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Playoff time!


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...it's the most wonderful time of the year...

The regular season ended last night and starting on Wednesday at 7pm, the NHL playoffs will begin! Here's the match-ups:

Eastern Conference

1. Boston Bruins

8. Montreal Canadiens

Series starts Thursday @ BOS - 7pm EST

2. Washington Capitals

7. New York Rangers

Series starts Wednesday @ WSH - 7pm EST

3. New Jersey Devils

6. Carolina Hurricanes

Series starts Wednesday @ NJ - 7:30pm EST

4. Pittsburgh Penguins

5. Philadelphia Flyers

Series starts Wednesday @ PIT - 7:30pm EST

Western Conference

1. San Jose Sharks

8. Anaheim Ducks

Series starts Thursday @ SJ - 10:30pm EST

2. Detroit Red Wings

7. Columbus Blue Jackets

Series starts Thursday @ DET - 7pm EST

3. Vancouver Canucks

6. St. Louis Blues

Series starts Wednesday @ VAN - 10pm EST

4. Chicago Blackhawks

5. Calgary Flames

Series starts Wednesday @ CHI - 8pm EST

There it is. Looks like things will kick off officially in Washington on Wednesday with the Rangers and Caps. I really like the match-ups. Some old school rivalries being called into play. Obviously, Habs-B's but what about Rangers-Caps? Remember how brutal that used to be in the 80's and early 90's? That's gonna be fun. The ones out west are great too. The first all-California playoff series in league history in Sharks-Ducks. The Michigan-Ohio rivalry in Detroit-Columbus. Even going waaaay back with Chicago-Calgary. Can't wait!

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A+ for taking the time to color the names (although the Bruins hurt my eyes) B)

As for rivalry's in the East, don't forget Philly/Pittsburgh - that's a big rivalry. If only the 'Canes and Rangers could swap places. Nothing better than a Rangers/Devils series.

In the west, I like the Ducks/Sharks and the Detroit/Columbus match ups - I just feel sorry for the Blue Jackets in their first playoff series - I think they'll get killed.

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Definitely hard to pick a clear favorite out of the East. Anyone can beat anyone and the first round is going to be super competitive. Unfortunately, I have bad feelings about my team's run this year, but I have two days to exorcise the demons. :fight:

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A+ for taking the time to color the names (although the Bruins hurt my eyes)

Heh...yeah I know. I can't even read it thanks to my colorblindness. It just looks like a yellow blob to me. I was trying to get a highlight border around the letters themselves but I guess you can't do that on the Bulletin Boards.

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Eastern Conference

1. Boston Bruins

8. Montreal Canadiens

Bruins in 5 - Habs have not played that well recently and the Bruins have just been ridiculous this year. Possible Vezina winner Tim Thomas just has been amazing this year and it will continue through the first round.

2. Washington Capitals

7. New York Rangers

Caps in 6 - I figure Lundqvist will steal at least one game, but I don't think the Rangers have the offense to keep up with the Capitals.

3. New Jersey Devils

6. Carolina Hurricanes

This could be the best series of round 1 - Devils in 7 - Brodeur has struggled since setting the wins record, but the playoffs are a different game and I figure his ability will help extinguish the hot Hurricanes.

4. Pittsburgh Penguins

5. Philadelphia Flyers

This is gonna be a fun series to watch as well - Flyers in 6 - Just don't have the faith in the Penguins that many others seem to have.

Western Conference

1. San Jose Sharks

8. Anaheim Ducks

Sharks in 5 - Ducks will be physical, but don't think they can matchup well enough with the Sharks.

2. Detroit Red Wings

7. Columbus Blue Jackets

Red Wings in 4 - Welcome to the playoffs Columbus, bettter luck next time.

3. Vancouver Canucks

6. St. Louis Blues

Canucks in 5 - Would love to see the Blues win this series, but I am not sure they have the all around talent to beat Luongo enough to win the series.

4. Chicago Blackhawks

5. Calgary Flames

Flames in 6 - Love the fact that the Blackhawks are in, but think the experience of the Flames will get them past the Blackhawks.

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I think the Bruins have enough to get through to the Finals this year although everyone is jumping on the Carolina darkhorse bandwagon. It will be interesting to see if Marty Brodeur can carry the Devils like in years past.

Out West, who knows? It is such a meat grinder I don't know who will come out of there. The Sharks are the favs but they have folded in the past. Detroit looked human the last month of the season. There are some real grinding teams with good goalies in Chi, Cal and Van. Can't wait to see how it all shakes out!

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I don't know enough about the West to comment but here's my take on the East ...

Bruins over Habs (5 games)

Rangers over Caps (7 games) - this includes a bit of wishful thinking on my part

Devils over Canes (6 games)

Flyers over Pens (7 games) - this is one I'm not sure about

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Enjoyable opening night to the 2009 postseason. The Canucks just got done beating the Blues, 2-1 and I'm particularly liking how that Flyers-Penguins series is looking.

I also gotta give kudos to Chris Mason for an AWESOME playoff beard.

My picks?

East

Bruins over Canadiens in 5

Capitals over Rangers in 6

Devils over Hurricanes in 6

Flyers over Penguins in 7

West

Sharks over Ducks in 6

Red Wings over Blue Jackets in 5

Canucks over Blues in 6

Blackhawks over Flames in 5

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Enjoyable opening night to the 2009 postseason.

Agree- that Canucks game was awesome and looks like its going to be really chippy (same could be said for the Rangers/Caps as well). Kind of surprised how easy the Devils and Pens handled their opponents. Well, 4 more games tonight!

