Outside the Devils - The Second Round

Look at these matchups...

Detroit and San Jose
Vancouver and Anaheim
Ottawa and New Jersey
Buffalo and NY Rangers

Those are some solid matchups. I think only one team is a clear favorite - Buffalo. All the others it's debateable. It's certainly going to be interesting to see which teams buckle under the pressure and which don't. Whichever team makes it all the way is going to have taken a helluva difficult road to get to the end.

You're quite right..those are some very exciting matchups indeed..I wouldn't even call Buffalo a clear favorite with the way the Rangers played near the end of the season and the way they've started off the playoffs...

Look at these matchups...

Detroit and San Jose
Vancouver and Anaheim
Ottawa and New Jersey
Buffalo and NY Rangers

Those are some solid matchups. I think only one team is a clear favorite - Buffalo. All the others it's debateable. It's certainly going to be interesting to see which teams buckle under the pressure and which don't. Whichever team makes it all the way is going to have taken a helluva difficult road to get to the end.

There's some good match-ups right there.

Det/SJ should be good, I call into question SJ's D even though I like Hannan, on the flip side, Det is like Buf, very soft, lacking grit, San Jose in 6

Van/Ana.
The Ducks are a good strong team that is borderline goonish, very good D, good offense, a question in goal.
Vancouver are a good team that plays a similar defensive system like NJ, they don't have a stud on D, but they play D in committee, and of course the Sedins, Loungo is the X factor in this series. Canucks in 6

Buf/NYR
Buffalo is a very good offensive team, deadly speed, however, I call into question their defense, it has not been tested, goaltending is not brilliant but solid. Buffalo is not a physical team, and can easily be taken off their game by a skilled physical team.
NYR
Good offense with key players stepping up at the right time, Defense is average but not poor, goaltending is about equal to Buf, solid but not brilliant.
X factor is Sean Avery, if the Sabres let him get to them, that bodes well for the Rangers, if they ignore him, he'll be a liability with stupid penalties.
Rangers in 6

I never predict a series that my team plays in.

I'm quite looking forward to all of these series....

I've got a lot more respect for the Red Wings now, because they are not the passive, not physical enough team that they used to be, but I still think the Sharks have what it takes to beat them. Sharks in 6.

I like the Ducks in 6 over Vancouver, and Buffalo in 5 over New York...Buffalo hasn't even turned it up yet, and I don't see the Rangers having near the success they had against Atlanta.

As for our series, Devils in a hard fought 7 game battle.....

i think its safe to say that the 4 best "teams" in each conference are still left, and thats something that doenst always happen every year

i think its safe to say that the 4 best "teams" in each conference are still left, and thats something that doenst always happen every year

I was also thinking something like that.

These promise to be some great matchups.

Detroit-San Jose: Detroit has definitely turned up the physical play this year, but I really like San Jose. They're the team I picked to come out of the west, and I think they'll beat Detroit in 6.

Anaheim-Vancouver: I actually think this will be the most lopsided matchup. Vancouver has got to be tired from the 7 game series and the multiple OT games, while Anaheim handled Minnesota pretty easily. Vancouver taking three games to close out Dallas didn't impress me, and I don't think they have the scoring to defeat Anaheim. Ducks in 5.

Buffalo-NY Rangers: Two very different teams here. Buffalo is small and skilled and speedy, while the Rangers will try to make it a very physical series. I think Buffalo will have some problems with the Rangers turning up the physical play, but in the end I think the Sabres will win it in 7.

I wonder if the conference semi-finals have ever all gone to 7 games in each series... because I can easily see all of these matchups doing so.

The Cup winner just might be whoever can survive the test of attrition and stamina... which bodes well for teams rolling 4 lines regularly.

This makes me think we might see more ice time for Dowd-Rupp-Rassy

;)

After watching the sharks vs predators and the Red wings vs the flames, I'd say its going to be a very aggressive game. Both sides will hit alot and score alot. The question comes down to who's not beat up at the end. I'm guessing Red Wings in 7.

The cannucks are a solid defensive team, a bit tenative on the scoring department unless the sedin twins get going. Thats going to be their downfall as Anaheim seems to get through the devils style defense pretty easily. They are going to crush the Cannucks who are still tired from those 7 games against Dallas. I'd say Anaheim in 5.

The rangers look really good against the Thrashers, but we're talking about the thrashers, who lost their key players and were just not the shadow of their former self. The Sabres are a much better team with 4 lines that can all score, and they play defense like the devils. They are going to be tough for the rangers to handle. I'm not sure the rangers will come out on top. Sabres in 7.

I think this is the first playoffs without an upset or at least when all the favorites (here on HF) have advanced.

I could see any of these teams lifting the Cup in the end, just hope it's neither Buffalo or the Rangers and maybe Anaheim as well.