One Season ends, the Real Season Begins!
On Sunday, the regular season ended in the NHL. On Wednesday, the real season begins, and 16 teams will chase for the Stanley Cup. The playoffs have been set for the last couple of weeks with the exception of a couple of teams. However, some teams that thought they were in the playoffs, found out Saturday and Sunday that their playoff dreams were crushed. Saturday, Toronto hosted Montreal for a most win game for the Leafs. If the Leafs win in regulation, then Montreal would be out of the playoffs. Toronto wins the game and hoped for an Islander loss in New Jersey on Sunday. This did not happen, the NY Islanders won 3-2 in a Shootout in New Jersery to earn the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The shootout loss bumped the Leafs out of the playoffs. Also for the first time since the New Jersery Devils 1996 team, a Stanley Cup Champion didn't make the playoffs to challenge to defend their Stanley Cup. It is the also the first time ever that both teams who played in the Stanley Cup Final the year before did not make it to at least the playoffs.14 teams are already starting to plan for next year, where these 16 teams will begin the chase on Wednesday.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
No. 1 Buffalo vs. No. 8 N.Y. Islanders - Buf is 3-1 this year against the Islanders
No. 2 New Jersey vs. No. 7 Tampa Bay - NJ Devils are 1-2-1 in four meetings
No. 3 Atlanta vs. No. 6 N.Y. Rangers - ATL is 3-1 vs the Rangers.
No. 4 Ottawa vs. No. 5 Pittsburgh - OTT is 1-1-2
WESTERN CONFERENCE
No. 1 Detroit vs. No. 8 Calgary - the teams split four games this year
No. 2 Anaheim vs. No. 7 Minnesota - the teams also split four games
No. 3 Vancouver vs. No. 6 Dallas - Like Anaheim series
No. 4 Nashville vs. No. 5 San Jose - This series was split
The cities of Ottawa, Anaheim, Nashville and Vancouver will host Game 1 on Wednesday. The other games will start on Thursday.
Note: Vancouver has only lost 11 games since Christmas. Congrats to Michigan State for winning the Frozen Four. They came back from an early 0-2 deficit to beat Maine and then defeated BC in the Championship game.
WHL:Congrats to the Seattle Thunderbirds, Everett Silvertips, Regina Pats, Medicine Hat Tigers, Vancouver Giants, Prince George Cougars, Brandon Wheat Kings, and Calgary Hitman for advancing to the second round of the WHL Playoffs. More to come on these teams on Wednesday.
Check out tomorrow for the NHL Trophy winners...
For Complete Playoff breakdowns, check out NHL.com
posted by The Dude at 10:54 AM
19 Comments:
Lord Stanley would be please Dude...I'm glad The Flame were able to get in before the door closed...and I like them for a first round upset of The Wing...
I must say that the Crystal Lodge has done wonders in terms of my interest in the 2007 race for the Cup...here are my picks for the quarters:
East: Buffalo/Tampa Bay (because they know how much I hate hockey south of the mason/dixon line and how much I hate the city of Tampa)/ ATL (see above minus the hating of the city)/ Pittsburgh (because the NHL needs SYD to go all the way)
West: Calgary(because The Wing cost me $5 even after I was given two goals)/ Anaheim/ The 'Couve/ San Jose (because Andrew Jackson didn't grow up wanted to throw high-checks against the rival teams from Tampa Bay and Atlanta)...
Dude, posting with a vengeance. I actually watched the 3rd period of the Dallas/Chicago game yesterday. The Stars scoring 3 goals in the period! I actually only switched back to see Tiger pull a drive into the drink once... with Mike Modano capping the game with a goal to seal it.
Playoffs? I might watch some ice. But it's dangerous to watch hockey in my house... because every time Jenny sees it on, she'll start b!tching about how hockey players are @ssholes and other trash.
I will root for only a Canadian team to win the Cup.
That's just because the 'Lanche will not be competing this year...otherwise America is A OK...I wouldn't mind the Sabre or Pens to bring it the Cup back to the NE...out of the 16 teams left I will vehementely root against the following (ranked in order): #1 Tampa Bay...#2 Atlanta #3 Nashville...#4 Anaheim #5 Carolina Hurricanes (I know they're not in it, but I'm STILL not over the demise of the Whale)...
I'm not going to pretend I have any idea who's going to win this thing. Yes, The Lanche are out thus I have to default to a Canadian team. Well the Lanche are just a transplanted Canadian team anyway.
Over the weekend...team Canada took a major hit because because Toronto eliminated Montreal and then the NY Islanders took out Toronto with a win...
I don't know who to root for right now...I'm sticking with my early season pick of Anaheim. They have quite some talent, although with the Lord Stanley on the line, anything can and will happen. Don't be surprised to see a one seed eliminated in the first round or a five seed in the final...anything can happen.
2.0...tell your wife, yes, they are @ssholes, but you can't doubt the toughness of a the hockey players...
by the way, an excellent Frozen Four final between Mich St and BC. Mich St came back from a goal down in the third period and scored 3 unanswered goals to win the title in St. Louis!
I just want to mention we have a record number of comments for a Dude hockey post...question?...Do they still throw octopi on the ice during the Playoffs?...
I'll check that out...working on the awards post for tomorrow...lots of hardware passed out by the NHLers...
Here are a few great sites talking about the octopus on the ice and other things on the ice. Check out these sites: www.kidzworld.com/article/1909-bizarre-sports-fan-traditions
www.detroitredwings.com/history/octopus.jsp
http://ask.yahoo.com/20020607.html
So are we viewing the Champions League matches tomorrow night at the Lodge? I think Nate Newton wants to play with his best buddy Cash again.
I'm down for the games...the tough thing will be being home and not watching them...
what needs to be brought over? Are we doing food, braughts? Beer? Tell me the plan...
I'll Bring the Tots...
We should do some Brawts too.
We should wait until confirmation from the red devil himself...
it's on...6pm Chelsea/Valencia 8pm Devils/Thumb Suckers
I don't know if I want to mess up the Karma we had going last week.
Chelsea needs to be played last.
Am I allowed to crash a Lodge Futbol viewing party?
too bad...you f'd up Karma by your post that was somehow removed earlier...and what Karma, my team essentially drew, while losing a key member for the home leg...while your team essentially lost and have to pay in a hostile venue...I say we absolutely need to change things up...
and Ctown...this is absolutely one night of futbol you need to be a part of...you have the potential to see two men absolutely lose it by the end of the night...
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