Best Playoff Matchup?

[FireGilbert]

Originally Posted by Manhattanboy

Looks like its gonna be Chicago.

Huh? At this stage it is a pretty even chance between Chicago, San Jose, Anaheim, or Edmonton.

[Tsawwassen]

Originally Posted by CalgaryFan1988

I always find the refs prefer original 6 teams, so I'd rather have nothing to do with Chicago.

Edmonton, no better way for regular season redemption.

*also, wasn't there already a thread on this?

Yep, here's the thread, http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=160604

[Tsawwassen]

Don't forget that the Flames are only 5 points back of 1st place for the Pacific Division. Should the Flames clinch 1st place, the Blues and/or Predators can still pass one of the other Pac div teams, and that would mean Flames vs. Preds/Blues. I would like the Blues which would have Elliot go against his former team.

[jg13]

The Wild have lost 10 of their 12 games since the trade deadline. Their 2 wins have both come against the sharks.

The Sharks have lost 6 straight and have been outscored 23-7 in that time. San Jose still has a tough schedule ahead they finish March with 3 games in 4 nights at home to NYR, @EDM, @CGY. April games include @VAN, home to VAN, home to EDM, home to CGY.

With the way the Ducks are playing I think they are the favourite to win the Pacific by a fair margin. They are 9-3-1 with Eaves in the lineup and Getzlaf has 27 points in his last 20 games.

Anyways. I think there's a solid chance that the Sharks and Flames in game 82 will determine who plays the Ducks and who plays the Oilers in round 1 starting on the road. It's an exciting time of the year go flames go

[icarus]

I honestly think the Flames can beat any of these teams. We've beaten all of them this year, sometimes very convincingly, except Edmonton. And I don't fear the Oilers at all, sure they've beaten us four straight but not because they're miles ahead of us. The Flames could take four straight off them in a playoff series just as easily as they did to us if we get hot again.

I like the combination the Flames have of playoff-seasoned vets, talented core, and guys like Tkachuk and Ferland who can throw the other teams' top players off their game (like Chicago did to us last time we faced them in the playoffs).

[StrykerSteve]

Wild in the 1st
Sharks in the 2nd
Chicago in the 3rd
And Pitt in the Finals

[FlameZilla]

Saw this on the Ol' Twitter thing.

Most likely 1st round:

Atl:
NYR at MTL
TOR at OTT

Met:
BOS at WSH
CBJ at PIT

Cen:
STL at CHI
NSH at MIN

Pac:
CGY at ANA
EDM at S.J

https://twitter.com/ineffectivemath/...39893897809920

[Justin]

1. Edmonton - If CGY played them 5 times NOW, they'd win 3 of them.
2. Min - Not worried about them much, if at all really.
3. Anaheim - A curse is ridicules. This team is far more mentally strong than previous games.
4. San Jose - Veteran playoff presence.
5. Chicago - Way to much playoff experience. Plus, the atmosphere at the Mad House is intimidating.

[agulati]

I hope we win the game at Anaheim before end of the season. Getting the monkey off our back, will give us a lot of confidence going in to a potential playoff matchup with the Ducks.


I like our chances against the Oilers or Sharks though. Blackhawks will be a tougher matchup.

[ASP#26525]

I don't REALLY care--I'm just happy we're in the playoffs--but I'm not sure my heart could take a BoA. That series against Vancouver, though it culminated in one of the greatest moments ever, was extremely stressful for me :P Whatever matchup we get, I'll just be sure to warn my downstairs neighbours ahead of time, heh.

[GullFoss]

Any of the Ducks, Oilers, Sharks will be difficult but winnable series:

Sharks - best defense corps of the three teams
Oilers - Talbot / McDavid
Ducks - weaker defense than sharks, but forward group is built for playoffs.

I dont think I have a preference. Anyone but the Hawks

[Imported_Aussie]

Sharks look vulnerable right now, but they have a lot of talent. Since flames own season series and they are possibly running on fumes, I would favour playing the sharks now. Oilers would be next pick. Even though McDavid can take over a game, I am curious to see how playoff Ferland gets in his head.
Wild I don't think will catch Chicago, so that's a moot point. After the two Pacific teams I actually prefer Chicago. Anaheim is surging and play a style that the flames can't keep up with over a playoff series yet. Chicago would be clear favourites, but that is a series where I think the matchup still allows flames to play their natural game

[GullFoss]

With 7 games remaining for all four teams, the flames have the most favorable schedule. We get the Kings, Ducks and Sharks all on the second night of their back to backs. And we have a game against Colorado.

