have no business even competing in a 7-game series with the likes of Thornton, Marleau, Heatley, Boyle, Nabokov. However, San Jose has a long, proud history of chokes and struggles (see 2008 vs. Calgary first round, see 2009 vs. Anaheim).

With all of this said, since the Olympics, Craig Anderson has only given up 2 goals or less in 4 out of 17 games. This is the reason why Colorado fell back to the 8th spot when they had a shot at the #4 seed for most of the season and will be the reason Colorado does not advance past this round.


San Jose in 5.


#2 Chicago vs. #7 Nashville
Now it gets interesting. 2 teams that ended the season with 100 points each and 2 teams that have not played each other since the decade began! Yes, the last meeting was home and home after Christmas. (Oh, how the NHL Schedule Maker is funny in this sense)

So I look to see how they are both doing heading into the playoffs. Both a 6-3-1 in the last 10, both have won 23 road games. However Chicago is MUCH better at home, couple that with the fact Nashville has NEVER won a road game in the playoffs.... this is easy for me

Chicago in 5.


#3 Vancouver vs. #6 Los Angeles
This is a very good match-up, right? Well, maybe. Kings finds have official placed an APB out on Jonathan Quick's game. In his last 8 starts, he's 0-4-3 with 1 yank to only have Erik Ersberg save the win for the Kings and it was Jonathan Bernier in the net for the 8-3 blowout win for the Kings on 4/1 vs. the Canucks.

That was an aberration folks!

The Kings have struggled on the stretch and their reward, the Flying Sedin twins and the Orca jersey Circus

I don't see how the Kings put together 2 wins, let alone 4.

Canucks in 5


#4 Phoenix vs. #5 Detroit
So is Phoenix REALLY the favorite in this series? Answer, no. Detroit is by far the superior team up and down their lineup, expect in 1 spot. For a good of a season Jimmy Howard has had, Ilya Bryzgalov in some ways has had a Dominik Hasek like season.

The Coyotes leader scorer was Shane Doan with 55 points. Not exactly a big number when you think that Hank Sedin had double the amount of production (112 points), but the Coyotes have been one of the better defensive teams for the majority of the season.

But there is one factor to consider, the season series was split, 2-2 with each team winning home and away. Their last meeting was on January 26. since then Detroit has been hot with a record of 19-6-5. But there is a team that has been just as good... yep, Phoenix. 20-7-2 since the last meeting.

Phoenix in 7, the white out lives into the 2nd round!

[MasonRaymond0320]

Go Canucks Go! Lets sweep the Kings!
Nucks 4 Cup 2010.

[Spaltung]

Sharks in 6
Chicago in 6
Vancouver in 5
Detroit in 7

[HOCKEY68]

Sharks in 6
Hawks in 5
Don't care about either team so no prediction!
Wings in 7

[gretzky99]

SJ in 5
Chi in 7
Van in 4 (hate to say it but Quick is playing)
Det in 6

[G0SHARKSG0]

sharks in 5
hawks in 6
canucks in 4
red wings in 6

[cnshockey]

Avs in 7. Sharks suck
Hawks in 4
Kings in 7 (I'm dreaming here)
Wings in 5

[mr ozzie]

I pick:

Sharks over Avs
Hawks over Preds
Canucks over Kings
Red Wings over Coyotes

[duwal]

San Jose in 6, everyone is healthy and too much firepower for Craig Anderson to shut down game after game

Chicago in 4, sorry Nashville, but Chicago's scoring will dwarf anything the Preds can come up with

Vancouver in 7, good fight from the Kings, but Doughty will have his hands full with the Sedin line

Detroit in 6, Phoenix has a better goalie and probably a harder working team, but you can't undervalue experience

[MatsSundin13Rocks]

Okay here are my predictions for the West:

San Jose in 6 over Colorado

Chicago in 5 over Nashville

Vancouver in 6 over LA (Canucks have some injuries to their D plus Luongo has looked average since the Olympic break but Quick seems to be struggling worse)

Detroit in 6 over Phoenix

Again I can't pick an upset in the West either. Phoenix is going to be considered the underdogs against Detroit but if anyone can upset it is likely Phoenix over Detroit. Wouldn't be much of an upset though based on there recent records which are listed above.

However I'm already getting excited for the 2nd round match ups if this happens. San Jose vs Detroit should be great and Vancouver vs Chicago will be a rematch of the 2nd round from last year. That rivalry would heat up even more. The teams don't like each other at all.