Round 1: April 15-29 (as needed)

East
#1 Rangers vs #8 Penguins
#2 Canadiens vs #7 Senators
#3 Lightning vs #6 Red Wings
#4 Capitals vs #5 Islanders

West
#1 Ducks vs #8 Flames
#2 Blues vs #7 Jets
#3 Predators vs #6 Wild
#4 Blackhawks vs #5 Canucks

Should be a great postseason. 7 teams from last year did not make it back, including the reigning champion LA Kings.

Go RANGERS!

4/13/2015 3:56:00 PM

5 of 6 Canadian teams

4 of 6 Original Six

4/13/2015 4:11:33 PM

Let's go canes

4/13/2015 4:27:27 PM

I was excited last year when 15 of 16 teams were American. I'm pretty confident USA will hold on to the cup either way.

4/13/2015 4:46:56 PM

A bold prediction when a Canadian team hasn't won a Cup in 22 years.

4/13/2015 5:28:45 PM

Your Western Conference matchups aren't right man

4/13/2015 5:47:03 PM

Damn, you're right. I made it based on conference standings and didn't double check it with the new rules. Eastern conference worked out though.

Sucks to be the Blues, but the Canucks definitely benefit.

East
#1 Rangers vs #8 Penguins
#2 Canadiens vs #7 Senators
#3 Lightning vs #6 Red Wings
#4 Capitals vs #5 Islanders

West
#1 Ducks vs #7 Jets
#2 Blues vs #4 Blackhawks
#3 Predators vs #6 Wild
#5 Canucks vs #8 Flames

4/13/2015 6:33:56 PM

Blackhawks/Preds
Wild/Blues

4/13/2015 6:56:45 PM

I give up. It's messed up that the 2nd best team has to play the 3rd best team in the first round. If I was a fan of either the Predators or the Blackhawks, I'd be pretty upset that the 5th team is playing the 8th.

4/13/2015 7:20:53 PM

I took the pens to win their series vs the rangers. 2:1 odds

Seems like a good price

4/13/2015 11:22:08 PM

How much did you put down? The Rangers are the most complete team in the playoffs, best set of players the franchise has put on the ice since 1994. Not saying they aren't capable of a collapse, but they are favored to win the east and I don't think they get beat that early, especially when Pitt has not been putting up the same kind of numbers this season as they have in the last few years.

Scoring differential: Pens +11, Rangers +60
Offensive ranking: Pens #19, Rangers #4
Defensive ranking: Pens #9, Rangers #3

Penguins only won 1 of their last 6 games (the most recent one) while the Rangers only lost one in the same span. Rangers also won the season series 3-1. Of course none of that matters to either team when the playoffs start, but I think it's a poor bet to make.

4/14/2015 4:20:26 AM

Choke artists. I know it is tough to take the homer goggles off, but the playoffs = new season. I like the Habs out of the east and Blackhawks out of the west. I put up $100 to win $200 on the penguins. They may still lose the series, but it is really good value imo. The other ones i liked are canucks -165 v flames, blackhawks -180 v predators, and redwings +180 v TB

[Edited on April 14, 2015 at 8:17 AM. Reason : M]

4/14/2015 8:16:44 AM

Are you calling the Rangers choke artists?

Conference rank and playoff result last 4 years:
2010-2011 #8, Lost in 1st round (Caps, #1)
2011-2012 #1, Lost Conference finals (Devils, #6)
2012-2013 #6, Lost in 2nd round (Bruins, #4)
2013-2014 #5, Lost in Stanly Cup Finals (Kings)

Although 2011-2012 was a "letdown" (getting to the conference finals is still great and the Devils surprised everyone that year), I don't think you can consider any of those as chokes.

4/14/2015 2:22:00 PM

The Rangers needed Kreider to take out Price last year. Won't be so lucky this year.

4/14/2015 9:03:32 PM

They're a better team this year. Not saying they are guaranteed to make it past the first round, but I will be surprised (and so would most non-Ranger fans) if they don't. Also, it wasn't luck that they beat the Flyers and Penguins just to get to that series against the Canadiens. Yes it sucked for them that Price was hurt, but it's not like they scored enough to have won the series with him.

[Edited on April 14, 2015 at 9:18 PM. Reason : -]

4/14/2015 9:09:19 PM

didn't take long for a 2OT thriller. Hawks pulled it out.

4/16/2015 8:53:42 AM

Caps were pretty listless last night.

4/16/2015 9:45:04 AM

Habs/Sens is going to turn into a shitshow for the rest of the series.

4/16/2015 12:32:12 PM

Only took the rangers 28 seconds to score their first goal.

