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NHL playoff matchu

a.

By Josh Martin, Sports Editor

he air is beginning to get
[ists warmer, the days

are getting longer, and the
sun is actually starting to make
appearances throughout the week.

All of these things add up to one
thing and one thing only: the NHL

playoffs are right around the corner.

Here’s a look at how I predict
the standings will stand at the end
of the regular season, along with
playoff matchups.

The Western Conference
1 — Vancouver Canucks

2 —St. Louis Blues

3 - Phoenix Coyotes

4 — Detroit Red Wings

5 — Nashville Predators

6 — Chicago Blackhawks
7 — San Jose Sharks

8 - Los Angeles

The Vancouver Canucks are
going to finish first overall in the
NHL once again, capturing their
second consecutive Presidents’
Trophy to glare in front of other
teams faces as they make their way
into the post-season. However, that
trophy won’t mean anything for the
second straight year, unless they
take it all the way and bring home
the real prize, the Lord Stanley’s
Cup.

They will be facing the Los
Angeles Kings in the first round
of the playoffs which won’t
necessarily be an easy task for the
Canucks, as the Kings recently
went out and acquired the under-
rated sniper (who has previously
had three 30-plus goal seasons) Jeff
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Carter who will hopefully take the
pressure off of goaltender Jonathan
Quick, who has been lights out this
year in between the pipes.

The St. Louis Blues will finish
second overall in the Western
Conference as one of the top power-
house teams in the league, which
means that they’ll be meeting up
with the San Jose Sharks in the
first round. The Blues have been
by far one of the most surprising
teams in the NHL this year in terms
of success—coming off a year
where they finished eleventh in
the standings. They have already
matched their point total of 87 this
season with 17 games remaining.

The Phoenix Coyotes and
the Chicago Blackhawks will be
squaring off to start the post-season.
It will be an interesting matchup
to see if the Blackhawks still have
some gun powder left in their
barrel after getting knocked out
by the Canucks last season despite
a compelling effort in a 3-0 series
come back, only to lose in game
seven of overtime. The Coyotes will
surely have some bounce as well,
as they too were knocked out early
last spring by the Red Wings in a
4-0 series.

The Detroit Red Wings will
finish second in their division, right
behind the Blues, placing them
fourth in the Western Conference to
be matched up with the Nashville
Predators in the first round of the
playoffs. It will be a real test to
the Preds who made it clear last
Monday that they want to win
right now, after acquiring Andrei
Kostitsyn, Hal Gill, and Paul
Gaustad to bolster their lineup.

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The Eastern Conference
1 - New York Rangers

2 — Boston Bruins

3 — Winnipeg Jets

4 — Pittsburgh Penguins
5 — Ottawa Senators

6 — Philadelphia Flyers

7 — Florida Panthers

8 — New Jersey Devils

The Rangers will, in no-
surprise, finish first overall in
the Eastern Conference under
the leadership of Captain Ryan
Callahan, sniper Marian Hossa, and
goaltender Henrik Lundqvist—who
is once again having a remarkable
season. They will be matched up
against Patrik Elias’ New Jersey
Devils, who will finish in eighth
position in the East in a season
which will most likely be the last
for goaltender and soon-to-be-hall-
of-famer Martin Brodeur.

The reigning Stanley Cup
champions—the Boston Bruins—
will finish second in the East by
the time the regular season ends,
and will try to repeat their journey
to the Holy Grail starting with the
Florida Panthers in the first round.
The fact that the Panthers will even
make the playoffs this season is
a huge deal in itself, considering
that they finished dead last in
the Eastern Conference last year.
Defensemen Brian Campbell, and
forwards Stephen Weiss, Tomas
Fleischmann, and Kris Versteeg
have been the main reason why
the Panthers have been able to turn
their ship around this season.

Now, I’m going to go out ona
limb and say that the Winnipeg Jets
will finish third overall in the East,

just because they held the top spot
in their division a couple of weeks
ago and the fact that the Panthers
are, as of last Thursday, only two
points up on the Jets. The fans in
Winnipeg have so much to cheer
about... just imagine if they finish
number one in their division. If my
prediction does indeed come true,
by the end of the 82-game schedule
I will purchase a Winnipeg Jets
jersey. You heard it here first. They
will be facing the Philadelphia
Flyers in the first round.

And last but not least, the
Pittsburgh Penguins and the
Ottawa Senators will be facing off
in the first round. Even without
superstar and Captain Sidney
Crosby, the Pens’ are finding
ways to win, thanks to the help
of Evgeni Malkin, who leads the
league in scoring with a ridiculous
37 goals, 42 assists, and 79 points.
The Ottawa Senators, on the other
hand, will be making their first
playoff appearance in two years,
after finishing in 13th in the East
last season. Forward Jason Spezza
(28 g, 43. a, 71 p) and defensemen
Erik Karlsson (15 g, 51 a, 66 p) have
been by far the best players for the
Senators this season. If they’re on
top of their game, the Senators are
on top of their game.

*All stats and references are referring to
those of Thursday, March 1