That crashing sound you heard off in the distance was Ottawa's bandwagon, veering off the road and into the ditch.

For most of Game 5, the Senators looked like the Kanadian Keystone Kops. With the exception of two goals, one short-handed, by Daniel Alfredsson, the Sens' offense was just plain inept. Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley were mere wisps of steam in white-and-red jerseys. Ray Emery reached the limits of his skills. The defense in front of him spent too much time running around. Worst of all, Anaheim's Cup-winning goal was an echo of Edmonton's Steve Smith: Chris Phillips, skating out from behind the net, got too close to Emery at the right post, losing the puck in the goalie's skates as he returned to the crease. Emery didn't know where the puck was until it was across the line. Travis Moen, as the last Duck to touch the puck, will go down in history as "scoring" that goal.

For the Ducks, this game perfectly captured the style of play that got them to the finals. They beat the Senators to every loose puck, cycled well, and forced Ottawa into dumb penalties. They were ragged, occasionally sloppy, but took advantage of every opportunity. Jean-Sebastien Giguere had it fairly easy, facing only 13 shots, but with a lot of help from his D. Francois Beauchemin and Todd Marchant each stopped shots destined for empty nets behind Giguere.

All that was left was the jubilant dogpile in Giguere's crease, the roar of the standing-room-only crowd, the great tradition of the handshake line, and the best trophy presentation in professional sports. No owners, no presidents, no general managers. Just Gary Bettman having the Stanley Cup practically ripped out of his hands by Scott Niedermayer, who raised it in triumph for the fourth time in his career, then handed it to his brother Rob, who has just won his first. Then to Chris Pronger, who was one game away with the Oilers last year. Then to Teemu Selanne, in what may be the twilight of a stellar NHL career.

Pierre McGuire had two of the most stirring moments of the post-game celebration. First, he needed to give Selanne a minute to compose himself. McGuire caught up to Selanne just as he met his wife on the ice, and the Finn was overcome with emotion. When asked if this, his 14th NHL season, would be his last, Selanne simply answered, "I don't know." Later, when McGuire spoke to Chris Pronger, he asked why Pronger had missed so much ice time in the first period. Pronger revealed that he separated his shoulder on an early hit against the boards, and it was popping in and out of the socket. He played his regular shift through the second and third periods, lifted that Cup, and just to make crystal clear the heart it takes to win in the NHL, lifted his son into his arms as he told that story to Pierre.

And so another season of NHL hockey pours out its last drops of heart, sweat, and soul onto the Honda Center ice. A victory parade in Anaheim and a black tie affair to hand out awards in Toronto make a sweet coda. Then the next season gets rolling with the entry draft in Columbus on June 22-23.

October can't come soon enough.

I was hoping to write a lengthy, insightful preview of this series. A blitz at work and more Memorial Day cook-outs than you can shake a stick at have forced me to change my plans. Instead, I'll just give you the short, short version, my prediction, then wrap up the games as they're played.

If you had told me in November that Anaheim and Ottawa would play for the Cup, I'd tell you that you were half right. Anaheim got off to a torrid start this season, then weathered a storm of mid-season injuries, most notably to Chris Pronger, to finish with the 2 seed in the West. Ottawa, on the other hand, stumbled badly out of the gate. They staggered into January just barely ahead of .500, then went on a hot streak of their own. They were too far behind Buffalo to win the Northeast, but they were able to out-race the Penguins to the 4 seed in the East.

In the playoffs, the roles seem to have reversed a little bit. Anaheim has had moments of total disorganization, especially in the West finals against Detroit. Ottawa has decisively disposed of Pittsburgh, New Jersey, and Buffalo, each in 5 games.

I believe Ottawa has bigger question marks than Anaheim. Have the Senators truly been tested in these playoffs? The Pens were inexperienced, the Devils had no scoring depth, and Buffalo, for lack of a better word, collapsed. The Ducks may be the first team to truly challenge Ottawa this year. At the same time, however, Anaheim can't afford another game like Game 3 against the Red Wings. The Senators are too opportunistic for that.

In the end, I think Jean-Sebastien Giguere is far more likely to steal a game than Ray Emery, and that will be the tipping point of the entire series.

