Prediction thread! Playoff matchups are set!

[OILFAN #81]

Playoff matchups are now set. So let's see some predictions!

Gretzky Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Toronto Maple Leafs vs 8. Tampa Bay Lightning
2. Atlanta Thrashers vs 7. Carolina Hurricanes
3. Buffalo Sabres vs 6. Florida Panthers
4. Washington Capitals vs 5. Pittsburgh Penguins

Howe Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Minnesota Wild vs 8. Edmonton Oilers
2. San Jose Sharks vs 7. Nashville Predators
3. Chicago Blackhawks vs 6. Detroit Red Wings
4. St.Louis Blues vs 5. Anaheim Ducks

PS.....can we make this a sticky?

[CMPunk]

Originally Posted by OILFAN #81

Gretzky Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Toronto Maple Leafs vs 8. Tampa Bay Lightning-Leafs in 6
2. Atlanta Thrashers vs 7. Carolina Hurricanes-Thrashers in 5
3. Buffalo Sabres vs 6. Florida Panthers-Sabres in 6
4. Washington Capitals vs 5. Pittsburgh Penguins-Capitals in 6

Howe Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Minnesota Wild vs 8. Edmonton Oilers-Wild in 5
2. San Jose Sharks vs 7. Nashville Predators-Preds in 7
3. Chicago Blackhawks vs 6. Detroit Red Wings-Hawks in 6
4. St.Louis Blues vs 5. Anaheim Ducks

PS.....can we make this a sticky?

My picks

[Da_Chief]

Gretzky Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Toronto Maple Leafs vs 8. Tampa Bay Lightning in 4 games
2. Atlanta Thrashers vs 7. Carolina Hurricanes in 6 games
3. Buffalo Sabres vs 6. Florida Panthers in 7 games
4. Washington Capitals vs 5. Pittsburgh Penguins in 6 games

Howe Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Minnesota Wild vs 8. Edmonton Oilers in 7 games
2. San Jose Sharks vs 7. Nashville Predators in 5 games
3. Chicago Blackhawks vs 6. Detroit Red Wings in 4 games
4. St.Louis Blues vs 5. Anaheim Ducks in 7 games

[Flickered Flame]

Gretzky Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

8. Tampa Bay Lightning in 7
2. Atlanta Thrashers in 5
3. Buffalo Sabres in 6
5. Pittsburgh Penguins in 7

Howe Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Minnesota Wild in 4
2. San Jose Sharks in 4
3. Chicago Blackhawks in 6
5. Anaheim Ducks in 7

[OILFAN #81]

My predictions:

Gretzky Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Toronto Maple Leafs vs 8. Tampa Bay Lightning - in 6
2. Atlanta Thrashers vs 7. Carolina Hurricanes
3. Buffalo Sabres vs 6. Florida Panthers - in 6
4. Washington Capitals vs 5. Pittsburgh Penguins - in 7

Howe Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Minnesota Wild vs 8. Edmonton Oilers - in 6
2. San Jose Sharks vs 7. Nashville Predators in 7
3. Chicago Blackhawks vs 6. Detroit Red Wings - in 7
4. St.Louis Blues vs 5. Anaheim Ducks - in 6

[CMPunk]

Wow...no love for the Blues

[Sylvanfan]

Gretzky Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Toronto Maple Leafs vs 8. Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 Leafs are solid all around
2. Atlanta Thrashers vs 7. Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 No first round upset this year
3. Buffalo Sabres vs 6. Florida Panthers Sabres win 4-2 on the back of Giggy
4. Washington Capitals vs 5. Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in a close series

Howe Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Minnesota Wild vs 8. Edmonton Oilers Wild in 4 although this will be over in 3
2. San Jose Sharks vs 7. Nashville Predators Sharks 4-2 too much for Preds
3. Chicago Blackhawks vs 6. Detroit Red Wings 4-2 those tricky Red Wings
4. St.Louis Blues vs 5. Anaheim Ducks 4-0 Nobody likes Spike, let alone love

[Slava]

Gretzky Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Toronto Maple Leafs vs 8. Tampa Bay Lightning (4-0 Leafs)
2. Atlanta Thrashers vs 7. Carolina Hurricanes (4-1 Thrashers)
3. Buffalo Sabres vs 6. Florida Panthers (Sabres 4-2)
4. Washington Capitals vs 5. Pittsburgh Penguins (Pens 4-2)

Howe Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Minnesota Wild vs 8. Edmonton Oilers (Wild 4-0)
2. San Jose Sharks vs 7. Nashville Predators (Preds 4-0)
3. Chicago Blackhawks vs 6. Detroit Red Wings (Wings 4-3)
4. St.Louis Blues vs 5. Anaheim Ducks (Blues 4-3)

(I don't actually think that we'll beat the Sharks 4-0, but its a better match-up for us than the Wild would've been!)

[nyrcrisfer]

Gretzky Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Toronto Maple Leafs vs 8. Tampa Bay Lightning

2. Atlanta Thrashers vs 7. Carolina Hurricanes
- Atlanta in 6. Canes put up a fight as last years Cup run is still fresh in their memory. But Atlanta scored the 2nd most goals in the conference and I think their offense will be too much for the Canes, with only 1 defenseman above a 72OV and a young goalie, to handle.

