NHL: 2011 Playoff Predictions

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 by Sean Moore 6 Comments

Most of us here at Wrecked are avid sports fans. Mostly Hockey ’cause it’s the most bad-ass of all sports. Fuck Football. (Editor’s note: No, Sean, fuck you!) So with playoff excitement and booze running through our blood, here are our playoff brackets with our first round predictions. We’ll be analyzing our predictions after each round and see who still has a job here at Wrecked… cause if you’re wrong, you get fired. Rules are rules.

We also strongly encourage anyone willing to take on the Wrecked staff to post your own predictions in the comment section below. Half the fun of sports is talking shit, making wild predictions, and arguing about stats, so bring it on!

WRECKED REVIEWS PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS

Western Conference

Vancouver Canucks vs. Chicago Blackhawks – Prediction: Chicago wins in 7
Vancouver won the presidents trophy, its their 40th anniversary season, and they’ve lost to Chicago twice in the playoffs already. With all the pressure combined with Presidents Trophy being cursed since the Sharks had it, Vancouver will crack. Yeah, Chicago is not the same beast they were last season, but they still have the same core of players they need to be a huge threat.

San Jose Sharks vs. Los Angeles Kings – Prediction: Sharks win in 5
Kopitar is out, Williams is out. Niemi is playing solid.

Jack Daniels vs My Liver – Prediction: Jack Daniels Wins in general
With the Sharks, Kings AND Ducks all making the playoffs, Jack Daniels will be squaring off in a best of seven with my liver. Although my liver is a seasoned warrior with whiskey and they have a solid rivalry, I feel whiskey has the stamina to outlast my livers defense. Also Jack Daniels has a very strong power play.

Anaheim Ducks vs. Nashville Predators – Prediction: Ducks win in 6
Corry Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Bobby Ryan. If Nashville can stop them, they’ll win the series, but they won’t. The Ducks weakness is goaltending. Dan Ellis has been playing well, but not as good as Jonas Hiller would.

Detroit Red Wings vs. Phoenix Coyotes – Prediction: Wings win in 7
Zetterberg is out, but Detroit has ridiculous depth, experience, coaching, and beards. Phoenix doesn’t have nearly as much depth but are still a great team, with Zetterberg out, it’ll hit 7, if he makes it back, it will be in 6.

Eastern Conference

Washington Capitals vs. New York Rangers – Prediction: Capitals win in 6
Mike Green and Dennis Wideman apparently will be back soon if not for first game of the series, with bolstered defense, the addition of Jason Arnott and Marco Sturm give them a lot of depth. Any chance the Rangers have is if Marian Gaborik can turn his scoring abilities back on.

Philadelphia Flyers vs. Buffalo Sabres – Prediction: Flyers win in 5
Buffalo has been strong going into the playoffs, but that’s still not the playoffs. Derek Roy, Mike Greir, Jochen Hecht and Andrej Sekera are all out and lead scorer Thomas Vanek was held out of the last game of the season with an undisclosed injury. To top it all off, rumor has it Chris Pronger will return for the series. Ryan Miller is good, but not good enough to save the series.

Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens – Prediction: Bruins win in 7
The way this season went and the history of these two teams, this match-up was meant to be. Tim Thomas vs Carey Price. Boston has more depth on offense and the defense to match. It will be an epic series, definitely one to drink to.

Pittsburg Penguins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning – Prediction: Lightning Wins in 6
With team captain Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin out, the Bolts nearly have it in the bag. They’re a great team with a lot of good players and goaltending, but going against Stampkos, St.Luis, and Lacavalier without two of their top scorers will be too much to handle.

Western Conference: Round 1

I initially thought the Canucks would take the Blackhawks, simply because I didn’t think the Blackhawks had what it takes this year. After doing some research, I think Chicago might be the team to keep the President’s Trophy curse alive. Blackhawks have beaten the Canucks in the post season twice, both in 5 games, and have held their own against them in the regular season.

As much as I hate them, I think the Ducks will take the Predators; Perry is on a ridiculous hot streak, and Predators don’t have any offensive superstars that will bother Dan Ellis (in net for Anaheim).

Sharks will take the Kings, as we’ve out muscled them most of the year, though the season series is tied 3-3, two of LA’s victories have come in shootouts, where goaltender Jonathan Quick is incredible. Too bad for him there are no shootouts in the playoffs, so we’ll be able to dodge that bullet.

Red Wings will embarrass the Coyotes, as I don’t think they have the defensive strength to withstand Detroit.

Eastern Conference: Round 1

I think the Penguins will take the Lightning. I don’t think Tampa Bay has really established themselves as a playoff team this year and their star Stamkos has started to go a bit cold. I think if Crosby returns in time for the playoffs it’ll be an easy victory.

I think the Sabres will prevail over the Flyers; they’re 8-1-1 going into the playoffs and the Flyers have begun to stumble a bit. If their momentum continues, they could have a great shot at winning the first round.

Canadiens will take Boston first round; they’ve been known to take down superstar teams in the past with their great defensive play and fantastic goaltending by Carey Price. They shut down defending champions Pittsburgh last year in the first round.

The pussy slammin’ Sharks are back in the NHL playoffs of doom and I’m picking them to go all the way and make sweet love to the Stanley Cup this year. I have scientific evidence I bought off the black market that proves this: 1) All the other teams have rosters filled to the rafters with chumps, 2) My fellow Wreckers couldn’t make correct playoff picks if Wayne Gretzky himself shit a hockey puck of knowledge into their cereal, and 3) Joe Pavelski is going to rape his way through D-men like he’s Ben Roethlisberger at a Pump It Up. I’m going to get loud, get drunk, piss my pants screaming, and thoroughly enjoy the next thirteen months of NHL playoff hockey a.k.a when the season actually begins. GO SHARKS!