Prediction
Ducks in 7

Game 1
Well, now we know how Ottawa would handle an aggressive, physical opponent: Get beaten to loose pucks, suffer a 14 minute shot-on-goal blackout in the first and second periods, and watch their goaltender get burnt to a crisp. Anaheim had an uneven game. Sami Pahlsson may begin searching the world for a Phillip K. Dick Plot Device that can erase the second period from existence. Ryan Getzlaf was pretty much invisible, until he suddenly appeared in Ray Emery's kitchen. Getzlaf's game-tying goal never should have happened, but Emery got beat while moving laterally, as he usually does.

The Ducks seemed to have a better game plan: Forecheck aggressively on offense, bend without breaking on defense, and bank on Giguere's experience. If it wasn't for some odd bounces, the Senators could easily have been shut out in this game. They were pretty good when momentum had swung their way in the second, but they were overwhelmed when the ice was tilted in Anaheim's favor.

With the Ducks holding home-ice advantage, Ottawa will need to win at least one game in Honda Center. If they don't make Game 2 that road win, they may have to hope for Anaheim to have one of those bad games at Scotiabank Place. That's a dangerous situation to be in, so I expect Bryan Murray to have the Senators back on track Wednesday night.

Game 2
Emery almost stole it. For 2 1/2 periods, Razor was out of his mind. For much of the second period, he had to be, because Anaheim's attack was overwhelming the Senators. He was finally bested when Pahlsson stole the puck from Heatley, charged to the net from the right wing, and snapped a quick shot to the far post while Joe Corvo was turned around. That goal, the only one of the game, came at 14:16 of the third.

The Ducks played a more disciplined game, with only 4 minor penalties. It helped that the refs swallowed their whistles sometime in the second. And the lack of goals wasn't for lack of hustle. It was a total team effort for the Ducks tonight.

Bryan Murray's roster moves were ineffective. Patrick Eaves was out, and Oleg Saprykin was brought in for experience. He racked up a barely-noticeable 7:31 of ice time. Breaking up the Alfredsson-Spezza-Heatley line did nothing for the Sens' offense, as Ottawa only got 16 shots on Giguere.

Now the scene shifts to Ottawa for a right proper Saturday night game, and the Senators' last chance to save this series.

Game 3
Bryan Murray got the bad game he was hoping for. The Ducks' propensity for bad penalties came back from the dead, giving Ottawa plenty of opportunities to get momentum back in this series. They didn't get any help from the replay officials. Argue all you want about Alfredsson's kick-in. It doesn't matter if it was intentional or not. When Sidney Crosby and Karel Rachunek had pucks bounce off their skates in previous rounds, the goals were disallowed. Suddenly, they're allowed in the finals? (For the record, I think it was a kick. Alfie changed the angle of his skate after he saw the puck coming.)

Chris Pronger's elbow was the icing on the cake. A one game suspension wasn't enough, especially after Pronger was suspended for the same thing in the Western Conference Finals. However, giving him the two or three games he deserved would create the impression that the league was trying to position the Senators to win the Cup.

Game 4
So much for Pronger's suspension. Ottawa threw everything and the kitchen sink at the Ducks in the first period, and Giguere came within 0.3 seconds of completely demoralizing the Sens. While Anaheim settled down and played a more disciplined game, Ottawa started diving and taking cheap shots, peaking with Alfie's intentional shot at Rob Niedermayer in the closing moments of the second period. Dustin Penner's easy 2-on-1 tap-in, on a beautiful pass from Teemu Selanne, pretty much sealed Ottawa's fate. Now the series returns to Anaheim, with the Ducks needing one more win to claim the Stanley Cup.

Setting the Stage

On Saturday, 20 May 2007, the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres played Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Buffalo. That game was on American broadcast television on NBC. The stakes were high in this game. An Ottawa victory would end the series, giving the Senators their first berth in the Stanley Cup Finals since the team’s pre-Original Six incarnation. For Buffalo, a win would force a Game 6 in Ottawa on Monday night.

NBC had scheduled coverage of the Preakness Stakes at 5:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time. The third period of the hockey game had already run long, and the score was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation. Without returning to the studio, the play-by-play announcer stated that, due to the Preakness, overtime of the Ottawa-Buffalo game would switch to Versus, except in the Buffalo viewing area.

Viewers who switched to Versus found that the cable network had not yet joined NBC’s intermission report. They were still showing a strongman competition. The intermission was almost over before Versus picked up the NBC feed.

