DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum NHL Playoffs - Let The Games Begin - Some of the Most Exciting Hockey

Condolences to both Toronto and Montreal (my team) who found out the hard way that parity has arrived and you can't afford to lose games you should win. I've coloured the series I think will be most exciting. JMHO. I'm sure others will be making predictions and good luck with that. If upsets occur, it has been usually in the first round so here goes.

I would like to comment on one side story re the Islanders vs the Sabres. Although Buffalo is now my playoff favourite, I would not be upset, if Ted Nolan got his revenge on how he was treated at Buffalo and by the rest of the NHL by winning the series. I like Nolan and I don't know what he did to be black listed for so many years but, he's a good coach and deserves to coach in the NHL. JMHO

FIRST ROUND

EASTERN CONFERENCE

(1) Buffalo vs. (8) N.Y. Islanders

(2) New Jersey vs. (7) Tampa Bay

(3) Atlanta vs. (6) N.Y. Rangers

(4) Ottawa vs. (5) Pittsburgh

WESTERN CONFERENCE

(1) Detroit vs. (8) Calgary

(2) Anaheim vs. (7) Minnesota

(3) Vancouver vs. (6) Dallas

(4) Nashville vs. (5) San Jose


The series surprise teams in Rd. 1 IMHO could be

1. Minnesota Wild
2. Rangers
3. Islanders (If Goalie is hot)
4, Pittsburgh( See above )

Also, I don't know if the NHL will continue with the shoot-out in the play-offs. Personally I hope not. There's nothing that compares to "Sudden Death Playoff Hockey". JMHO

Stabber! yayy

Go Isles!!!

Ted Nolan is a genious, hes taken this misfit bunch of isles and made them a playoff team. And Careful Buffalo. Lindy Ruff cant seem to win in the playoffs. I hope we Wax Em

Stupid ISlanders


Welp, looks like it's time to root for team #2, Lets go Red wings!

Go Go!!!

Buffalo over NY Islanders
Tampa Bay over New Jersey
Atlanta over NY Rangers
Pittsburgh over Ottawa

Detroit over Calgary
Anaheim over Minnesota
Dallas over Vancouver
Nashville over San Jose

Prolly.

Im really not holdin out much hope for us.

My only hope is that Wade plays as well as he played thelast 4 games, and our offense can put up points. About the injuries and the loss in game 7, while that may be true, that was one year. It was a damn good one though, and respect is due to him. But, im kinda hopin Buffalo can get a lil over-confident this year, and we can pull off the surprise, Ted Nolan could be the X factor in a situation like that I hope

I hope

I think I figured out why Jan is such a Penguins fan......

Go Calgary in the west, Buffalo in the east. I hope the Islanders get wiped right off the goddamn map. Sorry to Isles fans.

Come on, I want to go to another Stanley Cup game, hopefully a bit earlier than Game 7 this year though . Go Bolts!

whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

are you a Habs or Leafs fan?

For the non-playoff teams:

Blackhawks win draft lottery, will pick first

NEW YORK -- Chicago won the NHL draft lottery Tuesday, giving the Blackhawks a reason to celebrate after missing the playoffs for the eighth time in nine seasons.

The Blackhawks, who will pick first in the June draft, had the fifth-worst record and only an 8.1 percent chance to come out on top in the lottery.

The Philadelphia Flyers, who had a league-low 56 points in the worst season of their 40-year history, own the second pick, followed by Phoenix, Los Angeles and Washington.

Edmonton is sixth before Columbus, Boston, St. Louis and Florida. Carolina is No. 11, followed by Montreal, Toronto and Colorado.

Five teams with the fewest points in the regular season had a shot at the No. 1 pick. No team could move up more than four places and none could fall beyond one slot.

Chicago has never picked first. Denis Savard (1980), Ed Olczyk (1984), Cam Barker (2004) and Jonathan Toews (2006) were all chosen by the Blackhawks with the No. 3 selection, the team's highest position since 1969.

The Flyers had the best chance to win the top pick, owning 25 percent of the combinations in the hopper. Positions 15 to 30 will be determined at the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The first round of the draft will be June 22 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, with the remaining rounds the following day.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

2007 NHL draft order
1. Chicago
2. Philadelphia
3. Phoenix
4. Los Angeles
5. Washington
6. Edmonton
7. Columbus
8. Boston
9. St. Louis
10. Florida
11. Carolina
12. Montreal
13. Toronto
14. Colorado
15-30 To be determined at playoffs' conclusion


At least us Chicagoians have something to be happy about. Although I don't know a single player in the draft....

I'll have to pick a team to root for from each conf before the playoffs begin. I think the Sharks will be one team.

that's awesome that the hawks won the lottery, i don't know any of the upcoming players, but more times than not, the first player taken overall is pretty damn good

2006, erik johnson, probably won't know much about him until 2 years...
2005, sidney crosby, pretty obvious how well he's doing...
2004, alexander ovechkin, another obvious one
2003, mark andre fleury, up and coming goalie with pittsburgh, he's still a few years away from blossoming, goalie is a tough position to be young in
2002, rick nash, most of us ohioans know how well he's doing
2001, ilya kovalchuk, star player for atlanta, pure scorer
2000, rick di pietro, solid goalie with the isles, although i'm sure they would have rather had heatley or gaborik...
1999, patrick stefan, this pick didn't quite pan out...
1998, vincent lecavalier, all star caliber player
1997, joe thornton, maybe the best all around player in the game, easily the best passer

i was reading in the paper today that the hawks will be looking for another big name forward, and they're going to try and keep handzus around, who blew out his knee in the first month of the year

they're actually not that horrible of a team, they just need to stay healthy, and learn to stop the bleeding (our cavaliers are doing that now, stopping the bleeding, hockey and basketball are similiar in this)

havlat is good, khabibulin is solid, and they've got a few other pieces parts, but i'd love to see them lure away an alexander ovechkin or a player like that when they reach free agency... i hate saying it, but hockey needs more star players in big cities and chicago would love a guy like ovechkin...

