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With Ottawa drawing Tampa Bay in the first round, they couldn't ask for a better opponent.

Sure, they are the defending Stanley Cup Champions. But if you consider their production has dropped considerably in the two years since they won Lord Stanley, and that the Senators have dominated Tampa in regular season play (in their last 20 meetings Ottawa has won 17 times) it's looking more and more in Ottawa's favour.

Forwards: Tampa has a lot of firepower up front. Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards, Martin St-Louis and Vaclav Prospal all are offensive threats and can spread their scoring making it difficult for the opposition to check them. Likewise, Ottawa has just as much if not more firepower in Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza and the returning Martin Havlat. What I think gives Ottawa the edge here is the scoring depth that no team in the NHL can match. They have guys like Patrick Eaves and Antoine Vermette who average just 12 minutes of playing time per game scoring 20+ goals. Ottawa's fourth line of Vermette, Vaclav Varada and Chris Neil just might be the best in the East. Hart trophy winner Martin St Louis has also been a shadow of his former self and hasn't stepped up to the plate he should.

Edge: Ottawa

Defense: With all of Ottawa's D now healthy and ready to go, they should be considered the best in the league. Chara will be on the ice each time Lecavalier steps off the bench. If he gets caught on a shift change, Redden will carry the load. Tampa's Dan Boyle anchors their defence but a rather revealing statistic is that with the exceptions of Nolan Pratt and Paul Ranger, every other defenceman on the team has a MINUS rating. With playoff hockey more slanted to five-on-five action that powerplays (although it could change, after all it is the NEW NHL), this doesn't bode well for Tampa's defensive game.

Edge: Ottawa

Goaltending: Who would I rather have in net? I can't pick Hasek, so it's a choice between Ray Emery, Sean Burke or John Grahame. Quite frankly, none of these guys have proven to me they can be a true #1 keeper. Maybe Burke did at one time but that was a long time ago. Tampa no longer has a Nikolai Khabibulin who was unbelievable in the 2003/04 playoffs, while Ottawa is leaning on a raw rookie. It's a wash.

Edge: Even

Intangibles: Tampa is pretty much the underdog; all the pressure is on Ottawa. The Sens have been told all season they have what it takes to win the Stanley Cup and now they have to prove it. Tampa has underachived all year but anything can happen in a seven game series. And the fact that a lot of their players have been through four rounds of playoff action and become champions cannot be ignored. Ottawa has a lot of pressure on them to win the Cup, especially when you consider they've only gotten to a CONFERENCE final just once.

Edge: Tampa Bay

Conclusion: Ottawa has the stats that, on paper, shows they should win. They are facing a team with goaltending problems which helps a team that has the most goals-for in the NHL. As long as Emery does his job, there's no reason for me to think Ottawa can't pull this off.

Ottawa in five.