Most boring second round ever.

Pens 3 - 0 Rangers
Wings 3 - 0 Col
Stars 3 - 0 S.J

I would hardly call Montreal and Philly exciting.

And there wont be any updates until Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

Philidalphia @ Washington

WSH PHI # G EG S% G EG SV% Game 1: 5 2.9 79.4 4 1.9 83.1 Game 2: 0 1.8 97.5 2 7.9 100 Game 3: 3 1.0 91.7 6 5.9 70.6 Game 4: 3 4.5 87.8 4 3.2 93.5 Game 5: 3 5.4 86.0 2 1.4 94.6 Game 6: 4 3.5 95.8 2 4.7 88.8 Game 7: 2 3.2 89.5 3 2.8 93.9 Series [3-4] 20 22.3 92.2 23 27.8 91.2

On the surface I would call this a scoring series, but Huet might have something different in mind and Philadelphia isn't exactly an offensive powerhouse. That said there could be a number of high scoring games in this series. Pretty even match up, but Philadelphia has a much better special teams record.

WSH PHI Winner Even Strength GF 2.63 2.38 EGF 2.68 2.52 GA 2.37 2.52 EGA 2.12 2.82 SV% 88.9% 91% Power Play GF 6.86 8.82 EGF 5.88 7.57 GA 1.59 0.43 EGA 1.38 0.91 SV% 89.5% 89.7%

The winner column displays the dominant team in that category. The more pictures of the team's logo the more dominant the team is in that category All the non-percentage numbers are scoring rates. For example on the first row, the Washington Capitals have an even strength scoring rate of 2.63 goal for per hour. [GF = goals for, GA = goals against Exx = expected xx, SV% = shot quality neutral save percentage]. In the power play section in order to calculate the expected scoring rates I multiplied the goals for rate of one team and the goals against rate of the other and divide by the league average in order to get the expected rate for these two teams combined. So for example, the Washington Capitals have a power play goals for rate of 7.13 and the Philadelphia Flyers have a penalty killing goals against rate of 6.26. So 7.13*6.26/6.5=6.86 [league average is 6.5]. Outperforming expected goals for is a sign of a lucky team. Outperforming expected goals against is a sign of either a good goaltender or luck as well. Each category listed has a different importance to winning, so be careful how you read these. Being able to score short-handed isn't going to win a lot of hockey games.

Boston @ Montreal

MTL BOS # G EG S% G EG SV% Game 1: 4 6.2 91.1 1 1.1 93.7 Game 2: 3 5.6 90.2 2 2.0 94.8 Game 3: 1 1.4 93.0 2 2.8 93.0 Game 4: 1 2.2 100 0 1.5 95.5 Game 5: 1 2.3 77.7 5 2.2 95.7 Game 6: 4 4.0 86.0 5 3.5 90.2 Game 7: 5 4.9 100 0 1.9 90.0 Series [4-3] 19 26.6 90.2 15 15.0 93.0

What more could you ask for than a Boston - Montreal series. I doubt there will be any writers who believe Boston: a team who can't score and who has unproven goalies can beat a team who can score a lot of goals. The 8 game season series between the two teams was an embarrassment for Boston who average 5 goals against. Boston is one of the worst teams to make the playoffs this season. Unless they can get near perfect goaltending they wont last much more than 5 games. That all said, Montreal dominance really only comes on the special teams and if Boston can stay out of the box and limit Montreal to 1 or 2 goals at even strength they could get something going. No goalies in this series have more than a couple games experience in playoff hockey so one could potentially succumb to the pressure and that team may ultimately lose.

MTL BOS Winner Even Strength GF 2.48 2.16 EGF 2.33 2.28 GA 2.38 2.11 EGA 2.54 2.31 SV% 90.6% 90.8% Power Play GF 11.05 6.55 EGF 7.97 6.12 GA 0.43 0.85 EGA 0.65 1.69 SV% 90.6% 88.9%

The winner column displays the dominant team in that category. The more pictures of the team's logo the more dominant the team is in that category All the non-percentage numbers are scoring rates. For example on the first row, the Montreal Canadiens have an even strength scoring rate of 2.48 goal for per hour. [GF = goals for, GA = goals against Exx = expected xx, SV% = shot quality neutral save percentage]. In the power play section in order to calculate the expected scoring rates I multiplied the goals for rate of one team and the goals against rate of the other and divide by the league average in order to get the expected rate for these two teams combined. So for example, the Montreal Canadiens have a power play goals for rate of 9.22 and the Boston Bruins have a penalty killing goals against rate of 7.79. So 9.22*7.79/6.5=11.05 [league average is 6.5]. Outperforming expected goals for is a sign of a lucky team. Outperforming expected goals against is a sign of either a good goaltender or luck as well. Each category listed has a different importance to winning, so be careful how you read these. Being able to score short-handed isn't going to win a lot of hockey games.

