Stanley Cup Playoffs - Conference Finals

So the Conference Finals are all set. In the West the top two seeds prevail, while in the East we have the seventh and eighth seeds.

San Jose vs Chicago

This is kind of the series everyone expected in the West. Chicago surprised me in their series against Vancouver. I thought the Sedin twins were just too strong going into the series and Luongo had been playing as good as he had been all season going into the semi-finals. After Game 1 it looked like my assumptions were right. But Chicago tightened up and took the next 3 games and were able to take care of Vancouver in 6. San Jose really had no trouble with Detroit which also surprised me. I thought Detroit had too much experience to go out in 5. Nabokov was strong in goal (minus the disastrous game 4). San Jose just had too much for Detroit.

This series is hard for me to call. It's almost a battle of youth versus experience. Chicago has had a tougher road to the finals playing a tough Nashville team and Vancouver (although they won both series in 6 games). This matchup comes down to goaltending. Nabokov against Niemi. Both these teams are evenly matched and goaltending is going to be key in these series. Niemi came up big against Vancouver and has been pretty solid all year in net for the Blackhawks. But I think betting against Nabokov is a bad move. I think getting out of the first round this year has eased San Jose into just playing hockey. I think the Sharks will win this series in 7.

Philadelphia vs Montreal

The Flyers got into the playoffs on the last game of the season beating the Rangers in a shoot out. They went on to demolish New Jersey in 5 games and after being down 3-0 to the Bruins, won 4 straight to put them into the Eastern Conference finals. Montreal had to beat the Capitals, the best team in the NHL during the regular season, and the Penguins, the defending Stanley Cup champions.

I'm not picking against the Canadiens. Halak has been great in goal when he needed to be and Montreal is a team getting healthy. Losing Boucher wasn't enough to lose the Flyers the series against Boston but I wonder if Leighton can continue to be strong in net. He looked shaky in the first period of Game 7, giving up 3 goals. With both Gill and Markov coming back for the Habs, I don't think Philadelphia has a chance. But the Flyers have already been a surprise in the playoffs and if there's a team to give Montreal problems it'll be the Flyers. I still like the Canadiens to win this series in 5.