I bet a lot of hockey. Depends what day to gauge how sharp I am. But I'll throw out some of my thoughts here.
I actually bet two series but only because I had a good number.
Nashville over Anaheim at
Tampa Bay over Pittsburgh
Since I'm following sharp money I thought the plays made sense. Anaheim/Nashville is a close series with Anaheim slgihtly favoured but Nashville has the star goalie in Rinne. Goaltending is a big sway to me. Ellis is middle of the road goalie for Anaheim.
Without Crosby or Malkin I think the Penguins are in tough in these playoffs. They actually did much better than I thought they would given those losses. They added Neal and Kovalev near the trade deadline and helped give them some offence which was lacking. But we're talking about maybe the best 2 players in the world out of their lineup. Pittsburgh has the home ice, a pretty strong D including their goalie Fleury and solid coaching but I do think Tampa Bay is a live underdog here.
Personally, I thought Buffalo closed the season very strong. With Miller in net they are a pretty balanced team. Philadelphia struggled near the end of the year. Not motivated? Perhaps but they lost the first seed in the conference over it. And could cost them home ice in a later round. Their weakness is goaltending IMO. Bobrovsky was better earlier in the year. They got beat in a few shootouts near the end of the year although they are meaningless shootouts, you need a goalie to win in them and one game I saw Boucher beaten 3 straight times. Buffalo is a sleeper for me and I'll be looking to bet them at least on the puck line in a few games in this series.
I agree with the comments here Phoenix has a good shot against Detroit. They have strong goaltending and a very good, mobile defence. The forwards are underrated as well. Not a big scorer but they get chances. Doan and Vrbata can score. I saw Billy Jaffe on the NHL Network liked Detroit to go all the way. One can't be too surprised. They are pretty loaded with talented players but they had times they struggled during the year. I don't have a good read on Detroit as I'm out often for the early games and see more late west coast games. They played last year and it was close I think so I think it will be more of the same. Probably a long series.
With Callahan out for the Rangers, I like Washington. But their goaltending is weak IMO compared to many of the other guys. They might have 3 guys but I'd rather have Lundqvist. The Caps are chokers but you often see in the NHL teams need to cut their teeth in the playoffs a bit and are often taken out in the early rounds for a year or two and then make a longer run if they stay strong enough. Perhaps the Caps are that team this year and with the Rangers missing Callahan---to me their best player---I think they'll win this one. Of course the odds already say that so no big deal there.
The Kings/Sharks series would be much closer if LA wasn't missing their best forward Anze Kopitar. They lost both games to the Ducks in the last week and have had some real struggles in parts of the year. They still have some obvious strengths though in defence and goaltending. The Sharks are a big favourite in this series and even in the first game. Without Kopitar they are probably below San Jose's class but still a team that can compete with them I think. I like the Sharks I guess but I won't mind if I see some good bets on the Kings.
I still like Vancouver to oust Chicago (like everyone else). But history has been no good to Vancouver vs. Chicago. Luongo in particular. The accepted wisdom is Vancouver is too good and too deep and Chicago because of the salary cap has shed too many key guys that helped them win last year. It is probably true but the Hawks who IMO were so overvalued all year in their games on the line come into this series and the value might be on them. Kane, Toews, Keith and Seabrook are all world class players and they 've got the confidence they've won a cup. It would be tough to take for Vancouver to lose and I don't think we'll see it but Chicago has had their number a little bit.
Montreal/Boston is always interesting. They end up playing so many times. The Bruins seem to be strong this year and they've made a pretty big effort to add to their team through the year for a serious championship run. But Montreal has strong goaltending. Now Boston is pretty good there too but Montreal can compete there. Montreal also has strong PP and PK units if I recall not sure how they do against Boston specifically but they won a few games against Boston this year. This could be a closer series than the odds might say as well. I don't think anyone is too surprised with whatever Montreal team happens to upset whatever Bruins team that is for sure.
