NHL Round 1 Playoff Preview

I've watched the Stanley Cup Playoffs for basically my entire life, and every year at the beginning of the postseason, there's usually one or two clear-cut favourites to win the Stanley Cup, usually the 1 or 2 seeds in the conferences.

Last year, everyone rode the Capitals and the Hawks pretty hard. Two years ago, the Bruins and the Sharks were the popular picks. These were teams who had very few weaknesses and were expected to rise to the top and represent their conferences in the finals.

Fast forward to the start of the 2011 playoffs and tell me there's a clear cut favourite.

There's not.

Normally a popular pick would be the President-trophy winning team, this year being the Vancouver Canucks. But the biggest question for the Canucks is can they avenge their past demons against a team (Chicago) that backed into the playoffs. If this team was a favourite, everybody would be picking them to handle Chicago with ease. But when a team has demons, it's hard to consider them a Stanley Cup favourite.

Same goes for the 1 seed Capitals in the East. Does this team look like a 1 seed? Hell no. Last year, this team has one of the most lethal offences ever, and they still can't get past the 1st round. Now their offense production has dramatically decreased and you're telling me they're a Stanley Cup favourite? No way.

The Flyers? Goaltending issues
The Sharks? Average year for their big scorers. Will they show up in the playoffs? The Wings? Too old.
The Bruins? Remember last year?
The Penguins? Crosby and Malkin out.

How can we annoint any of these teams as favourites? We really can't.

Which is why for the first time in as long as I can remember, we have one of the most wide open Stanley Cup races ever. And that usually creates tons and tons of excitement. NHL, get your History Will be Made Commercials ready to go, I have a feeling that this year's postseason has more than a few moments waiting to happen.

East

1. Washington
8. NY Rangers

So we're expected to believe that this Capitals team has changed for the better by adopting a defensive style that will help them in the long run. The team's offensive production has dropped dramatically with guys like Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Semin, once Art Ross candidates, now guys who struggled to stay in the top 30 in scoring all year.

Wait a minute..why should I be impressed by this defence again? John Carlson is really the only bright spot on the blueline. They've got Mike Green, who has been the biggest bust of the year, Scott "Pylon" Hannan, and their big trade deadline acquistion Dennis Wideman, out for the first round.

Now it's taken me a while to buy in this Rangers team, but their forward depth and defense depth is clearly a lot deeper than the Crapitals.

Who would ya rather have on your 3rd line? Artem Anisimov & Wojtek Wolski (NYR) or Boyd Gordon & Marcus Johansson (WSH)?

Who would ya rather have as your 3 and 4 defenseman? Bryan McCabe & Steve Eminger (NYR) or Scott Hannan & Jeff Schultz (WSH)? The Rangers are deeper.

Now it's bad enough that the Caps offense is struggling but remember what happened when the Caps went up against a hot goalie last year? Jaroslav Halak shut them down and the Caps got frustrated. Now they go up against Henrik Lundqvist, who is 15 times better than Halak and King Henrik has been lights out down the stretch.

Remember this speech from 24/7?



That's nothing compared to what Boudreau will be like when his team is down 1-0 in the series and trailing game 2, 3-1 at the 2nd intermission. And if you thought last year's debacle was bad, just wait til 2 weeks from now.

This Caps team is gonna explode in a bad way, and it's gonna be ugly.

NY Rangers in 4



2. Philadelphia
7. Buffalo

Aaahhh...a trip back into my childhood.



These teams had a few playoff series back in the 90's which were very rough and remembered for moments like these. This year, don't expect that, mainly because the Flyers could easily rag doll the Sabres if they wanted to. Yeah, it's been a nice little run for the Sabres to get into the playoffs. But the Flyers depth at forward and defense is more than enough to contain 5'6" Nathan Gerbe. Can you imagine the sight when Gerbe and Pronger go into the corner together? Or when any Sabre goes into the corner with any Flyer? All bets are that it will look something like this.



