Who do we want to face?

It looks like it'll be either Ottawa, Carolina, NY, or Philly. Which team would you rather play? I say Carolina, as they like to pinch their defenseman and they get caught on odd man rushes often, which is where we dominate.

i want the Rags !

Rags
and Ken Klee

Of the possibilities, I'd rank the teams I'd want the Devils to face in this order:

1. Rangers - First off, it'd be great for hockey coverage in this area and probably the most exciting series of the possibilities. I also like the Devils' chances against the Rangers with Pandolfo shadowing Jagr - I think the checking line can do a good job of shutting down the Rangers' top line. Lundqvist does scare me a bit though. It would be nice to see the Devils finally beat the Rangers though in the postseason, returning the favor from past seasons when they upset us.

2. Hurricanes - I like NJ's chances against the Canes as well. I know they've had a great regular season, but I just don't see them going too far in the playoffs this season. Plus, they've struggled a bit since Cole went down with his injury. I'm also not overly impressed with their goaltending this year, but in all fairness I haven't exactly followed them all that closely.

3. Philly - Great rivalry series. The Devils addressed a major concern of theirs from the last playoff meeting between the two teams - toughness. Matvichuk, Weimer, Jansen, Klee (if he plays) and company will help prevent the Devils from getting tossed around like last series. The Flyers will also have their annual question mark in goal, as I'm assuming Nitty will get the nod and he has no playoff experience. I'd rather wait until round two to face Philly though - let their fans get a bit more excited about the team and start believing that this is finally the year the curse of William Penn is broken before sending another postseason Phailure to the links.

4. Ottawa - I know they're struggling a bit with injuries now and it might be better to face them sooner rather than later (and healthier), but this team is just scary with the amount of talent it has. The big wildcard in all this is Hasek - not sure what the latest is on him as far as whether or not he'll be back this year and how much time he'd have to get back into game shape.

It looks like it'll be either Ottawa, Carolina, NY, or Philly. Which team would you rather play? I say Carolina, as they like to pinch their defenseman and they get caught on odd man rushes often, which is where we dominate.

Carolina's the one team I really don't want to face. I think the Devils match up well against any team that has its main scoring threats concentrated into one line - put Madden on said player, neutralize the line, and win the game as a result.

Even with Cole gone, Carolina still has *7* 50-point forwards. Contrast to the Devils who have *2* (if you include Elias for the Devils, include the back-from-longterm-injury Vasicek for Carolina and make it 8-3).

I think they're the one team in the East that's too deep for the Devils "Blanket one line" strategy to work. Hell, that's what happened the last time Carolina ousted New Jersey from the playoffs. We clamped down on Francis-Kapanen-O'Neill, and got eaten alive by Brind'Amour-Battaglia-Cole.

I wish it was Montreal. Marty loves playing against the habs. Unfortunately that won't happen in the first round so with all due respect to all the teams I would have to go with either Buffalo or Carolina. If we get out of the first round I don't care who we play next at that point.

i think the best bet is against the rangers.

no way they beat us in a 7 game series.

that being said, i feel with any of our possible 1st round opponenets, the devs may be spent if they get to the second round.

seriously,i dont give a rats *** who we play..the way this team is playing...ill play anyone...i think we CAN pull an upset on any team in the league on any givin time..if we keep playing like this(also marty)...we could be looking at an other good cup run.. :clap:

It doesn't matter, it'll be a 1st round loss to who ever we face.

It doesn't matter, it'll be a 1st round loss to who ever we face.

I must be psychic... I knew thats exactly what you said when I saw that you posted on this thread.

It doesn't matter, it'll be a 1st round loss to who ever we face.This was posted (http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=238064) 03-22-2006, 09:37 PM,You mean next year's playoff? We are not going to the dance this year.

I don't care who we face. If we're going to go far, we have to face the good teams sometime. And if we keep playing like this, I think we can play with anyone.

Also, I learned my lesson about wishing for "easy" teams after wishing for us to play Carolina in '02 :o

This team needs to prepare itself for facing all other playoff contenders mentally.