Quick NHL Playoff Picks

I'm a huge hockey fan and thought it would be fun to just make some quick picks for the playoffs which are about to start, so let's get to it after the jump.

Eastern Conference

(1) Washington Capitals over (8) New York Rangers

I think this one goes seven. I wouldn't want to see Lundqvist in the first round but it will take another season or two for a lot of the other young Rangers to really establish this team as a force in the playoffs. We'll see if Washington's transition to a more defensive team has worked.

(2) Philadelphia Flyers over (7) Buffalo Sabres

It pains me to admit this (go Devils) but the Flyers are the team to beat again in the East this season (c'mooon reverse jinx). As always, their issue is in goal as we have no idea if Bobrovsky is capable of being the guy. Ryan Miller will be the one to keep Buffalo around in this series if he's back to 100%. I don't think he is, but he's close, so I say this goes six games.

(6) Montreal Canadiens over (3) Boston Bruins

What an awesome series. I've gone back and forth on this one at least 25 times but I think this one goes seven (yes, I have Montreal winning a game seven in Boston) and is an absolute slobberknocker. I think Price steps up in this series and wins it for the Canadiens which I'm sure I'll regret putting into print in about a week from now.

(5) Tampa Bay Lightning over (4) Pittsburgh Penguins

No Crosby = No win. This Penguins team is missing their two best offensive players (Malkin/Crosby) and has been coasting by since those two guys went down. I just don't see how this Penguins team hangs with the highly skilled Lightning who should take it in five. If Crosby makes it back then I still say Lightning but in six. Unless Alexei Kovalev, Mike Comrie, and James Neal are secretly awesome and have just been hiding it from us for the last couple of months (SPOILER: They're not).

Western Conference

(1) Vancouver Canucks over (8) Chicago Blackhawks

The Canucks had to have been pulling for the Stars to beat the Wild Sunday night to take the eighth seed as the Blackhawks are a much tougher draw. Sure, the Blackhawks lost a lot of their Cup team from last season but I still think they were massive underachievers this past regular season. Maybe showing some fatigue from last year's run? We'll see if they can get it together for this series, but I won't hold my breath. I think the Hawks surprise the Canucks in a few games and push it to seven, but that's it for the title defense and our hopes of seeing more drunken Patrick Kane in a parade.

(2) San Jose Sharks over (7) Los Angeles Kings

Too bad for the injuries the Kings have sustained recently otherwise this could have been an epic series. San Jose finally has a guy in goal that has shown he can win in the playoffs (Niemi) and their top guys are coming on when it matters most. The Kings will just be completely over matched and get knocked out in five.

(6) Phoenix Coyotes over (3) Detroit Red Wings

There's gotta be an upset somewhere that gets people going "Huh?!" right? I'm not saying I feel supremely confident that this happens but I definitely think the Red Wings name carries more weight than the actual skill of this current team. Goalies can steal a series in the playoffs and I'll put my non existent money behind Bryzgalov rather than Howard. The Coyotes will hang in this series even if they end up losing it, but I say they win in six.

(5) Nashville Predators over (4) Anaheim Ducks

This is hard for me to do. I really, really like this Ducks team (they're the team I watch the most on Center Ice after the Devils) but I think they're in for a letdown. Pekka Rinne definitely has his fans, I'm on them, but being in Nashville kind of keeps him under the radar. This is the series where he makes the rest of the hockey world take notice as he shuts down the highly skilled Ducks and leads the Predators to a series win in six.