I’ve tried voodoo dolls. I’ve tried playing with an Ouija board. I’ve gone to a tarot card reader and I even altered my picks so much so that I effectively lost the picks competition again this year. But its ok I thought, as long as Pittsburgh loses it will be all worth it. Well not only did I sacrifice my picks, but the Penguins are headed to the Cup for the second straight year. So hopefully, much like last year, the Red Wings will dominate the Pens again en route to another championship for HockeyTown.

I’ll be honest. I watched about two minutes combined of the Eastern Conference Finals. I figured it was wise to benefit my personal health and avoid watching the series altogether. Last Friday night I got that hockey itch and turned the game on, only to turn it off about 80 seconds later when Sidney Crosby had already put Pittsburgh up 1-0. What can I say? The Penguins are good. There, I hope everyone is happy.

(I still don't understand how changing a coach mid-season can be the real reason for this. I say they were tanking it till the switch was made.)

On the other hand it looks like the Hurricanes luck finally ran out. FINALLY. After several lucky wins and even more lucky bounces, karma finally caught up with the Canes. Lucky for them, nobody really cares.

The Blackhawks somewhat disappointed their fans, although I’m not sure if anybody really expected them to win. Their goaltending has been suspect for most of the post-season and a team like Detroit is way too good to not take advantage. Of course, it helps when Brian Campbell tries to be fancy and ends up giving away a game like he did in Game Two. I’m willing to bet the majority of ‘Hawks fans aren’t exactly celebrating Campbell’s big contract one season later.

So here we go; the end is finally near. One more series and we can officially put a wrap on the NHL season and move on to off-season activities. Free agency starts July 1^st and before we know it, pre-season will be in full swing. But before all that, let’s break down the Cup Finals between Detroit and Pittsburgh.

Forwards: Leading the way for Detroit has been Johan Franzen with 19 points in the playoffs. Henrik Zetterberg is following closely behind him with 18 points. Dan Cleary and Valtteri Filppula have 14 and Marian Hossa has tallied 12 points.

Pittsburgh has been led by the obvious tandem of Crosby and Malkin. Both players have 28 points and then there is a dramatic dropoff with Bill Guerin the next in line with 14. Chris Kunitz has 12 and Ruslan Fedotenko has 11.

Advantage: Push. Pittsburgh obviously has immediate impact. Crosby and Malkin are two of the top three players in the league right now. Detroit has an overall advantage in depth. Every single line they roll out has legit goal scorers, where as Pittsburgh is still letting Miroslav Satan’s corpse take the ice. Not to mention the fact that Marian Hossa plays for Detroit. He literally spurned Pittsburgh last off-season because he wanted a legit chance to win a Cup. Don’t think that won’t carry any weight in this series. He’ll be extra motivated to finally win, while Pittsburgh will want to prove him wrong. I have a bad feeling that karma will show it’s ugly head because of this.

Defense: Monitoring the blue line for Detroit is Nicklas Lidstrom (13 points), Brian Rafalski (8), Niklas Kronwall (7), Brad Stuart (7), Brett Lebda (6) and Jonathan Ericsson (5).

Pittsburgh lines up with Sergei Gonchar (12 points), Kris Letang (9), Mark Eaton (6), Brooks Orpik (4), Rob Scuderi (3) and Hal Gill (2).

Advantage: Detroit. Not only do they have more scoring power than Pittsburgh, they have a ton more experience. Look no further than Captain Nicklas Lidstrom. Assuming Detroit can stay healthy…well that’s another story.

Goaltending: Detroit comes into the series with Chris Osgood starting and former Penguin Ty Conklin riding the bench. I haven’t been very high on Osgood this season and with good reason, but he has done well enough to led the Wings this far. He has a 2.06 GAA and .925 save percentage so far in the playoffs to go along with his 12-4 record.

Pittsburgh has Marc-Andre Fleury between the pipes. In between his over the top flashy saves, he has racked up a 12-5 record, 2.62 GAA and .906 save percentage. While he has been shaky at times this year, he seems to know when to step it up. Pittsburgh left him out to dry several times and he literally won them the game which is about all you can ask of a franchise goalie.

