The Playoffs are set. And here are your first round matchups:
#1 New York Rangers vs #8 Ottawa Senators
#2 Boston Bruins vs #7 Washington Capitals
#3 Florida Panthers vs #6 New Jersey Devils
#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs #5 Philadelphia Flyers
#1 Vancouver Canucks vs #8 Los Angeles Kings
#2 St. Louis Blues vs #7 San Jose Sharks
#3 Phoenix Coyotes vs #6 Chicago Blackhawks
#4 Nashville Predators vs #5 Detroit Red Wings
The full schedule can be found here.
By far, the most notable playoff matchups in the first round, for me, are the 4 & 5's of both conferences. Detroit and Nashville are two teams with a building rivalry. And since Nashville has recently scorned me with such a disappointing hockey experience at Bridgestone Arena, I guess I have to pull for the Red Wings.
The Penn State enemies of Philly and Pitt will be a brutal series. That will play very well.
The Blues / Sharks should be good. The Blues, who no one would have thought would make it, versus the Sharks who have a history of failing.
The Capitals and Bruins series should be a good one. The defending Champs versus the pre-season picked champs. A predicted forgetable series will be the dominate Canucks versus the Kings who kinda snuck in at the last minute.
The biggest surprise miss is the Stars. They seemed playoff bound right up until the end. The biggest surprise would be Phoenix winning that division.
First games are Wednesday. NSH / DET, VAN / LAK and PIT / PHI.
I am not great at predictions, but here I go just for the fun of it:
#1 New York Rangers vs #8 Ottawa Senators: Rangers in 5 games
#2 Boston Bruins vs #7 Washington Capitals: Bruins in 7 games
#3 Florida Panthers vs #6 New Jersey Devils: Devils in 6 games
#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs #5 Philadelphia Flyers: Flyers in 6 games
#1 Vancouver Canucks vs #8 Los Angeles Kings: Canucks in 5 games
#2 St. Louis Blues vs #7 San Jose Sharks: Blues in 7 games
#3 Phoenix Coyotes vs #6 Chicago Blackhawks: Blackhawks in 6 games
#4 Nashville Predators vs #5 Detroit Red Wings: Red Wings in 7 games
Who do I hope wins based on almost nothing?
#1 New York Rangers vs #8 Ottawa Senators: Senators. I am anti-Rangers.
#2 Boston Bruins vs #7 Washington Capitals: Capitals. Tough call since my ex is from New England, but lives in Washington. So I'm not exactly keen on either one. But I've always liked Ovi and its good to see the Rockin' Red after so many years of slumping. Plus, Ovi's a spy.
#3 Florida Panthers vs #6 New Jersey Devils: Devils. Moose is a big reason. Plus, I turned down a job with the Panthers, so I really don't want to have them win it all when I could have been part of the team.
#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs #5 Philadelphia Flyers: Flyers. Not a fan of Sid the Kid. Plus, I have friends from Philly.
#1 Vancouver Canucks vs #8 Los Angeles Kings: Canucks. I will always have an appreciation for Vancouver after the Closing Ceremonies of the 2010 Olympics. From a safety standpoint, I guess I should root for the Kings.
#2 St. Louis Blues vs #7 San Jose Sharks: Sharks. For an unknown reason, even to me, I am a big Sharks fan during the playoffs. I don't know why. But, I really like how the Blues turned things around, so I would be very happy with them going on.
#3 Phoenix Coyotes vs #6 Chicago Blackhawks: Blackhawks. I'm still mad that Phoenix is still in Phoenix because that means that Atlanta is in Winnipeg.
#4 Nashville Predators vs #5 Detroit Red Wings: Red Wings. The Preds have left a bad taste in my mouth. The first (and thus far only) game I went to, the idiot behind me kept misquoting hockey terms, rules, and yelling "Flying V!". He was admired by others. It isn't fair to blame all of Nashville for just a few, but overall I didn't like the atmosphere in Nashville. The crowd was boring. And I don't like country music. Red Wings.
What about the aestetics of hockey? I love the look of hockey, so who should win based solely on looks?
#1 New York Rangers vs #8 Ottawa Senators: Senators with their red, white and black color scheme. The new thirds are awesome.
#2 Boston Bruins vs #7 Washington Capitals: Washington. Those cut designs in the sleeves are nice. Plus the loud red versus the black and yellow.
#3 Florida Panthers vs #6 New Jersey Devils: Devils. Classic look. Much kudos to Florida for the redesign, but gotta go with the Devils on this one.
#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs #5 Philadelphia Flyers: Flyers. Black and orange? Halloween? Instant winner. Pittsburgh (and almost anyone else) doesn't have much of a chance.
#1 Vancouver Canucks vs #8 Los Angeles Kings: Vancouver. Definately. The Kings are on my sh-list for removing purple from their primary color scheme. It was a defining characteristic, unique in hockey. But that green blue combo in Vancouver is a strong showing anyway.
#2 St. Louis Blues vs #7 San Jose Sharks: Sharks. The only ones who trump ever team as far as uni's go in my book. The sleek look. The greenish tint. The orange highlights. The amazing logo. It all works for me.