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I am sorry I had to miss the Montreal-Boston game tonight, from the highlights, it looked to be quite a fierce contest. I particularly enjoyed the Chicago-Calgary game (MARTIN FREAKIN' HAVLAT), and then the last game... Well I underestimated Anaheim from the looks of it, I thought they outplayed San Jose. San Jose had an ice cold power play and then gave up the 2nd goal on a terrible turnover (Vlasic I believe). Well earned win for Team Quack.

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The fear is that Steve Mason will bail Columbus out every night (stopping 425 of 426 shots), and all it'll take will be one Rick Nash goal and a lucky bounce here and there for Detroit to lose. :(

I watched the first period and half of the second in the Wings/Jackets game last night and I thought that was going to be the case - Mason was all over the place. But against a team like Detroit I think it was just a matter of time.

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Detroit just put the screws to them, impressive. Surprised at the Ducks 2-0 win. Starts to get me nervous about another Sharks flameout. Are they like Indiana in college basketball or Ohio State in CFB (recently)?!?

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Detroit just put the screws to them, impressive. Surprised at the Ducks 2-0 win. Starts to get me nervous about another Sharks flameout. Are they like Indiana in college basketball or Ohio State in CFB (recently)?!?

San Jose is starting to remind me of my beloved Indianapolis Colts. The playoffs usually disagree with them. <_< Thankfully for them, its still early, but geez, Thornton and Marleau have got to put it together. I was impressed with what I was seeing out of Clowe and Boyle, but when Thornton and Marleau are both held to one shot each, there's something wrong. I gotta give kudos to Anaheim though, they looked GOOD. I've been picking San Jose to win the Cup this year and I'm gonna stick with that choice for now.

This Blues-Canucks series is very entertaining so far. I can't see the Blues pulling off an upset, as Vancouver is looking really good (especially the Sedins), and its been a physical series. I'm curious as to what happened at the end of that game, Jackman and Bernier were going at it, then Murray is yelling at the Vancouver bench. Fun times. :D

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Another solid day of games.

Three words: JONAS FREAKIN' HILLER!

I am very impressed with the Ducks. I've had the Sharks to win this series, but now I'm thinking I didn't give the Ducks enough credit. They've done a good job of silencing the Sharks. I didn't see the shot totals on Hiller, but he stopped at least 40. Personally, I don't see how the Sharks win the series, but stranger things have happened. I've thought Hiller has been AMAZING.

Canucks on the verge of knocking out the Note. I thought the Blues played good but the Canucks seem to be that much better.

I watched bits and pieces of the Flyers-Penguins game, that's one physical series. Today's game, from what I saw, was pretty exciting.

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Get a load of the New York Rangers, up 2-0 on the Caps. I didn't expect that out of EITHER team. What's happened with Brent Johnson for the Capitals? He get hurt or released?

I don't remember hearing Brent Johnson's name much at all this season. I seem to think very early on he maybe got hurt?

I'm just excited to see the Rangers heading back home to MSG with a 2-game lead.

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I don't remember hearing Brent Johnson's name much at all this season. I seem to think very early on he maybe got hurt?

I'm just excited to see the Rangers heading back home to MSG with a 2-game lead.

The Caps didn't bring it in that Game 2 for sure. Really crucial game tonight. Sadly on Vs but still gonna to watch it!

If the Sharks continue to flame out, then I am rooting for a Canucks Detroit series, the way those teams are playing, mucho entertaining-o!

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Get a load of the New York Rangers, up 2-0 on the Caps. I didn't expect that out of EITHER team. What's happened with Brent Johnson for the Capitals? He get hurt or released?

We finally got one!!! Yes. Brent Johnson has been hurt since late December/early January. It would've been nice to have him for the playoffs, but I think it's safe to say that the rookie Varlamov is getting the job done! He's only given up 1 goal on 57 shots (over the course of two games)! It's still going to be extremely tough to come back in this series, but at least he's keeping our hope alive!

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We finally got one!!! Yes. Brent Johnson has been hurt since late December/early January. It would've been nice to have him for the playoffs, but I think it's safe to say that the rookie Varlamov is getting the job done! He's only given up 1 goal on 57 shots (over the course of two games)! It's still going to be extremely tough to come back in this series, but at least he's keeping our hope alive!

Both teams seemed to return to their style of play from the regular season - the Caps used skill moves to create scoring chances - and the Rangers could hardly muster any offense even on the powerplay. I still think this series will go 6 or 7 games.

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There was no way that the Caps were getting swept. They're too good a hockey team. I had a feeling that a letdown was gonna happen. There was a LOT of build-up and hype for the Rangers and they rarely do well with that kind of pressure.

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I haven't seen any of the Bruins/Habs series and for those that have I am wondering. Is it that the Bruins are playing that well, or is it that the Habs are playing that poorly, or is it a combination of both?

Part of me is hoping that the Bruins can put together a run and win the whole thing.

And I gotta say that many of the "experts" were right, there were many that said the Sharks did not want the Ducks in the 1st round, and currently it would appear that they were right.

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And I gotta say that many of the "experts" were right, there were many that said the Sharks did not want the Ducks in the 1st round, and currently it would appear that they were right.

They were dead on. Its been amazing seeing how well the Ducks have held off the Sharks. So far, tonight has been an entertaining game.

St. Louis-Vancouver are in the first OT, tied at 2. Wings beat Columbus.

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