Round Two

The Flyers (shit) and Sharks both won their decisive game seven's last night, officially ending an exciting first round. Here are the match-ups for round two.

Montreal vs Philadelphia
Pittsburgh vs New York Rangers

Detroit vs Colorado
San Jose vs Dallas

I'm really excited for these match-ups. Montreal and Philadelphia usually play entertaining games and they have a history of action packed playoff series. They both had seven game first round series, so neither team will be more well-rested than the other. They each have potent offenses and block a lot of shots on defense. I'd give Carey Price the edge over Marty Biron in goal based on his resume in playoffs in lower levels, and the fact that the last two Montreal rookies to start in the playoffs were these guys named Ken Dryedn (1971) and Patrick Roy (1986). Guess what? The Habs won the Stanley Cup both times, and both goaltenders went on to Hall of Fame careers. I hope history repeats itself here.

The Rangers and Penguins are Atlantic Division rivals, and it features a high powered Pens offense against a stingy Rangers defense; however, the Pens defense is the most underrated part of their game, and the Rangers offense came alive in the first round against New Jersey. This one could go either way.

Colorado and Detroit used to be THE rivalry in hockey, but it has gradually died down over the years as players have moved on from the clubs or retired from hockey all together. I don't like the odds for my boys from the Mile High City, as they only scored two or three goals against the Wings in four regular season games. Hopefully these games are more entertaining than they were during the season, as they were very one sided in Detroit's favor everywhere but the scoreboard, which had very low scores on it. Keep in mind, the Avs did not have Peter Forsberg, Ryan Smyth, Joe Sakic, and Paul Stastny for much of the regular season. They will be keys on offense if the Avs are going to put up a fight.

I don't have too many thoughts about the San Jose and Dallas series. Dallas looked very strong in their first round demolition of defending champs Anaheim, and San Jose was pushed to the brink against a Calgary squad who they were supposed to dispatch of easily. Many experts picked San Jose to win it all, but I think they will be lucky to make it out of this round alive.

The first games of the second round are Thursday night...not sure of the start times yet.