Advantage: Push. When I originally wrote the article I was going to give the advantage to Pittsburgh because Chris Osgood doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence. But after researching the numbers and realizing that Osgood has been better than Fleury in every category, I changed it to a push. Osgood still doesn’t fill me with confidence, but he must be doing something right.

Coaching: Mike Babcock is behind the bench for Detroit and Dan Bylsma is behind the bench for Pittsburgh. Babcock has an obvious advantage in terms of experience and championships; however Bylsma should get credit for getting Pittsburgh this far. When he initially took over in mid-season, the Penguins were on the outside of the playoffs looking in. That is quite a feat, but if you ask me I’m not overly impressed. I get the impression that Pittsburgh was essentially quitting on former coach Michel Therrien and that anybody could’ve came in and turned things around. I’ll be a believer if they win the Cup…and stay equally as dominant next season.

Advantage: Detroit

My Pick: Detroit in 6

After some rather anti-climatic Conference Finals series, the battle for the best trophy in all of sports is finally upon us. Pittsburgh and Detroit both managed to advance without facing too much opposition and will now go at it once again in a rematch of last year's Finals. This is the first time in 25 years that two teams have made it to consecutive Stanley Cup Finals appearances, and Pittsburgh will be trying desperately to provide a different outcome this time around.

Pittsburgh looks to have hit their full stride at this point, cruising by Carolina in a 4 game sweep that wasn't ever really close. The Penguins outscored the Hurricanes by a 20-9 margin and only game 1 had any real drama to it. Marc-Andre Fleury was the only goaltender of the 4 in the Conference Finals to not have won a Stanley Cup already, but he may have out performed all his counterparts. So far in 17 games of the postseason, his GAA is 2.62 and he has a save percentage of .906. Not stellar numbers at first glance, but when you consider how well the Penguins score the puck, it's been plenty good enough to get them back in the Finals. The race for the playoff scoring title has turned into a 2 horse show, and both those horses belong to Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin each have 28 points so far in the playoffs and nobody else is really even close. Crosby's points have come on 14 goals and 14 assists, while Malkin has 12 goals and 16 assists thus far. Pittsburgh's one downfall though might be that after those two, the scoring falls off dramatically. If Detroit can find a way to even slow those guys down, it might be enough to help them hoist yet another Cup.

Last year, the Penguins made it to the finals as a young, fairly inexperienced team. This year however, they're back and they know what to expect. This group would love nothing more to win the first Cup for Pittsburgh since their only previous wins in 91 and 92. The Penguins looked overwhelmed in the first 2 games of last year's Final, and it ultimately cost them as they recovered a little too late. I wouldn't expect the same to happen this time around. As for Detroit, last year's victory was the team's 11th Stanley Cup and another one this year would put them at half of the mark of Montreal's ridiculous 24 Cups. The Red Wings have proven to be one of the best run organizations in sports for years now and yet another Finals appearance just further proves that.

Detroit faced a very young Chicago team in the Western Conference Finals and didn't have too much of an issue getting past them, as they won the series in 5 games. The series was certainly closer than that in the East though, as 3 of the games were decided in overtime. 2 players top the list of scorers for Detroit as well, though they have a more balanced attack and have had a lot of secondary contributors. Johan Franzen has lead the way with 10 goals and 9 assists, while Henrik Zetterburg has chipped in with 9 of each. All playoffs long, people have pointed to Chris Osgood as the weak link of Detroit, and even I have been somewhat guilty of this. The fact is that it's just not the case though. Osgood comes into the Finals with a 2.06 GAA and a .925 save percentage, both of which are outstanding. Add to that the fact that Osgood has 3 Cup wins to his name, 2 of which he was the starter for, is 10th all time in NHL wins, and has a career playoff GAA of 2.11. Osgood has proven himself and deserves more credit than he gets.

