Round One: Anaheim @ San Jose

The Ducks will take this one. Second biggest upset of the year...

beedub wrote:Yawn, is this one over yet. Has San Jose taken it in 5? Did Anaheim get their token game?

That's all Anaheim is going to get, one game. San Jose as a team will absolutely riddle Hillier and Co.

Hey Bee, did you watch any Ducks games this year?

SJ is just too good and Anaheim, who might still be a decent team and a tough team to play against, will just not match up against the Sharks.

Sharks in 5

davetherave wrote:

beedub wrote:Yawn, is this one over yet. Has San Jose taken it in 5? Did Anaheim get their token game?

That's all Anaheim is going to get, one game. San Jose as a team will absolutely riddle Hillier and Co.

Hey Bee, did you watch any Ducks games this year?

Nope can't say that I did. I have seen some San Jose games though, and while they did not win every game, any team that faces this scary a team for more than a game at a time will not stand a chance.

Now what I absolutely cannot wait for is San Jose- Detroit. It'd have to be the conference final. WooW! Now that wil be rock'm knock'm hockey at it's best

beedub wrote:

davetherave wrote:

beedub wrote:Yawn, is this one over yet. Has San Jose taken it in 5? Did Anaheim get their token game?

That's all Anaheim is going to get, one game. San Jose as a team will absolutely riddle Hillier and Co.

Hey Bee, did you watch any Ducks games this year?

Nope can't say that I did. I have seen some San Jose games though, and while they did not win every game, any team that faces this scary a team for more than a game at a time will not stand a chance.

Now what I absolutely cannot wait for is San Jose- Detroit. It'd have to be the conference final. WooW! Now that wil be rock'm knock'm hockey at it's best

That assumes SJ and the Wings win their initial rounds LOL.

I have watched the Ducks often this year...they have improved their team significantly. IMHO they are an excellent match for the Sharks.

wprager wrote:This is probably the match-up that Detroit loves. Whoever survives this round may be barely able to stand up by the time they reach the Conference Finals.

I picked the Sharks in 6, but it could well go 7. Anaheim has played well lately, but the Sharks are just a little better overall. It'll probably go down to whose goalie steals more games.

Bang on. Whoever the winner faces in round 2 is going to get a pretty tired, beat up opponent.

It's easy to imagine every single one of these games could go to OT...maybe multiple OT.

Anybody remember last years' marathon games in the West?

...and the Wings-Pens game that went on forever?

:##:

Avs' tough guy Ian Laperriere, in an interview today with Michel Villeneuve on CKAC Corus Sports Radio, announced he is betting on the Ducks to beat the Sharks...hmm...

SensFan71 wrote:SJ is just too good and Anaheim, who might still be a decent team and a tough team to play against, will just not match up against the Sharks.

Sharks in 5

Watch any of their games?

SJ in 6. Both Anaheim goalies will see the ice in this series. Anaheim will do whatever they can to unload Giguere this summer, unless he carries the team on his back through a couple of rounds.

dennycrane wrote:SJ in 6. Both Anaheim goalies will see the ice in this series. Anaheim will do whatever they can to unload Giguere this summer, unless he carries the team on his back through a couple of rounds.

Jonas Hiller has a strong objection to your dismissal of him LOL...

Have you forgotten the Ducks are just two seasons away from their last Stanley Cup?

Do Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan and Selanne not engender your respect?

Do you underestimate the talent of kids like Christensen, Nokelainen and Whitney?

Do you mistakenly write off Niedermayer, Pronger and Beauchemin?

The special skills of George Parros?

And how about the Cup winning coaching of Randy Carlyle?

Because Todd McLellan and the Sharks, don't take them as lightly as you do...not for a second.
cool)

davetherave wrote:

dennycrane wrote:SJ in 6. Both Anaheim goalies will see the ice in this series. Anaheim will do whatever they can to unload Giguere this summer, unless he carries the team on his back through a couple of rounds.

Jonas Hiller has a strong objection to your dismissal of him LOL...

