Mission: 16W begins Wednesday night, and that means it's time for us to gaze into our crystal balls and predict who will come out on top. So let's have some fun and make some predictions...

RULES:

1. Predict which team will win in the first round and in how many games
2. 5 Points for getting the right team
3. 10 Points for getting the right number of games (if the team you picked wins)
4. 5 Points for getting the right number of games (if the team you picked, didn't win)
5. Bonus: Pick the Stanley Cup Winner - if you get it right, you get 20 Points

EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER FINALS

(1) Montreal vs. (8) Boston
(2) Pittsburgh vs. (7) Ottawa
(3) Washington vs. (6) Philadelphia
(4) New Jersey vs. (5) New York Rangers

WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER FINALS

(1) Detroit vs. (8) Nashville
(2) San Jose vs. (7) Calgary
(3) Minnesota vs. (6) Colorado
(4) Anaheim vs. (5) Dallas

Montreal in 5
Pittsburgh in 6
Philadelphia in 7
New York in 7

Detroit in 5
San Jose in 7 (not what I want, of course)
Colorado in 7
Anaheim in 5

Montreal in 5
Pittsburgh in 6
Washington 5
Rangers in 7

Detroit in 5
San Jose in 5
Minnesota in 7
Dallas in 4

EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER FINALS

Montreal in 4
Pittsburgh in 6
Washington in 6
New York Rangers in 7

WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER FINALS

Detroit in 6
San Jose in 4
Minnesota in 6
Dallas in 7

Just to keep somebody else from finishing in last place I'll toss my picks in:

Montreal in 5
Pittsburgh in 6
Washington in 7
New York Rangers in 6

Detroit in 5
San Jose in 5
Minnesota in 7
Anaheim in 6

You might want to recheck your Montreal and Boston picks

Why, looky here! Here's a handy-dandy playoff preview.

Canadiens in 6
Penguins in 5
Flyers in 7
Rangers in 6

Red Wings in 5
Sharks in 6
Wild in 7
Stars in 7

Montreal in 5
Pittsburgh in 6
Washington in 7
New York Rangers in 6

Detroit in 5
San Jose in 6
Minnesota in 6
Dallas in 7

Its time for HockeyTom to weigh in, I looked at everybodys' picks and weighed them carefully with all of my own. I would say that my picks would correspond exactly with Enigmas at this point, with the same number of games in each series required that you picked. Hopefully will get to see at least a game or two of the Sharks/Flames series out west. Best of luck to everybodys' teams, and you too Marc!!!

Well I did warn I would finish last! Thanks for the heads up...I fixed it.

Montreal in 5
Pittsburgh in 6
Flyers 7
Rangers in 6

Detroit in 4
San Jose in 5
Minnesota in 6
Anaheim in 6

Montreal - 4
Pittsburgh - 6
Washington - 6
New York Rangers - 5

Detroit - 7
San Jose - 5
Minnesota - 5
Dallas - 6

EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER FINALS

(1) Montreal vs. (8) Boston - Montreal in 6
(2) Pittsburgh vs. (7) Ottawa - Pittsburgh in 5
(3) Washington vs. (6) Philadelphia - Philly in 7
(4) New Jersey vs. (5) New York Rangers - Jersey in 6

WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER FINALS

(1) Detroit vs. (8) Nashville - Nashville in 6
(2) San Jose vs. (7) Calgary - Calgary in 7 (San Jose peaked too soon...)
(3) Minnesota vs. (6) Colorado - Colorado in 6
(4) Anaheim vs. (5) Dallas - Anaheim in 6

(Did I really just pick three upsets in the West?)

Lets the games begin, and drop the puck PLEASE!! Game one, is the Sens/Pens, game number deux is Sharks/Flames...good luck to everybodys team. I can't wait!

One night into the playoffs and we've already had a couple of surprises (to me, at least) and an overtime game! Love it! Colorado wins game 1 at Minnesota on Joe Sakic's 8th career playoff OT goal, more than anyone else. And Calgary wins game 1 at San Jose. If you count the Rangers as a road team when they play in Newark against the Devils (which I don't ) then three road teams won tonight. Pittsburgh got a goal barely a minute into the game. I figured it might turn into a rout, but it was only 2-0 until very late.

