Playoff Predictions

For those of you who follow this blog, you'll have noticed an elongated period of inactivity.  My apologies.  I'm in the middle of my final exam period, which sees me writing 6 exams over 11 days, each worth 100% of my grade.  On top of that, I run an annual NHL Playoff Pool, which involves quite a bit of organizational busy work.

Anyhow, I'm a couple days late in posting them, but here are my predictions for the first round.  I did make them prior to the commencement of each series.  Note, I'm not off to a very hot start.

BOSTON IN 5

WASHINGTON IN 6

CAROLINA IN 7

PITTSBURGH IN 7

SAN JOSE IN 6

DETROIT IN 5

ST. LOUIS IN 6

CHICAGO IN 7

Part of me wanted to pick other teams, like New Jersey and Calgary.  In fact, I think you could formulate an argument for any team winning their match-up (except Columbus, they have no chance).

So who do I think will be around long-term?  My philosophy is you have to be bold.  It's rare to see all the top seeds advance to the final four, so why bother, like so many analysts have this week, picking San Jose, Boston, Detroit, and Washington?

Before I get my foot stuck in my mouth, I should say I do believe Detroit and Washington will make it to the third round.  The teams joining them - my money (but not very much of it) is on Carolina and St. Louis.

Beyond that, I have a hard time imagining anybody beating the Detroit Red Wings.  It will also make for a nice story, given the whole Marian Hossa situation.  He's a noble man on a honorable mission.  And he's a heck of a hockey player.  

Perhaps I'm a year late, but they're just so dangerous offensively and so good in their own zone, I don't think the other elite teams in the league can match their talent or work ethic.  Making a pick like this is kind of like under-dressing the day after an unseasonably warm afternoon.  Let's hope it stays warm out there...