Buffalo Sabres

From the outside - 3rd round thoughts and final predictions

For how incredible the 2nd round match-ups were…the conference finals ended up to be quite a let-down. Carolina ended up showing there true colors and turned turtle against a vastly superior Piitsburgh team. I know I picked Carolina - my biggest pick regret. That’s what I get for basing it on one game! This series was the biggest bore unless you were a Pens fan…but I will say, I loved seeing Carolina get crushed. (Residual resentment from 2006 is all.)

The Detroit series was a little more interesting, as the Red Wings only blew out the Blackhawks twice instead of 3 times. However, as soon as Detroit won Game 2 in OT, I had no doubt they would win the series…was there any way the Blackhawks could take 4 out of 5 from Detroit, which is what it would’ve taken to win.

All said, I’m kind of sad that it is Detroit-Piitsburgh…it seems too familiar and predictable. As mentioned before, its been 32 years since two teams met back-to-back in the finals, but you almost feel like it could happen again next year. With a 10-4 record going into the last series, I have nothing to lose on my final pick. Though I picked Detroit last year, I think this years match-up may be a little closer. Detroit is banged up, and Pittsburgh has last year’s experience under their belt where there super-stars got their first Stanley Cup experience. The four games in six nights also give Pittsburgh a slight edge early on. When I am not sure, I usually look at goaltending, but in this case I really can’t favor one team over the other. In the end, though…both teams have a pretty good offensive talent, with the Pens having bigger stars but Detroit having a little more depth. But Detroit’s defense is superior to the Pens, and if they can manage to shut down Crosby and especially the red-hot Malkin. Piitsburgh has to jump out to an early lead in this series, a long series favors Detroit.

I’ve picked Detroit 3 times, and been right 3 times. In the end, I have to go with my gut, Detroit’s got one of the best all-around teams I’ve ever seen. They handled two of their opponents easily…the third, Anaheim, may have been the second best team in the playoffs, and they beat them too. I am going to pick Detroit again. (But wouldn’t it be ironic if Marian Hossa lost with Pittsburgh last year, wouldn’t sign with them to go Detroit, and lost with Detroit this year? Talk about bad timing.)