2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs Thread

[duckfever8]

With only a couple weeks left in the season, I feel it's time to start up a thread about the Playoffs. How's your team going to do? Will they even make it in? Who's going to win the Cup? Talk about it here.

My team (Kings) is likely going to the playoffs, but they need to step it up a bit if they want to stay in the hunt.

[Piderman]

To be honest we will more than likely finish 5th. That being said if we can get past either jersey or the pens, then we should have no prob winning the conference. I really wanna see Ottawa vs sabres, thats always fun to watch

[BurghFan]

I'd like to say the Pens will repeat this year, but they haven't been able to beat Jersey (0-6) or Washington (0-4) this year. Unless they somehow avoid both teams (probably highly unlikely), it is going to be very tough for them to get back to the Cup and close the Igloo with a bang. The West looks wide open at this point with possibly 7 of 8 playoff teams having 100+ points.

[Money99]

I think this year is probably the hardest to predict.
All of the top teams have major question marks.
And the 3-8 seeds all have flaws too.

In the East my favorites are Pittsburgh and New Jersey. Washington is a lot of fun to watch but defense and goaltending still win Cups and that's the Caps weakest points.
Pittsburgh is a hard working team with enough scoring, but I worry they might still be tired from the last 2 seasons.
And New Jersey is always strong but will 'playoff-choke Marty 'show up again? If he does, I can see the Devils losing in the first round.
But the East is wide open. Anyone can win it.

In the West, Chicago is definitely a favorite but like Washington, they're goaltending is suspect. However, I think their D will stay strong and Niemi is good enough to get them all the way.
SJ? Depends on whether they decide to play with balls. If they do, they could win it. Then again, if Nabby continues to choke, they could be first round victims.
Detroit will be competitive but you never know with rookie goalies. And this team has played more games in the last 3 seasons than any other. I have to believe that's going to catch up with them at some point.
The one team in the West that scares me is Phoenix. They have nothing to lose, play super boring (but effective) defense and have a rockstar for a goalie.

Both conferences are up in the air.
But if I had to bet on it, I'd say Chicago-Pittsburgh with Chicago winning in 6.

[Scottdau]

I say the Sharks in 6 over NJ. I agree Hank with your predictions. It will fun too watch all the games.

[Fiddy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Money99

Washington is a lot of fun to watch but defense and goaltending still win Cups and that's the Caps weakest points. Pittsburgh is a hard working team with enough scoring, but I worry they might still be tired from the last 2 seasons. Both conferences are up in the air. But if I had to bet on it, I'd say Chicago-Pittsburgh with Chicago winning in 6.

spot on for the caps and pens points..

pens have had a long last 3 years and even 4 years back when making the playoffs for first time in a long time. when will they run out of gas?

if the pens made it back to the finals, that would be great. to play the hawks to close down the igloo. man, it would be great if they could win it on home ice.. just once!! highly unlikely though..

[tyler289]

Everyone talks about how the Caps don't have enough defense to win a Cup, but seem to forget that the Penguins have given up more goals than Washington.

The only two teams that concern me in the East are the Penguins (history, strange officiating trend that has had them with a PP advantage or tie in every game against us for the last two years) and the Devils (because they give us a real hard time). The rest of the teams I think DC could beat in a series, though the Sens have really had our number this year.

[DrJones]

Quote: Originally Posted by Money99

In the East my favorites are Pittsburgh and New Jersey. Washington is a lot of fun to watch but defense and goaltending still win Cups and that's the Caps weakest points.

Ah, the good ol' "Defense wins championships" cliche, which is why of course the Saints had no shot at winning the Super Bowl this year. Let's take a look at the Stanley Cup finalists from the last 5 seasons (winner in bold).

2009

Pittsburgh - Offensive rank: 6th, Defensive rank: 18th
Detroit - Off: 1st, Def: 19th

2008

Detroit - Off: 3rd, Def: 1st
Pittsburgh - Off: 7th, Def: 8th

2007

Anaheim - Off: 6th, Def: 7th
Ottawa - Off: 2nd, Def: 10th

2006

Carolina - Off: 3rd, Def: 18th
Edmonton - Off: 13th, Def: 13th

2004

Tampa Bay - Off: 3rd, Def: 10th
Calgary - Off: 19th, Def: 3rd

I count one team that relied on defence and goaltending to reach the finals. And they lost.

In the last 30 years, I'd say there are 2 teams that won Cups primarily on the strength of defence/goaltending ('86 Habs, '03 Devils) and 2 others that you can make a good case for ('95 Devils, '99 Stars). Off the top of my head, I can think of 9-10 teams who won with an all-out attack. Not that defence and goaltending aren't important, but can you win a Cup as an offence-first team? Of course.