Amongst the biggest keys heading into this series is the health of the Red Wings. 6 regular starters missed Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals for Detroit, yet they managed to walk away with the win. Andreas Lilja, Kris Draper, Tomas Kopecky, and Jonathan Ericsson were all out, but more notably, Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk both missed games 4 and 5 of that series. Lidstrom is perennially the best defenseman in the league, and while he's supposedly going to be back in time for Game 1 tomorrow, whether or not he's at 100% will be a big factor. Datsyuk doesn't appear to be in as good of shape at this point, and while he hasn't provided his usual scoring power in these playoffs (7 points, with only 1 goal), many forget that he is very talented defensively as well. Having him at his best to help try and slow down Crosby and Malkin would be a very important factor for Detroit.

The Red Wings have been getting offense from other players however as Johan Franzen, Dan Cleary and Valtteri Filppula have all stepped up their scoring efforts. Still, contributions from Datsyuk if he comes back and Henrik Zetterburg would certainly go a long ways towards Detroit capturing yet another Stanley Cup. Pittsburgh will need some more scoring from it's support as well though, as relying almost completely on Crosby and Malkin might not continue to work at this point. Players like Bill Guerin, Jordan Staal, Chris Kunitz, and Ruslan Fedotenko need to provide more scoring in support of the Penguins Big Two.

Special teams is another big key factor when looking at this series. Both these teams are dynamite on the power play, but Detroit in particular. The Red Wings have scored 19 times in 74 opportunities this postseason, for a success rate of 25.7%. Pittsburgh has converted 16 of 83 opportunities, scoring 19.3% of the time. 10 of those 16 goals for Pittsburgh have come from the Crosby/Malkin duo however, while Detroit's are much more spread out across the team. On the flip side of things though is where the story might be told. The Penguins have allowed 10 goals on the penalty kill through 61 opposition chances, good for a 83.6% success rate on the kill. Not stellar, but when you compare it to Detroit's penalty killing effort, it looks pretty good. The Red Wings have allowed 15 goals in 57 opportunities so far in the playoffs, killing only 73.7% of their penalties. Detroit simply must be better or must stay out of the box, or Pittsburgh is going to make them pay dearly. While I wouldn't want to give up many PP chances for Detroit if I were Pittsburgh either, they have to feel at least a little more comfortable with their ability to kill off any penalties.

Yet another key to this series, and a storyline which I'm sure television will play up to death is that of the Red Wings' forward Marian Hossa. Hossa was with the Penguins last season and despite a very healthy contract offer after the season, he decided to bolt town, declaring that the Penguins were a one trick pony of sorts and he wanted to go play for a Cup contender. He signed with Detroit, and now he faces his former mates with the biggest prize on the line. Hossa has been solid, but not stellar for Detroit this postseason, chipping in with 6 goals and 6 assists thus far. The capability is still there however as he scored 40 goals along with 31 assists in the regular season for the team. Pittsburgh surely would like to make Hossa regret his decision and I can think of no better way than to beat his new team for Lord Stanley's Cup. It'll be interesting to see how Hossa reacts to the pressure in this series.

Ultimately, this series is a matchup of two teams with outstanding scoring abilities mixed in with some goalies playing at a very high level. It's pretty much what you'd expect from the last two teams standing. How the keys I mentioned above play out will likely end up determining who gets to parade around the ultimate trophy, and in particular, I think the injury issues for Detroit might be the biggest factor of all. If perennial Norris Trophy winner Niklas Lidstrom returns and can play at his usual level and the same is true for Hart Trophy candidate Pavel Datsyuk, the Red Wings will be very tough for Pittsburgh to handle. However, if those guys can't return, or aren't playing close to 100%, the series may very well be the Penguins' to lose.

Since the Red Wings have always been my second favorite team behind Buffalo, along with the fact that I don't particularly care for Pittsburgh and especially Mr. Crosby, my heart tells me to take Detroit. However, I have a bad feeling about this series, and the injuries in particular concern me a lot, so my head says Pittsburgh is going to win. As much fun as it is to pick with my heart, I rarely ever do it...

Pittsburgh wins in 6 games.

