2013 NHL Playoff Predictions

So here we are. A miracle deal to save the 2013 NHL season, and my childhood dream comes true: the Toronto Maple Leafs make the playoffs!!! Not only that, but so did Montreal and Ottawa; I couldn't be more excited to lounge at home every evening for the next two months, watching playoff hockey.

So without further ado, here is my 2013 playoff bracket.

I know right off the bat that you’re going to judge this one (I guess I've unexpectedly predicted all three California teams to make the second round, which would be a first). "Chicago not winning the cup? Blasphemy!" More or less, I’ve seen two kinds of NHL brackets throughout the past couple seasons. 

1) Brackets that simply predict the top seeded teams to meet in the Stanley Cup Final, with the #1 seed most likely winning it all.

2) Brackets that have a surprise team, or a less-expected one, going all the way and ousting someone important (and trying to be overly skeptical, especially after several President’s Trophy flops since the last lockout).

So in my case, I guess I tried to do both in one bracket. In this case, Washington and Los Angeles are those teams who would be more of a surprise, but more so for the Caps.

For a while this season, Washington sat near the bottom of the Eastern Conference,  partly due to a dismal 2-8-1 start which Ovechkin only scored three goals in. But the rebound has been incredible; Ovie has won his third Maurice Richard trophy, and since March 21, the Capitals are 15-2-2, better than both the Penguins and Blackhawks in that time period. Quite a turnaround!

Although Chicago and Pittsburgh have both been incredible, you know that one of them, or both, is going to burn out eventually. There’s a lot that needs to continue to go well for a team to last an extra two months in the playoffs, and I’m simply not optimistic enough to think either one will survive.

I’d love to be optimistic for Toronto as well, but Boston is just one of those teams that Toronto has a real problem playing. The real question will be how Kessel fares against his old team; will he choke like many times before? If that’s the case then there’s no hope for the Leafs, not even Kadri. Hopefully, Colton Orr gets a chance to clothesline Brad Marchand or some other pest, and remove them from the Bruins lineup. Yay!

I actually put this bracket together immediately following Sunday’s game between Ottawa and Pittsburgh. Looking back two days later, I’m content with my choices and stand by them. If I could chance a series, I may predict Ottawa to win over Montreal in the opening round, and maybe even have Detroit beating the Ducks. Regarding the Capitals defeating the Blackhawks in the finals (a bold prediction), who knows? Maybe I’ve got it all wrong. But of course, it’s all for fun anyway.
PS
1) Sorry Vancouver, you've choked too many times. San Jose's got this.
2) Hey Islanders, you should bust my bracket and have a long playoff run, I'd actually love to watch that!