The NHL’s regular season came to an end this past weekend, and the agonizing wait for the playoffs to begin is finally over.
Seriously, those three days feel like three years when you’re giddy like me.
There are not a lot of things better than playoff hockey.
Don’t even get me started on playoff overtime hockey.
This year’s edition of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is even more exciting to me with the absence of the Los Angeles Kings and the Boston Bruins.
While it’s only partially true that I’m happy they didn’t make the playoffs because of their past defeats of the Vancouver Canucks, I also like to see different teams win throughout the years.
Some people like dynasties such as the New York Islanders of the early 1980s or Edmonton Oilers of the mid-late ‘80s, but I prefer to see new teams and new faces win championships every year.
Since the Kings won last year and in 2012, I’m glad there is guaranteed to be a new Stanley Cup Champion in 2015.
Which brings us to the big question: who is going to win the Stanley Cup this year?
There are multiple teams that can be looked at as favourites to win it all this year.
Since I’m such a great guy, I’m going to give you my picks from the first round.
I would really like to say that the Winnipeg Jets are going to upset the Anaheim Ducks. Really, I would.
I don’t think that’s going to happen, however.
The Ducks have been so good all season long. From top to bottom, with perhaps a small blip in the goaltending department, they are about as solid a team as it gets.
One thing is for sure though, there will be no louder arena in the NHL this post season than the MTS Centre when the Jets host the Ducks in game three.
I was lucky enough to intern at the TSN radio station in Winnipeg during my final year of college and got to attend four Jets games. Let me tell you, that place is loud.
I’ll be kind and say the Jets get to play all three home games in the series, but lose in game six at home.
The Minnesota Wild have been one of, if not the best team in the NHL over the past few months.
I have never shied away from my disbelief in Devan Dubnyk’s ability to be a starting goalie in the NHL.
A former first round pick of the Edmonton Oilers didn’t have the greatest showings for the majority of his NHL career.
Though that is in large part due to the Oilers inability to play defence.
But even once he was traded to Nashville, one of the best defensive teams in the NHL, he still struggled.
Former Predators coach Barry Trotz said Dubynk picked up “bad habits” during his time with the Oilers.
Dubnyk was then traded to Montreal and promptly sent to the AHL, where yes, he continued to struggle.
But all the sudden this year in Arizona, the second worst team in the league, he found his stride.
He posted a 2.72 GAA and a .916 save percentage in 19 games before being traded to the Wild.
His numbers have been even more astounding there.
A 27-9-2 record with a 1.78 GAA and .936 save percentage have vaulted him into some people’s Vezina consideration.
With all that being said, I believe the St. Louis Blues are the better team in this series.
The Blues have one of the best defensive groups in the NHL, and Jake Allen has shown big strides towards being one of the best young goalies in the league.
Add in bruising forwards like TJ Oshie and David Backes, and I think the Blues can wear down the Wild in this series.
I’ll take the Blues in seven games.
Speaking of best teams in the league, the Nashville Predators were seemingly in cruise control on the way to a President’s Trophy win all season long.
Then starting goalie Pekka Rinne got injured, and people wondered if they could continue their strong play.
They stayed afloat, and people thought with Rinne returning after missing a few weeks the Predators would lock up the President’s Trophy.
Except since Feb. 19, Rinne has a record of 7-10-4.
With their struggles over the final two months of the season, the Predators now have a first round date with the Chicago Blackhawks.
These two teams have met in the playoffs before; in 2010 Chicago eliminated Nashville in six games.
I think we’ll see the same result this year.
The Blackhawks have been consistent all season long despite their top scorer Patrick Kane breaking a clavicle back in February, requiring surgery.
At the time, the Blackhawks were unsure if they would have Kane back in time for the first round of the playoffs.
Earlier this week, Kane was cleared for contact, and Monday was listed as probable for game one.
I would have picked Chicago over Nashville even without Kane in the lineup.
With him? My choice is set in stone, Chicago in six games.
The series I’m most excited about is Calgary vs. Vancouver.
Not only because I have tickets for game three in Calgary Sunday, but also because these two teams always provide an excellent series.
The past three times these two have met, the winner won game seven in overtime and went to the Stanley Cup final.
2004 was the first year I began watching hockey and I’ll never forget Brendan Morrison’s triple overtime winner in game six, or Matt Cooke’s tying goal in game seven with 5.7 seconds left in the third period.
