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The Other Press’ sure-to-be-incorrect
playoff predictions—round two

By Liam Britten and Jay Schreiber

t may not have gone the way we
predicted, but round one sure gave
us some hockey that was worth

watching. Let’s see if The Other Press’

brain trust has more luck predicting
round two’s matchups; once again,

Liam covers the East and Jay’s got the -

West.

The Eastern Conference

Wow. Did anyone predict the first
round in the Eastern Conference
going the way it did? I know I sure

didn’t... oops. Anyways, these unlikely

opponents are going to make for some
really exciting hockey in round two.

Pittsburgh (4) vs. Montreal (8)
Montreal had a lot of things go their
way during round one: the out-of-
this-world performance of Jaroslav
Halak, excellent shot blocking, a
defensive system that used teamwork
to shut down Alex Ovechkin, and
great offensive performances by

guys like Tomas Plekanec and Mike
Cammaleri. But Pittsburgh is a team
that’s built to defeat such obstacles.
Montreal’s defensive system relied
heavily on swarming Ovechkin, the
Capital’s unquestioned star, and it
worked beautifully because Ovechkin
prefers to skate past opponents rather
than utilize his teammates by passing.
The Penguins’ ultra-talented centers,

Crosby, Malkin and Staal, will be much

tougher and generate more and better

shots on Halak because they know how

to utilize their wingers with passing.
But the biggest difference will be the
Pens’ physical game. In round one,
the Pens recorded 253 hits compared
to the Habs’ 145. The differential in
hitting will wear down the Canadiens,

and their smaller forwards will tire and

lose their edge as the series goes on.
Pittsburgh in six.

Boston (6) vs. Philadelphia (7)
These two teams are so similar it’s
going to be like shadowboxing.
They’ ve both beaten much stronger
opponents (at least, everyone thought
they were stronger), they both have
out-of-this-world goaltending, and
neither of them have any skaters that
have scored regularly. That said,
Philadelphia’s paper tiger opponent

16

was much more powerful, their skaters
have underperformed to a lesser degree
and Brian Boucher— wherever the hell
he came from—has performed better
against stronger opposition. I doubt
there will be much scoring, but it’l be
an interesting chess match between two
very similar opponents. Philadelphia
in six.

The Western Conference

One round gone and with only a few
upsets, the first four eliminations

were about par with expectations.

The heavyweights that show the most
promise and excitement are Vancouver
and Chicago, with San Jose going
against the consistent yet struggling
Red Wings from Detroit. Above all, the
most important thing is that Phoenix

is out!

Chicago (2) vs. Vancouver (3)

This is perhaps going to be the tightest
series of the entire playoffs. Chicago
has been a powerhouse in the NHL for
the last two years, and have the young
talent to make it all the way to Lord
Stanley’s Cup. Out to correct his major
flaws this time last year, Luongo is
standing tall and appears to be more
prepared for a second-round series.
Vancouver as a whole had a better
season than last year, with a division
title and breakout players such as
Sammuelsson, Burrows, and of course,
Hank Sedin. Canucks are were off to

a good start, and if they keep up the
action at both ends of the ice, then this
series is Vancouver’s in six.

San Jose (1) vs. Detroit (5)
Congratulations to the Sharks for
finally making it past the first round
of the playoffs. San Jose made their
mark and avoided a possible major
meltdown in Game 3 of the series
against the Avs, but I foresee such
problems happening in the next few
crucial games. Sure the Sharks have
a quick lead on the Red Wings right
now, but I’m guessing that the team
from Detroit is going to post a big
upset comeback when San Jose chokes
in future periods. The long view is
that both of these teams are unlikely
to make it to the Stanley Cup Final
this year, but my choice is Detroit in
seven.

 

Mayweather picks apart Mosley

By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor

ntil Floyd Mayweather and

Manny Pacquiao finally step

into the ring together, the
question of who is the best pound-
for-pound fighter on the planet will
continue to be asked without an
answer. However, after the events
of Saturday evening in Las Vegas,
Mayweather came as close as he
could get to staking his claim to that
mantle.

In a long-awaited bout that
should have happened a decade ago,
Mayweather and Shane Mosley
finally went toe-to-toe, and despite
some early surprises, Mayweather
proved once again that, love him or
hate him, he just may be the very
best in the business.

Mosley came out early on as the
clear aggressor in the fight, and for
the first time in many, many years,
he proved that Floyd Mayweather
can indeed be hit. In the second
round, Mosley rocked Mayweather

It is easy to dislike Floyd
Mayweather. He’s brash, cocky and
he wins (again, to be fair though,
after the fight with Mosley ended,
he showed that at least some of
his perceived arrogance might
just be an act; no one can deny the
sportsmanship he showed after
the bout). Plus, when he does win,
he doesn’t go for the big, brazen
knockouts. He fights to score points,
and entertainment value comes a
distant second.

If you have the patience for
a style like that, it’s hard to not
appreciate Floyd Mayweather. To
put it simply, the main is a defensive
wizard, and from a purist standpoint,
can be-a joy to watch.

Give props to Mosley as well
though. He was clearly game for a
fight that he’s wanted for years, and
despite his advanced age, 38, he
looked to be in excellent condition.
However, such a long layoff since
his win against Antonio Margarito
(which came way back in January of

Mayweather proved once again that, love him or hate him, he
just may be the very best in the business.

twice with right hands to the jaw
that almost put the Grand Rapids,
Michigan native on the mat for the
first time in his career.

However, Mayweather
calmed down, collected himself
and managed to slowly but surely
take over the fight, which ended
in a unanimous points decision for
Mayweather. Mosley dropped to 46-
6-1 while Mayweather improved to
41-0 and kept his fabled undefeated
streak intact.

As the bout wore on, Mosley
appeared to grow frustrated with
Mayweather’s defensive strategy
(although, to be fair to Mayweather,
he fought with more offensive
gusto than in many of his previous
contests), and he had particular
difficulty in cracking Mayweather’s
superb rolling shoulder defence,
which Mayweather used to great
effect several times and through
it was able to land a number of
solid punched.on Mosley with his
opportunistic offense.

2009), couldn’t have helped.

As always, Mayweather’s critics
will point to Mosley’s age and his
time spent on the sidelines when
trying to cheapen Mayweather’s
victory, but the fact remains that
Mayweather, who has always been
accused of ducking the big names,
picked apart one of the icons of
the this generation in boxing and
dictated the pace for at least 10 of
the 12 rounds of the fight. What
happens next for both men is up in
the air. Mosley hinted at retirement
after the fight while one way or
another it is clear that there are still
battles to be fought for the 33-year-
old Mayweather. He was asked
point blank about a possible bout
with Pacquiao, and Mayweather
left the ball clearly in the Filipino
speedster’s court.

Mayweather said that he doesn’t
have to fight Manny Pacquiao and
while that may be true, he won’t
truly be the best until he does.