NHL 2013 Playoff talk; adult industry picks the Stanley Cup winner
 

Who's going to win this year? Make your pick. Shortened season, but that's over now. The playoffs are unaffected by what happened earlier with the lockout. Now it's go time.


Since my Winnipeg Jets didn't quite make the cut I'm going with my other favorite, a team that has a bunch of guys from Winnipeg on their roster (who just happen to be several of their best players as it turns out). I've been a Blackhawks fan for a long time now, wouldn't mind seeing a Pittsburgh-Chicago finale. But while Chicago faces Minnesota Wild in the opening round, the Pens take on the Islanders who have been a tough team lately.

Nice to see Toronto finally making the post-season. The last time they did this there was no ipad, youtube didn't exist, and no one had a clue what twitter was. I don't see them making it much farther than the first few rounds but you never know. They face Boston first.

Montreal vs Ottawa - Hard to call this one, could go either way.

Vancouver vs San Jose - This will be a good series.

Washington Caps - NY Rangers - Honestly I'm not sure I really care much about who wins this one. The eastern conf. may however very well come to a showdown between Cindy Crosby and Alice Ovechkin. :D

Make your pick for who's going to win it all this year.

Chicago looks good,If Ovechkin keeps playing the way he is,the Caps might be a contender.I'm guessing Chicago and the Penguins and Chicago taking it in 7

As a Pens fan I would love to see them win it all. Even if I am being unbiased I think they are the favorite to come out of the East. They are getting healthy and this team has depth and a ton of talent. Without Crosby they are a great team. He is skating again and could play soon. With him they are flat out scary.

In the West the sexy pick is the Blackhawks, but I wouldn't sleep on the Ducks or the defending champs and the Wild made some moves to get better. Even with all that said I think, baring injury, it will be a Blackhawks/Pens final which could be great.

The addition of Iginla took them from one of the premier contenders to an almost unstoppable force. I guess the question is which team will be the 'immoveable object' to that force?

Funny how they went from 'longshot' back in the year they last won the cup to 'sexy pick'. :D At the start of the playoffs the year they won I hit the boards and posted that they were the "dark horse" pick, and a lot of people dismissed them as having little to no chance. Having been a fan of theirs for several years before that I saw them as the powerhouse team they were, and was of course proven right. That powerhouse is back this year, only now everyone else knows it as well.


Ducks are definitely not to be taken lightly. Nor the Kings I suspect.

100% agree with that. Tough to call but I hope the Sens can pull it off. I'm doing a playoff pool draft tonight and I'm hoping to get Karlsson so I need them to advance. Go Sens Go!

I was rooting for Winnipeg to get in. So close. Hopefully next year.

In the end I'll go with the safe bet and pick Chicago over Pittsburgh. Though based on last year anything can happen.

penguins are the strongest team in there but thats if they survive the first round.. current playoff set up is stupid.. 8th place teams with nothing to lose banging up good players by playing dirty negates any advantage they are supposed to have. The bottom 4 teams should bang it out in the first round instead..

It was their 5 game losing streak last month that served as their undoing. Had they won just one, or better yet two of those games, they'd have been in.

Next year indeed. Watch out new central division. The Jets are coming for you.

Can't figure out why people say Crosby/Ovechkin aren't tough. Players of that ilk take 5 to 10 times the abuse of everyone else out there every night they hit the ice, playoffs or not.

I didn't say they weren't tough. People also like to bust the chops of the best players, and these two all but invite that chop-busting with some of the other things they often do or in the way they act or are percieved.

Please take no offense by my busting of their chops. :pimp


Actually it's some of the announcers faults. The way they say their names sometimes sounds like they're saying 'Alice' and 'Cindy'.

Pens will probably win It. I'm rooting for Red Wings though as usual.

lol, quite right.

Crosby is simply phenomenal - can't wait for him to get back out and can't believe he came that close to winning the Art Ross - even though I am stoked St Louis won it because that just makes all my fellow old dudes look good.

I want the Pens, but I think Anaheim might be the ones this year to skate with Lord Stanley.

I think the addition of Morrow was big too. He will be hungry and is willing to get in there and grind which is a big need in the playoffs. With Neal, Letang and Malkin all healthy again and Crosby looking like he is close this team could put a third line on the ice that is better than many team's first line. That kind of depth is scary.

They look unstoppable, but every year there is at least one series where a hot goaltender stands on his head and his team pulls off an upset. It could happen.

I've been a Pittsburgh "fan" since my days of playing N.H.L.P.A. 93 on the Sega Genesis.

So yeah, Go Penguins ! Haha...

NHL since the salary cap has become the NFL, parity, which is a good thing and a bad thing. Every year now there are numerous teams that have a realistic shot at winning the Cup, it comes down to what team/goaltender gets on a roll in the spring - the way the Kings did last year, as an 8th seed.

Chicago
Anaheim
Vancouver
St Louis
LA Kings
Pittsburgh
Boston

One of those teams will win it but wouldn't shock me if teams like Ottawa and the Rangers did what the Kings did.

Yah, ya' really narrowed it down there a bit, didn't ya, eh...

:winkwink:

Anyone but Boston or the Rangers, just as a matter of principle as far as I am concerned...

It's the year of the Red Wings, they've got their shit together for the playoffs :)

Listening to the buzz out there it seems no one is talking about the chances teams like the Blues, Sharks, Minnesota Wild or the Islanders have. It's been my experience that the teams no one sees coming are the ones who often blow the doors off everyone they meet and surprise everyone.

