GAME ON! Playoff Edition

Okay, so the post Olympics debut of Moron Hockey was a little premature. Consider it a soft open.

As I'm supposed to be doing the Eastern Conference preview, consider this, a well, soft preview...

Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 5
New Jersey over Philadelphia in 6

A fuller look at these series and the rest of the east (as well as a wrap up of the disaster that was the NY Rangers' season) soon.

Enjoy the games.

Added: Okay, both games are underway but I wanted to get my predictions on record before that. As for why I made the picks...

Pittsburgh over Ottawa:


4-5 matchups tend to be toss ups but not this year. The Eastern Confernece is really 4 teams deep with a bunch of meh teams mucking around after that.

Offense, defense, special teams and goaltending, Pittsburgh simply outclasses the Senators in every facet of the game.


New Jersey over Philadelphia:

I think this will be a better series, though not by much. Philly dominated the regular season series (5-1) but that a few bucks will buy you a coffee.

I watched the Flyers last two games against the woeful Rangers and they simply don't score much at all. They have talent up front with Mike Richards and Jeff Carter (coming off a foot injury, was invisible during the last two games, they need him to get better. Now) leading the way for players like Daniel Briere and Simone Gagne and rookie James van Riemsdyk. They also have the aging but still good Chris Pronger on defense.

As much as I hate to admit it, for all of his reputation as a fighter, Jeff Carcillo is a decent player. If he can pick a target and get them off their game or goad them into a bad penalty, he could make a difference in a game or two. The problem is players like Carcillo and Sean Avrey is that while they are great when they are on but they can easily cross the line and cost their team in terms of penalties. That's ok in February but in April, May and June, one failed penalty kill at the wrong time can be death.

An even bigger problem for the Flyers is the fact that management decided they didn't need a goaltender. They went into the season thinking Ray Emery would be their number one. Personally, that would have freaked me out but the Flyers seemed to think it was a workable plan. When Emery was injured and knocked out for the season, they kept moving down the depth chart until they got to...Brian Boucher. Apparently Zombie Pelle Lindbergh wasn't availible and Ron Hextal didn't return their calls. You're not winning a Cup or even a playoff series with Brian Boucher in goal, especially if you aren't scoring.

As for the Devils, well, they are the Devils. A lot of good players who buy into a system and execute it well. Martin Brodeur hasn't been the all time great goalie we've come to expect but he's still Brodeur and he's still light years better than Brian Boucher.

Guys like Colin White, Bryce Salvador and Andy Greene are solid on defense as you'd expect from any Devils team. Paul Martin had a short season due to injury but was scheduled to play for Team USA in the Olympics.

Up front the Devils are led by Zach Parise who had his coming out party at the Olympics. He along with Travis Zajak, Jamie Langenbruner and Patrick Elias will provide scoring while minding their defensive assignments...always a key during the playoffs.

The big question will be the play of mid-season rental Ilya Kovalchuk. He's a world class offensive talent but has limited playoff experience (4 games with ATL when they were swept by the Rangers in '07). If he plays well, including on the point on the power play, the Devils will have an even easier time than I already think they will.

This will likely be an old school, physical Patrick Division series. The difference will be the Devils have the more consistent scoring and the edge in net.

Tomorrow: Washington v. Montreal and Buffalo v. Boston