Yeah. Give me the Flyers.

Philadelphia in 6



3. Boston
6. Montreal



For the 896th time in playoff history, it will be Habs/Bruins. And as a Habs fan, I feel worse and worse about this series as we get closer to Game 1. Looking at this Bruins team, I feel they have the best lineup in the playoffs right now. And being the hockey expert that I am, I'm going with my head on this one and saying there's no way the Habs find a way to get out of this one.

Boston in 4

But wait...

this isn't just any old playoff series....this is Habs/Bruins. It doesn't matter how much better one team is than the other. And let me just say a few things about the Boston Bruins team.

-Montreal beat Boston 4 out of 6 times this year

-In the games between the Habs and Bruins, I watched Boston goalie Tim Thomas make a bonehead play in almost all of them. The guy's unorthodox style is gonna bite him in the butt soon enough. And his shady puck handling skills have disaster written everywhere.

-The Habs crowd is going to be bonkers, to say the least. The Bruins will get rattled.

-The Bruins are coming off the biggest choke in professional sports history in last year's playoffs. They're still thinking about it for sure.

-If the Butler Bulldogs can make an incredible cinderella run two years straight, then so can the Montreal Canadiens.

-Face it Bruins fans, the Habs OWN you in the playoffs. Remember 2002? 2004? What about 2008? 1977? 1978? 1979? 1953? We could go on and on and on. It's the same story. Habs win. Habs win. Habs win.

So even though my head says the Bruins, my heart is in other places....





4. Pittsburgh
5. Tampa Bay

Which Lightning team will strike in this series? They're as confusing a bunch to figure out as anybody. One week they're losing games to the Panthers, and the next week they're beating up some of the league's best.

The Penguins are anything but inconsistent this year, which is very surprising due to the loss of Crosby and Malkin. And whatever coach Dan Bylsma's been telling this bunch, it's been working, and there's no reason to believe that it won't work against goalie Dwayne Roloson and the Lightning.

Give this Lightning team another year and they'll be deadly. But for now, the Penguins have this winning vibe that an inconsistent team like the Lightning won't be able to stop.

And as for Crosby possibly returning in the first round...



Stay home and get better, Sidney. They won't need you this round.

Pittsburgh in 7



WEST

1. Vancouver
8. Chicago

Other than the Habs beating the Bruins, the sight I would most want to see in the first round of the playoffs would be the Canucks looking cluelessly around the ice as the Chicago Blackhawks celebrate a 3rd consecutive series win over them.

All kinds of hilarity.

The look on Canucks coach Alain Vigneault's face when he realizes he's probably getting fired before he gets back to the dressing room. The look on the Sedins face after they once again disappear in the playoffs. The look on Roberto Luongo's face after he realizes he's actually one of the most overrated goalies of all-time. I would pay large sums of money to see this happen.

Unfortunately, I dont think it will.

It's soooo tough for a team that revamped half their roster to achieve the same success as the previous year, and the Blackhawks have showed us how important guys like Sopel, Ladd, Versteeg and Byfuglien were as the team backed into the playoffs due to a Dallas Stars loss. And now they go up against a loaded Canucks team, who have to be chomping at the bit to get this Hawks team. There's no way they're letting this Hawks team beat them three straight years. And if they do, the entire city of Vancouver may explode in a fit of rage. The Hawks team is lacking in offense after their top 6, and there has to be a little bit of doubt surrounding goalie Corey Crawford.

The Nux are not lacking in any department right now and goalie Roberto Luongo is going to have to play like Rory McIlroy on Sunday at the Masters for the Hawks to have a chance of winning.

Take a deep breath Canucks fans. If you get through this series..your demons are past you. And then the sky's the limit.

