The 1st round is completed and there were a few shocks in the eastern conference with Montreal beating Washington the biggest but the west was as expected.I went 4 for 8 in my predictions so here my thoughts on the 2nd round.

Eastern conference

Pittsburgh v Montreal
Halak was top class against the Caps but I think the Pens sneak through this one.
Pens win in 6

Boston v Philadelphia
Both teams beat a higher seed in the 1st round.I think if Boston can get Savard back they will win.

Boston win in 7

Western conference

San Jose v Detroit
With Thornton once again missing so far in the playoffs and Nabakov not playing at his best I can only see one winner in this series.

Detroit in 5

Chicago v Vancouver
I may be a bit biased but this is the best matchup in the 2nd round.After last seasons playoffs and this seasons games these 2 teams don't like each other and a big rivalry is building between them.I can see this going all the way to game 7.

Chicago win in 7

Pens in 5, Sid to shine.
Boston in 7, hard one to predict for me so I've gone for home ice.
Sharks in 6, I write this knowing the Sharks have just won game 1. Thornton did more in 1 period than the whole series against the Avs. Sharks still getting some iffy power plays.
Nuks in 6, as much as I would like to see a hawks v Pens final I think this may be a series where Luongo wins/steals it for the nuks.

Bruins beat the Flyers 5-4 in OT with Marc Savard getting the winner

Cracking game.

Hawks finally wake up after 4 periods of the series with the Nucks taking it 4-2 after yet again being 2 goals down after the 1st period. Hawks maybe now realised that the work ethic they had all season is still needed in the play-offs.

Looks like we have a series on our hands with this one as the verbals were getting cranked up a little in game 2.

Great finish to the Hawks game last night.They started getting in Luongo's face more and it paid off as he started his flapping routine trying to get penalties but it only ended up giving Versteeg an open net for the winning goal.

Bruins go 2-0 up in the series by winning 3-2

It took until the 3rd game but the hatred finally came out between the Hawks and the Canucks last night as Chicago won 5-2 to go 2-1 up in the series.

It looks like the Bruins are going to account for Philly.....if someone could sort that Carcillo out while they're doing it, that would be great

It was bubbling up in Game 2 with the verbals. Good win for the Hawks and another tonight in Game 4 should hopefully mean lights out for Vancouver after Game 5.

As long as the Hawks use their brains and speed and take the game to Vancouver again they should get the win, plus Luongo showed signs of being rattled by constant pressure and started to flap.

Why are the Montreal Canadiens known as The Habs ?

Its said it is a nickname that came by a mistake. Back in the 20's someone thought the French players came from the farms and that the 'H' on the logo stood for 'Les Habitants' or 'Habs' for short which is what they called the Farmers from Quebec.

The H inside the C in the logo actually stands for 'Club de Hockey Canadien'

Hope that answers your question

Thanks for the answer Chris.

Hawks now 3-1 up in the series heading back to Chicago after downing the Nucks 7-4. Luongo looking seriously rattled and Alain Vigneault sounding less than impressed in the press conference saying "I think right now he is the second best goalie on the ice"

Hawks need to take the series tomorrow night on home ice.

Hawks threw away game 5 but got back on track in Game 6 with a 5-1 win in Vancouver to take the series 4-2 and set up a Conference Final with the Sharks.

Should be a cracker that. May well get ESPN ordered at the weekend in time for the finals.

It's bye bye to the Pens with the Habs winning 5-2 to take the decider in Pittsburgh.

I also think now might be a good time to apologise to any Bruins fans for what I put in a previous post. It's looking like I jinxed the Bruins good style

The conference finals are now set after the Flyers became only the 3rd team in NHL history to come back from 3 games to nil down in the playoffs.After 2 rounds my predictions are an amazing 6-6 so here's my expert view on the next round.

East

Montreal v Philly
This could go either way but with i'm going with the better n/m.
Habs in 6

San Jose v Chicago
Most of the Sharks have finally showed up in the playoffs and if Heatley gets going aswell the Hawks could be in trouble.I'm going to pick the Sharks but i hope i'm wrong

Sharks in 7

Flyers for me in 6.

I fancy the Hawks in 7, however if San Jose continue to get the calls from the refs that they did in the first two rounds and Hosa does nothing again that will make it tough for the hawks.

Hawks draw first blood in San Jose beating the Sharks 2-1. Antti Niemi with an outstanding display saving 44 of 45 shots. Hawks plan of shutting down the likes of Thornton, Heatley & Marleau seemed to work last night along side a stunning display from Niemi who has really stood up in the play offs.

Hopefully the Hawks can contain the Sharks in game 2 and show better home form in game 3 & 4.

but the hawks lost the penalty count 5-0.

It'as looking good for a Chicago/Philly SCF so far after both teams have taken 2-0 lead in their series.But neither team is nailed on for the final as Montreal have come back this year against better teams than the Flyers and Chicago have been struggling at home in the playoffs.

Still a massive win for the Hawks to take both games in San Jose tying the NHL play off record of 7 straight road wins (interesting stat that 3 of the last 4 teams to do this went on to win the Cup) but as you say their home form aint been so hot.
As long as they can hussle and create the space and speed against the sharks at home then it can only help as the Sharks are already frustrated.

I'd have settled for taking it 1-1 back to Chicago,i know i'm getting a bit ahead of myself but after watching the games this week I can't see a team that will stop us now.After being a fan since 1993 it seems a bit strange after all the bad seasons that in a few weeks Jonathan Toews could be lifting the Stanley cup.

I feel the same as would have been happy at 1-1 but its a massive boost to the Hawks and the opposite for the Sharks taking both games and opening a 2-0 lead in the series.
For me the strength the Hawks have is the fact they can roll 4 very good lines for the full 60 minutes where for me the Sharks maybe have 2.5 lines and think in these games that is showing as it di on Luongo and the Nucks. The Hawks just keep coming and its constant pressure no matter what line is out there. Plus Quenneville is being very astute with his match ups.
I really hope this is the year for the Hawks and its probably the best chance they've had since the days of Roenick, Larmer, Belfour, Chelios, Goulet, Noonan and Graham in 91-92.
Just hope Quenneville can get them fired up for the home games and take the series.