Yes, this city needs a good hockey team. The town wants to care but can't when Bill Wurtz is the owner. It's a shame, Chicago should be in the playoffs every year.

So after looking at the teams again, I'm rooting for San Jose and Buffalo to meet in the Cup Finals. Buffalo and Cleveland fans are brothers and sisters when it comes to heartbreaking playoff runs. As for San Jose, I have their hat and it's freaking cool! GO SHARKS and SABRES!

Any takers on a Dawgtalkers blind draw tourney? Anybody want to offer up a prize (I already sent my only Browns jersey that doesn't fit to Spectre for the Oscar Pick'em Contest)?

Blind Draw Tourney:
Punchsmack

I agree. But he's 25 Years Old right now. He's just coming into his prime. Also, he was alot better when the pads were bigger, so he's still adjusting.

I admit, hes not the best goalie out there right now, but I think he's the right Goalie for the Isles. Ive watched a share of their games, and our D doesnt give him a lot of help. I contend that he's one of the best goalies for a bad defense. much like Luongo was for Florida.

But, he has time to grow into an elite player, and i think thats what Garth saw when he signed him to a 15 year deal.

i have to admit, i thought the isles were going to be the worst team in the league after they fired their gm and hired garth snow, and then signed di pietro to a pretty wild deal, but they really proved me wrong, and put together a great season, and lots of props to ted nolan, he may not win coach of the year, but he should get a nod at the very least...

i'd actually love to see the isles play if i ever make it out to new york, they play in long island right?

yea, out in Nassau county.

But they get to go to Pitt or Ottowa if they get out of Buffalo

if they were to get past buffalo, ottawa or pittsburgh shouldn't be a problem...

i think i'm going to root for buffalo to win the whole thing, because i love their fans, they remind me of cleveland fans...

i like the sharks too, i'm a huge joe thornton fan

i can't stand anaheim, but i think they really have a team built for the playoffs... and if giguere can have that same magic that he did all those years ago when they made the finals, i don't know if anyone will beat them...

i'm interested to see how sidney crosby handles his first playoff appearance, how the rest of the team does... as much as i love watching them, i think ottawa's experience will prevail... although if crosby is as good as people think he is, maybe he'll take his team very far...

winning the stanley cup is probably more difficult than winning the nba finals, the super bowl, or the world series... so many factors come into play...

how are your third lines? are you healthy? can your team withstand 2,3, or even 4 overtime games? do they have the mental toughness to be able play every other night for 2 months?

you also need good puck possession, and you've gotta be able to win the battle in the corners, you've gotta stay out of the box, and when the other team is in the box, you have to make them pay...

and the biggest factor of all, is your goaltender prepared for what he is about go to through... that's the biggest wildcard of them all... a goaltender can make a great team falter, and a goaltender can also make a bad team a contender...

look no further than last season when dwayne roloson took those 8-seed edmonton oilers to the finals, that guy was outstanding, and they probably would have won the whole thing had he not had that freak injury...

i wish more people would check out the playoffs... so much excitement...

So is that a "no" for the Blind Draw idea? Just something to do...

shoot, i'm in

prize, or no prize, i'll do it

I dunno Buffalo fans didnt seem to give a dump about the Sabres before the strike. They were pretty apathetic. now that theyre good, theyre all over em. Which i dont like.

I kinda wanna see a NYI/NYR Conf Finals. Thatd be heated. But I doubt it, plus I'd like to the Rangers get swept without scoring ever.

I do enjoy me some playoff hockey. Its as intense as hockey can get without the fisticuffs

Ok...so far

Blind Draw Tourney:
Punchsmack
Lebron James

Remember this kid's name. He's only 16 and the scouts are drooling! Could be the next "Great One". JMHO


John Tavares
Center
Born Sep 20 1990 -- Oakville, ONT
Height 6.00 -- Weight 183 -- Shoots L


--- Regular Season --- ---- Playoffs ----
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2005-06 Oshawa Generals OHL 65 45 32 77 72 -- -- -- -- --
2006-07 Oshawa Generals OHL 67 72 62 134 60
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NHL playoffs?

I thought they were still on strike.

count me in

I'm down too

Blind Draw Tourney:
Punchsmack
Lebron James
TheSavior9
BrownsFan337


We need 4 or 8 more...

Im not a big fan....But what the hey! im game

Blind Draw Tourney:
Punchsmack
Lebron James
TheSavior9
BrownsFan337
Shotty66


We need 3 or 7 more...

this Blind Draw...i'll be in, whats the stakes or is it just for its and giggles?

Blind Draw Tourney:
Punchsmack
Lebron James
TheSavior9
BrownsFan337
Shotty66
KingSteve


We need 2 or 6 more...

Well, I trying to find something Browns around the house I can offer up as a prize. If not, this will just be for bragging rights.

Since the playoffs are starting tonight, we'll hold off for two more people. Each person will get one team from each conference.

deal, when we doin this?