NBC obviously had no way to predict how long overtime would last. This season, there has already been one three-overtime game. Last season, a playoff overtime lasted only 90 seconds. As it turned out, Ottawa scored to end the game before the post time of the Preakness itself. NBC was still covering the pre-race festivities and interviews, even after Versus had shown the Prince of Wales Trophy presentation and the post-game studio show.

How to Kill Your Already Low Ratings

By switching the hockey game from NBC to Versus, a number of viewers had no way of following the game:

• Viewers who don’t have cable or satellite were lost entirely, as the hockey game was taken off broadcast television.
• On Dish Network, Versus is only available on their $90/month top-tier package, the America’s “Everything” Pack. Dish customers who have a less-expensive package were lost.
• On DirecTV, Versus is available on their $45/month second-tier package, Choice Xtra. DirecTV customers who have the least-expensive Choice package were lost.
• Versus is owned by Comcast, so most Comcast customers have Versus in their basic service. On many other cable providers, Versus is part of an up-market package if it is available at all.

To compound the problem, high-definition viewers probably had to switch from NBC’s HD feed to the Versus standard-definition feed, since Versus HD has limited market penetration.

Meanwhile, NBC Universal’s other cable networks, which have better coverage than Versus, were showing the following at the 5:00 pm hour:

• USA: Movie: 50 First Dates
• Sci-Fi: A rerun of Heroes
• MSNBC: Documentary: Blood Ties
• CNBC: Paid Programming

Insult upon Insult

To American hockey fans, this is a blatant slap in the face. NBC had an obvious monetary reason for dumping the game on Versus. There are no TV time-outs in overtime, so NBC would lose the commercials scheduled during the Preakness pre-race show.

However, the way NBC managed the switch displayed nothing but contempt for hockey fans. A perfunctory announcement, then boom, we’re at Pimlico. There was no apology in the announcement. NBC didn’t wait for Versus to pick up the feed before switching to the Preakness.

Worse, Sunday’s broadcast of Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals between Anaheim and Detroit made no mention whatsoever of the mismanagement of overtime on Saturday. Neither the pre-game studio hosts nor the game announcers acknowledged the situation.

On NBCSports.com, there has been no mention of the situation. On NHL.com, there has been no mention of the situation, either. There has been no statement at all, from any of the parties involved. No attempt at placating irate hockey fans.

Dick Ebersol, you owe us an apology. Gary Bettman, you owe us an apology.

If you are a hockey blogger willing to excuse NBC’s decision as “good business,” you have no self-respect.

Backbone

NBC, your silent treatment speaks volumes about your attitude toward hockey fans. You apparently consider us so far beneath contempt that we’re not worth apologizing to. Your actions on Saturday demonstrated, in a nutshell, the decades of disrespect that the sport of hockey has suffered at the hands of the American media.

Had this been any other sport, you wouldn’t have left the game in the first place. Even if you had to cut away for the race itself, you would have bent over backwards to keep as many viewers happy as possible. Instead we were disregarded and dumped on Versus without so much as a by-your-leave.

Of course, your insistence on showing games on Saturday afternoon doesn’t help. Saturday prime time is the lowest rated night of the week, so NHL games wouldn’t do much worse than the drama reruns you air now. Ratings might even (gasp) improve in prime time! Saturday night also allows CBC to have more Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts during the playoffs. Best of all, it would give you room to handle overtimes without running into other sporting events. Saturday Night Live is in reruns by playoff time anyway.

Gary Bettman, you and the NHL look desperate to allow NBC to run roughshod over your games. Yes, the Lockout weakened your bargaining position with the American media. (Not that it was strong in the first place.) Allowing your broadcast partners to cut off overtime on a whim, however, is inexcusable. You should have protected HNIC by pushing NBC to air Saturday night games. You should have, at the very least, made sure you weren’t running the end of a playoff hockey game up against another sport’s biggest events.

Hockey bloggers, if you give enough of a damn about the game to write about it on a regular basis, you should have enough pride to put the screws to everybody involved. Aren’t you insulted by this? Aren’t you embarrassed by this? Don’t you feel just a little bit of humiliation when you have to justify your continued support of hockey to all the haters out there?