Vancouver in 7



2. San Jose
7. Los Angeles

The common thought among many at the beginning of the season was that these two teams current playoff seeds might be reversed at this time. A 2 seed LA against a 7 seed San Jose. The Kings were expected to contend for the Pacific Division title and get a top 3 seed, while the Sharks were expected to sink lower down the Western Conference ladder. But the Kings, surprisingly, could not take that next step forward and the Sharks confirmed that they're not done yet.

It's just not a very impressive Kings team right now minus Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams questionable to play. And right now, the Sharks are too hot at the moment for the Kings to pull any sort of upset. The Sharks have as solid a top six forward crew as any in the league (Marleau, Thornton, Heatley, Pavelski, Couture, Clowe) and even though they might not have put up numbers like they've done in years past, it's still a team that can score. And with Stanley Cup winner Antii Niemi showing he's not a one-year wonder in net, expect big things for the Sharks.

Remember, this isn't the same old Sharks team. This team won two rounds and made a conference final run last year. They've finally gone on that deep playoff run and with the uncertainty in the West, is this the year they take that final push forward?

San Jose in 5



3.Detroit
6.Phoenix

Somehow, the Coyotes did it again. With a subpar roster on paper, they claim a playoff berth and get a six seed only to match up with the high-flying Wings in the first round. But let's remember something here. These two teams squared off last year in Round one and the Wings BARELY beat an inexperienced Coyotes team before getting manhandled by San Jose in round two. This is the same Wings team, plus Mike Modano......

The Coyotes have seven different guys who have scored at least 15 goals. It speaks volumes about their depth and not many teams can say they have that many 15 goal scorers. Their depth gets overlooked quite a bit, including on the back end,where they boast solid presences like Yandle, Morris, Aucoin, Jovanovski. And let's not forget the calm, cool, and collected Ilya Bryzgalov in net. Without him, the Coyotes are not in the playoffs these last two years.

This Wings team has the feel of a classic Wings squad from the 2000s that had the marvelous regular season, only to flop in the first round. There's nothing scary about this Wings team. A banged up Henrik Zetterberg? An aging Nik Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski on defense? A giant question mark in Jimmy Howard between the pipes? I'm not convinced.

Phoenix in 5



4.Anaheim
5.Nashville

You could argue that it's one of the best teams on paper (Anaheim) taking on one of the worst teams on paper (Nashville). Other than Shea Weber and Ryan Suter(two defencemen)this team is loaded with a bunch of unknown and unproven guys. Case in point, when Sergei Kostitsyn is your leading scorer, you've got issues.

And I dont know about you, but there seems to be something special about this Ducks team. They've been pretty magical as of late.

Randy Carlyle= Gordon Bombay
Ryan Getzlaf= Charlie Conway
Corey Perry= Adam Banks

See where I'm going with this? That's right. This team has the feel of the amazing Disney Mighty Ducks teams from the early 1990s. Hell, let's keep it going.

Ray Emery= Greg Goldberg
George Parros= Dean Portman
Lubomir Visnovsky= Fulton Reed
Jason Blake= Connie Moreau

Alright, that's enough Disney Mighty Ducks talk. But an epic video wouldn't hurt.



Anaheim in 4

Now that's drama..

What's one of the easiest ways to piss me off? Tell me that golf is boring to watch... I dare you. I just finished watching the final round of the 2011 Masters, which was won by South African Charl Schwartzel. And yet again in the final round of a major, there were more twists and turns in those round than an episode of a television drama series.

Former World #1 Tiger Woods made a dramatic push to the top of the leaderboard after starting the day 7 shots back and held a share of the lead late in the day.

Take that, Grey's Anatomy.

8 different players....8!!!... held the lead or at least a share of the lead during the final 9 holes on Sunday, something rarely ever seen at a major championship.

Top that, Lost.

The best part..Unlike all those tv shows, this Masters drama was unscripted. As is all other final round golf drama.

It wasn't the greatest final round I've ever seen, but it definitely cracked the top 10 and maaaybe top 5 on my list.