In other news, you have may have noticed by now that our site officially has a new address. You can now find us at www.dandssports.com though our previous address will also redirect you to the proper location. Along with the official domain name, we're also toying with some other ideas on ways to change the site up some, so be on the lookout for that in the near future. Additionally, as always your feedback is greatly appreciated and if you have any suggestions for changes you'd like to see here, feel free to let us know. You can shoot us an email at feedback@dandssports.com. Devin will be by either tonight or tomorrow with his preview and picks, as well as updated standings for the prediction contest heading into the Finals. Be sure to check back!

Now that the Conference Finals are set, we can go ahead with our predictions and a brief preview of the two series. Devin will have his picks tomorrow and will give an update to the current standings in our ongoing contest as well. Let's get started with the West, so I can stay in a good mood for a least a few more minutes.

Western Conference Finals:
(2) Detroit Red Wings vs. (4) Chicago Blackhawks

The West is going to be determined by a battle of Original 6 teams that both have long and storied histories in the NHL. Detroit has 11 Stanley Cups to their credit and they are also the defending champions. They come into this matchup after defeating the Anaheim Ducks in a 7 game series, which saw a bit of a back and forth struggle as the Wings took games 1, 4, 5, and 7. 5 of the 7 games were decided by just one goal, including a 3 OT thriller that Anaheim took in the 2nd game of the series. Detroit was certainly tested at a much higher level in this series than they were in the 1st round against Columbus who was dispatched in a hurry. Chris Osgood was the question mark entering the post season for Detroit, but he's proven why he has multiple Cup wins under his belt.

Thus far, Osgood has allowed just 2.06 goals per game and has a save percentage of .921. While Johan Hiller was able to shut down the mighty Detroit offense in a few games, they still managed to average just over 3 goals per game for the series. Johan Franzen has lead the way offensively for Detroit thus far with 8 goals in the postseason and "The Mule" also has 7 assists to give him a team leading 15 points. Henrik Zetterburg is right behind him however with 14 points. Add in the best defensemen in the league in Nick Lidstrom who has contributed 11 points and a team leading 26+ minutes per game in ice time and you can see how it's tough to slow down the Detroit Offense. It will be Osgood who is once again the key for the Red Wings in the Western Conference Finals however, as he faces a Chicago team who has dynamite in the offensive department.

Chicago finished 2nd in their division to Detroit and while extremely young and inexperienced, has proven they belong in this postseason. Offensive firepower has definitely been the name of the game for the Blackhawks as they've taken out both Calgary and Vancouver in 6 games each, dashing any chances for a Western Canada Cup celebration. Many, myself included, expected Roberto Luongo to shut down Chicago and send them to the golf course, but instead, the youthful Blackhawk squad lit Luongo up like the 4th of July. They scored just under 4 goals per game in the series, including 6 in game 2 and 7 in game 4.

Their progress in this postseason marks a resurgence for the Chicago Blackhawks, who have finally broken out of one of the darkest periods in the team's history. A team who dominated their division throughout the 70s, Chicago had made the playoffs for an incredible 28 straight years until 1998. Since that time, other than a quick first round exit in 2002, the Blackhawks have been mired in obscurity. Sadly, it took the death of long time owner Bill Wirtz in 2007 to change around the fortunes of the team. Rocky Wirtz, son of Bill, took over the team and immediately began changing much of how things were ran. The Blackhawks were put back on a local TV station, they changed up the front office and made great draft picks along with some splashes via free agency and trades.

It's worked out well for the team as they've built a very solid team, which is still very young and could have quite an amazing run in front of them. At this point, anything the Blackhawks accomplish this year is just icing on the cake, but I'm sure it wouldn't hurt their feelings to have a chance at their first Stanley Cup since 1961, the longest current drought in the NHL. If they are to get that opportunity, it will likely be the offense that has to continue to carry them. Goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin hasn't been exactly stellar so far in the playoffs, with a 2.76 GAA and a .896 save percentage. The scoring has come from everywhere though, as 4 Chicago players have double digit points so far, and 4 more have chimed in with 9 in the playoffs. Martin Havlat leads the way at 13 points, and Patrick Kane is right behind him with 12, including a team leading 8 goals.