Have you forgotten the Ducks are just two seasons away from their last Stanley Cup?

Do Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan and Selanne not engender your respect?

Do you underestimate the talent of kids like Christensen, Nokelainen and Whitney?

Do you mistakenly write off Niedermayer, Pronger and Beauchemin?

The special skills of George Parros?

And how about the Cup winning coaching of Randy Carlyle?

Because Todd McLellan and the Sharks, don't take them as lightly as you do...not for a second.
cool)

All of the players and the coach combined to be better than the same amount of teams that they were worse than.

Anaheim has been phenomenal for 6 weeks. San Jose has been phenomenal for 6 months. This is a tough draw for San Jose, and this could very well be the toughest series they have on their way to the Cup. San Jose will not have an easy time of this, but they will win.

dennycrane wrote:

davetherave wrote:

dennycrane wrote:SJ in 6. Both Anaheim goalies will see the ice in this series. Anaheim will do whatever they can to unload Giguere this summer, unless he carries the team on his back through a couple of rounds.

Jonas Hiller has a strong objection to your dismissal of him LOL...

Have you forgotten the Ducks are just two seasons away from their last Stanley Cup?

Do Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan and Selanne not engender your respect?

Do you underestimate the talent of kids like Christensen, Nokelainen and Whitney?

Do you mistakenly write off Niedermayer, Pronger and Beauchemin?

The special skills of George Parros?

And how about the Cup winning coaching of Randy Carlyle?

Because Todd McLellan and the Sharks, don't take them as lightly as you do...not for a second.
cool)

All of the players and the coach combined to be better than the same amount of teams that they were worse than.

Anaheim has been phenomenal for 6 weeks. San Jose has been phenomenal for 6 months. This is a tough draw for San Jose, and this could very well be the toughest series they have on their way to the Cup. San Jose will not have an easy time of this, but they will win.

Denny, spoken with the dignity of the Captain of the Starship Enterprise...

Live Long And Prosper!

PS don't know if you've checked closely, but Ryan Getzlaf IS a Vulcan LOL.

Should be a GREAT series.

:D: :D: :D: :D:

San Jose in 7

sennies1980 wrote:San Jose in 7

If it goes seven...and Anaheim wins one at the Shark Tank...it's a tossup.

dennycrane wrote:
All of the players and the coach combined to be better than the same amount of teams that they were worse than.

Anaheim has been phenomenal for 6 weeks. San Jose has been phenomenal for 6 months. This is a tough draw for San Jose, and this could very well be the toughest series they have on their way to the Cup. San Jose will not have an easy time of this, but they will win.

That's a pretty darn good assessment of the series. Perhaps I might give SJ the series, but it'll be a tough one for them, much tougher than most think.

(Anaheim in 7).

ESPN's Pierre Lebrun has this to say:

The NHL's first all-California playoff series in 40 years should be a doozy. Not since the Los Angeles Kings beat the Oakland Seals in seven games in the 1969 Western Conference quarterfinals have two California clubs met in the NHL playoffs.

You have to pity the Sharks. What do they get for having a franchise-record regular season and capturing the Presidents' Trophy as the league's No. 1 overall team? A meeting with a rival Ducks team that scorched the earth in the final month of the regular season, posting a 10-2-1 record, including a 5-2 win at San Jose on April 4. The Sharks returned the favor the next day with a 3-2 win at Anaheim, a game that ended with a mini-brawl that saw six minor penalties and five misconducts handed out.

Oh, yeah … these two teams don't like each other.

This is a series that features two of the most successful post-lockout clubs. Over the past four seasons, they have five 100-point seasons and three Pacific Division titles between them.

More here...and a great read:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2009/news?columnist=lebrun_pierre&id=4062954

This one is a doosy; and when I take into account Anaheim's current odds according to Vegas, I could put this in Anaheim in 7; but I think this series will literally come down to 3 things:

1) coaching
2) who wants it more; more specifically, who's willing to go the extra mile (ie sacrifice their body for example) for the team; and
3) goaltending