Calgary @ San Jose

S.J CGY # G EG S% G EG SV% Game 1: 2 3.3 93.9 3 4.8 94.1 Game 2: 2 7.8 100 0 1.3 97.5 Game 3: 3 2.3 72.0 4 1.4 87.2 Game 4: 3 1.8 75.5 2 0.8 83.7 Game 5: 4 2.9 89.9 3 2.9 86.5 Game 6: 0 1.0 95.9 2 4.8 100 Game 7: 5 4.7 82.7 3 1.7 89.6 Series [4-3] 19 23.8 90.6 17 17.7 92.2

Iginla and Thornton are the possibly the best players in the West (and basically the NHL). However, it takes more than 1 player to win a series. Kiprosoff has had what most would consider a poor year, if he can come up big Calgary can take this. That said, this is San Jose's series to lose.

S.J CGY Winner Even Strength GF 2.17 2.52 EGF 2.88 2.57 GA 2.1 2.28 EGA 1.83 2.23 SV% 88.5% 89.8% Power Play GF 7.33 5.07 EGF 7.74 6.9 GA 0.96 1.02 EGA 0.59 0.89 SV% 91.3% 88.6%

The winner column displays the dominant team in that category. The more pictures of the team's logo the more dominant the team is in that category All the non-percentage numbers are scoring rates. For example on the first row, the San Jose Sharks have an even strength scoring rate of 2.17 goal for per hour. [GF = goals for, GA = goals against Exx = expected xx, SV% = shot quality neutral save percentage]. In the power play section in order to calculate the expected scoring rates I multiplied the goals for rate of one team and the goals against rate of the other and divide by the league average in order to get the expected rate for these two teams combined. So for example, the San Jose Sharks have a power play goals for rate of 6.92 and the Calgary Flames have a penalty killing goals against rate of 6.88. So 6.92*6.88/6.5=7.33 [league average is 6.5]. Outperforming expected goals for is a sign of a lucky team. Outperforming expected goals against is a sign of either a good goaltender or luck as well. Each category listed has a different importance to winning, so be careful how you read these. Being able to score short-handed isn't going to win a lot of hockey games.

Dallas @ Anaheim

So, both conference champs bow out early...

ANA DAL # G EG S% G EG SV% Game 1: 0 1.6 91.1 4 4.4 100 Game 2: 2 1.5 89.8 5 4.8 86.9 Game 3: 4 1.5 91.8 2 2.4 73.9 Game 4: 1 1.5 86.6 3 2.2 93.5 Game 5: 5 5.4 93.7 2 3.1 92.7 Game 6: 1 1.0 84.5 4 1.9 90.2 Series [2-4] 13 12.5 90.1 20 18.8 90.6

Any divisional match up is interesting to say the least. If you look at the season series you might get the impression that this is Dallas' series to lose. However, Dallas has had such a terrible March it's hard to imagine them turning it around. For those who may have forgotten Dallas still has Turco in net who has won one playoff series in 5 opportunities. The special teams should be quiet for both teams, but Anaheim is much better at 5 on 5. Keep in mind that Anaheim is +23 since the new year.

ANA DAL Winner Even Strength GF 2.07 2.49 EGF 2.32 2.16 GA 1.75 2.33 EGA 2.37 2.03 SV% 92.6% 88.5% Power Play GF 5.15 6.31 EGF 7.32 6.88 GA 1.48 0.85 EGA 0.56 0.74 SV% 91.9% 92%

The winner column displays the dominant team in that category. The more pictures of the team's logo the more dominant the team is in that category All the non-percentage numbers are scoring rates. For example on the first row, the Anaheim Ducks have an even strength scoring rate of 2.07 goal for per hour. [GF = goals for, GA = goals against Exx = expected xx, SV% = shot quality neutral save percentage]. In the power play section in order to calculate the expected scoring rates I multiplied the goals for rate of one team and the goals against rate of the other and divide by the league average in order to get the expected rate for these two teams combined. So for example, the Anaheim Ducks have a power play goals for rate of 6.53 and the Dallas Stars have a penalty killing goals against rate of 5.13. So 6.53*5.13/6.5=5.15 [league average is 6.5]. Outperforming expected goals for is a sign of a lucky team. Outperforming expected goals against is a sign of either a good goaltender or luck as well. Each category listed has a different importance to winning, so be careful how you read these. Being able to score short-handed isn't going to win a lot of hockey games.

