NHL 2nd Round Picks

Here are my picks for round 2 of the 2014 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs:

Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens

Despite the Habs sweeping The Tampa Bay Lightning, I think Boston goalie and likely Vezina Trophy winner Tuukka Rask will play up to form, and take the Bruins over the top. (Bruins in 6)

Pittsburg Penguins vs. NY Rangers

The Rangers are my sleeper pick in this year’s playoffs. They have been playing great hockey since late in the regular season. They are better than the Columbus Bluejackets, who wore the overconfident Penguins out. (Rangers in 6)

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Minnesota Wild

The upstart Minnesota Wild pulled off a 1^st round upset over a young and inexperienced Colorado Avalanche team. Every game was close, and most went to OT. The Chicago Blackhawks, on the other hand, are the defending Stanley Cup Champs, and are filled to the brim with playoff experience and talent. Chicago isn’t the best team in this year’s playoffs, but they should be able to win this series. (Blackhawks in 7)

Anaheim Ducks vs. LA Kings

The LA Kings are red hot right now, coming back from a 3 game deficit to win 4 straight, and I don’t see the overrated Anaheim Ducks stopping their momentum any better than the San Jose Sharks did. (Kings in 4)

©2014 Denim McDemus

NHL Notes 4/11/14

The Colorado Avalanche defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 to climb to 52 wins and 111 points, to tie the St. Louis Blues for 1st place in the NHL's Central Division, and 1 point behind Anaheim for best record in the conference. The Avs have the tiebreaker over St. Louis, so they are technically in 1st place.

Colorado tied their franchise record for wins. Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov broke the franchise single-season record with his League-leading 41st win, surpassing the mark set by current head coach Patrick Roy.

After losing again tonight, the Philadelphia Flyers are in danger of falling down to the last wildcard spot, as Detroit and Columbus also now have 91 points. There will be a lot of unhappy people around here if the Flyers have to play the conference leading Boston Bruins in the first round... (not me, but a lot of people)

©2014 Denim McDemus