If the Playoffs Started Today...

Yeah, I'm caving in and doing one of my own, so sue me. Still, there are valid points to be made.

EASTERN CONFERENCE
(8) Carolina vs (1) Boston

This could be a verrrry legitimate serious upset in the first round.

I love what the team has done this season. I like the scoring balance, the combined toughness and offensive potential from the defense, and the Thomas/Fernandez tandem in net is a solid and playoff-run caliber. Still...The Bruins have a roster of virtual unknowns, save for Mark Recchi. Their ascension to the top of the East just two years removed from a last-place finish in the Northeast doesn't exactly scream "We've arrived."

Plus, the Canes are desperately trying not to miss the playoffs for a third straight year, and have a similar lineup to the one which won the Cup just three years ago, now that the disastrous off-season Erik Cole deal was finally reversed.

(7) Montreal vs (2) New Jersey

I don't like this one much for the lower seed.

The Canadiens are frantically digging a deep hole for themselves, and only shoveling the dirt on top of themselves while burrowing ever deeper. On the other hand, the Devils have not let up one bit since November and have a thoroughly rested and ready Martin Brodeur, who's coming off a convenient 50-game absence due to injury.

The only hope Montreal has in this series will be of the supernatural kind: Either the Forum Ghosts make themselves known in the Bell Centre, or a quantum singularity appears over center ice and sucks the entire Devils team into the eighth dimension.

So much for the 100th Anniversaire!


(6) NY Rangers vs (3) Washington

About as close as you can get with two teams that employ equal and opposite game plans. Sean Avery should be a huge factor because John Tortorella will be wise to make sure he sticks to the back of Ovechkin and Semin's jerseys at all times.

It remains to be seen if Henrik Lundqvist will be able to stand up to what should be a barrage of Capitals shots (especially at home where they turn up the intensity to ELEVEN), but even if he doesn't play well, he'll outduel Jose Theodore in net.

I shade this one to the Caps, but only due to home-ice advantage from Washington being the Southeast division champions.

(5) Pittsburgh vs (4) Philadelphia

Sorry to say this, Flyers fans, but if this meeting comes to pass, Philly will have to suffer a desultory first-round exit.

In last year's conference finals, Pittsburgh showed greater puck awareness and willingness to read an react to various situations that made Philly look a a full step too slow and indecisive.

Since John Stevens has done little to nothing to change or improve on that same system this year, expect the same result, and this time without Penguins players bristling under former head coach Michel Therrien. Maybe the Flyers will win two games in this series, but no more.

WESTERN CONFERENCE
(8) Edmonton vs (1) Detroit

No, this will not turn out like the disaster of three seasons ago. The Red Wings have a bunch of players who are focused on winning, with one Cup in their back pocket. The Oilers lack the grit, talent and offense of that 2006 miracle team, and even if Detroit takes shifts/games off, it will not be enough to doom them.

But that's what we all thought three years ago...

(7) Nashville vs (2) San Jose

So what if the Sharks have been in a slow, steady slide the last month? They've been battling tooth and nail with the Wings and Bruins for the best record in the NHL and in a 30-team league, even the ones with obscenely awesome records will slide at inopportune times.

Nashville still is a team best described as the Mighty Mites. Lotsa heart, soul, passion, scoring, but they're not big. This is the exact same problems which doomed them in first-round exits against the Sharks in 2006 and 2007. It is inevitably going to happen again should this series come to pass.

(6) Columbus vs (3) Calgary

It's a Ken Hitchcock reclamation project about to make the first playoff appearance in franchise history! Look out Calgary, you'll probably be down 2-0 heading to Ohio after the Jackets come out firing on the road, away from all that "pressure" the home fans heap on teams!

Nonetheless, even if the Flames players go on the fritz, I say that Iron Mike Keenan will out-think, out-dupe and out-coach Hitchcock. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY has figured out so many psychological loopholes to get his team to win than Keenan has over his 20-plus years in the league. He himself might will the Flames to win the series.

And if not, well, there's always Jarome Iginla, Olli Jokinen, Dion Phaneuf, etc... beating up on Richard Junior Umberger, Rick Nash and Rusty Klesla.

(5) Vancouver vs (4) Chicago

Another close one which will most likely hinge on whether or not Nikolai Khabibulin or Cristobal Huet can steal a game away from Roberto Luongo. The Canucks own a clear edge in net, but the Hawks have the younger, more dangerous forwards and a bigger, more dangerous defense.

That's not to say Vancouver can't score...they have Sedin Squared, Pavol Demitra and Mats Sundin on their side plus the hardest shooter in the West in Sami Salo.

The Chicagoans have to clamp down over the final 2 1/2 weeks because they don't want to lose home-ice advantage. It shouldn't be a deciding factor, but it'll make their path towards victory in the matchup that much easier if they lock up the four.