Eastern Conference Playoffs

I believe the winner of the Eastern Conference should win the Stanley Cup. Not taking anything away from the Western Conference teams, I feel strongly the East team, rising above the others, will have to be playing really, really good hockey. In fact hockey so good it should propel them to a Stanley Cup Championship. So, lets take a look at the teams I like.

First, lets start with Washington. Pre-playoff favorite as evidenced by its #1 seed and President's Trophy. Make no mistake these guys have their hands full with Montreal. For game 6 on Monday, I believe the Caps will start Valarmov. Despite Bruce Boudreau's threats in today's Washington Post to mix up line combinations on Monday, I don't think you will see too many changes to start. As an aside, I wish Alex Ovechkin considered a lesser curve on his stick. Look closely, it looks like a banana - really difficult for him to control the puck (small surface area) on his backhand. These guys need to finish this series Monday night in 6 games.

Pittsburgh. As much as I dislike admitting it, the road to the Stanley Cup Finals goes through Pittsburgh. The Penguins disposed of a surging Ottawa team, Fluery looks solid, and they won the deciding game in a comeback fashion - all good signs for the Pittsburgh faithful. They now get a bit of rest in preparation for the next series.

Philadelphia. A very efficient 5 game playoff series win over New Jersey. Well needed considering the emotional rollcoaster they have been on just to get into the playoffs (last day of season in shootout with the Rangers). Flyers are a formidable playoff team. They are starting to get decent goaltending, have solid defensemen and their forwards are starting to score - even that goon Dan Carcillo. Given rest and preparation for their next opponent (winner of Washington Montreal series) they will be a worthy opponent.

Buffalo. Great goal tending and enough scoring to get by the Bruins. Yeah, I know the Bruins have a 3-2 lead in the series, a great goalie and a solid defensive corps but this will not be enough to win one of the next two games with the Sabres. NOT ENOUGH OFFENSE, only 1 player with over 22 goals! Bruins have as much chance winning this series as Gary Doak has at running a stick handling clinic this summer.

Miscellaneous

Did you see in today's Parade section the Vancouver Canucks of the late 80's are being given credit for first use of the word 'Couger'? They can't win Stanley Cups but they can help broaden our vocabulary.