#3 Phoenix Coyotes vs #6 Chicago Blackhawks: Blackhawks. Not because they look good, but they don't look as bad. The boring burnt red is just not all that appealing to me, though it is still better than their previous deco design.
#4 Nashville Predators vs #5 Detroit Red Wings: Nashville. Although I don't dig twangy country, I do like how it was incorporated into the uniforms without looking minor league. The guitar string numbers, the piano inner collar, the guitar pick shoulder patch. And if you do go to a game, you'll know it is more than appropriate to include so much musical imagery.
As far as mascots go:
#1 New York Rangers vs #8 Ottawa Senators: The Senators Lion wins out over...nothing.
#2 Boston Bruins vs #7 Washington Capitals: I'm taking the eagle over the bear in this one.
#3 Florida Panthers vs #6 New Jersey Devils: Stanley C. Panther (as in Stanley Cup Panther) versus a demon. Yeah, the demon wins. If nothing else, for his hilarious ESPN commercial.
#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs #5 Philadelphia Flyers: The Penguin was killed in a movie. Um, Penguins. Plus, there is no Flyers mascot.
#1 Vancouver Canucks vs #8 Los Angeles Kings: Official mascots, Fin of Vancouver. Unofficial mascots, definately the Green Men of Vancouver. So, Vancouver.
#2 St. Louis Blues vs #7 San Jose Sharks: The Shark. Definately. A sad bear is not a good mascot, even if your team is named "Blues".
#3 Phoenix Coyotes vs #6 Chicago Blackhawks: Howler versus Tommy Hawk. Gotta give it to the Chicago on this one, though it is a tough call. Really, I guess I like the name most of all and that gives Tommy the edge.
#4 Nashville Predators vs #5 Detroit Red Wings: Gnash would seem like a clear winner since Detroit doesn't appear to have a mascot. But they do have a symbolic character they only bring out during the playoffs. Al the Octopus. Detroit all the way on this one.
Finally, what nickname would win in a fight?
#1 New York Rangers vs #8 Ottawa Senators: Tough call to start. On the one hand, Rangers get stuff done in a rough and tumble way, but it is very localized for the most part. Senators make laws that shape the lives of a nation, plus they control the purse strings and therefore the army. I'm going Ranger though, because if a Ranger and a Senator were locked in a room, I'm thinking the Ranger would prevail.
#2 Boston Bruins vs #7 Washington Capitals: A very biased opinion, but I'm going bruin here. It's unfair; a beast versus a city. But put a bear out on an interstate or in someone's yard in DC, I'm betting the bear gets all the attention. Plus, I am reading the Hunger Games, so "Down with the Capital! Go Mockingjay!"
#3 Florida Panthers vs #6 New Jersey Devils: Devil over a kitty cat. Certainly.
#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs #5 Philadelphia Flyers: Ha! Flyers because penguins can't fly.
#1 Vancouver Canucks vs #8 Los Angeles Kings: A king is winning here. Unlimited power (old school kings) versus a Canadian (which is what the word canuck means). After all, the Canadians are still under the British monarchy, so yeah. Kings.
#2 St. Louis Blues vs #7 San Jose Sharks: A shark versus feeling sad. I'd rather feel sad than go mano-a-mano versus a shark. So the shark wins here.
#3 Phoenix Coyotes vs #6 Chicago Blackhawks: Didn't Native Americans kill coyotes and wear their hides? Blackhawks.
#4 Nashville Predators vs #5 Detroit Red Wings: This is a real tough call. An extinct species that was a great hunter versus a wing that aids in flight, or could cause indigestion if it's like a red hot wing. Sitting alone, a bird wing isn't going to cause that much damage though. It needs to be attached to a bird or something. It's an appendage. You know, I've got to go with a red wing. Even if it is kinda worthless on its own, there are still red wings in today's world. They didn't go extinct. Red Wings.
So, what are the point tallys from my hockey predictions, my non-hockey preferences, the uniforms, the mascots, and the nicknames?
#1 New York Rangers vs #8 Ottawa Senators: OTT 3, NYR 2
#2 Boston Bruins vs #7 Washington Capitals: WSH 3, BOS 2
#3 Florida Panthers vs #6 New Jersey Devils: NJD 5, FLA 0
#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs #5 Philadelphia Flyers: PHI 4, PIT 1
#1 Vancouver Canucks vs #8 Los Angeles Kings: VAN 4, LAK 1
#2 St. Louis Blues vs #7 San Jose Sharks: SJS 4, STL 1
#3 Phoenix Coyotes vs #6 Chicago Blackhawks: CHI 5, PHX 0
#4 Nashville Predators vs #5 Detroit Red Wings: DET 4, NSH 1
So, in the adjusted predictions, it's the Devils and the Blackhawks in the Finals. And it would be the Devils because they would win out in almost every one of those five categories. The Blackhawks had the advantage of going against Phoenix and more often won out because they weren't as bad as Phoenix in all the categories.
But, if I had to legit choose based on things that actually matter (on ice performance, not mascots and uniforms), I'm going with Detroit over the Rangers in 7 games. An Original 6 matchup. Maybe there is a bit of wishful thinking here, but hey. That's my honest to goodness pick right now. Still rooting officially for the Sharks though for no good reason.