4/16/2015 8:02:12 PM

This game shows exactly why I thought that getting paid 2:1 on pens series was a good deal. It is going to be a close series

4/16/2015 9:44:59 PM

Damn good goalies on both ends.

4/16/2015 9:48:44 PM

Great officiating here. Blackhawks with such a blatant too many men on the ice violation that all six guys actually celebrated the goal. Refs still fail to notice.

4/18/2015 9:19:00 AM

you sure that wasn't off a delayed penalty? cause that's what it looks like

4/18/2015 12:19:14 PM

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/patrick-kane-scores-as-blackhawks-have-too-many-men-on-ice--video-040006721.html

4/18/2015 7:57:37 PM

Fuck the Oilers. Talk about a team that has proven time and again that they don't deserve a player like McDavid.

4/18/2015 8:21:30 PM

Bullshit.

4/18/2015 8:22:09 PM

4/18/2015 8:25:51 PM

Why are you bringing up the Oilers?

4/18/2015 9:30:58 PM

4/18/2015 9:53:23 PM

PIT getting the nc state treatment by officials

4/18/2015 10:34:03 PM

^ to vulcan... my bad, saw the highlights and thought that was the 1st goal. that's turrible

4/19/2015 3:04:37 AM

Quote :

"PIT getting the nc state treatment by officials"

is that where the team commits a bunch of stupid penalties that the refs actually call?

because that's what the penguins did last night.

4/19/2015 10:50:50 AM

That was such a messy 2nd period last night. Don't expect that to happen often. Rangers did a gret job coming back in the 3rd just wasn't enough. Wasn't expecting a sweep anyway and they'll probably lose at least one more, but still pretty confident this will be the Rangers' series.

4/19/2015 12:31:09 PM

Think people expected a much longer series for Montreal in round 1 than them being on the verge of a sweep.

4/20/2015 1:46:25 PM

This Ducks/Jets game has been really fun so far. Going to OT now.

4/21/2015 12:07:54 AM

Rangers/Pens going into overtime but I'm unable to watch the rest. Winning this game isn't essential but it sure would make all of this feel more comfortable.

4/22/2015 9:44:39 PM

there it is, fuck the pens

4/22/2015 9:55:32 PM

4/23/2015 1:33:25 AM

Where did the pens homer go?

4/23/2015 7:34:13 PM

Idk who is the pens homer? Lol if you are talking about me.

[Edited on April 23, 2015 at 11:12 PM. Reason : Lol]

4/23/2015 10:50:51 PM

All I can say is Go Rangers, lolz at your $100, and what was that about choke artists?

4/24/2015 11:12:07 PM

I was spot on. I said it would be a close series and 2:1 was good value. Lol at your gloating over a round 1 win. I have the other couple series to offset this one(blackhawks etc). I would bet it again

The rangers dont look like a stanley cup team.

[Edited on April 25, 2015 at 12:29 AM. Reason : M]

4/25/2015 12:28:46 AM

Awful lot of hubris for a fan of a team that won 4 1-goal games against a team with maybe 2 legitimate NHL-caliber defensemen in the lineup.

All things considered, I'm pretty happy with how the Pens played. It seems silly since they lost in 5 games, but I honestly think that this may have been the best effort they've put into a series since 2009. Maybe I just feel that way because I knew there was no way they were winning the series, but whatever. Fleury deserved better though. He's deservedly caught a lot of shit for his play, but he was solid all season and outstanding for the past 5 games.

4/25/2015 7:43:46 PM

Red wings!

4/25/2015 11:09:28 PM

Good series from the Blackhawks. Calgary-Vancouver setting up for a great finish.

4/25/2015 11:24:59 PM

4-1 is not a close series. And good teams win close games. The Ducks won 2 games by 1 goal. The Blackhawks won 3 games by 1 goal. The Canadiens have won 3 games by 1 goal.

The Rangers are a complete team and the Penguins had been slumping the last month or so of the season. I don't think it's a bet most people would have taken. All I did was say the Rangers would win this series, and they did. So not sure why ^^^ is bringing the hate.

4/26/2015 4:58:21 AM

you probably should stop talking about sports

4/26/2015 4:03:51 PM

agreed

[Edited on April 26, 2015 at 4:13 PM. Reason : just because the rangers won 4-1 does not mean it was a series blowout]

4/26/2015 4:12:56 PM

pretty great 3rd period for a Game 7

ridiculous save, gorgeous individual effort for the game winning goal, and a broken skate blade

4/27/2015 10:26:16 PM

I wanted a Rangers/Islanders second round so bad.

We'll save it for next year when it will actually be a subway series. And unlike the Mets and Yankees they will actually be connected on the same line.

[Edited on April 27, 2015 at 10:42 PM. Reason : .]

4/27/2015 10:41:53 PM