Nashville @ Detroit

Lidstrom certainly has a great shot.

DET NSH # G EG S% G EG SV% Game 1: 3 4.3 87.8 1 0.8 95.4 Game 2: 4 6.2 88.5 2 1.7 93.7 Game 3: 3 3.6 79.4 5 1.9 91.8 Game 4: 2 2.9 92.5 3 3.9 93.2 Game 5: 2 8.2 87.8 1 0.8 97.6 Game 6: 3 4.9 100 0 1.1 96.0 Series [4-2] 17 30.1 89.4 12 10.2 95.1

As you can see on the left there Detroit has manged a stellar 2.0 GA per game vs. playoff opponents this season. I'm generally not a big fan of Detroit's goaltending, but in the more difficult games of the season it has come up with decent performances. As you can see below Nashville only performed slightly better in net than Detroit. Nashville has had a reasonable amount of success against Detroit this season. I'm not all that interested in this series as I see very little possibility for Nashville to beat Detroit in the 7-game series.

DET NSH Winner Even Strength GF 2.66 2.67 EGF 2.62 2.71 GA 1.85 2.62 EGA 1.71 2.57 SV% 89.2% 89.8% Power Play GF 6.48 4.95 EGF 8.32 4.86 GA 0.76 0.77 EGA 0.5 0.8 SV% 88.9% 91.5%

The winner column displays the dominant team in that category. The more pictures of the team's logo the more dominant the team is in that category All the non-percentage numbers are scoring rates. For example on the first row, the Detroit Red Wings have an even strength scoring rate of 2.66 goal for per hour. [GF = goals for, GA = goals against Exx = expected xx, SV% = shot quality neutral save percentage]. In the power play section in order to calculate the expected scoring rates I multiplied the goals for rate of one team and the goals against rate of the other and divide by the league average in order to get the expected rate for these two teams combined. So for example, the Detroit Red Wings have a power play goals for rate of 7.87 and the Nashville Predators have a penalty killing goals against rate of 5.35. So 7.87*5.35/6.5=6.48 [league average is 6.5]. Outperforming expected goals for is a sign of a lucky team. Outperforming expected goals against is a sign of either a good goaltender or luck as well. Each category listed has a different importance to winning, so be careful how you read these. Being able to score short-handed isn't going to win a lot of hockey games.

Colorado @ Minnesota

MIN COL # G EG S% G EG SV% Game 1: 2 1.5 87.5 3 2.4 86.7 Game 2: 3 2.5 96.6 2 2.9 88.0 Game 3: 3 2.9 97.1 2 6.9 89.7 Game 4: 1 1.6 86.5 5 3.7 93.8 Game 5: 2 2.3 80.0 3 1.5 95.7 Game 6: 1 1.9 95.2 2 4.2 94.7 Series [2-4] 12 12.7 92.6 17 21.6 91.3

The only reason either of these teams are in the playoffs is because of their ability to beat the crappy teams. Colorado should be the favorite (despite being the road team), because of their trade deadline acquisitions. However, one should remember it's been 7 years since 2001 and most of those players are a little older now.

MIN COL Winner Even Strength GF 2.35 2.69 EGF 1.93 2.64 GA 2.32 2.41 EGA 2.26 2.63 SV% 89.7% 90.8% Power Play GF 7.46 4.5 EGF 7.31 6.5 GA 0.39 0.26 EGA 0.45 0.72 SV% 90.7% 90.3%

The winner column displays the dominant team in that category. The more pictures of the team's logo the more dominant the team is in that category All the non-percentage numbers are scoring rates. For example on the first row, the Minnesota Wild have an even strength scoring rate of 2.35 goal for per hour. [GF = goals for, GA = goals against Exx = expected xx, SV% = shot quality neutral save percentage]. In the power play section in order to calculate the expected scoring rates I multiplied the goals for rate of one team and the goals against rate of the other and divide by the league average in order to get the expected rate for these two teams combined. So for example, the Minnesota Wild have a power play goals for rate of 7.1 and the Colorado Avalanche have a penalty killing goals against rate of 6.84. So 7.1*6.84/6.5=7.46 [league average is 6.5]. Outperforming expected goals for is a sign of a lucky team. Outperforming expected goals against is a sign of either a good goaltender or luck as well. Each category listed has a different importance to winning, so be careful how you read these. Being able to score short-handed isn't going to win a lot of hockey games.

