The Best Time of the Year

It's still daylight when I get home from work, I can wear shorts all the time, I can do more things outside with the family, but what really matters most is........Playoff Hockey!!! Woohooooo!!!! (Aloryn claps excitedly)

The NHL year has been very entertaining. Alex Ovechkin is by far and away the most exciting player ever. He is a pure goal scorer with an unreal passion for checking, skating, passing, and team commitment. Ovechkin will win league awards for MVP, Most Goals, Most Points, and probably one of the lesser awards. Lidstrom will deservedly win another Norris for best d-man, he is the standard by which all other d-men are measured. Evgeni Nabokov will win his first Vezina for best goalie (as much as it pains me to give credit to a Shark).

Now onto the playoff matchups. There are gonna be a few dog fights and there will most certainlly be at least one upset. I'll start with the East:
(1) Montreal hosts (8) Boston - The Bruins are really not very good, but they are very lucky. The Canadiens won the season series 8-0. Enough said. Montreal wins 4-1

(2) Pittsburgh hosts (7) Ottawa - The Sens are still a really good team despite their playoff position. The Penguins have good players but can't play well as a team. The more I watch Sidney Crosby play, the more of a whiney baby he is becomming. This series goes the distance with an Ottawa upset. Sens win 4-3

(3) Washington hosts (6) Philadelphia - The Caps won their #3 spot by winning their last game of the season. Ovechkin has taken a team that was in last place in the east in January into the playoffs, he is that good. Philly has some good players and a decent team, but their goal tending is not good. The Caps are hot and win 4-2

(4) New Jersey hosts (5) New York - Brodeur is the greatest playoff goalie of all time. Jagr is absolutely the worst team captain ever. The Rangers are old, the Devils can't score. I really don't care about either of these teams, but Brodeur is the only goalie I have respect for. Devils win 4-2.

The West:
(1) Detroit hosts (8) Nashville - The Wings play the best hockey in the league. They pass, control the puck, play the best defense, and score the most goals. They are the most fun team to watch. The Predators are the complete opposite. The Preds have a lot of heart, i'll give them that, but Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Lidstrom have way too much skill and experience. Wings win 4-1

(2) San Jose hosts (7) Calgary - I am very excited about this matchup because I hate both teams more than anything. These are 2 teams full of stupid, dirty, over payed and over rated players. I hope both teams kill each other for 7 games. Brian Campbell was the best trade deadline pickup and he will be the difference. Sharks win 4-2

(3) Minnesota hosts (6) Colorado - Aloryn points her thumb down, blows a raspberry and blurts, "Booooo Avs!!!" Both these teams matchup really well. Good goal tending, solid d, high powered goal scorers. I actually like the way the Avs are playing (it hurts for me to say that), but they are playing with passion and desire, which is very un Avalanche like. Avs win 4-3

(4) Anaheim hosts (5) Dallas - The Ducks are another dirty team, but they are the defending cup champs so that makes them dirty and lucky. The Stars have good d, like to play dump and chase, force turn-overs, and all-in-all play a very boring game. The Ducks have too much experience and will bully the Stars around. Ducks win 4-0

I'll review the matchups again for the second round. The greatest playoffs in all of sports start Wednesday April 9. Schedule posted at http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3332838

There is nothing like a good, healthy game full of sportsmanlike gentlemen to put a smile on your face.