Pittsburgh / Ottawa:

Martin Gerber kept the Sens alive in that game, but there is clearly a lack of leadership on that team. Without Alfredsson, they look lost out on the ice and they'll struggle all series long. They just can't match the speed of the Pens

Rangers / Devils:

Martin Brodeur looked uncharacteristically bad tonight... specifically that goal he gave up to the rookie... just brutal. With Henrik Lundqvist in between the pipes, the Rangers will be a dangerous team this post season

Wild / Avalanche:

Terrific game... lots of emotion. Tough to see Mark Parrish go down in the 2nd (face first into the boards, left the game and didn't return). Both goaltenders played well... and Keith Carney is an idiot, everyone knows you don't cover the puck in your own crease!!!

Leave it to Overtime Joe to score the game winner - the all-time leader in Playoff Overtime Goals!

Flames / Sharks:

Talk about an upset... I can't believe Calgary won that game. San Jose needs to move up a gear or they'll be done... so too will their head coach.

Yes indeed, someone forget to tell the Flames that they are underdogs in this series. The Sharks were caught snoozing, but congratulations to Marcs Flames. I am sure Calgary is hoppin. I watched the Pens/Sens game which was played at warp 9 speed. It was furious, and the Mellon Center was rockin. There were some incredible body checking going on in this one. Sens better figure out a way to get their pp going or this will be over before they know it.....

I would have been happy if the pro-Tibetan protesters had been able to extinguish the Olympic flame yesterday in San Francisco, but I'm glad the flames in nearby San Jose avoided such a fate!

To be honest Hockeytom, we are enjoying the under-dog status up here. And Eddie, you might want to revise your 'Sharks in 4' prediction now Miikka is hitting his stride at the right time, after a largely mediocre season. And two goals by Stephane Yelle...as many as he scored all year. Also, just like in the four regular season games, the Sharks' Joe Thornton wasn't a big factor in this game. But obviously it's way too soon to write off the heavily favoured Sharks.

I'm glad they play again tonight without a day off...it's all about momentum!

Habs in 6
Pittsburgh in 7
Washington in 6
Rangers in 7
Detroit in 5
Flames in 7 (this is optimism at its finest)
Avs in 7
Ducks in 7

I realize I didn't see this in time, but if I ask really really nice will you still let it in? Please...

Dan, although late-comers might be frowned upon by others here, you asked so nicely that I think you should be allowed in. And your vote for the Flames winning their series is another point in your favour, IMHO.

That would be cheating Marc.

The big shocker tonight is the Stars' 4-0 win at Anaheim. (Unless, perhaps, you picked the Stars like some people. ) All four Dallas goals were on the power play.

The Sharks outshot the Flames in the 2nd period 27 to 3! 27! They got their 2 goals in that period to win 2-0. Spectacular goaltending in the third period by both Kiprusoff and Nabokov, which is the only period I got to see start-to-finish (with the Phils-Mets going extra innings plus American Idol I did a lot of switching back and forth), but I assume it was stellar for the entire game. The series is tied 1-1.

The Red Wings and Canadiens both win their openers. Detroit outshot Nashville 13-3 in the third period and got their winning margin in that period, and Montreal seemed to be handling Boston pretty easily in what little I saw of it.

Finally the Flyers and Caps get under way tomorrow night!

I saw both the Montreal / Boston and Calgary / San Jose games in their entirity...

Montreal's speed will hurt the Bruins - though Carey Price was a bit shakey at times. Boston will be lucky to win one game at this rate... but hey, it's a Best of 7 series for a reason.

Can someone tell the Calgary Flames that in between the first and third periods, there's a second period that they actually have to show up for. That was probably one of the most lopsided periods I have ever seen in my life!!! Thank Mika Kiprusoff or else that game would have been a 7-0 blowout.

I watched the Preds/Wings game. The crowd was definitely into it at the Joe. Was pretty entertaining game, esp. when it was tied at 1, but the Wings are just so powerful. Preds just aren't. Lots of pinball type action in front of the goalies kept me yelling. Really looking forward to the Flyers/Caps this afternoon.

GO RED WINGS !!!!

It's unfortunate that the officials (once again) took the game out of the players' hands. On the second Detroit goal, two things happened... 1) it should have been blown offside (the puck hit the linesman at the blue line which normally results in a whistle) and 2) Weber was tripped by Zetterberg right before he broke free into the slot for the one timer.

And Kronwall deserves a suspension for his hit on Pevs last night. Left his feet AND went for his head. You can bet if it had been Tootoo or Nichol, they would have gotten a match penalty (not just 2 for elbowing... please!) and probably would have found out just moments after the game they were going to be gone for five games or something incredible like that.