New York Rangers @ New Jersey

N.J NYR # G EG S% G EG SV% Game 1: 1 1.5 90.0 4 3.0 93.3 Game 2: 1 2.2 92.3 2 2.6 95.5 Game 3: 4 3.5 85.0 3 2.0 88.6 Game 4: 3 1.5 91.3 5 4.6 80.0 Game 5: 3 2.4 88.2 5 3.4 87.5 Series [1-4] 12 11.1 89.7 19 15.6 89.2

This series may be one of the closest series and the best part there is a game at 3:00 PM eastern time for home ice advantage (this game might be more important than game 1...). This probably isn't going to be the most interesting series, as both teams are defensively responsible. However, these teams are so evenly matched that anything could happen. The Rangers haven't lost a game against the Devils all year, but I expect New Jersey to win home ice this afternoon. You don't find two more evenly matched teams very often.

N.J NYR Winner Even Strength GF 2.18 2.19 EGF 2.36 2.39 GA 2.05 2.04 EGA 2.31 2.02 SV% 91.1% 89.9% Power Play GF 5.12 5.6 EGF 6.71 8.18 GA 0.5 0.6 EGA 0.4 0.94 SV% 91.9% 90.1%

The winner column displays the dominant team in that category. The more pictures of the team's logo the more dominant the team is in that category All the non-percentage numbers are scoring rates. For example on the first row, the New Jersey Devils have an even strength scoring rate of 2.18 goal for per hour. [GF = goals for, GA = goals against Exx = expected xx, SV% = shot quality neutral save percentage]. In the power play section in order to calculate the expected scoring rates I multiplied the goals for rate of one team and the goals against rate of the other and divide by the league average in order to get the expected rate for these two teams combined. So for example, the New Jersey Devils have a power play goals for rate of 5.66 and the New York Rangers have a penalty killing goals against rate of 5.88. So 5.66*5.88/6.5=5.12 [league average is 6.5]. Outperforming expected goals for is a sign of a lucky team. Outperforming expected goals against is a sign of either a good goaltender or luck as well. Each category listed has a different importance to winning, so be careful how you read these. Being able to score short-handed isn't going to win a lot of hockey games.

Ottawa @ Pittsburgh

That was easy...

PIT OTT # G EG S% G EG SV% Game 1: 4 7.5 100 0 1.4 94.7 Game 2: 5 7.6 87.0 3 2.3 94.7 Game 3: 4 4.4 95.8 1 2.4 90.9 Game 4: 3 3.3 90.9 1 1.1 93.9 Series [4-0] 16 22.8 93.1 5 7.2 93.9

Ottawa has one thing going for it after game 1, Gerber appears able to play in the playoffs and do well. He may have allowed 4 goals on 35 shots, but most of the shots were of the good quality type.

Both teams average 3 goals for and 3 goals against, which suggests a high scoring series. Neither team has stellar goaltending either. This is Crosby's second playoff experience so I expect it to be better than the last one. Ottawa hasn't won a regulation game against Pittsburgh. This should be an entertaining series to say the least, and I wouldn't expect a short series.

PIT OTT Winner Even Strength GF 2.52 2.85 EGF 2.61 2.68 GA 2.15 2.6 EGA 2.47 2.59 SV% 91.3% 90% Power Play GF 7.83 7.13 EGF 8.09 7.34 GA 2.36 0.58 EGA 1.2 0.87 SV% 89.5% 90%

The winner column displays the dominant team in that category. The more pictures of the team's logo the more dominant the team is in that category All the non-percentage numbers are scoring rates. For example on the first row, the Pittsburgh Penguins have an even strength scoring rate of 2.52 goal for per hour. [GF = goals for, GA = goals against Exx = expected xx, SV% = shot quality neutral save percentage]. In the power play section in order to calculate the expected scoring rates I multiplied the goals for rate of one team and the goals against rate of the other and divide by the league average in order to get the expected rate for these two teams combined. So for example, the Pittsburgh Penguins have a power play goals for rate of 7.36 and the Ottawa Senators have a penalty killing goals against rate of 6.91. So 7.36*6.91/6.5=7.83 [league average is 6.5]. Outperforming expected goals for is a sign of a lucky team. Outperforming expected goals against is a sign of either a good goaltender or luck as well. Each category listed has a different importance to winning, so be careful how you read these. Being able to score short-handed isn't going to win a lot of hockey games.

Déjà vu - Gilbert

I couldn't help, but remember less than a year ago a contract extension for a very similar situation. Bieksa signed a 3 year extension after 1 good season in the NHL (12 goals 30 assists).

Gilbert now got an even better deal.
Bieksa was drafted #151 overall in 2001.
Gilber was drafted #129 overall in 2002.

