One of the keys to winning your playoff pool is to nail the playoff bracket. If you know which teams will make it far you will know which teams to focus on in your draft. We at Dobber Hockey are happy to provide our playoff bracket picks to help guide your choices.
The Capitals-Ducks final might be chalk but it also makes the most sense. The Capitals were the league’s most dominant team and come into the playoffs with a healthy squad while everyone else in the conference deals with injuries. The Ducks come in hot and have the most intriguing combination of possession play, penalty killing and depth scoring in the league. The Stars make a great sleeper out of the Central division because everyone seems focused on one of the Blues or Blackhawks. Just because the tandem of Niemi and Lehtonen is highly questionable doesn’t mean one of them is incapable of getting hot. Niemi does have a Cup ring, after all. The Panthers, meanwhile, survive the Atlantic because someone has to. Ultimately, this is the Capitals’ year to finally hoist the Cup.
RICK ROOS
Surprised to see Washington, LA, and Chicago out early? Don’t be. Since 2002-03, the same number of Presidents’ Trophy teams didn’t reach the conference finals as did; and the wounds of 2009-10 – when Washington won 54 games but lost in round one – still run deep enough to weigh on key veterans Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and John Carlson. For Chicago and LA, between winning the last four Cups and top players also participating in International play, they’ve simply logged too many games to hold off improved contenders.
Meanwhile, the Pens and Sharks not only are playing superb hockey, but both are finally without their past burden of huge expectations. Florida’s great mix of youth and experience plus a playoff-tested netminder won’t be quite enough to get by Pittsburgh, while St. Louis will have to settle for finally exercising its recent round one demons and deep run to gather momentum for next season.
Nashville, Dallas, the Islanders and Rangers are simply not built to win against their respective opponents, while Philly should be happy just having punched a playoff ticket and Tampa’s fate was sealed by untimely key injuries. Detroit and Minnesota will surprise, before round two wake-up calls.
I’ll work my way backwards on this. I believe that the philosophy “defense wins championships” holds true more often than not. So that explains why I’ve picked Los Angeles to win what I think will be a low-scoring series over Washington. Playoff experience will also count for something, which the Kings possess with two Stanley Cups from the current core.
It won’t be easy for the Kings to get out of the West, though. There are some potentially hard-fought series against familiar foes such as San Jose, Anaheim, and Chicago. These are all series that could potentially be decided in seven games, with many games decided by just one goal. Expect lengthier series in this conference of closely matched foes.
Washington should have an easier time on the East side. A red-hot Pittsburgh team probably poses the greatest challenge, but question marks surrounding who will play in net could eventually prove to be the Penguins’ demise. Tampa Bay would have made sense a month ago, but injuries to Steven Stamkos among others might be too much to overcome.
Hockey pool drafts are a little easier when three of your projected semi-finalists are a part of the most difficult decisions in earlier rounds. For example, I pick the Blues to get by the Blackhawks in Round 1. What is my confidence in that pick? Maybe 51%? Another example is my projected second-round bout between the Capitals and the Penguins. I’m barely leaning towards the Caps there. And the Ducks getting by the Sharks in my predicted second-round tilt? With the Sharks practically owning the road games this year? I’ll pick the Ducks, but not with any kind of confidence.
So how does this actually make a draft easier? Well, it means I’m not married to a team. If everyone scrambles for Washington players, I’ll calmly swoop in and snag the better Penguins. If my competitors go nuts over the Ducks then great, I’ll shift gears and focus on the Sharks. Yes, this means bringing two or three different lists into my draft, but I’m quick on my feet. But the end of the second round of drafting I’ll know which way the wind blows and I’ll have thrown away the two draft lists that I feel are useless.
The winner of my “red carpet” award this year is the New York Islanders. Not that the Panthers are pushovers. Far from it. But the Isles have been focusing on playoff hockey all season and things have really come together down the stretch. If they can get by Florida, they’ll face an injured Tampa Bay team that should be, relatively speaking, an easier task.
