Eastern Conference

(8) Montreal Canadiens vs. (1) Boston Bruins
Boston won series 4-0
As a Sabres fan, this match-up right away made me happy because it guaranteed that one of our Northeast rivals would be eliminated in the first round. I can’t say I was really rooting for either team but I am glad that it was Boston that advanced, mostly due to my man-crush on Tim Thomas that’s developed over the past two seasons due to fantasy hockey. And after seeing those Habs receive those undeserved votes into this year’s All Star game thanks to their fanbase’s centennial craze, I’m even happier that they were not only eliminated in the first round, but swept too! I only watched a few highlights myself, but apparently, this one wasn’t even close, as the result indicates. Boston only trailed twice in the entire series! I honestly feel like, had my Sabres snuck into the postseason, they would have put up a better fight than the Habs. We did have some surprising success against the Bruins this year…but ultimately, we would have lost. I just don’t think we would have been swept.

(7) New York Rangers vs. (2) Washington Capitals
Washington won series 4-3
At the outset of this series, I was reminded of the song “Ovechkin” by Pummeler, particularly the refrain: “Go, Ovechkin! Go, go, Ovechkin!” I was really hoping he and fellow Russians Sergei Fedorov and Alexander Semin could lead rookie goaltender Simeon Varlamov (also Russian, BTW) and the other Caps to a comeback from a 3-1 series deficit. The Capitals were one of the few Eastern teams in the playoffs that I don’t outright hate, while I can’t stand the Rangers. I’ll never cheer for a team that chooses to have the likes of Sean Avery on their roster. Interestingly, that scumbag was benched in Game 5, perhaps due to going pointless in the first four games of this series, while also posting a -1 rating, 18 penalty minutes, and just 10 shots on goal. Maybe Coach John Tortorella finally realized just how useless Avery really is…

Another interesting fact: Washington’s two wins in the first five games of this series were by the same score, 4-0. And with that second win in Game 5, they were able to build some momentum. After again finding a way to win at the Garden in Game 6 (by a score of 5-3), they forced a Game 7 back in Washington. The Caps had been successful at home during the regular season (though they did drop Games 1 and 2 of this series at home), so by winning Games 5 and 6, they had put themselves in a very good position to complete the comeback…

I only managed to watch the final minutes of Game 7 but I did get to see the game-winning and series-winning goal. The been-there-done-that veteran Sergei Fedorov raced up the right wing and used the New York defenseman as a screen to beat the now-dethroned “King” Henrik Lundqvist from a fairly bad angle. It was pretty funny seeing Alexander Ovechkin jump on and practically tackle Fedorov in celebration afterwards…lol… That goal came late in the third period, and in the dying minutes of the game, Washington sustained pressure on the Rangers…so much so that Coach John Tortorella never had a chance to pull Lundqvist! As a Ranger-hater, I was thrilled to see this. I was also amused by the dejected look on Sean Avery’s face (because like most media outlets, Versus occasionally misplaced its focus on that idiot) and can honestly say I was happy, delighted even, when he seemed to get injured in the final seconds of the game. I hate him that much… In turn, I also hate the Rangers, so good riddance to them. Great work, Caps!

(6) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (3) New Jersey Devils
Carolina won series 4-3
Ever since the 2006 Eastern Conference Finals, I haven’t been a fan of the Canes, so with a 3-2 series lead, I was hoping Martin Brodeur and the Devils could go down to Carolina in Game 6 and finish this series. I only watched a few highlights from the first five games of this series, including a controversial goal by Jussi Jokinen to give Carolina the win in Game 4. Jokinen bumped into Brodeur just before a shot from the point banked in off his skate. On the one hand, Brodeur was out on white ice, but on the other hand, as Marty himself pointed out after the game, you’re still not supposed to be able to run into the goalie. There’s always a penalty, a whistle, or something. I didn’t think that goal should have counted, but then again, I was rooting for the Devils, so I might have been just a bit biased. New Jersey, in fact, was one of the two teams I was hoping would represent the East in the Stanley Cup Finals (the other being Washington).

Unfortunately, with a convincing 4-0 home victory, the Canes forced a Game 7. I didn’t see any of that final game of this series (which was on the same night as the Rangers/Capitals Game 7)…and was pretty glad I didn’t, because this one would have been heartbreaking to watch. I’m no true Devils fan but I did want New Jersey to win, so seeing them go down the way they did would have been tough… When I first checked the score, the Devils were up 3-2 heading into the final minutes of the third period. New Jersey is known for its defense (or more specifically, its neutral zone trap), so it looked like they could hold onto that lead and knock out those damn Canes…but no… Carolina beat Marty Brodeur twice in the final 1:20 of the game, their second of which coming with just 32 seconds left in regulation. And so New Jersey’s imminent 3-2 Game 7 victory turned into a 4-3 loss. Similarly, their 3-2 series lead resulted in a 4-3 series loss, and those damn Canes advanced…

