Comments on: Western Conference First Round Playoff Preview

By: Mr. hockey

Mr. hockey — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 13:09:13 +0000

-Detroit in 7
-San Jose in 5
-Dallas in 7
-Calgary in 4

By: mikeL

mikeL — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 17:03:41 +0000

dave your picks for the playoffs are the exact same as I picked…..lol

hope your right because it means i will be too…

Mike.L

By: K

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 15:51:54 +0000

Sam……..

A big no on that one. I keep the wagers the same. I never double them. And NEVER chase. If they lose I just look to win the second game. As being the dog you will still come out ahead with a split.

btw have you guys seen that Quinn and Rick Ley have been fired???

By: Sam

Sam — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 15:44:08 +0000

K, just curious about your playoff strategy. On the games you lose, do you double your original unit size when playing the dog in the 2nd game or keep it the same size as the 1st game play. Or do you have some other way to determine how you play the 2nd games.

I’m thinking of doubling up for my 2nd games following a 1st game loss. What’s your opinion on this type of strategy??? and then I am even considering chasing for the 3rd game if it goes 0-2… I’m going to do some research on the idea, but thought uyou would have experience with this. Thanks.

By: Sam

Sam — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 15:26:32 +0000

I’m a big fan of the Dogs in the NHL… I blindly played all dogs for one day earlier in the season and it worked out. Also, I have mostly only been playing them toward the end of the season and it was profitable. And I think it will be even more likely to be profitable in the playoffs given the nature of play and the potential for low scoring tight games. I’m going to be on all the dogs in the 1st games too.

By: K

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 15:21:13 +0000

I pick the games different than the regular season. I know….If it ain’t broke…….But this has worked well for a couple of decades. You will get the jest of it when you see the picks. And yes. It’s a ton of games. Another thing I don’t do in the regular season.

Tampa +230
Edmonton +258
Ducks +155
Rangers +180
Avs +158
Habs +170
Philly +145

You dig my rap?

By: Kevin Young

Kevin Young — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 05:09:36 +0000

I see a rematch of the 02-03 finals. I take Detroit to beat Carolina in 7.

By: Kevin Young

Kevin Young — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 05:06:16 +0000

K, you’re still upset at the controversial goal against Buffalo in 1999? I was only 8 when that happened and just today I found out what was so controversial about. Does anybody know where I can see a clip of that play that won it all for Dallas?

John, on ESPNEWS, it said that Robert Esche will start the series against Buffalo. Is this a mistake? Personally, I would take Niittymaki, the guy who led the Philadelphia Phantoms to the AHL Championship during the lockout. Plus, he scored a goal a couple years ago, not like that has anything to do with anything, but you gotta give props to the guy.

By: John

John — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 04:09:19 +0000

For want of a better turn of phrase, some teams are “emotionally fragile” going into the playoffs. Heard many a head coach say they would rather start the series on the road.

Less pressure, and the crowd is almost expecting the home team to be up 2-0 after the first couple of games. This rarely happens, so I guess the original question is, “What happens if a team loses the first game?”

Ottawa: You want the classic epitome of a fragile team, look at the Sens. Sure they have had injuries recently and are now getting healthy. But in the back of their minds, the team was expecting to have Hasek back. Do they really think that Emery can carry them all the way? Throw in the Sens past playoff failures against inferior teams, and this could be a “uh-oh, here we go again” scenario.

Detroit: Yes, Detroit. They have had it relatively easy all year. No multiple injuries all year, and they play in a soft division. They are a very deep team, but they have some old legs on that team. Calgary forechecked them into oblivion last season, and the year before that JS Giguere stood on his head and the Ducks swept them 4-0.

Philadelphia: The pre-season pick to win it all has shown cracks all year. With Forsberg in the line-up these guys play with a lot of confidence. Without him they look lost out there sometimes. Their defence is rather slow, and Buffalo is one fast team. Then there is the issues in goal. Niittymaki should start the series, but he might get yanked and then they are playing with Esche. Then there is a goalie controversy, and the whole team might implode.

Just my take on some of the favs and how they might fare.

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 00:35:36 +0000

Ottawa to win it all for me
They played poor down the stretch but two reasons for that..injuries and I really believe they did not want to meet Montreal and were doing some things to keep their options open. Ottawa had to win last night to finish first and did so easily.
Sens only problem is Hasek. He might just distract the team. We will see but I still think Ottawa wins it all