Hockey: Conference Finals Preview; The East

THE EAST

Series Result: Ottawa Senators over New Jersey Devils in 5
My Prediction: New Jersey Devils over Ottawa Senators in 7

I admitted that the Senators were the more talented team, but that I felt the Devils were the more "playoff-savvy" team, and they also had Marty Brodeur. None of that seemed to matter; talent prevailed, and Ottawa certainly didn't look like a team that will be fazed by anyone in these playoffs. New Jersey needs to start figuring out how they are going to put pucks in the net next year; especially if they lose Scott Gomez.

Series Result: Buffalo Sabres over New York Rangers in 6
My Prediction: Buffalo Sabres over New York Rangers in 6

I should be typing up right now how I was wrong about the Sabres, and how legitimate of a team the Rangers were. I knew they had scoring depth but had no idea they had such a stingy defense until I watched them play. But alas, with 8 seconds left in Game 5, Chris Drury tied the game up at 1 apiece, and the Sabres went on to win it in overtime. They carried their momentum into game 6 and took care of business. This Ranger team is very good, but it is getting quite old. If they can add some young talent, they could be a threat as soon as next year. And they've already got a definite keeper in Henrik Lundquist.

Conference Final:
#1 Buffalo Sabres VS. #4 Ottawa Senators

Two teams that play very similar styles; fly up and down the ice, and score a lot of goals. Both teams got to play their game in the first round, but the Rangers and Devils, who each play much more Eastern-style-gritty-defensive hockey, forced these teams to slow down the pace a bit and play a lot more defense and take a lot less chances. Ottawa and Buffalo survived, though, and now they will get the chance to play the explosive style hockey that got them to this point, because neither of these teams will be afraid, and both will encourage the high tempo. I believe that the Sabres do it all just a little bit better... and that they've got a bit better goaltender in Ryan Miller. That being said, though, there is a lot of bad blood between these teams and they are very evenly matched. It should be an excellent series that just might take all 7 games to decide. I'm just proud to have picked both of these teams in the pre-season to win the cup; pretty cool that I'll have one of them representing me making money in the Stanley Cup Finals. As if I needed a reason to root against two of the King's biggest rivals, anyway?

BUFFALO IN 7.