Seems like Phoenix had the same game plan and a similar roster as the Preds. Play good defense, keep em to the outside, block shots, rely on outstanding goaltending and capitalize on their opportunities and jump on turnovers. Hawks missed the net a ton and their PP sucked.
Stl - LA is a phenomenal matchup....phx nash not so much....if washington, ottawa, and florida win i think ill have went 1/8 in predicting the opening round
The matchups might not be exciting they'll be competitive.
Phoenix killed 94.7% of Chicago power plays...can they do the same against Nashville? The Wings ended up 2nd in PK in the first round. The Yotes also gave up the most shots per game (40.2) by a more than 4 shots higher than the next team. That tells me that Smith was the best goalie in the 1st round.
Stat of the 1st round...Flyers were 52.2% on the power play against Pittsburgh.
-Last time there was a 2nd round without at least three of Detroit, Chicago, San Jose and Vancouver - 2008. There were only two that year...
This year's remaining Western Conference playoffs might rival 2006 as being the most unwatchable in my lifetime. I really hope not, because the semis and WCF that year were just absolute garbage and no fun to watch in any way.
I find it really hard to hate any of the West teams, though, so these playoffs suck for that reason. I'm used to hating at least one Western Conference team all the way to the WCF.
The matchups might not be exciting they'll be competitive.
Phoenix killed 94.7% of Chicago power plays...can they do the same against Nashville? The Wings ended up 2nd in PK in the first round. The Yotes also gave up the most shots per game (40.2) by a more than 4 shots higher than the next team. That tells me that Smith was the best goalie in the 1st round.
Stat of the 1st round...Flyers were 52.2% on the power play against Pittsburgh.
Smith was the 1st rd MVP for me in the West, Giroux in the East no matter what happens in the Game 7's.
I think we'll see more overtimes than not going forward in the West. I have Blues as a slight favorite over LA, and Preds as a pretty big one over 'Yotes.
In the East it totally depends what Rangers and Bruins do. I think that if they get this first round out of the way, they'll meet in the ECF.
Quick vs Rinne in the West and Thomas vs Lundqvist in the East would be cool, I love goalie matchups.
Honestly, I was hoping the Hawks would take out Phoenix. But now I want Phoenix to take out Nashville. I just can't root for the team that took out the Wings. Kings have a pretty good goalie in Quick, anyone think they can take the Blues out?
-Last time there was a 2nd round without at least three of Detroit, Chicago, San Jose and Vancouver - 2008. There were only two that year...
This year's remaining Western Conference playoffs might rival 2006 as being the most unwatchable in my lifetime. I really hope not, because the semis and WCF that year were just absolute garbage and no fun to watch in any way.
It will and I cannot imagine the ratings problems. Another huge problem is how in the world can Nashville not at least manage a conference finals drawing Phoenix, bad news for the signing Suter crowd. I think La gets out of the West, so that might be the NHL's one saving grace as far as the tv numbers and landing a glamor market. But Phoenix vs. Nashville is going to pull the worst tv numbers in sometime.
-Last time there was a 2nd round without at least three of Detroit, Chicago, San Jose and Vancouver - 2008. There were only two that year...
This year's remaining Western Conference playoffs might rival 2006 as being the most unwatchable in my lifetime. I really hope not, because the semis and WCF that year were just absolute garbage and no fun to watch in any way.
2006 was bad, but 2003 was worse. The 4 game Ducks-Wild Western Conference Final, in which the Wild were shut out in the first three games, will always remain the most unwatchable hockey of my lifetime.