The Flames had a great season with contributions from a number of their young stars.
Sean Monahan looks to be a future captain and Johnny Gaudreau, or “Johnny Hockey” as he has trademarked, is a prime candidate to win rookie of the year.
Goaltending is a question mark for the Flames in my eyes. I’m not sure Hiller is capable of carrying a team deep into the playoffs. Call me biased all you want, but I’m taking Vancouver in seven games.
Over in the east the New York Rangers won the President’s Trophy with 113 points this season.
I admit I didn’t think they would have as good a season as they did last year when they went to the finals against the Kings.
I’m not even sure why I thought that, gut feeling maybe?
Guess I shouldn’t listen to my gut anymore.
They’re first round matchup is against the Pittsburgh Penguins who barely squeaked into the playoffs with a win in the last game of the season against Buffalo.
I like the Penguins, I think Sidney Crosby is the best player in the NHL and Marc-Andre Fleury is one of the more athletic goalies in the NHL.
But I don’t think the Penguins can compete with the Rangers.
I admit the Penguins are probably the biggest candidates to upset someone in these playoffs, but I truly believe New York won’t let that happen. Rangers in five.
The Montreal Canadiens are matched up in the only all-Canadian series with the Ottawa Senators.
The Senators have been the best team in the NHL over the past two months with a 23-3-3 record to salvage a playoff position.
Andrew Hammond, a relative unknown before being recalled from the minors, has been the driving force behind the Senators surge.
Hammond has begun his NHL career about as good as any goalie has in the history of the NHL with a 20-1-2 record to go along with a .941 save percentage and a 1.79 GAA.
He has been affectionately nicknamed “Hamburglar” by the Senators faithful, and has sparked an unusual trend at Senators home games in which fans threw McDonald’s hamburgers on the ice after wins.
It was even announced in mid March that Hammond is the recipient of free McDonald’s for life because of his play.
Despite the great story Hammond and the Senators have been, Montreal will win this series because goaltender Carey Price is simply too good.
There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that Price will win the Vezina as top goalie this year, and in my mind he should win the Hart Trophy as league MVP as well.
He appeared in 66 games this year, recording 44 wins with a GAA under two and a .933 save percentage.
There’s no player in the league who was more instrumental in their team’s success than Price was to Montreal.
The Canadiens also have one of the best defenceman in the NHL in P.K. Subban who can turn a game around in his own right.
Add that to a deep core of forwards and supporting defenceman for Subban, and you’ve got a first round win for Montreal. I’ll say Canadiens in six.
The Tampa Bay Lightning were swept by Montreal last season, but this year they’ve got the Detroit Red Wings in the opening round.
If goalie Ben Bishop didn’t get injured shortly before the playoffs, I’m confident they wouldn’t have been swept. Anders Lindback put up some pretty atrocious numbers in that series for Tampa.
The Lightning are poised to bounce back with Bishop healthy, and the Red Wings have questions of their own in goal.
They’ve elected to go with Petr Mrazek as the game one starter over longtime starter Jimmy Howard. Fans might remember Mrazek’s performance and exuberance at the 2012 World Junior’s in which he led the Czech Republic to a surprise bronze medal.
I think Tampa’s offensive prowess and strong goaltending will lead them to a five game win over Detroit.
The final matchup is the New York Islanders against the Washington Capitals.
I fully admit that at the beginning of the season I expected the Islanders to be in the bottom-10 of the standings. They were pretty bad last year, and I didn’t think signing goalie Jaroslav Halak would make such an impact on their team, but it did.
They also had a full season of John Tavares who was injured at the Olympics last year, and he responded by finishing one point behind the NHL scoring leader Jamie Benn.
That being said, I don’t think the Islanders get past Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals.
Ovechkin was back to full form this season, scoring 53 goals to easily lead the NHL.
Washington also has Nicklas Backstrom, Marcus Johansson and rookies Andre Burakovsky and Evgeni Kuznetzov to provide offence.
John Carlson and Mike Green also put up big numbers from the blueline.
Goaltending has always been a question in Washington, but Braden Holtby had a big season with 41 wins. I’ll take Washington in seven games.
So there you have it, my first round predictions for the NHL playoffs. Make sure to take them with a grain of salt, I am no expert.
Regardless of whether I’m right or wrong, I’ll be glued to my TV for the next two months.