Allan Muir, I’m calling you out specifically because you’re toeing the corporate-synergy party line. “Just don’t make NBC out as the villain here.” Are you serious? Count the Peacock icons on the front page of SI.com, and then ask yourself why you’re giving NBC a free pass. There is more than enough blame to go around. Nobody should be getting away unscathed.

I fully expect hockey-hating tools like Skip Bayless and Jay Mariotti to pounce on this in their columns and on ESPN’s screaming-head talk shows. Every word they write or utter about hockey is an insult in the first place. But I also expect typically reasonable national columnists to show no sympathy whatsoever. They’ll fall back on their dog-eared copy of the American Sports Writer Book of Clichés, trotting out the usual passive-aggressive insults of the game and those of us who love it.

I’m tired of this. Aren’t you?

East
#1 Buffalo vs. #4 Ottawa
Prediction
Sabres in a bloody, brutal 7

Results
Ottawa in 5

Buffalo may have gotten the wake-up call they needed, but it was too little, far, far too late.

(Original post follows for posterity)

I'm getting a head start on this series, because it's already over. Somewhere between Manhattan and Buffalo, the Sabres lost their heart. Whatever speed they carried into the playoffs ran out. Ryan Miller is the only reason Game 3 wasn't a blowout, and the one goal he did give up was a fluke. And I don't see any signs that anybody in the Sabres' locker room is trying to shake this team out of its funk. Lindy Ruff sounds exasperated in the post-game press conferences. He already sounds like he's been defeated. (Ruff : Adams Award :: Nowitzki : NBA MVP) Somebody in that room needs to deliver a passionate rally cry, or a stick-slamming, paint-peeling tirade to wake his teammates up, or something. I just don't know who's going to do it.

Ottawa, on the other hand, looks unstoppable. Their defense has taken over every game in this series. Buffalo has been frustrated at every turn by the Sens' blueliners. Even when Ottawa has fallen into penalty trouble, as they did in Game 3, their penalty killers have completely derailed the Sabres power play. Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, and Dany Heatley have dominated the ice at times. And Ray Emery just keeps building up confidence.

West
#1 Detroit vs. #2 Anaheim

Prediction
Ducks in 6

Results
Ducks in 6

This series came down to who had more aggression. Anaheim has it in spades, but Detroit was more than capable of fighting back. Unfortunately for Hockeytown, they had to empty the tank in the 3rd period of game 6 just to get within one goal. In the end, the youthful energy of Ducks like Ryan Getzlaf and Dustin Penner wore the Wings out.

East
#1 Buffalo vs. #4 Ottawa
On Bill Clement's signal, unleash hell.

If ever there was a series that demanded a soundtrack by Nine Inch Nails, this one is it. Division rivalries always have a little extra grit, but this is ridiculous. If anybody needs a reminder, think back to 21 February.

Ottawa's Chris Neil blindsides Chris Drury. The rest of the game is mayhem. Fists fly everywhere. Martin Biron finds himself in a fight with Ray Emery. Emery is laughing. Buffalo thug Andrew Peters finds himself in a fight with Ray Emery. Emery is still laughing. Emery is a goalie, by the way.

Note to the Sabres: All goalies are a little bit nuts, but Ray Emery is another kind of nuts entirely. He's also the better goaltender in this series.

However, Buffalo has more scoring depth. Ottawa relied on Heatley, Spezza, and Alfredsson for most of their offense against New Jersey. Then again, the Devils have a better defense than the Senators.

OK, I'm just talking in circles because I have no idea who is going to win this. The teams are that close. My original pick was Buffalo, and they have home-ice advantage, so I'll stick with that.

Prediction
Sabres in a bloody, brutal 7

West
#1 Detroit vs. #2 Anaheim
Two top goaltenders in Dominik Hasek and Jean-Sebastien Giguere. All three Norris Trophy nominees: Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger for the Ducks, Nicklas Lidstrom for the Wings. You know what this means, don't you? Every game is going to end 6-4. That's how these things usually go in the playoffs.

The Red Wings are a little more banged up right now. They're really going to miss Mathieu Schneider, who is done for the year after breaking his wrist in the San Jose series. Not that Anaheim is fresh as a daisy. Have you seen Teemu Selanne lately? His face looks like 10 miles of bad road. If he has to play 14 more games this post season, he'll look like Gerry Cheevers' old mask. And he doesn't mind it a bit, because he's hungry, he has a bright young team around him, and two of the best blueliners in the game at his back.

