I went 1-3 this round, and that is actually pretty good compared to a lot of people who work in this industry. I've talked to so many hockey people over the past few days and everyone is shocked about how this round went down. Lets look at what happened... ----
Lets start with the sweep. Anaheim beat Colorado in four games. Sure, a lot of people saw Anaheim winning this series, but in four games? I think we can officially blame the losses of Forsberg and Foote for the demise of the Avs. Those two guys are huge veteran leaders, who had a lot of skill, and played very well for Colorado over the years. Replacing them with guys like Brisbois and Turgeon isn't how things should have been done. Six weeks ago I would have told you that Sakic and Blake would both be back, but now, I don't think either man is a lock to re-sign with the Avs. Their legendary GM just stepped down, that shows the state of this team. The Ducks played great, and will be very dangerous for many years down the road. This team is too young to be this good, they're surprising a lot of people ----
Next we have Buffalo beating Ottawa. I called this one, and the way Ottawa lost this one, they may have caused a lot of internal damage. With guys like Redden and Chara UFA's come July 1st, who wants to come back to Ottawa. The same group of guys has dominated the regular season for several years now, yet they've done very little in the post-season. That being said, this was more Buffalo's fault than Ottawa's. Buffalo was getting offense, defense, and the best goaltending they've seen since Hasek (Ottawa wishes they had a little Hasek in this series...). -----
New Jersey had won 15 in a row, who would have thought they'd be eliminated in five games? Where was Brodeur, did he not play? Once again, this loss may influence a big name pending UFA to leave, and that is Elias. This guy has huge market value, and expect a lot of teams to be hard after him (yes Leaf fans, Toronto will be one of them). Cam Ward played fantastic, and everyone seemed to step up at the right time for the Hurricanes. -----
Finally, Edmonton coming back from a 2-0 deficit to take the series 4-2. Who is this Pisani guy? Well I knew who he was, and as a Leaf fan I kept saying to myself, "This guy is a UFA on July 1st! Woo!", but I think it's safe to say he's saying. Edmonton got Pronger for a reason, and this is it. Roloson has played amazing, and the youth in Edmonton is excelling. Smyth is also playing a hell of a series. ------
So we get into Round 3. I say Buffalo over Carolina in 6 games, and I say Edmonton over Anaheim in 7. Four young teams left, get ready for the most exciting hockey you've ever seen! ---
also, sorry for the spacing of this, this blog has issues, i'm in the process of moving blogs!