And here is my unofficial guide to what constitutes an amazing final round of golf.

1. There has to be some sort of epic choke/meltdown

We saw one of the biggest meltdowns in recent major memory as 21 year old Rory McIlroy crapped his pants on about six different occasions on Sunday and after coming in to the day leading by 4 shots(!!!), he shot an 80 and fell to 15th place. Now I love watching golfers make great shots and strategically pick apart a professional golf course, but I like it even more when golfers choke and implode. Come on guys, you're professionals! Why should we feel bad for you..you make thousands of dollars every time you play. And while most people probably felt bad for little Rory, I couldn't help but chuckle.

2. There has to be uncertainty as to who is going to be the winner

Most memorable tournaments usually are born when we have absolutely no idea who is going to win the tournament. There were 11 different guys who could have won this tournament today and it took until about 5:15 central time (45 minutes before the end of the round) before we actually had some sort of idea as Adam Scott and Charl Schwartzel pulled away from the rest of the field.

3. A good golfer has to win the tournament

One of my biggest pet peeves as a golf fan, and as a sports fan, is the sight of no-names winning. I can't stand it. And the tournaments usually become forgettable if Shaun Micheel or Ben Curtis or Mike Weir wins. (Sorry Mike...you were never that good.) Now you're probably thinking that Charl Schwartzel is a no-name, but he's not. If you follow the sport of golf at all, you would have heard Schwartzel's name before. My rule for a "good golfer" winning the tournament is that the golfer has to be among the top 50 in the world rankings at the time of their victory. And heading into this week, Schwartzel was ranked 29th. He's good.

4. There has to be a defining shot/moment.

It was looking like Tiger Woods' roar to the top was going to be something historic, but it wasn't enough to claim his 5th Masters title. The winner, Charl Schwartzel had a few defining shots/moments on Sunday. The chip in for birdie at 1 and his hole-out for eagle on the 3rd. But the defining moment has to be the way Schwartzel ended his round. 4 straight birdies on 15,16,17, and 18 to lock up the green jacket. That's unheard of on the grounds at Augusta National on a Masters Sunday.

Will people remember this tournament for Schwartzel's heroics or McIlroy's barfing all over himself? And speaking of barfing, that's what most people would rather do than watch a round of golf on television. It's the sad truth. But after today's events at Augusta, can we please put an end to this myth that golf resembles watching paint dry?

Bacon Bits: Looking Back at 2 years of Kevin's Bacon

My boss at 4 Seasons Chinese Food, who reads my blog once in a while (or so she says), recently asked me "You know Kevin Bacon is an actor, right?"

Yes I know, boss.

That's why just over a year and a half ago when CreComm started, I named my blog "Kevin's Bacon". It was a bad attempt at a funny name.

And you could argue that alot of the posts on this blog have been a bad attempt at being funny.

But that's Kevin's Bacon.

Now that CreComm is done at the end of the week, our weekly blog assignments that we were required to do for school are no more. And that means a lot of students will part ways with their blog.

Not me.

Kevin's Bacon will still be cooking after CreComm, focusing mostly on my thoughts on the world of sports. Blogging has been a fun experience for myself during the time in CreComm. And I have learned that I want to keep doing it.

So by no means is this a "farewell to the blog" post. It's just a "best of.." this blog so far...

Here are some of my favourite posts from the last year and a half:

1. This one is from September 2010 during the civic election when one of our journalism assignments was to go in one of the electoral wards around the city, and talk to people. Here were the results ...

2. Car flags made an appearance around the city during last year's World Cup. Here are my do's and don'ts when you decide to put a car flag on your car.

3. I am a huge fan of rock music, and made an epic list this past summer of my favourite rock bands from A-Z.

4. A retrospective of last year's Stanley Cup Playoffs.

5. I was also once a big fan of professional wrestling, but I discuss here why I lost interest.

6. A holiday-themed look at the NFL season during December of 2009.