Detroit has experience on their side, but sooner or later, they're going to run out of gas.

Prediction
Ducks in 6

The Conference Finals start on Thursday. I'll have my picks up by then.

East

#1 Buffalo vs. #6 NY Rangers
Prediction
Sabres in 7

Results
Sabres in 6

The way this series was going, I had a feeling that the first team to win a road game would win the series. Both teams held serve on their home rinks through Game 5, and with the exception of Game 1, every game in the series was decided by one goal. That put the pressure in Buffalo to win Game 6 at Madison Square Garden, especially after the Sabres were :08 and one Chris Drury goal from losing Game 5. Jaromir Jagr played the most inspired post-season hockey we've seen from him since his days in Pittsburgh, but the Sabres found a way to stay one step ahead.

#2 New Jersey vs. #4 Ottawa
Prediction
Senators in 6

Results
Senators in 5

Hey, Lou! Guess what? Your system isn't so automatic that any old fool can coach it. Not that Claude Julien would have helped against a Senators team that just keeps building momentum. The goaltending match-up turned out backwards: Ray Emery brimming with confidence, and Martin Brodeur getting beaten glove-hand way too often. Scott Gomez boosted his free agent value with his scoring touch, but a lack of scoring depth hurt the Devils.

West

#1 Detroit vs. #5 San Jose
Prediction
Sharks in 6

Results
Red Wings in 6

For the first time in years, Detroit showed some killer instinct in the second round. After losing Game 1 at home, they bounced back. Taking Game 4 in San Jose gave them all the momentum they needed. Even an uncharacteristic soft goal that Dominik Hasek let through to give the Sharks the first goal of Game 5 didn't make a difference in Detroit's attitude. The Sharks, on the other hand, couldn't get out of the Wings' slow, steady grip. San Jose couldn't find the grit down the stretch, and allowed Detroit to out-hustle them.

#2 Anaheim vs. #3 Vancouver

Prediction
Canucks in 5

Results
Ducks in 5

So much for sticking with my original picks. Score, Canucks. You have to score. Your power play can not be that pathetic. Your top lines can not cruise through the offensive zone. You can not hang your goaltender out to dry. Game 5 would have been a 7-1 bloodbath, not a 2-1 double-overtime thriller, if Roberto Luongo hadn't played lights-out. At least until Rob Niedermayer interfered with a Canucks player on the boards. Then Luongo finally let his guard down, too busy complaining to the refs to notice that brother Scott had just fired a wrist shot from just inside the blue line. But the rest of the team let Luongo down long before Luongo let them down.

Since my West picks were dead on in the first round, I feel compelled to stick with them, although my reasoning may have changed.

East

#1 Buffalo vs. #6 NY Rangers
We know the Rangers will be well-rested, having pulled off the only sweep of the first round. I wouldn't worry about the Rangers not being up to speed. They earned that sweep by overwhelming the Thrashers. That said, they're running into a much tougher opponent in the Sabres. If Buffalo gets an aggressive forecheck going, they can force the Rangers' somewhat soft defense into taking penalties. I think the Rangers will have enough discipline and offensive punch to push the Sabres to the limit, but Ryan Miller will steal the series in the end.

Prediction
Sabres in 7

#2 New Jersey vs. #4 Ottawa
Can the Senators keep up the edgy game that threw the Penguins off stride? That's a tougher sell against a Devils team that can absorb a lot of punishment. Somewhere along the way, though, I have to believe that Lou Lamoriello's ego-trip firing of Claude Julien will come back to bite him, and I think this round will be it.

Prediction
Senators in 6

West

#1 Detroit vs. #5 San Jose
Calgary left the Red Wings bruised and bloodied. Tomas Holmstrom will miss some time as he recovers from an eye injury, and Brett Lebda is still feeling Daymond Langkow's sucker punch, so he's out with post-concussion symptoms. San Jose is a little hung over from their physical series with Nashville, but not as bad as Detroit. Besides, I can't pick the Red Wings to get out of the 2nd round until they do. I've been burned too many times since Scotty Bowman retired.

Prediction
Sharks in 6

#2 Anaheim vs. #3 Vancouver
Teemu Selanne, allow me to introduce to you Roberto Luongo, Playoff Goaltender. You say you've met Luongo already? That was Regular Season Goaltender. This is Playoff Goaltender. He's better. Wrist shots off the mask don't scare him. He shrugged off net-crashing Dallas forwards. He even owned the Stars in barely broken in pads that match the Canucks' retro uniforms. You think you can beat that? Good luck.