And I see by the poll no one has voted for those teams yet either. Interesting.

west is hard to call, the east i'd be shocked if the pens or habs didn't make it to the cup series

Morrow was a valuable addition as well, I focused my comment mainly on Iginla due to the scoring power and offense he brings to the Pens' already formidable table. In my forethoughts was the chemistry he and Crosby had gelling during the last Olympics in Vancouver, where I could see the two of them had something that doesn't happen often. I recall thinking "if those two ever end up on the same team, possibly on the same line, they would be like the Edmonton Oilers of the 80's."

We'll see if I'm right soon enough.

Two teams that won't win:

Detroit
Vancouver

sorry, but Detroit is done, their time is over, they just don't have it any more. Vancouver has had their chance, and then another, they just can't keep it together.

I'm an Ottawa fan, and would love to see any of the Canadian teams make the finals, but I don't see it, either Ottawa or Montreal + Toronto will be out in the first round, and the survivor likely won't make it past the second.

if nothing bad ever happened to anyone I would say the Penguins were a lock, the are so dominant right now, but they could very well be missing the two best players on the planet by the end of the first round. They could very well be without their 4 best players for that matter, they seem to go down like flies. Sid is the best talent in the game, but I highly doubt he will ever play a full season again.

Penguins get healthy and stay healthy and they should win, if not I think Chicago will take it.

hell if i know

my only concern with pittsburgh winning is goals against.. they had a LOT of goals scored against them last year in the playoffs..

Yeah, those two were great together in the Olympics and Ignala seems born again since joining the Pen. Between all of these guys the sheer firepower this team can run out it scary. They can put two powerplay lineups out that are both capable of being amazing.

chicago blackhawks

Pittsburgh will win against Chicago

+1
but cant stand Kane:2 cents:

so far the games are good!!

I suspect you're right about the 4 Canadian teams not getting far, but if any of them has the depth and stamina and experience to get to the cup series it's Vancouver. It's because of the failures you pointed out that they so desperately need redemption.

But of the Loafs, Habs or Sens, any one of them have the talent to surprise everyone. I don't have much faith they'll do it, but they do have it. I'm no TO fan (haven't been since after the Sittler years) but I wouldn't mind seeing them make it past the first round at least. Like the Jets I think they need to shuffle around some guys and add/trade a few last key pieces before they'll truely be cup-worthy.

habs will go to the conf finals against pitt, i still think the hawks should go to the finals. st louis game looks good, kings i think are out this year

I don't know, but if the NHL playoffs weren't fixed, I'd be surprised.

I voted Ottawa.

So opening night of the playoffs, Chicago, St. Louis, and Anaheim all took their first wins.

Chi 2, Minnesota 1 (OT)
StL 2, LA 1 (OT)
Anaheim 3, Det 1

A bunch of series start tonight. PVR set to record most of them, will watch the Leafs-Bruins in real time though. Well, close to real time, I still need to FFwd through the yapping and commercials or I'll go crazy.

Night 2's game results;

Bruins 4
Leafs 1

Sharks 3
Canuckleheads 1

Penguins 5
Islanders 0


I'm surprised no one has anything to say about Vancouver losing. Or TO for that matter, but I guess the shellaquing the Islanders took from the Pens comes as no surprise.

Too early to write off anyone yet though.

as much as i would love for the LA Kings to win it! heck have bernier win it this time in goal, aint gonna happen..but then again..you never know

I was a little shocked Vancouver lost at home like that especially considering how the Sharks always seem to choke in the playoffs. I thought the Isle would put up a bigger fight, but it is still early. However, they are a young team going up against what is likely the deepest, most talented team in the NHL and they are likely close to adding the best player in the world to that roster. I can see how they might be intimidated.

Wow I'm the only one who's voted for Washington! I'm pretty sure they'll go to final against the hawks.

Not sure about that but it sure is fun to watch Ovie hitting his stride again...

Ovie has indeed hit his stride, the Caps are looking pretty good in this series so far. Caps lead the Rangers 2-0 in the series.

Montreal-Ottawa -- Series tied 1-1. With regard to "the hit" my take on it is that it was a clean hit, there was no interferance as Eller had puck possession. If there is fault it lies with the guy who made the pass and to the guy who had his head down in mid-ice inviting a hit. I think the resulting penalty and one game suspension was enough, Shannahan didn't have to add a second game to it. I played hockey for 20 years, I know a clean hit when I see one.

Vancouver-San Jose --- SJ leads series 2-0. The Canucks are digging themselves a nice little hole. Luongo is playing great, I am never sure why their fans are always on him when they lose but when they're winning he's the greatest. Newsflash Vancouver, it isn't your goalie, it's the lack of performance and production from the top forwards.

Toronto-Boston --- Series tied 1-1. Nice to see the Loafs come to life and take a split going back to TO. It will be interesting to see how the next two games play out.

I'm also watching the IIHF world hockey championships, at least every game Canada and team USA have. But I DVR every NHL playoff game as well, it's like a veritable hockeygasm going on right now. I love it. :D

After a loss at home and a scare today it is pretty clear that the Pens will need to play better if they are going to go very far in these playoffs. I think they can still get by the Islanders on talent alone, but if they don't tighten up defensively they will have trouble.

My bet would be Chicago, Pitt is tough but goaltending will be an issue.

I half suspect that part of the problem may be that they have taken the Isles too lightly. The loss was a huge wakeup call they needed.