Western Conference Predictions (Semifinals)

It’s not hard to believe that the top-4 seeds in the Western Conference all lost in the first round of the playoffs. Like I’ve been saying all year long, the teams that looked really good, standings-wise, were highly over-rated (Detroit, Dallas), and the teams that looked not too great in the standings (Edmonton, Colorado) were ten times better than people thought they were. Up until the last week or so of the regular season, The Western Conference seeds 3 through 10 were all separated by 4 points. With so many teams compacted like that, it’s not really surprising that all four series’ were “upsets” in the first round.

The only series that was even a little surprising was the Calgary/Anaheim series. Towards the end of the season, Calgary looked like the much better team, but Anaheim proved why playoffs are the best time of the year; anything can happen on any night.

In the first round, I picked Edmonton, Colorado, San Jose and Calgary. Three for four (.750), not too shabby considering the combined total for the “experts” at ESPN was seven for twenty (.350). Considering the pounding both Colorado and Edmonton put on Dallas and Detroit, respectively, it should be easy to pick the winners of the Semifinal round.

With that all said it’s time to make my second round predictions…

Colorado over Anaheim in 6 games.
Colorado beat Dallas in every aspect of the game. From penalty kills, to power plays, to shots, to blocked shots; Colorado even outnumbered Dallas in hits, which is abnormal, because Dallas is a much more physical team than Colorado. Colorado conquered every aspect of the game against the second best team in the West, and should have no trouble against Anaheim, a team which Dallas dominated in the regular season, compiling a 6-2 record against. The Avalanche were 3-1 against Anaheim in the regular season, the only loss coming in a shoot-out, which, as I mentioned in my first round predictions, should not be held against the Avalanche, as they were abnormally awful at shootouts. The Avalanche will dominate the Ducks, and the only reason I’m giving the Ducks 2 wins, is because the Avalanche will have Steve Konowalchuk back, and will be experimenting with different lines in order to see what will fit them best in the next round.

Edmonton over San Jose in 5 games.
I don’t even know if much needs to be said in this series. Edmonton dominated the best team in hockey in the first round. An eight seed absolutely killed a one seed in six games. As I have mentioned many times before, Detroit is not as good as they seemed in the standings, and should not have been considered as big of a favorite as they were. However, they were still a good team, and Edmonton dominated. Edmonton played in the toughest division in hockey, and earned stamina and strength doing that. San Jose beat Nashville, a team whose final point-tally was inflated in the same way that Detroit’s was. San Jose was a better team than Nashville all along, and no one should be surprised that San Jose made it past the first round. Edmonton will come out and play at the same level they played at against Detroit, and that will be too much for San Jose.