These teams are certainly familiar with one another, as they are both members of the Central Division. Chicago won both games of a home and home series to finish the season, but dropped the other 4 matchups against Detroit on the season. The first 2 of those games were decided in a shootout however. The Red Wings 2 regulation wins were also a part of a home and home, the 2nd of which was the New Year's Day Winter Classic played at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The best bet for Chicago is going to be to try and win in shootouts, scoring as much as possible against Detroit. I don't think their defense or goaltending is built to try and shut down the Red Wings attack and trying to do so might prove futile. Detroit has the ability to crack down a little more defensively when they need to, but that will be quite the challenge as well considering what Chicago has proven themselves capable of. At any rate, suffice it to say I expect some high scoring games throughout this series.

In the end, one of the major keys could be penalties, as Chicago can not afford to allow Detroit's Power Play unit to go to work, they've been amongst the top in the league all year long and have too many weapons to hope to stop if the Blackhawks continuously find themselves in the box. I'm a big fan of how Chicago has gone about rebuilding their franchise and I think they will be the team to deal with over the next few years, but I'm afraid this is the end of the line this season. Detroit will head to yet another Stanley Cup Final in my opinion.

Detroit in 6 Games

Eastern Conference Finals:
(4) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (6) Carolina Hurricanes

I suppose I have to talk about this series too, though it pains me to do so. I think it's been made abundantly clear by now that I do not like either of these teams at all. I guess that makes it easier to talk about this series objectively however since I have no real bias from one to the other, as I hate them both. Pittsburgh looks to make a return trip to the Stanley Cup Finals after last year's quick dismissal by Detroit, while Carolina, back in the playoffs for the first time since winning the Cup in 2006, looks to keep it's amazing string of come from behind victories going.

The Penguins head in to the conference finals after taking out the Washington Capitals in a 7 game battle which saw 5 of the games decided by a single goal, including 3 overtime games. In game 7 however, the team from Pittsburgh would not be denied as they stomped the Caps, 7-2. Sidney Crosby earned at least some of his reputation in the series as he put up 8 goals and 5 assists through the 7 games. Crosby has 21 points to lead all players in the postseason thus far, and Evgeni Malkin is right behind him with 19. The two have also combined for 17 points on the powerplay so far in the playoffs, with a combined 9 goals. Marc-Andre Fleury has been solid, but not spectacular so far with a 2.72 GAA and a .901 save percentage. The Pens will need him to step up his game against Carolina in order to move on.

Carolina must have went to magician's school sometime in the last year as they have managed to pull one rabbit out of a hat right after another. They also seem to have a supply of horseshoes stuck somewhere, but I'll stop short of actually saying where I think they might be stashing them. For the second straight series, Carolina managed to win a 7th game on the road to knock off a higher seed, ousting Boston with just over a minute left to go in overtime. This series was much unlike the Pittsburgh/Washington one in the fact that both teams essentially traded easy victories for the most part, excluding Game 7 of course, as well as Game 3, which Carolina also won in OT. Just days after sucker punching Boston Defensemen Aaron Ward in the eye, Scott Walker became the hero for the Hurricanes as he scored the game winner in Game 7. As Devin mentioned to me, I think it would have been fitting if Ward decked Walker in the post series handshake line for good measure.

The key to Carolina's success lies with goalie Cam Ward. A former Conn Smythe winner, he has a tendency to show up big in big games. Thus far in the playoffs, he has allowed 2.22 goals per game and has a save percentage of .927. Carolina does not have the firepower that the other 3 remaining playoff teams can muster and instead relies on Ward to keep the game close while they manage to score goals at clutch times. Eric Staal and Jussi Jokinen have provided the majority of the Hurricanes scoring with 13 and 10 points respectively. Staal has scored 9 goals thus far, while Jokinen has added 6. The Canes are only averaging 2.37 goals a game, and they figure to need more than that to keep up with Pittsburgh.

