Well SP faithful, we have done it again. 45 successful (maybe I’ve been here for 6?) regular seasons. To the 8 teams who will be playing for the cup, congratulations. For the 2 who will get to listen to JMosh for 3 weeks, congratulations. As any middle aged hockey coach would say, the real season starts now. 

EASTERN CONFERENCE

1 FLYERS VS 4 MAPLE LEAFS 

First up we have top seeded Philly who finished with 68 points, Toronto with 41 outlasting Buffalo in the final week.. The season series tilted the Flyers way, 5-1 in their favor. The lone win for Toronto was behind steller goaltending in a 2-1 OT win. The statistical difference between the two is drastic. The style in which each team plays varies as well. Philly led the league in Goal differential with a +101 where Toronto recorded a -49. Devon considered making the playoffs a bonus for this team so there aren’t many complaints. Although Buffalo gave them the last spot, he did put his team in the position to make a push on the last night. Philly on the other hand playoffs were never a question. A clear cup contender no one is surprised to see them at the top. In a recent interview with GM Hughsy he was quoted saying “We are happy to be in this spot. We worked hard all season to get in this position. Real season starts now”. Led by 3 100 point scorers on forward, Defensive scoring leader alongside SP Vet Kyle and a Top 1 goalie in net this series may be over quick. Devon has a decision to make if he should play net or be the ogre he is on defense this series. Defense is lacking so that may make the decision simple and having alonzi as an option never hurts. Marucci will be tasked with carrying the sub par forward group as they attempt to make this a competitive series. 

Forward Advantage: Philly. Defensive Advantage: Philly. Goalie Advantage: Philly 

All signs lean the Flyers way and I will agree here. My pick is Flyers in 4. Ultimately I think the offense will be too much for Toronto, even with the depth players in.

2 CAPITALS VS 3 HURRICANES

The Caps finished with a record of 23-22 for a total of 46 points and Carolina with a 24-19-2 record for 45 points (Stop FFing).  Despite making 0 transactions during the course of this season, Eggman and the Caps raced up the standings during the final weeks. While having more wins, the Canes forfeited about 8 games(not fact checking but it’s close to that) giving the Caps the 2 seed and home ice. Season series is listed as 3-2 in the Canes favor although one of the losses was an FF. Washington brings the SP playoff experience to the party. Even though they are the higher seed, they will be viewed as the underdog in this series. Both teams have solid rosters and probably under achieved a bit in the eyes of some. Since sliding John to RW and Fluri to C, the Caps have hit their stride coming into the playoffs winning 7 out of 10. The Canes have stuck with the same top line forwards most of the season with Bej Lappy and Brad and they have been very successful. On the back end Doranz will carry anyone who has a pulse  so it isn’t too big of a concern on RD. The Caps have the ability to stay in this series if they can hold it down defensively and get some good goaltending from Bray. Offensively they will be able to score but they must limit the goals against.

Offensive Advantage: Carolina but not by much. Defensive Advantage: Adam. Goalie Advantage: Carolina, both blade and brodeur highly capable of stealing games. I think this series can go one of two ways. Caps are really competitive and it goes 6 or maybe even 7. Or Canes have perfect avail and play the way they want and win in 5.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

1 FLAMES VS 4 KINGS

This season’s Presidents trophy winners are the Calgary Flames. The Flames have found ways to win games in any way shape or form whether it’s 10-0 or 2-1. With a forward group who knows how to score in this year’s game when they are able to jump out quick it’s tough to crawl back into a game. On defense they bring the Defensive goal leader Chico who is just essentially just an extra forward on the ice and beside him is a steady defensive piece Shayne. Shayne compensates well for Chico as he actually plays the position properly. As for their counterpart the Kings. Limping into the playoffs with a 2-8 record this will be quite the uphill climb for Duban (see what I did there) and the gang. I got nothing here if we are gonna be 100%. Ajax and Slim on D will need to be on it game in and game out. Whether Mikey, Cuban or even Rook are between the pipes, they’ll need to sniff a lot of Gfuel to be ready for a lot of shots. On offensive it will be Complexiti Smokey and Rookie who are all averaging about 2 points a game will need to step it up. Calgary swept the season series 6-0.

Advantages, All Calgary. Prediction: Flames in 4

2 SHARKS VS 3 AVALANCHE

 Duunnn dunn…. duuuunnnn duun… duuunnnnnnnn dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnn dunnnn. It’s the Sharksssssss. Randy’s shark led team for a second season in a row is strong and ready to attack. Finishing the season with 30 wins that is good enough for 3rd in the league and 2nd in the West. The Sharks started to find their stride around week 3 when the goals just started flooding in (Literally played Vegas every other game). Led by play every game Fish with 166 points who calls for the puck everytime the sharks have it. Smitty compliments him well up the middle as he finished with 110 points. Randy will get the fuck off of RD and play rw where he is more than capable of making clark look like a cone once or twice. On defense its the big fool Bart carrying whoever is on his right side. Banana has been moved to 6th man on ld unfortunately due to Bart being on ld and fish playing lw. Their worst player Korrwan will play that one game on Rd with banana. In net it will be Dootess for 1 and hilariously overrated Flashify for the next 5. Rumble noises…. ITS AN AVALANCHE. Plisk has managed to get this rag tag group of guys into the 3 seed. Hardie, clearly the best player is gonna need to have his best performance of his life. He will have solid help with Salda, sergein and rich2k8. On defense it will be a mix of Clark, Plisk and flowsoclean who could cause trouble for the sharks forward. Sharks won the season series 5-1.

Offense Advantage: Sharks. Fish Smitty Randy is top 3 in the league. Defensive Advantage: Sharks. Bart is better than any of the Avs dman, if him or banana could play rd this team would actually be scary. Goalie Advantage: Avs. Dootess and Flashify will be the sole reason this team does not go back to back for Randy. Tibod can keep the avs in games.

Prediction: Sharks in 5.