....and things carry on pretty much as they were before the break. The Leafs lose 5-1 to the Canes

The trade deadline passed without any major name traded.I think if either Washington or the Blackhawks had traded for Roloson they'd have been my favourite for the cup but now I have my doubts that both teams N/M are good enough to win 16 games in the playoffs.

Just been to see the Avs v Panthers and I have now seen all 30 NHL teams play at the Pepsi .

Follow the NHL far less than I ought to, but I notice Chris Chelios is still playing. He's not far off 50!!

Ovechkin last night ended Brian Campbell's season after pushing him into the boards head first..Now will the NHL have the guts to suspend him for at least 5 games,i doubt it.

Ah well at least we're going on our usual end of season resurgence. 8-1-4 for March with 6 of those wins coming in OT.

Chicago have finally stumbled over the 100 point barrier after beating the Wild last night.They've not played well since the olympic break but hopefully they are keeping their best form for the playoffs.

and it wasn't too long ago that you'd have got good odds against that

Bruins beat the Leafs 2-1 in OT

Looks like (hopefully) thats exactly what they are doing with wins against Devils 2-1, Flames 4-1 & The Stars 5-2.

Pat Kane seems to have ended his points drought too, plus Niemi playing some good stuff and seemingly has played his way to be the No.1 at present. Hopefully the Hawks can trade Huet for somebody a little more solid and consistant, think Mason wouldn't be a bad guy as a guy to pair with Niemi allowing time to see if Crawford will make it as times running out for him, is he going to be another Jimmy Waite, promised so much early on then failed to develop.

May even try and twist the Habs arm for Halak but leaves us a little light in experience. Question is, will any team be daft ebnough to take on Huets stupid contract? I doubt it but we live in hope.

No chance!

Bruins beat The Sabres 3-1

Hawks win again against the Blues 6-5, although they nearly threw away the lead again in the 3rd period by taking their foot off the gas at 6-2.

Bruins clinch playoffs spot and also set SH record by scoring 3 shorthanded goals a single penalty

The playoffs start tonight

East

Washington v Montreal
Too much scoring on the Caps team for the Canadians to stop but it wont be easy for the Caps.
Washington to win in 6 games


New Jersey v Philadelphia
This could come down to the N/M where NJ easily has the edge.
NJ to win in 5


Buffalo v Boston
Boston have struggled to score this season and with Miller in net for the Sabres they wont start here
Buffalo to win in 5


Ottawa v Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh have too many big game players for the Sens to cope with.
Pitt to win in 4


West

San Jose v Colorado
This could be the year where the Sharks do something in the playoffs.
SJ to win in4


Chicago v Nashville
There are other teams I would rasther have played in the 1st round but at least we didn't get Detroit.
Chicago to win in 6


Vancouver v LA
This is my shock for the 1st round
LA to win in 6


Phoenix v Detroit
The Coyotes fairytail season comes crashing down quickly here.
Detroit to win in 4

I see the East very much as you do.

The West:
Sharks in 5,a good big 'un will allways beat a good little 'un. Avs speed will not overcome their lack of size and experience.

Hawks v Preds should really be a Hawks win in 5 or 6 but the Hawks netminding is not the best and may prevent, IMO, the best team in the West reaching the finals.

Nucks v Kings, Nucks in 6. Against any of the other top seeds I would have fancied the Kings but the line match ups are very much in the Nucks favour.

Yotes v Rat Wings, Yotes in 4. Referees finally recognise that the USA Synchronised Diving team has no place on the ice. Jurgen Klingsman a suprise starter for the Rats.

East is pretty much how I see it going only exception is think The Sens will probably win one but Pens to take it in 5

As for the West

Sharks in 5

Hawks I would love in 4 or 5 but in all honesty it may well go to 6, Niemi & Huet have to be on form but advantage is that the way Hawks dominate puck possession they in theory should only need to make around 8 to 10 big saves, its just the daft ones they let in.

Think this could well go the distance however just think like the Sharks with The Av's that Canucks will wear down the Kings and beat them into submission. Canucks in 6

Coyotes for me in 5.

Hmmmmm some very interesting results in the first round of the play offs.

Wins for the Sens, Yotes, Flyers, Sabres and Canucks and 2 big results with the Av's beating the Sharks & The Habs beating the Caps.

Roll on tonight and the Hawks for a winning start.

There's been a few shocks already so i'm a bit nervous about tonights opening game.We need a solid start from Niemi or the next few days will be all about the netminding .

Well Niemi did what i didn't want and let in a soft 1st goal last night as the Hawks lost 4-1 to Nashville.

Bruins win game 2 and square the series

7 of the 8 series stand at 1-1 going into todays games,the only one not at 1-1 is the Hawks/Preds because they've only played 1 game.

All 8 series have gone 1-1 after the Hawks shut out Nashville 2-0 to even up the series, Niemi playing a strong game, lets hope the Hawks and Niemi can build on it.

Other results where Flyers beat Devils to go 2-1 up, Yotes beat Wings to go 2-1 up, Pens beat Sens to go 2-1 up and the Av's took another big bite out the Sharks shutting them out 1-0 to go 2-1 up!!

What a strange game the Avs v Sharks was. The shots on goal total was 51 for the Sharks, 17 for the Avs. At the end of the first period the shots total was 9 - 8 in favour of the Avs. Needless to say, Anderson the Avs goalie was superb stopping all 51 shots.
The winning goal was the most bizare goal I have seen, look it it up on the NHL site. Usually when you get a game winning goal in your favour you cheer but not this time, it was a case of thinking WTF, then laughing.

Bruins go 2-1 up in the series against The Sabres