The obvious question that presents itself when looking at this series is who is going to stop Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The answer for Carolina is that Cam Ward is the only one with any chance, and that's probably too much to put on him. The Hurricanes lack any real shut down defenders who will have the ability to deal with those two, and they also don't have the offense to keep up with them. Pittsburgh has been quite successful on the power play so far in the playoffs as well, largely due to those same two guys, however Carolina has a fantastic penalty kill and tends to stay out of the box for the most part to begin with.

Conversely, Carolina has scored only 5 times on the power play so far in the playoffs and that won't get them too far. At the end of the day, Carolina's luck has to run out at some point and I think this is the time. Pittsburgh just has far more skill on the ice than Carolina at any given point in time and the Hurricanes best player is going to get bombarded with pucks flying at him. The Penguins have a tendency for let downs here and there, and Carolina has proved themselves to be gritty and determined... nice compliments to luck, so the series will stay competitive, but ultimately the skill prevails.

Pittsburgh in 7 games.

As mentioned previously here, both Devin and myself will be making our predictions round by round for both the NHL and NBA playoffs. We encourage you to join in, so either email one of us your picks, or comment on one of our posts with your picks before the 1st round gets started. Devin will have his picks posted tomorrow, but the series begin on Wednesday, so make sure you get your picks to us before then. Scoring is pretty simple, you get 5 points for picking the correct series winner and a bonus 5 points if you get the number of games correct as well. Results will be posted as we progress through each round. So without any further ado, here are my first round picks.

Eastern Conference:
1. Boston vs. 8. Montreal

These two teams are very familiar with one another and history suggests this matchup will be closer than it likely ought to be. The main difference for me is that Tim Thomas has had a Vezina like campaign this season for Boston while Carey Price has been shaky at best. Boston is also a much more physical team which usually wins out come playoff time. Montreal has been a very up and down team all year long and this series depends entirely on which Canadiens unit shows up. I think they'll play well enough to present a challenge, but ultimately not well enough to advance. I'll take the Bruins in 6, but they should at least be tested in the 1st round.

Bruins in 6 games

2. Washington vs. 7. NY Rangers

I expect this series to go the distance as this is a pure offense vs. defense battle. The Caps were near the leaders in scoring this season, while the Rangers are a very defensive minded team. The goalie matchup, which is always a big deal in the postseason is leaning in the favor of the Rangers with Henrik Lundqvist. Jose Theodore remains a bit of a question mark for the Capitals, but luckily this Ovechkin guy is pretty good. Playoff experience is also very heavily in New York's favor, but ultimately their inability to score is going to hurt them. Washington takes this one in 7 games and I expect at least one horribly stupid antic from Sean Avery and at least one incredible game from Ovechkin.

Caps in 7 games

3. New Jersey vs. 6. Carolina
This series seems to have the most likelihood for an upset in the East, as Carolina has been the hottest team in the league down the stretch. The Hurricanes have a fair amount of fire power offensively and the return of Erik Cole at the trade deadline has really given them a spark. Add to that Cam Ward's very high level of play as of late, Vezina like in fact, and the Canes are a tough task for the Devils in the first round. I'm picking against them for two reasons though really... 1. I can't stand picking against Martin Brodeur in a close matchup, he's just a machine, and with the bolstered offense in NJ this season, lead by Zach Parise, Brodeur could make the difference. 2. I think we all know at this point I don't much care for the Hurricanes and more particularly their fans. If they lose in the first round, the bandwagon empties in a hurry and I don't have to hear about them every where I turn for a long while. Devils in 6, at least I hope.