Prediction
Canucks in 5

Well, let's see how I've done so far...

East
#1 Buffalo vs. #8 NY Islanders

Prediction
Sabres in 6 if DiPietro plays, 4 if he doesn’t.

Results
Sabres in 5

DiPietro missed Game 1, but came back for the rest. The Islanders made every game interesting, but the Sabres were almost always one notch better. Long Islanders will spend the summer complaining about video reviews and Sean Hill's 20-game PED suspension before Game 5.

#2 New Jersey vs. #7 Tampa Bay

Prediction
Lightning in 7.

Results
Devils in 6

Martin Brodeur looked a little shaky in Games 2 and 3, but he got himself right, and exposed Tampa's lack of scoring depth in the end. There was nobody behind LeCavalier, St. Louis, and Richards for the Lightning. Johan Holmqvist's inconsistency didn't help.

#3 Atlanta vs. #6 NY Rangers

Prediction
Rangers in 6.

Results
Rangers in 4.

This series was just devastating for the Thrashers. After Lehtonen had a bad Game One, coach Bob Hartley yanked him for Johan Hedberg in Game 2. Hedberg was victimized by a crazy bounce on a high dump-in, but was otherwise strong. So, of course, Hartley went back to Lehtonen in Game 3. Fat lot of good that did. Meanwhile, Keith Tkachuk was mostly invisible, Marian Hossa was entirely invisible, and Ilya Kovalchuk only showed up long enough to get in a fight(!) with Sean Avery. (At least he got that, um, chicken Avery to drop the gloves.) Oh, and only 8,800 televisions in Atlanta were tuned in for the games at Madison Square Garden.

#4 Ottawa vs. #5 Pittsburgh

Prediction
Penguins in 7.

Results
Senators in 5.

Maybe it was all those last-second, overtime, shoot-out wins. Maybe it was the third and fourth lines not learning as fast as the first two. Maybe it was Evgeni Malkin hitting the wall in the longest season of hockey he has ever played. Maybe it was Bob Grove's misplaced loyalty in Josef Melichar. (Look! Meli turned it over in his own zone again! Grove will call it a 50-50 puck in the postgame show.) Maybe Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury, and Gary Roberts couldn't carry this entire team on their backs. It was a helluva run while it lasted.

Ottawa, meanwhile, looks determined to shake off the "choker" reputation, with excessive force if necessary. The Sens played with an edge that wasn't there for most of the regular season. And Ray Emery demonstrated what he learned in relief of Dominic Hasek last year.

West
#1 Detroit vs. #8 Calgary

Prediction
Red Wings in 5.

Results
Red Wings in 6.

Jim Playfair is toast. The Flames looked utterly incompetent on the road in Games 1 and 2. Then, in Game 5, he lost all control of his bench. Damond Langkow grabbed Brett Lebda behind the head, and sucker-punched him in the face while they were both getting up from a clean hit by Lebda. Lebda missed Game 6 with a concussion. Jarome Iginla spent a shift stick-fouling anyone with a winged wheel on his chest. And in the most egregious goon job I've seen in years, backup goalie Jamie McClennan was put in long after the game was out of hand, and lasted all of 18 seconds. Most of that time was spent trying to amputate Johan Franzen's legs with a goalie stick. The two-handed chop to the gut after the whistle (for the earlier slashes) earned him a match penalty and a five game "suspension", Playfair was fined $25,000, and the team $100,000. Game 6 went to double overtime solely by the sheer will power of Miikka Kiprusoff, who fought off an onslaught of Red Wings shots. The game winner in the second overtime? Johan Franzen. Ain't karma a bitch?

#2 Anaheim vs. #7 Minnesota

Prediction
Ducks in 5.

Results
Ducks in 5.

Nailed it. Minnesota was all defense, no offense. The most entertainment the series provided was a scuffle between George Parros and Derek Boogaard in the warm-up skate before Game 5.

#3 Vancouver vs. #6 Dallas

Prediction
Heads. Canucks in 7.

Results
Canucks in 7.

