Ok, so the dawgs got the better of me in round 2. San Jose and New York failed to pull of a little magic and Ottawa showed their meddle by dismissing rather handily a pretty good team in the Devils. Alas Jagr, Brodeur and Thornton weren’t the series breakers some of us thought they might be.
Eastern Conference
Still, despite the last round’s poor record, I’m going with the dawgs again. Buffalo is a formidable favourite, but there is something different about this Senators team. Perhaps it’s the good balance throughout their line up; the improved all -round two-way play of the players; or the way they play with very little inconsistancy game in, game out. But I especially think it’s the rise to preeminence of Emery. A playoff series is often determined by a goal tender who’s hot, on a streak and capable of instilling confidence in the guys playing in front because they eminate that quality themselves. Emery’s doing that. Sometimes he’s bordering on cocky, but if he can maintain his concentration, while showing he’s up to the challange, then this can have a huge effect.
Pick: Senators in 7 (one of the games the sens might get blown out 4 or 5 to 1).
Western Conference
Hard to look at the Ducks (#2 seed) as the underdog. They are still ramping up, so to speak, in that they still haven’t shown us their best hockey yet. And they are healthy. Detroit is exhibiting some strong play, but the Schneider injure could cost them dearly on the back end. And I still view Hasek as a bit of a liability.
Pick: Ducks in 6