For those who may be wondering, Gilbert's expected goals this season was 6 (he scored 13). What will Edmonton do if it turns out Gilbert is really a marginal NHL player?

Playoff summary - Guide

Earl Sleek liked my little summary images last season and created a little guide to help explain them. I hope this guide helps people understand my crazy images.

2008 Predictions - Who got it right/Who got it wrong...

Position: 11 3 9 6 7 14 8 1 13 10 2 12 15 5 4 4 13 5 6 2 8 10 1 7 12 14 9 11 15 3 S1 S2 McKeen's Hockey 5 8 13 2 7 10 11 1 14 12 6 15 9 3 4 5 15 3 10 1 13 4 8 2 6 14 7 11 9 12 100 22 The Hockey News 6 5 13 8 3 9 7 1 14 10 4 15 12 11 2 7 14 2 9 3 15 4 13 1 11 8 5 12 6 10 110 25 Chris Boersma 2 8 14 3 6 10 7 4 11 13 5 15 12 9 1 10 3 4 14 2 11 1 7 6 5 9 12 8 13 15 128 28 Public Opinion 6 7 12 4 5 10 9 2 14 13 3 15 11 8 1 5 15 3 7 2 14 4 11 1 9 12 8 10 6 13 100 23 James Mirtle 9 3 11 8 6 10 5 1 13 14 2 15 12 4 7 3 12 5 9 2 15 4 13 1 8 7 10 6 14 11 90 23 Bookies 4 5 14 7 8 9 11 2 12 13 3 15 10 6 1 6 12 3 8 1 14 4 11 2 5 10 9 13 7 15 110 26 David Johnson 2 6 12 4 8 10 9 1 14 13 5 15 11 7 3 8 14 3 9 1 13 2 11 4 5 7 10 6 12 15 112 26 Alain Chantelois 5 7 10 6 3 12 11 1 15 13 4 14 9 8 2 7 15 2 9 4 14 6 8 1 10 13 3 12 5 11 104 23 Gaston Therrien 4 6 13 7 3 10 9 2 15 12 5 14 11 8 1 9 15 2 7 4 12 6 10 1 8 11 3 14 5 13 116 25 Howard Berger 5 8 10 3 6 9 11 1 14 13 2 15 12 7 4 6 13 5 10 2 15 4 14 1 9 11 3 7 8 12 106 25 The Forechecker 8 5 13 9 3 12 7 1 10 14 4 15 11 6 2 9 8 4 13 3 15 6 11 1 7 5 12 2 14 10 118 26 The Puck Stops Here 5 8 14 6 1 11 10 2 12 13 3 15 9 7 4 5 14 4 12 2 13 6 7 1 10 8 3 11 9 15 106 25

It's interesting to look at the picks people got completely wrong and the ones that were picked correctly.
S1: is the sum of all the differences: |predicted standing - actual standing|
S2: is the sum of all the squared differences (square rooted the result) or (predicted standing - actual standing)²

Playoff matchups - probabilities.

vs. 68% 32% vs. 68% 32% vs. 68% 32% vs. 100% vs. 100% vs. 68% 32% vs. 100% vs. 100% vs. 100% vs. 100% vs. 62% 38% vs. 62% 38% vs. 100% vs. 100% vs. 62% 38% vs. 62% 38%

I hope this is reasonably self explanatory. The team in the left most column has a list of teams it will probably play in the playoffs. For example Boston has a 32% chance of playing Montreal in the first round. There is still a lot undecided in the East, but the west is pretty close to decided...

R.I.P - Vancouver

I try to be as unbiased as possible, but it's hard to watch as the Canucks fall from a dominant part of the Western conference to a complete joke. Losing 5 of the 6 most important games of the season.

Last time this happened [2005-2006]. Auld lost 5 of the last 6 games that mattered. Auld, who was playing in his first full season in the NHL, was forced into the starting position in the Canucks net. He received a significant amount of the criticism for missing the playoffs. Ultimately Auld was traded for Luongo (Auld went on to play terrible in Florida).

The real question is: how much criticism will/should Luongo get for the Canucks missing the playoffs this year? Interestingly, Luongo who makes a mere $6.5 million/year, will likely receive less criticism and will get out of this unscathed compared to Auld of the past.

Note: not specifically saying it's one player's fault. Luongo is an phenomenal goaltender.

Canuck's management will be in an awkward spot, trying to find things that they want to change that they can change. There are simply only a few things on the team that cannot change such as goaltending and defense. Missing the playoffs will make a captain change a little easier to do as Naslund will not likely resign with the Canucks. Morrison also is not going to resign.

Good job Nashville. Good luck, you'll need it against Detroit...