The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

So when you're right 51% of the time, you're wrong 49% of the time! Or really, 2 for 4 for the 2nd round. 7 out of 8 for the 1st round so, you know, I'd be making money on even-odds bets so it could be worse!

We have been treated to some pretty decent action in this year's edition of the NHL's playoffs. Multiple game 7 finishes, high-scoring contests, and of course the Crosby-Ovechkin rivalry as the icing on the cake. It's unfortunate the Caps-Pens game 7 was a blowout for Pittsburgh but ultimately wasn't an overall reflection on the quality of the series. I'm sure we'll see these two teams duel during the post-season again in the future.

Two players that have caught my attention over the last month or so are Sidney Crosby and Eric Staal. It is amazing how much they have elevated their game, especially when questions about their overall competitiveness during the latter half of the regular season started to surface. Staal battled and out-fought the toughest shut-down d-man in Zdeno Chara, while Crosby's head-to-head battle with Ovechkin had him winning on points. The Hart Trophy nominations are all Russian: Ovechkin, Datsyuk and Malkin (all players welcome on my team any day of the week). But now the playoff MVP early favourites are Crosby and Staal at this point. Staal was especially low on everyone's radar, but it'd be hard now not to imagine him playing for Team Canada in 2010.

On to my predictions!

Pittsburgh - Carolina: Pittsburgh in 6. Cam Ward has played exceptionally well, but I believe the Penguins have a lot of offensive weapons up front that can overcome that, and the Canes don't have a defensive corps that's too scary for Crosby and Malkin.

Detroit - Chicago: Detroit in 6. Looks like a rematch is forthcoming this year. The Stanley Cup hangover is turning into a myth the way the Wings have been playing, especially the way they overcame horrible refereeing to beat the Ducks. Having said all that...I wouldn't mind seeing Chicago scrape by. Their youth and energy is fun to watch and quite frankly, the Wings have already had their day and I'm annoyed at the empty seats turning up at the Joe Louis arena (yes, I'm aware of the recesssion, but they have a population of about 5 million people. Not everyone there works for GM).