Playoff Predictions

Today is the day. Opening day of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The time of year when every second of every is 100 times more important that it was just two days ago. Let the games begin!

These are my predictions:
Round 1:

-Boston over Montreal in 5, just because of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cr89xbl26g
-Rangers over Caps in 7, because “Jose the open door” will be Alex the Great’s downfall as King Henrick dethrones him.
-Devils over Canes in 6 becuase Parise is underrated and the Staal-Cole line is overrated.
-Pens over Flyers in 6, obviously, so that I can work for them longer because my internship ends when their season does. But also because Dan the Man is an awesome coach (seriosuly, 18-3-4?!).

-Ducks over Sharks in 7, because they set up the Pens with Kunitz, so I hope they fare well, oh and Ryan and Getzlaf are sweet.
-Detroit over Columbus in 7, only because Mason is a rookie prodigy, or else I would say Wings in 4.
-Vancouver over St. Louis in 6, because the Sundin twins supposedly read each other’s minds.
-Chicago over Calgary in 7, did you see how the hawks dismantled the Wings on Easter Sunday? Jokinen or not, the Flames are toast.

Round 2:
-Boston over Rangers in 5 because New York’s offense is no match for that Giant called Chara.
-Pens over Devils in 7, Marty may very well be the best goalie in the league, but he’s no match for the potent Penguins offense.

-Detroit over Ducks in 5, because that’s how mo-town rolls.
-Vancouver over Chicago in 6, just because.

Round 3:
-Pens over Boston in 5. Seriously. I’m calling it. Fleury will be on fire at this point, and so will Sid, Malkin, Guerin, Sykora, etc.etc.
-Detroit over Vancouver in 6.

Final:
-Pens best Wings in 6, and Hossa considers hanging himself in the visitors locker room at the Mellon Arena.

To MVP or not to MVP? That is the question.

After Evgeni Malkin’s spectacular performance in the Penguins, 6-2, victory of the Atlanta Thrashers on Tuesday night, how can there possibly be any question that Malkin deserves the Hart Memorial trophy, awarded to the league’s Most Valuable Player at the end of the season? Makin netted two goals and three assists for a five-point night against Atlanta. He just about made it a hat trick in the final minutes of the third period when he was awarded his first ever penalty shot, but the shot went wide. Regardless, Malkin proved himself in a big way in the game. (Catch the highlights here).

Crosby, Malkin and Gonchar cellebrate one of Malkin's two goals (photo Yahoo! Sports).

Malkin’s closest competitor for the award (besides teammate Sidney Crosby) is fellow countryman, Alexander Ovechkin. The Capitals frontman is currently trailing Malkin in the scoring race by 12 points, but he is a valid contender for the Hart Memorial none the less. Ovechkin is an excellent hockey player who plays exciting hockey. But the thing about “Geno,” as Malkin is called in Pittsburgh, is that he continually puts his team in a position to win hockey games.

“When you look at that award, it’s an award where they look for someone specifically who puts their team over and above and makes them win and (Malkin) does that for us,” Sidney Crosby said to PittsburghPenguins.com.

I’ll simply let the numbers speak for Malkin in this case. I will just leave you with one point to consider: The majority of Malkin’s point come from assists. In fact, 70 (70!) of Malkin’s 102 points are assists. He is leading the league in assists, followed closely by teammate Crosby, who has 65 assists. In my mind, there is something noble about a player who is leading the league in points but the majority of those points came from setting up his teammates. It takes humility and true team play to tally numbers like that. On the other hand, Ovechkin leads the league in goals with 49  (90 points, third best in the league).

Evgeni Malkin

Alex Ovechkin

 

 

 

 

 

 

You Decide: Who deserves to be MVP?