A Quasi-Objective Look at the NHL Playoffs

(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Because I know you care so much, here's one fan's preview and predictions for the anxiously-awaited Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Or, as they're known in smaller circles, the best postseason in American sports!

Boston vs. Montreal

Boston comes out this season, runs away with the East right around New Year's, and gets to face...its arch-nemesis. Talk about poor luck.

Well, while this is not the year in which Boston breaks it's Cup drought, it is the year where they finally conquer the Canadiens. Tim Thomas and a great if underrated defense will not let Alexei Kovalev and Co. get their engines revved enough to win more than a game or two.

Bruins in five.

Washington vs. New York

We've all witnessed the Rangers' remarkable turnaround from playoff afterthought to a team nobody wants to play. Love him or hate him, you have to trace that back to the acquisition of Sean Avery. If any player can get under Alex Ovechkin's skin this season, it's him.

And we can't forget about the Capitals' poor luck with recycled Montreal goaltenders (yep, Cristobal Huet, that was an '08 playoffs reference), which doesn't bode too well for Jose Theodore.

The Capitals might have the best player in the league, but the Rangers' defense and puck-possession abilities will be too much for even Ovie.

Rangers in six.

New Jersey vs. Carolina

The hottest team coming into the playoffs, Carolina, against the best goaltender ever in Martin Brodeur. Something has to give. And that something will be the Devils' inability to generate scoring chances when Zach Parise is not on the ice.

And while other trade deadline deals got more pub, nobody has meant more to his "new" team than Erik Cole's coming back to Carolina.

Hurricanes in six.

Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia

Take a moment to marvel at the Flyers' ability to choke away the fourth seed.

They had it all but locked up, with games in hand, just a week ago, only to lose it in the season's final period at home against the Rangers, who were playing for absolutely nothing.

Now, instead of getting skated around repeatedly in Game One at home, the Flyers will be forced to look comically slow on the road.

Don't expect the drubbing the Pens handed Philly in last year's East Finals, but expect the more talented team—and, with Marc-Andre Fleury rediscovering his game, the far better goaltender—to win convincingly.

Penguins in five.

San Jose vs. Anaheim

The Sharks, led by Joe Thornton and a slew of veteran defensemen that have all won Cups, did an admirable job of holding off all challengers en route to the Presidents Trophy. Now, they just have to beat the Ducks, who are riding a red-hot scoring streak into the playoffs and only two years removed from their own Cup run.

Adding to the excitement of this series is that these teams hate each other, and had the NHL marketed it at all this could easily be a reincarnation of the Red Wings-Avalanche rivalry of a decade ago.

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