Damn, I already spent that quarter. One four-overtime game that ended 5-4 Vancouver, then neither Marty Turco nor Roberto Luongo gave up more than two goals in a game. (There were 2 empty-netters in Game 7.) Given Vancouver's struggles on offense, I think that "stolen series" I figure Luongo would get may have come right here. Turco, on the other hand, may have proven that he can deliver the goods in April, even in a losing effort. Before the Canucks scored in Game 7, Turco had gone over 165 minutes without giving up a goal.

#4 Nashville vs. # 5 San Jose

Prediction
Sharks in 6.

Results
Sharks in 5.

Discipline ruined the Predators' chances. Dumb penalty after dumb penalty against a strong Sharks power play. The final nail in the coffin was Scott Nichol's major/game misconduct for spearing in the second period of Game 5. Patrick Marleau tied the game on the ensuing power play, and San Jose never looked back.

6-for-8. One of my better years, even though I lost a conference semi-finalist in my beloved Penguins. (Homer!) I'll take a fresh look at the second round matchups, and maybe wrap up the Penguins season, tomorrow night.

I fall back on the old Tuesday Morning Quarterback joke: All predictions wrong, or your money back.

Round 1: East

#1 Buffalo vs. #8 NY Islanders

Last 10

BUF: 7-3-0, NYI: 6-3-1

Head-to-head

Sabres, 3-1

Anaheim taught me never to underestimate an 8-seed. Having seen these two teams in action all season… the number of games Buffalo needs to dispatch the Isles will depend on the results of neurological tests Rick “15 Years?!” DiPietro will undergo. If DiPietro’s concussion symptoms are gone, and he is cleared to play, his goaltending will give the Islanders a chance at respectability. Otherwise, Mike Dunham Wade Dubielewicz will be victimized by Buffalo’s high-powered offensive barrage.

Prediction

Sabres in 6 if DiPietro plays, 4 if he doesn’t.

#2 New Jersey vs. #7 Tampa Bay

Last 10

NJD: 6-3-1, TBL: 5-4-1

Head-to-head

Lightning, 3-1

If you look at this series on paper, it looks like a walk-over for the Devils. They have just enough scoring to make the stifling defense and All-Universe goaltending of Martin Brodeur stand up. Yet Tampa Bay won the season series. In their last two wins over New Jersey, the Lightning held the Devils to one goal per game. This series may come down to who prevails: Brodeur, or the dynamic duo of Vincent LeCavalier and Martin St. Louis. Given what Tampa Bay did in the regular season, I’m going to give them a slight edge here.

Prediction

Lightning in 7.

#3 Atlanta vs. #6 NY Rangers

Last 10

ATL: 6-3-1, NYR: 7-2-1

Head-to-head

Thrashers, 3-1

This is a battle of underachievers. The Thrashers climbed out of the Southeast, the weakest division in the league this year. Atlanta got a late season boost from trades that brought Keith Tkachuk and Alexei Zhitnik. That gave them enough to hold off Tampa Bay down the stretch. Meanwhile, the Rangers were expected to be the class of the Atlantic, based on their stretch run last year. They didn’t live up. Henrik Lundqvist got off to a rough start this year, and the defense stagnated at best. Offense is never a problem when you have a healthy Jaromir Jagr, Michael Nylander, Brendan Shanahan, and Martin Straka. The Rangers have Shanahan back from a nasty face-first collision with the Flyers’ Mike Knuble, so they have the sort of veteran leadership Jagr has always been reluctant to provide. Ultimately, I think Kari Lehtonen will be the better goaltender, but the Rangers will be the better team.

Prediction

Rangers in 6.

#4 Ottawa vs. #5 Pittsburgh

Last 10

OTT: 6-2-2, PIT: 6-3-1

Head-to-head

Penguins, 3-1

These teams finished the regular season tied in points, with the Senators winning the tiebreaker with one more win. Both teams feature young, up-and-coming goalies, adequate blueliners, explosive offenses, and plenty of “team toughness.” (That means Georges Laraque and Brian McGrattan will throw down before it’s all over.) This will easily be the most hotly-contested matchup of the first round. The difference will be in the intangibles. Ottawa has high expectations every year, and have become notorious for early flame-outs in the playoffs. The scapegoats change, but the song remains the same. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, has been playing with fearless bravado since January. The “Cardiac Kids” nickname stopped being funny when one of those last-second game-tying goals actually gave a Leafs fan a heart attack a few weeks ago. But the name is still appropriate. In the last regular-season meeting between the Pens and Sens, Maxime Talbot scored the game-winning goal with 8.9 seconds remaining in the third period. The longer this series go on, the more pressure shifts to the Senators. I think it will break them.

