Sens at Land's End

The playoffs start today! I may have emailed my prof to tell her I’m sick and can’t come to class because the Sens game is at 4 and I’m sorry but I’ll be damned if I’m going to miss any of it. Playoffs!!

Ah, the intensity and excitement of the hunt for the Stanley Cup. It’s always fun to watch. Generally, I find that I come out of the playoffs with new respect for certain teams, and new and bitter hatred for others.

The first team I’ve built a good rage against this season is, conveniently, the Penguins, a team I actually quite liked before and had a pretty good time watching this season. If they really did throw their last game because they wanted to play the Sens then I think they’re a bunch of little bitches. They gave up first place because they were too scared to play the big bad Flyers — so afraid that they even sat Crosby against them in the last game of the season — and instead they want to take what they seem to think is an easy route to the second round through the Sens, who haven’t been playing well. It makes me angry. Hopefully it makes the Sens angry too. Knowing them, though, it’s probably just the final death knell for their self-confidence.

Despite the fact that I have seen no signs of the good Sens from last year recently, I still feel optimistic today. I think they’re going to win, and I’m also picking them to win the series, though basically everyone else on earth is picking against them. I can’t not pick the Sens.

Here’s who I think will win the first round:

Eastern Conference

1) Montreal Canadiens vs 8 ) Boston Bruins: Montreal has totally dominated the Bruins this year and I’m guessing they’ll win this series too. The Habs are pretty lucky here because I think Boston is the only team they would beat without much trouble. Montreal in 6.

2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs 7) Ottawa Senators: Experience counts in the playoffs. The Sens have it, the Penguins don’t. I also have the feeling part of the reason the Sens were so bad this season is that they were just biding their time until the playoffs. There’s no doubt in my mind that if they play the way they can, they are the better team here. It may turn out they’ve picked up too many bad habits over the season to recover now, but I think they can pull it off. Sens in 6.

3) Washington Capitals vs 6) Philadelphia Flyers: This is two teams that weren’t in the playoffs at all last season. The Caps have been so good lately and the Flyers have really struggled. I think that will continue. I’m anxious to see what Ovechkin is like in the post-season. Hopefully the Flyers won’t kill him. Caps in 6.

4) New Jersey Devils vs 5) New York Rangers: This one could end up being quite the goalie battle. Normally I’d say it’s crazy not to pick Martin Brodeur in a goalie battle, but he did not play very well towards the end of the season. If Lundqvist plays up to his full capabilities and the Rangers’ veterans step up, I think New York is the better team. Rangers in 6.

Western Conference

1) Detroit Red Wings vs 8 ) Nashville Predators: Well … unless Nashville has some kind of big surprise up their sleeves, this should be a cakewalk for the Wings. Detroit in 5.

2) San Jose Sharks vs 7) Calgary Flames: The Flames weren’t a sure thing even to make the playoffs. The Sharks won 14 of their last 17 games. This might be a tough series, but I will be surprised if the Sharks don’t win. Sharks in 6.

3) Minnesota Wild vs 6) Colorado Avalanche: I haven’t seen much of either team this year, but I’m thinking the Avs are too old to deal with the Wild, who are too rough. Minnesota in 6.

4) Anaheim Ducks vs 5) Dallas Stars: The Stars were REALLY bad towards the end of the season. Really, really bad. A lot of people seem to think this is going to be a long series, and I hope that turns out to be true because of my passionate hatred of Anaheim, but I just don’t see it happening. As much as it pains me to do so, I am saying the Ducks will win this in 5.

Now, due to superstitions regarding hair removal during the playoffs, I will go shave my legs.