Easiest: Flames (4 games at home, 3 games against non-playoff teams, 0 back-to-back, playing 3 teams on the second night of their back-to-back)

Second Easiest: Oilers (4 games at home, 4 games against non-playoff teams, 0 back-to-back, playing 0 teams on the second night of their back-to-back)

Second hardest: Ducks (3 games at home, 3 games against non playoff teams, 1 back-to-back, playing 0 teams on the second night of their back-to-back)

Hardest: Sharks (4 games at home, 2 games against non playoff teams, 1 back-to-back, playing 0 teams on the second night of their back-to-back)

[howard_the_duck]

Originally Posted by Imported_Aussie

Sharks look vulnerable right now, but they have a lot of talent. Since flames own season series and they are possibly running on fumes, I would favour playing the sharks now. Oilers would be next pick. Even though McDavid can take over a game, I am curious to see how playoff Ferland gets in his head.
Wild I don't think will catch Chicago, so that's a moot point. After the two Pacific teams I actually prefer Chicago. Anaheim is surging and play a style that the flames can't keep up with over a playoff series yet. Chicago would be clear favourites, but that is a series where I think the matchup still allows flames to play their natural game

I'm wary of playing the Oilers. The Flames are an excellent transition team, but you can't play that game against McDavid and the Oilers.

As for Ferland getting in his head, they have 2 massive trump cards in the name of Lucic and Maroon when it comes to that. I'll take our guy over theirs, but Ferly wouldn't have the same intimidating influence since they're able to roll guys out just as big and mean as he is.

I hate the Oilers as much (if not more) than the next guy, but it's not a matchup I would cherish as far as our chances in winning.

[Five-hole]

Originally Posted by howard_the_duck

I'm wary of playing the Oilers. The Flames are an excellent transition team, but you can't play that game against McDavid and the Oilers.

As for Ferland getting in his head, they have 2 massive trump cards in the name of Lucic and Maroon when it comes to that. I'll take our guy over theirs, but Ferly wouldn't have the same intimidating influence since they're able to roll guys out just as big and mean as he is.

I hate the Oilers as much (if not more) than the next guy, but it's not a matchup I would cherish as far as our chances in winning.

Agreed. And the refs will let you run the Canucks, but any borderline charge or boarding call against McDoofus you know will be a penalty.

[DJones]

Sure none of the teams are a cake walk but Edmonton has got to be the easiest.

Talbot is looking tired and McDavid can only play for 25 minutes a game.

As someone else said if we break the Honda curse I'll play Anaheim happily. This isn't the same team as last time.

[azzarish]

The way I like to look at it is that the Flames are a better team going in to this year's playoffs than they were 2 years ago. If they played the Ducks in the first round, I think they'd give them a much tougher series than last time. There are times throughout the regular season when the Flames haven't played well at all, but then again which team hasn't. There are always twists and turns in the regular season, but the main thing for me is that I think this team has made good strides in the last couple of months. They've peaked at exactly the right time.

Personally, I think the team we stack up the best against is the Wild. But there is no chance of that being a first round match up. I am not sure if there is a team we really don't want. Only the best teams make the playoffs and if we have any aspirations of going deep then we're going to have to play the top teams at some stage anyway. The thing with Chicago is that they have some very dangerous players who will be difficult to play against if they turn it on in the playoffs. The Ducks are also finding form just at the right time for them, but I think the 2 remaining games with them will tell us a lot about how a potential series with them might pan out. If they do turn out to be our first round opponent then we would have learned just a little more about them in those 2 games, compared to Chicago. That could be an advantage whether we win those 2 games or not.

I just feel that overall the Flames are better equipped to make a run in the playoffs than they have been for a long time.

[Winsor_Pilates]

The good thing is that there's no team in the West that completely scares me (maybe Chicago).
It truly is a year where anything could happen and I can see any team getting hot at the right time and winning the entire West.

Will be a great year to be in the mix

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

The good thing is that there's no team in the West that completely scares me (maybe Chicago).
It truly is a year where anything could happen and I can see any team getting hot at the right time and winning the entire West.

Will be a great year to be in the mix

I would agree, except Chicago is on another level. They are the team to beat.

[Flamescat]

I think if we get a 1st round BOA match up, it would erase in my mind the season sweep by the Oil. This is a different team mentally now.