Prediction

Penguins in 7. 

Round 1: West

#1 Detroit vs. #8 Calgary

Last 10

DET: 5-1-4, CGY: 6-4-0

Head-to-head

Tied 2-2

Red Wings hockey is like Kansas Jayhawk basketball. You know they did a convincing job in the regular season, and you know they’re going to hit the wall in the post-season. It’s only a matter of when. Calgary, on the other hand, had to hang on for dear life against a Colorado team that barely missed the playoffs. (This is the Avalanche’s first missed post-season since their last season in Quebec, by the way.) I just don’t think the Flames have anything left in the tank for the playoffs, so the inevitable Red Wings wasted #1 seed will have to wait for a round.

Prediction

Red Wings in 5.

#2 Anaheim vs. #7 Minnesota

Last 10

ANA: 5-3-2, MIN: 7-2-1

Head-to-head

Tied 2-2

Minnesota’s insistence on playing the neutral zone trap makes it painful for me to even consider the possibility that it can contain the Ducks. George Parros should pound the snot out of every Wild skater, just on principle.

Prediction

Ducks in 5.

#3 Vancouver vs. #6 Dallas

Last 10

VAN: 6-3-1, DAL: 7-1-2

Head-to-head

Tied 2-2

Until the last day of the season, these two teams had identical records. All four of their regular season meetings ended with 2-1 scores. The Stars won one in overtime, and the Canucks won a shootout. Excuse me while I fetch a quarter. Heads, Vancouver. Tails, Dallas.

Prediction

Heads. Canucks in 7.

#4 Nashville vs. # 5 San Jose

Last 10

NSH: 5-3-2, SJS: 7-1-2

Head-to-head

Predators, 3-1

On this one, I have to go against the regular season record. As much as I like what the Preds have done this season, I just don’t see how they can get past the Sharks. Joe Thornton is making a habit of going on late-season scoring binges, and he ought to carry it through to the playoffs this year. The addition of Bill Guerin at the trading deadline has added even more scoring punch to the San Jose attack. The high-profile trade for Peter Forsberg, on the other hand, has proven to be only OK for Nashville. Foppa scored 2 goals and 13 assists in 17 games. He’ll have to pick up the scoring pace a bit for the Predators to make the second round for the first time.

Prediction

Sharks in 6.

Round 2: East

#1 Buffalo vs. #7 Tampa Bay

These two teams are built on similar lines, but the Sabres are just a little bit better than the Lightning at pretty much anything you can name.

Prediction

Sabres in 5.

#5 Pittsburgh vs. #6 NY Rangers

Ooh, division rivalry! There are Pens fans who, to this day, curse the name Adam Graves. With one 2.8 second overtime exception (Straka!), the Pens had the upper hand in the regular season.

Prediction

Penguins in 6.

Round 2: West

#1 Detroit vs. #5 San Jose

Uh, oh. The ever-dreaded Red Wings vs. Sharks matchup. I think we all know how this ends.

Prediction

Sharks in 6.

#2 Anaheim vs. #3 Vancouver

Roberto Luongo has toiled in Floridian exile for years. This is his time, now.

Prediction

Vancouver in 5.

Eastern Conference Finals

#1 Buffalo vs. #5 Pittsburgh

The Penguins look an awful lot like last year’s Sabres: Too young to realize that they’re too young to make it this far. Buffalo isn’t too young anymore.

Prediction

Sabres in 5.

Western Conference Finals

#3 Vancouver vs. #5 San Jose

Luongo is going to have to steal a series one of these days. I think he’ll steal this one.

Prediction

Canucks in 7.

Stanley Cup Finals

Buffalo vs. Vancouver

Long-suffering Buffalo sports fans, suffer no longer. It is time to pass your curse on to long-suffering Canucks fans.

Prediction

Sabres in 6.

Show us a picture of someone or something jumping.
Submitted by Elizabeth Lee.

A goal so great, it's capitalized: The Goal. Scored by one of the greatest of all time, Bobby Orr. A man who truly transformed the game of hockey.