3. Buffalo Sabres vs 6. Florida Panthers
- Buffalo in 6. Sabres scored the most goals in the conference and have a deep team with a great goalie. The Panthers have always been talented but they're cold (2-5-3 in last 10) and on the year actually allowed more goals than they scored. Don't think they have it in them to pull the upset off.

4. Washington Capitals vs 5. Pittsburgh Penguins
- Washington in 7. Hard to see either of these teams losing in the 1st round. The Pens have a lot of firepower but the Caps are solid all around after picking up some nice veteran pieces over the course of the year. I'll give the edge to the Caps because Brodeur is a lot better than Toskala right now and the Caps are a much more experienced team.

Howe Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Minnesota Wild vs 8. Edmonton Oilers
- Edmonton in 7. This might not be the most talented version of the Wild from the past few years, but they've still been a top 2 team in the conference from start to finish. Meanwhile the Oilers seem like an extremely changed team. In past years they've always had a ton of stars but not a lot of depth. Now they feature great depth but no skater rated higher than 77OV. There's no point in doing these unless I'm going to pick an upset somewhere so I'll pick it here. Oilers play great, led by deadline pickups Straka and Shanahan, and sneak by the Wild.

2. San Jose Sharks vs 7. Nashville Predators
- San Jose in 4. The Sharks are just too good for the Preds right now. They've scored 91 more goals than their opponents this season which is pretty ridiculous. They've got very good top line talent and a good mix of vets and younger guys. Nashville's top 4-5 players have been as good as any teams' but beyond those guys I don't think they have enough depth to pull off the upset.

3. Chicago Blackhawks vs 6. Detroit Red Wings
- Chicago in 6. Not sure about this series at all. The Hawks had a very good season and most would say have a more talented team than the Wings. Lecavalier is the best player on either team and has been good for the Hawks since they traded for him. They're pretty deep and have a decent goalie. I was tempted to pick the Wings because they've been a good playoff team lately. But I just don't think they're deep enough to make another run this year, and one of the guys that carried them at this point last season was Jokinen and he's moved on.

4. St.Louis Blues vs 5. Anaheim Ducks
- Anaheim in 5. Another close series but I'll go with the Ducks here. They look to be deeper and have better top line players. Lidstrom is awesome, Nabakov is one of the best goalies, and if my memory is correct Heatley was amazing for the Canes last playoffs before getting hurt? The Blues have had a very good season and I think they'll get better next year. But I think the Ducks are a little better right now.

[KevanGuy]

Gretzky Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Toronto Maple Leafs vs 8. Tampa Bay Lightning
2. Atlanta Thrashers vs 7. Carolina Hurricanes
3. Buffalo Sabres vs 6. Florida Panthers
4. Washington Capitals vs 5. Pittsburgh Penguins

Howe Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Minnesota Wild vs 8. Edmonton Oilers
2. San Jose Sharks vs 7. Nashville Predators
3. Chicago Blackhawks vs 6. Detroit Red Wings
4. St.Louis Blues vs 5. Anaheim Ducks

[HelloHockeyFans]

Gretzky Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Toronto Maple Leafs vs 8. Tampa Bay Lightning
2. Atlanta Thrashers vs 7. Carolina Hurricanes
3. Buffalo Sabres vs 6. Florida Panthers
4. Washington Capitalsvs 5. Pittsburgh Penguins

Howe Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Minnesota Wild vs 8. Edmonton Oilers
2. San Jose Sharks vs 7. Nashville Predators
3. Chicago Blackhawks vs 6. Detroit Red Wings
4. St.Louis Blues vs 5. Anaheim Ducks

[Mango]

Gretzky Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Toronto Maple Leafs vs 8. Tampa Bay Lightning - I think this one will go to seven games. However, the Leafs had a great regular season and that's what they'll pull through with.
2. Atlanta Thrashers vs 7. Carolina Hurricanes - Carolina was a hot team in last year's playoffs. They'll pull of an upset.
3. Buffalo Sabres vs 6. Florida Panthers - in five games
4. Washington Capitals vs 5. Pittsburgh Penguins - The Caps had a great second half of the season in the CPHL. I could see this happening in the playoffs too. Seven games though...

Howe Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Minnesota Wild vs 8. Edmonton Oilers - this should be a great battle. Wild win in the 7th game in double OT. The Oilers give them a scare.
2. San Jose Sharks vs 7. Nashville Predators - upset in five
3. Chicago Blackhawks vs 6. Detroit Red Wings - it goes the distance to seven games.
4. St.Louis Blues vs 5. Anaheim Ducks - strong Ducks squad takes the Blues to the max.

[looooob]

Gretzky Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Toronto Maple Leafs vs 8. Tampa Bay Lightning. in 6. Lightning push hard, but TML too strong
2. Atlanta Thrashers vs 7. Carolina Hurricanes in 6, Thrashers always tough
3. Buffalo Sabres vs 6. Florida Panthers--defer
4. Washington Capitals vs 5. Pittsburgh Penguins. pick'em in 7

Howe Conference Quarterfinals (Best of 7)

1. Minnesota Wild vs 8. Edmonton Oilers in 3
2. San Jose Sharks vs 7. Nashville Predators in 7, could be the wacky SIM upset of round 1
3. Chicago Blackhawks vs 6. Detroit Red Wings in 6, despite the Wings newfound depth
4. St.Louis Blues vs 5. Anaheim Ducks again, pick'em in 7