The Flyers were strong for 2 periods in taking a 4-2 lead, but failed to match the Caps' intensity in the third and lose it 5-4. Very disappointing after the way they played the first two periods. It didn't help that a 5-on-4 power play turned into a de facto 5-on-3 when a Flyer went down and was hurt, but the four blind mice didn't care to stop play and the Caps scored the tying goal.

Yes, it was dissapointing to see a 4-2 lead vanish the way it did especially after the energy created by Briere's two goals. I couldn't believe two 4th line players opened up the scoring for the Capitals. It was amazing keeping Ovechkin without a shot for more than two periods, but when the game was on the line the caveman pick pocketed the defense to put the winner past Biron.

Sweet Jesus! Patrick Thoresen went down to block Mike Green's slapshot, and instead took it in the groin. He was taken to hospital and may lose a testicle.

Talk about the ultimate sacrifice for the Stanley Cup!

Seriously? I know it sure looked awful. Dear Lord, I can imagaine the pain he felt......otherwise that was one hell of a hockey game. The atmosphere at Cap Center was just incredible. There was some amazing body checking goin on. The winner of this series will need all the Bengay they can muster.. It was the Briere/Ovechkin show though. I don't see much changing really...both teams had their leads, but it seemed the crowd just willed the Caps to victory......today 3 more hockey games to watch...I LOVE this time of the years!!!

It was NOT the Briere/Ovechkin show. Ovechkin was shut down for two periods. He was practically invisible. And it wasn't the crowd willing the Caps to victory. It was the Flyers handing it to them on a silver platter.

Preds/Wings on now on NBC. Expect a different Preds style for this game. Will see......

I know the Preds have got to be frustrated. They come back with 2 goals in about a minute in the second, caught Hasek sleeping a bit, only to have the Wings come back in the 3rd and get 2 more. Last time I checked it was 4-2 Wings. They gave it pretty much their all...you know they will be looking forward to coming back home...

Habs/Bruins at 4:00pm out west. Bruins had better get their *hit togther early or this will be another blowout...the key will be their start versus the Canadiens start I believe....

Ottawa has to be really frustrated -- they were down 3-0 to Pittsburgh in game two, came back to tie it, only to give up the go-ahead goal with about a minute left. They can take the fact that they've been able to compete, and use it to get back into the series in the next two at home, or they can completely fall apart.

The Rangers are up 2-0 after winning their "home" games in Newark. Now they have actual home games. The Devils need to find a way to score.

Quck changes in the Avs-Wild game 2. Wild scores to take the lead with 1:51 left, Avs tie it with 44 seconds left, and the Wild gets the winner 1:14 into OT.

Flyers' Patrick Thoresen is not only out of the hospital, he says he might be able to play tomorrow.

The officials in this series have left PLENTY to be desired. Radulov's goal that wasn't allowed because the ref had supposedly blown the play dead (keep the whistle out of your freakin mouth for crying out loud)... Holmstrom committing interference on Ellis on their goal... the plays the other night. It's just ridiculous. This is the playoffs... get it freakin' right.

But you're right hockeyT, they did give it their all today... hopefully with the last change at home, we can get some better matchups and get our top line going.

I wouldn't say that Holmstrom was interfering with Ellis... it was close, but I'd let it stand for sure. Good call IMO

Pity the Bruins, who fell behind again, but scored of power plays to even the score at 2-2, only to lose again as they took penalty after penalty after penalty. You cannot win a playoff game from the penalty box. Montreal reminds me oh so much of my Spokane Chiefs. Namely they are SPEEDY as hell!! Nice atmosphere in Montreal these days too. I recall many years ago, when that place used to be far different from what it is today. The atmosphere was rather electric..
today, looking forward to game 2 of the Flyers/Caps this morning on NBC.

Don't forget that the atmosphere in Montreal tanked after "St. Patrick" got traded to the Colorado Avalanche in quite possibly one of the worst deals in the NHL! The team tanked from that point on... and ONLY now are they started to get back into their long standing competitive form.

PS - Nice 4-0 win by the Chiefs last night... looks like they'll be taking on Tri-City for the Western Conference Championship.