(5) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (4) Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh won series 4-2
I only managed to watch the latter half of Game 6 of this series…which was the better half, from a Pittsburgh perspective. At the end of the first, Philly was up 3-0. In the second, a Max Talbot vs. Dan Carcillo fight (which I unfortunately missed) gave the Penguins some life. I tuned in just as Ruslan Fedotenko scored to put the Pens on the board. Shortly thereafter, Mark Eaton whacked a rebound out of the air and into the net to cut the Flyers’ lead in half. And late in the period, Sidney Crosby also took one out of the air off of Philly goalie Marty Biron’s glove to tie the game up. In the third, Pittsburgh netminder Marc-Andre Fleury had to come up with a couple big stops, but for the most part, it was all Pittsburgh. A rocket from Sergei Gonchar and an empty-netter from Crosby sealed Philly’s fate. Naturally, I was happy to see them go, as I’ve never particularly cared for the Flyers. I can’t say I’m much of a Penguins fan either though, as Crosby’s fallen out of favor with me a little over this past year…but I still don’t quite hate them as much as most other Eastern qualifiers…

Western Conference

(8) Anaheim Ducks vs. (1) San Jose Sharks
Anaheim won series 4-2
Fact: the President’s Trophy doesn’t mean anything. My Sabres won it in the 2006-07 season and haven’t even made the playoffs since. San Jose won it this year…yet still made an early departure from the postseason… The Ducks stunned everyone right from the start by winning the first two games of this series in San Jose. Then by winning two of their own three home games after that, they were able to knock out this year’s President Trophy-winning Sharks.

This is the Western Conference, and I’m an Easterner, so I didn’t have much emotional attachment to most teams, but I was hoping the Ducks would be successful here. I don’t hate the Sharks or anything. I just like the Ducks a little more, thanks mostly to the man-crush I developed for Bobby Ryan this past season, as he served one of my fantasy teams very well. Although, I never liked the fact that Anaheim Coach Randy Carlyle never announced his starting goaltender before the game, but I can look past that, I think…because the Ducks also have Buffalo native Todd Marchant and Drew Miller, the younger brother of Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller. Granted, the Sharks have former Sabre Mike Grier…but still…the Ducks’ victory here set up a far more interesting Western Conference Semifinal series…

Quack…

(7) Columbus Blue Jackets vs. (2) Detroit Red Wings
Detroit won series 4-0
No team performed better in the first round than the Detroit Red Wings. Not only were they one of three teams to sweep their series, but they were the only team that never trailed a game during the entire series! I was kind of happy to see the Blue Jackets make the playoffs for the first time in their franchise’s history, despite my hatred of their coach, Ken Hitchcock. They have two former Sabres on their team in Mike Peca and Jiri Novotny, and former Sabres netminder Clint Malarchuk is their goaltending coach. However, I knew they wouldn’t stand a chance against Detroit. I wasn’t surprised at all to see this one end in a sweep, but here’s a surprise: Detroit became the first defending Stanley Cup champ since the 2002 Colorado Avalanche to make it out of the first round! I’m not a fan of dynasties though (except those that call Buffalo home), so I’d rather not see Detroit win the Cup again…although a feeling in my gut, even back this early in the playoffs, was telling me that they will… :/

(6) St. Louis Blues vs. (3) Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver won series 4-0
I was happy to see the Blues return to the playoff picture after so many dreadful years, and they certainly earned their playoff berth as they were arguably the hottest team down the stretch. Unfortunately, they hit a wall in the first round. I don’t really know what happened, as I only saw a little piece of one of these games, but the Canucks trailed only once in this series, the second best first round performance, so they must have been playing well. I was kind of sad to see former Sabre and current Blue Jay McKee exit the playoffs, but Vancouver does have their own former Sabre in Taylor Pyatt. I especially wanted to see Pyatt hoist the Cup after what he had been through. In early April, his fiancée, whom he was to wed this coming summer, was killed in a car accident. She was only 27. Obviously, winning the Cup wouldn’t bring her back or anything, but I still would have loved to see him win it. So Vancouver was one of the Western teams I wanted to see win it this year…

(5) Calgary Flames vs. (4) Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago won series 4-2
And Chicago was my second favorite from the West, mostly because of former Sabre Brian “Soupy” Campbell and Buffalo native Patrick Kane. I could care less about the Flames. I’ve never particularly liked Olli Jokinen, who was playing very well for the Flames after coming over at the trade deadline, including in the postseason. There are a number of Flames I do like, such as former Sabres Cory Sarich and Rhett Warrener (who’s married to a Buffalo native, BTW) and Michael Cammalleri and Dion Phaneuf, both of whom I had on my fantasy team last year…but I was still hoping the Blackhawks would take this one…because the Cup would certainly pay a visit to Buffalo at some point thanks to Kane.

The Blackhawks ended up outscoring the Flames a combined 9-2 in Games 5 and 6 (including netting 3 goals in a span of 1:49 in the first period of Game 5) to finish off this series in impressive fashion, so I’m pleased with the way this series ended. It was nice to see a young kid from Buffalo advance to the next round…