3rd Round Predictions

Western Conference Finals

1. Vancouver Canucks
2. San Jose Sharks
Vancouver in 6 games.
This may catch some of you by surprise, however from my point of view there is very good reasoning behind this. The Sharks have proven that they are more than capable of playoff flops. So in that regard I would not be surprised if the Canucks swept the Sharks. The Canucks have also proven that they are not above flopping in the playoffs. But I truly do not believe that the Sharks can win this series or sweep the Canucks. I believe that this Canucks team is much different than that of the previous 2 years. In the Sharks case they made it this far last year only to be swept by the Chicago Blackhawks. They had virtually the same team last year except they had better goaltending and better defense. I think that the Canucks are better in almost every facet of the game. Positionally they have better goaltending, better defense. Both teams are about equal for forwards. Luongo has been playing above average throughout the whole playoffs. He had a little 2 game slip up in the Chicago series but looking back at the goals I realized that maybe one of them was his fault they were really just good plays by Chicago or a defensive lapse. He let in a couple questionable goals from behind the net in the Nashville series but a couple of practices practicing to be stronger on the post should help him out. In Niemi's case he has been shaky all playoffs and the only reason why he won the cup last year was a couple of timely good performances by him and the fact that he had the best team that we will see in the cap era. He will never have such a good team again the cap prohibits it. They only had that team because of the fact that they were all at bargain prices . Defensively the Canucks have one of the if not the best defenses in the league while the Sharks are middle of the pack. And like I said earlier the Canucks and the Sharks are about equal offensively, but both of them have struggling star players so it will be intriguing to see who performs and who does not.

Eastern Conference Finals

3. Boston Bruins
5. Tampa Bay Lightning.
Lightning in 5 games
This may seem like a ridiculous prediction but if you managed to sweep Ovie and the Caps you must be doing something right. However I do think that Boston is the better team, but if the Lightning can keep this thing short with all that adrenaline they might be able to win this series. I think that because Boston is the better team if this series goes to 6 or 7 they will be able to but Tampa Bay away. Also Boston's best two way center man (Patrice Bergeron) is concussed and they are unsure whether he will be available for this series. If Dwayne Roloson can continue to play at the same rate as Tim Thomas (this is the battle of the old goalies), Tampa's grinders can continue to get it done, and Steven Stamkos can start producing along with Lecavaleir and St Louis then Tampa could even sweep the Bruins just like they swept the Caps. I think that it is time that we stop underestimating the Bolts!