Devils in 6 games

4. Pittsburgh vs. 5. Philadelphia
Well, this was going to be my upset pick (though not much of one) in the East, until Philly couldn't handle their business yesterday and lost the home ice advantage in this series. This should be a high scoring series if nothing else, as both teams are definitely offensively based. Philly is terrific on the power play, but not so much the rest of the time, so if Pittsburgh can stay out of the penalty box, it'll go a long way for their cause. Marty Biron is a good goalie in this league, but he seems to have trouble playing at a high level for more than a few games at a time, and that's a problem this time of year. At the end of the day, Pittsburgh has more firepower with Crosby, Malkin, and company, and while this may not be the same team that made the Cup Finals last year, they're going to get at least one step closer than Philly this year. Penguins win this one in 6 games.

Penguins in 6 games

Western Conference:
1. San Jose vs. 8. Anaheim

While these two teams don't have the traditions of Boston and Montreal, the 1/8 matchup in the West is equally intriguing. Most probably haven't noticed, but these two California teams have been amongst the best in the West for several years now. Only one of them has translated that success in the postseason however. The Sharks come in as President's Trophy winners with the best record in the league, but they have struggled in the playoffs the past few years. The Ducks on the other hand, come in much like Carolina in the East, as one of the hottest teams in the league as of late. Anaheim has the core group of veterans from their Cup winning team still in tact and will be a handful for San Jose. I think the outcome of this series lies directly on the shoulders of Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov and I'll take the Sharks in 7... but I won't be the least bit surprised to see Anaheim pull off the upset.

Sharks in 7

2. Detroit vs. 7. Columbus
Detroit stumbled into the playoffs, not doing well at all down the stretch. That doesn't much matter though, they've got loads of playoff experience on their roster and they're the defending Cup winners. Columbus on the other hand is making their postseason debut, and even their best players don't really have the playoff experience to rely on either. Rookie goaltender Steve Mason has been impressive to say the least this year, but this is a completely different environment now and the Red Wings fire power might have him sweating bullets. The Red Wings have question marks in net with Chris Osgood and Ty Conklin as neither have been overly consistent this year, but both are playoff tested and proven, and either will be good enough to get by the Blue Jackets. Detroit takes this series in 5 games at most.

Red Wings in 5

3. Vancouver vs. 6. St. Louis
This series is a difficult one to pick for several reasons. First, I'll admit to not seeing hardly anything from either of these teams throughout the year. Second, they both come in absolutely on fire through the late part of the season. Neither of these teams has any playoff experience to speak of really, with Vancouver making the lone playoff appearance between the two since the lockout season. St. Louis has risen up from being one of the worst teams in the league to in the middle of the playoffs now and they do so despite having an injury riddled season. Vancouver's Roberto Luongo is one of the best goaltenders in the league and the logic here should be to go with him as the deciding factor. For some reason though, my instincts tell me to take the Blues in this series, so that's what I'm doing... St. Louis in 6 games.

Blues in 6

4. Chicago vs. 5. Calgary
Calgary kind of fell apart down the stretch and handed the division over to Vancouver, though to be fare, injuries had something to do with that. The Flames are banged up, especially amongst their defensemen. Trade deadline pickup Ollie Jokinen will finally get to see some playoff action and if he can rekindle (yes, that's a bad Flames pun right there!) the spark he brought initially, it'll go a long way towards Calgary advancing. The Blackhawks on the other hand are one of the youngest teams in the league and have little playoff experience. It'll be interesting to see how Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews handle the increased spotlight of the playoffs. I see Kiprusoff outplaying Khabibulin in this series and it ultimately making the difference. The Blackhawks are going to have plenty of future opportunities with their youth, but this isn't their year. Honestly, my main reason for picking the Flames is because I haven't picked a single Canadian team to advance so far, and that simply wouldn't be good business for the NHL. Calgary moves on in 7 games.

Flames in 7 games

1. San Jose Sharks: The Sharks came out the gates smoking this season and haven’t stopped yet. San Jose has historically done well in the regular season, but often times fallen short in the playoffs, so time will tell if this Sharks team is for real or not.

2. Boston Bruins: Boston has hands down been the class of the Eastern Conference this season. After sneaking into the playoffs last season with the 8th seed, they gave the top seeded Canadiens all they could handle. For most Bruins fans, that was a sign of things to come this season. If Boston can keep on their game for the second half of the season, look for them to hold down the top spot and challenge for the Presidents Trophy.

