COLUMN: Meredith’s National Hockey Leauge playoff picks
People love predictions. They love giving their opinions about who is going to win this game or who is going to lose big in that series. When early April rolls around the hockey world is buzzing with playoff predictions.
In reality, whoever wins the Eastern Conference will take home the most storied trophy in all of professional sports. The Pittsburgh Penguins could easily win the cup, if they can outlast the Philadelphia Flyers’ physical play, and the Rangers are the most obvious choice to win the cup.
Even with those three battling for the top spots, the entire conference is stacked with solid teams. Any one of them could make a run for Lord Stanley’s cup. The key is the first round matchups.
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Philadelphia Flyers
This series is poised to be a bloodbath. If you catch any of the playoff games, make it these ones.
In the first game of the series, the Flyers rallied for a 3-0 deficit to beat the Penguins in overtime. The big factor is the Flyers’ decorated goaltender, Ilya Bryzgalov. If he is on his game, the Flyers will be hard to beat. He had 25 saves in the opener but let in three goals.
Pittsburgh’s side has arguably the most recognizable face in the NHL. Since missing over a year of hockey, Sidney Crosby has experienced resurgence on a very good Penguins team. The center has picked up at least a goal or an assist in every game since his return.
Pittsburgh is strong through and through. Even without Crosby, they are still a very skilled team.
New York vs. Ottowa
Sorry, Ottowa, the Rangers are going to win this series. That’s not to say the Senators don’t deserve some praise. They quietly picked up the wild card spot with solid play.
The Rangers, however, are the favorites to win the Cup. They have played very good hockey all season long. Anchored by a good defensive core, they have led the NHL for much of the season.
Florida vs. New Jersey
Overall this is a pretty even matchup. Both of them are hovering around the .500 range and neither of them will make a run for the Cup.
Boston v. Washington
Both Boston and Washington have a fighting chance against the heavyweights of the conference.
As the defending champions, the Bruins have a lot to prove. They aren’t as good as they were last year, and goalie Tim Thomas hasn’t had the same spark, but they still work well together.
The Capitals have faltered since firing their head coach and Alexander Ovechkin hasn’t been the all-star he has in years past. Still, it would undoubtedly be a fan favorite to see a Crosby-Ovechkin matchup in the conference championships.
The East-West debate has been thoroughly argued, but it comes down to four reasons.
The Western Conference has many teams around the same level. The even matchups will lead to many long series wins and beat up teams. When it comes time for the finals, the fresh legs of the Eastern Conference will be a deciding factor in the winner.
For years, the West has had an inherent disadvantage based on travel time. The Western teams spend much more time traveling from state to state in between games, contributing to their overall fatigue.
This is best illustrated by the distance between the one and two seed. The Vancouver Canucks would travel 1,778 miles if they end up meeting the St. Louis Blues in the semifinals.
The East teams are better on the road.
While West teams tend to dominate at home, most East teams split their home and away records. If an Eastern Conference team gets home-ice advantage, it becomes an even bigger advantage because it means that a West team will have to win on the road. The exception is Vancouver, who is very good both on the road and at home.
The fourth, and possibly most important, East teams dominate inter-league play.
– Meredith Kinney is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism and an avid hockey fan. She hopes one day to be a big-shot sideline report working for ESPN.