Its not quite over yet with the Giants Engima. I know the Chiefs know this, but we have a chance to wrap this series up at HOME and then ponder another opportunity against the Yams....meanwhile I give credit to the Flyers today as they lulled to sleep a very disinterested Caps team today. That and the Flyers checking. Nothing got in their zone for long. Plus Biron was just simply unbeatable today. I expect alot more energy in game 3 in Philly from the Caps....

Well that was nothing short of amazing!

I wish I was home in Calgary tonight.

I didn't know you were from Calgary, Dan85. Anyway, I was home for the game, home being just a few blocks from the Saddledome. It looked hopeless when San Jose took an early 3-0 lead, but nobody can accuse the Flames of giving up. That hit by Cory Sarich on Patrick Marleau sure helped change the momentum. The refs once again penalized the Flames twice as often as the Sharks, but at least they didn't have to endure ten straight minutes of PK as they did in game 2. Can't wait 'til Tuesday! Meanwhile, Boston stayed alive by beating Montreal in OT, and although I didn't see any of the Flyers-Capitals game, Philadelphia has evened up that series.

If I am being honest I don't actually live in Calgary any more. My folks still do, though, and I consider it my home city.

Congratulations to the Flames who have kicked it up several notches since they took on the Sharks. I was juggling the Rangers/Devils game with my Spokane Shock game ( arena football) last night. The Rangers get togther was UGLY as there were fights breaking out every 5 minutes or so. At one point Brodeur was whacked right in the face and his mask went flying into the net! Meanwhile will be watching the Preds/Wings this afternoon/evening. I expect a full throated Nashville game tonight.

"Early" as in 3 and a half minutes into the game! But with a 3-goal lead and so much time left it's very easy to lose focus if you're not careful.

A segment from Martin Biron's day planner:

Sun. 2 pm: beat the Capitals
Sun. eve.: return to Phila.
Mon. 5 am: take wife to hospital for c-section
Tue. 7 pm: beat the Capitals

WOW! What an effort tonight by the Predators!!! That's really all I can say right now... so a worthless post... oh well!

Yeah, but are any of them taking a wife to a hospital at 5 am tomorrow for a c-section?

The Minnesota-Colorado series couldn't be closer. Minnesota leads the series 2-1, all three final scores were 3-2, all three in overtime (only the 4th time this has ever happened). In fact, the last time these teams met in the playoffs, in 2003, the last two games of THAT series were 3-2 overtime finals. And they go back at it in less than 24 hours -- because the Pepsi Center is booked for a basketball game Wednesday they have to play game 4 without a day off between.

Oddly enough, the Wild have been shut out in all 3 games for the first two periods. All of their goals have come in the third and OT periods.

Pittsburgh looks primed for a sweep of Ottawa.

So far the home team is 12-10 in the playoffs. Not much of a home-ice advantage.

And there was also that little matter involving the NHL's most obnoxious jerk (Sean Avery, of course), which has resulted in a
rule change




Apparently there is an old saying, which I only heard for the first time today on a sports commentary, that a two-goal lead (or in this case, a three-goal lead) is the most dangerous situation in hockey.

I saw some of the Minnesota-Colorado game, including the overtime. Very close indeed; not only have all three playoff games been decided in OT, but so were their last two regular-season games.

Congratulations to the Preds who served up some home cooking. Those two quick goals took the fans immediately into the game....tonight looking forward to the rematch of the Flyers/Caps. If the Caps play many more games like they did at home in game 2, the Flyers will take this series...I noticed a couple of hockey pundits on ESPN said the same thing I was thinking about the Caps in that game. Mainly a horrible effort, worst in a month. Should be very interesting to see how this one starts off.

Bill Berg (former Islander, Maple Leaf, Ranger and Senator) was on HockeyCentral this morning on Fan590 in Toronto...

He made the most boneheaded comment I've ever heard in regards to the Patrick Thoresen incident...

He said that he wonders how much ice time he'll get after costing his team a goal in Game 1 against the Caps. He says that players can play with a broken foot or leg... so he should've gotten up until the whistle blew and then get off the ice.

My jaw literally dropped... couldn't believe he said that - and he meant it too!

Darren Millard, the host, was quick to point out that he thinks Bill Berg has lost his manhood by making a comment like that hahahaha

I heard that on the TSN broadcast during the game Glenn Healy made a similar comment that Thoresen should've gotten right up. Amazing.

I also saw a clip of Thoresen being interviewed where he was asked what his girlfriend's reaction was: "She was glad the nut's okay."