3. Detroit Red Wings: Detroit is nipping at San Jose for the top spot in the West. After winning the Stanley Cup last season, all they did during the off-season was dramatically improve by signing Marian Hossa. They also replaced Dominik Hasek with Ty Conklin, who has rewarded them with five shut-outs so far and his second consecutive Winter Classic victory.

4. Washington Capitals: The Capitals have built on their post-season experience last season and have a strangle hold on the SouthEast division so far this season. They have gotten good contributions by several players, including Alex Ovechkin and new goalie Jose Theodore, and now they look to continue rising up the standings in the East. No matter what teams try to do, they can’t seem to stop Alex Ovechkin, as he continues to prove himself as the best player in the league right now.

5. New Jersey Devils: The Devils have surprised many fans by doing as well as they have considering they are missing the cornerstone of the franchise, Martin Brodeur. The Devils are neck and neck with the Rangers and Flyers in the division, but if they can get Brodeur back in time for the playoff race other teams in the East need to be on the lookout. Signing Brendan Shanahan in the middle of the season won’t hurt their chances either.

6. Montreal Canadiens: The Canadiens were most experts pick as the top team in the East, but they have fallen well behind Boston in that race. Still, with half a season to go, anything can happen. They will need to get quite a bit of help in the second half if they plan on winning the NorthEast division, and we’re not talking about the type of help they received in loading up for the All-Star game.

7. Calgary Flames: The Flames are always in the discussion of teams out West due to the consistent play from goaltender Miika Kiprusoff. If he can withstand the usual heavy workload during the stretch run, I look for Calgary to make some noise in April.

8. New York Rangers: Like said above, the Rangers are in a tight division race and could easily fall out of the playoff race altogether if they go on any kind of extended losing streak during the second half. However, if they can get strong goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist, they should be able to make it into the playoffs. Now whether they make it past the second round this year or not is still to be determined.

9. Chicago Blackhawks: The Blackhawks have been a great story so far this season. After years and years of losing, they seem to have turned it around. They made a risky move this season by firing their coach extremely early into the season, but that doesn’t seem to have affected them very much. Much of their success will come down to how well young stars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews play.

10. Buffalo Sabres: The Sabres started out hot, cooled down, and have since heated right back up once the calendar hit 2009. Since New Years the Sabres have been much better and goalie Ryan Miller looks like he is on top of his game. It will be interesting to see how the Sabres do down the stretch because they have plenty of teams nipping at them in the standings.

11. Philadelphia Flyers: The Flyers have rebounded from a slow start and look back in form so far this season. They will most likely improve even more when they get forward Danny Briere back from injury. However, they will need to clear some cap space in order to make that move, so it will be interesting to see how the front office handles that situation. Much of the Flyers success during the second half will hinge on how well their goaltenders perform and if they get hot at the right time again.

12. Phoenix Coyotes: The Coyotes are doing well so far this season, despite facing bankruptcy and other issues off the ice. They have been a much better team at home than on the road, so they might not last long if they squeak into the playoffs. Then again, once the playoffs start, anything can happen.

13. Anaheim Ducks: The Ducks are hanging around out West but haven’t been very consistent so far this season. They have been pretty average at home and on the road this year. They will need to step up their game down the stretch to continue their post-season streak or they will be watching from home this year.

14. Minnesota Wild: The Wild have gotten very good goaltending from Niklas Backstrom. It shows in the standings as their goal differential is much better than the other teams they are surrounded with in the standings. If the Wild sneak into the post-season, they could cause some trouble for the higher ranked teams, much like Edmonton did a few years ago.

15. Florida Panthers: Florida has done very well so far this season, considering most experts didn’t even have them getting near the playoffs. The play from Florida has been good enough so far this season to have Pittsburgh looking in from the outside at the Eastern Conference playoff picture, but there is still plenty of time for Florida to take control or fall apart. If they slip up and fall out of the race, look for them to deal star defenseman Jay Bouwmeester before the trade deadline.