Here Come the Playoffs

So the playoffs are about to start, with some interesting matchups. More precisely, some downright fantastic matchups in terms of skill (Pittsburgh vs Philedelphia), history (Montreal vs Boston) and a first time playoff team (Columbus).

So who's going to win the cup? Well, the Devils, of course... or at least I hope they do. They are in for a tough battle, facing a Carolina team that seems to have been revived since Erik Cole rejoined the team. Here's a guy who could barely score in Edmonton, yet averages a point a game in Carolina with Eric Staal. A large portion of this matchup will depend on which Devils team shows up. The team from the first 70 or so games, or the team that kinda flopped around their last ten games of the season. Sure, they finished with winning four of their last five. But they lost six straight before that, with Brodeur looking a little shaky and the rest of the team forgetting to show up completely (how do you allow 20 shots in one period? What are we, the Leafs?).

Zach Parise finished with a great season and I hope he gets nominated for the Hart. I doubt he we will win, since he doesn't have the name recognition of Ovechkin or Malkin. But it would be nice to see him get the nomination. He's had an incredible season, five goals short of fifty. The Devils have never had a fifty goal scorer, nor a hundred point player and Parise came close to being the first in both categories this year. Zajac also had a coming out this year, becoming a top line center between Parise and Langenbrunner, who also had a fantastic season. The first line reminds me of the Elias - Sykora - Arnott line that fired so strongly in the 2000 season, when the Devils won the cup. Elias finished fairly strongly, and Gionta did ok this year, but he still hasn't lived up to his 48 goal season from a couple of years ago. As for the rest of the team? Clarkson has added a lot of spunk to the team, Shanahan has been a fantastic, cheap pickup... Rolston and Holik have been okay, but not what we needed them to be, especially at $4 million for Rolston.

On defence, Paul Martin had a good season and continues to anchor the defence. Oduya is starting to produce a little bit on the blue line, and Mottau had a great season, both offensively and defensively. White continues to be a solid presence on the blueline to anchor the team.

Another set of dissapointments this season where Pandolfo and Madden. Madden seemed to have lost his edge at the beginning of the season, with bad turnovers. Both finished in the negative this year for +/-, which is shocking for two players who have been previously nominated for the Selke trophy.

In goal, Clemmensen did a fantastic job filling in for Brodeur. You can't ask for more when you primary goalie (and a workhorse like Brodeur) gets injured. The team finished with a team record 52 wins.

Overall, a good season. Now, if we can carry that into the post season and defeat the Carolina Hurricanes...