Playoff time!

If you're a Stargate: Universe fan, (or even watcher hoping the show gets good), you should click this link for some funny. Otherwise, don't, because you won't get the joke. Yes, I'm a bit of a nerd. :( 

 Well, we're out of regular season hockey, and into the playoffs. It's been just a strange year, with all the "good" teams being bad, and all the "bad" teams being good. Here are my thoughts in no particular order.

• The Red Wings need new blood desperately. They keep getting jammed up by injury, and they're not skating as fast as they once did. I like older players - it shows people this is a game of skill, too. But some of the wins roster is pushing it.
• Last year, someone commented watching Blackhawks play the Kings was like watching two 10 year olds fight. Well, this year, that sounds more like a plausible Playoff face-off.  Who would have thought? However, the Blackhawks have gone and jinxed themselves, as a internet friend in Chicago told me they commissioned a hockey mural with them having the cup in it. This is on top of having "Hossa'ed" themselves (not my words).
• I really couldn't bring myself to care about any of the races between Ovechkin and Crosby. One overcompensates, the other is a crybaby. The Penguins are goons, the Capitals are Thugs. When they played each-other, I hoped a girder would fall from the ceiling or something. Not, I admit, the healthiest attitude. 
• The Coyotes are back. And honestly, they're the only team that shouldn't have cried at night in fear of playing the Red Wings first round. Any one else, playing the Wings in the First Round would have sounded like a death sentence. A few GMs went on the record as saying "We really hope it's not us." The Coyotes look like they can be competitive against the Wings. The big difference between them, though, is the Wings have decades of playoff experience, and a steady hand on the wheel. As a fellow hockey fan pointed out "The Playoffs isn't the regular season." 
• Is this the year the Sharks avoid an early exit? Right now, they're up against the Avs. The Avs are a franchise in ruin. As a Wings fan, it is my solemn duty to hate the Avs, but right now I can't really bring myself. It's like picking on an unemployed jerk who has heart problems. If the Sharks can't win against this, they need to seriously shake things up from top to bottom.

That said, here's my predictions:

1. Caps in 4.
2. Fliers in 6
3. Sabres in 7.
4. Pens in 5.

And in the west

1. Sharks in 5
2. Blackhawks in 5
3. Kings in 7
4. Wings in 7

Watch me get everything wrong. :)