Since the Canucks are out...do you really care about these teams?
Game 1: Panthers at Rangers -- May 22, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN, ESPN+, SN, CBC, TVAS)
Game 2: Panthers at Rangers -- May 24, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN, ESPN+, SN, CBC, TVAS)
Game 3: Rangers at Panthers -- May 26, 3 p.m. ET (ABC, ESPN+, SN, CBC, TVAS)
Game 4: Rangers at Panthers -- May 28, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN, ESPN+, SN, CBC, TVAS)
+ Game 5: Panthers at Rangers -- May 30, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN, ESPN+, SN, CBC, TVAS)
+ Game 6: Rangers at Panthers -- June 1, 8 p.m. ET (ABC, ESPN+, SN, CBC, TVAS)
+ Game 7: Panthers at Rangers -- June 3, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN, ESPN+, SN, CBC, TVAS)
Westy - Do I like any of these teams? The Rangers are using the ghost of 1994 to try and motivate their fans and having Messier on TNT makes it worse. The Flames must look at this team and wonder what if? Having a Tkachuk on their team makes it hard to cheer for Florida. I don't like any of these teams. The Panthers are 2-0-1 against the Rangers this year and they have had an easier time this playoffs. They should be rested and ready to go. Is this the year Lu gets a ring? Meh. Panthers in 7
jimmi - Now we enter the fugly rounds of the playoffs. 1st and 2nd rounds are the fun ones. For fans. Predicting an eastern conference final for me is about as appealing as predicting the enjoyment of a root canal. To be clear, I won't be cheering for either of these teams. Nucks are the only team I cheer for. My cheering stopped last night. The Rags seem to have the edge. The Panters seem to be edgier.
The most important question is what benefits Gary's media stream more, Rags vs Dallas or Florida vs Dallas? Just kidding. Most important part of this series is how well OEL performs. Not just in this series, but all the seasons until 2030 when he stops getting paid by the Nucks. Buyout math says Cats in 7.
Kent - Obviously this is the Eastern battle the league prefers from a tv standpoint. Getting the Rangers in is always good, and Uncle Gary's precious Southern market must be represented always. And while it's truly disappointing that we won't get to see that 30 year revenge series, this one is still gonna be entertaining as hell.
The Rangers are not boring like a lot of the Eastern Conference squads, and with the number of idiots on these two teams, chaos is guaranteed. It's just a matter of who does something stupid first. Speed, physicality, goal scoring, and goaltending. In the end, I feel like the Panthers are still missing something, and the hockey gods cannot seriously have OEL win a Cup after what we went through. That's messed up, even for them. Rangers in 7.
Game 1: Oilers at Stars -- May 23, 8:30 p.m. ET (TNT, truTV, MAX, SN, CBC, TVAS)
Game 2: Oilers at Stars -- May 25, 8 p.m. ET (TNT, truTV, MAX, SN, CBC, TVAS)
Game 3: Stars at Oilers -- May 27, 8:30 p.m. ET (TNT, truTV, MAX, SN, CBC, TVAS)
Game 4: Stars at Oilers -- May 29, 8:30 p.m. ET (TNT, truTV, MAX, SN, CBC, TVAS)
+ Game 5: Oilers at Stars -- May 31, TBD (TNT, truTV, MAX, SN, TVAS)
+ Game 6: Stars at Oilers -- June 2, TBD (TNT, truTV, MAX, SN, TVAS)
+ Game 7: Oilers at Stars -- June 4, TBD (TNT, truTV, MAX, SN, CBC, TVAS)
Westy - I hate having to write this less than 12 hours after a Canucks loss. But I feel better when I write fuck Edmonton. The Oilers had trouble beating a team that was using their 3rd string goalie and had their best player out for the last game. Dallas matched Colorado's speed and surely can keep up with Edmonton's speed. The Stars can play physical and have a better defensive core than the Canucks. Did I mention fuck Edmonton? The media always asks if Canadians would back the lone team remaining? What a stupid question. I cheer for Dallas for two reasons: 1. Fuck Edmonton and 2. the Stars and owner Tom Gaglardi winning a cup would really piss Franny. Stars in 6.
jimmi - Agree with Westy, this is too soon for a Round 3 prediction fest and yet here we are making unsolicited and hopefully, unwanted predictions. There's nothing of interest here for Nucks fans. Except the possibility of the Stars making the McOil stars cry again at the Cupping futility of icing a 1.25 line playoff team.
Fuck Edmonton, their McWhinies won't have Cole in their (Stars) lineup to boost secondary scoring either. Also like that Franny's poor little billionaire feelings would be hurt with a Dallas win. With those purely stat-driven insights in place, Stars in 5.
Kent - The Edmonton Oilers are frauds, and the series against Vancouver proved it. When you need seven games and one third of your depth scoring going in off a Canucks defenceman who were forced to play their inexperienced third string goalie, that's not a convincing victory. Anyone who tells you different is probably named Mark Spector.
Any team that's been blessed with that many opportunities and still can't get their shit together deserves misery. And believe me, that's what they're gonna get at the hands of the Dallas Stars. This is absolutely gonna be fun to watch, as the pom-pom shakers in the MSM get a rude awakening as they discover that the Oilers are who WE thought they are.
The Stars are faster, stronger, have better goaltending, better defence, better depth and are smarter than the Oilers, and this series will lay it all out. It's almost enough to make me watch it, but being a veteran of the Smythe Division wars, I am so damn tired of the Edmonton Oilers. Fuck 'em. Stars in 4.
