Official 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Thread

[Shifty]

EASTERN CONFERENCE
1.Montreal vs 8.Boston
2.Pittsburgh vs 7.Ottawa
3.Washington vs 6.Philadelphia
4.New Jersey vs 5.NY Rangers



WESTERN CONFERENCE

1.Detroit vs 8.Nashville
2.San Jose vs 7.Calgary
3.Minnesota vs 6.Colorado
4.Anaheim vs 5.Dallas

National network television coverage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs will be provided in the United States by NBC and VERSUS and in Canada by CBC, TSN and RDS.

NHL Radio on Westwood One will distribute live coverage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to radio stations across North America. Every game can also be heard on XM Satellite Radio.

VERSUS begins its coverage Wednesday with a doubleheader featuring the Ottawa at Pittsburgh (7 p.m., ET) followed by Calgary at San Jose (10 p.m. ET).

NBC Sports will start its playoff coverage Saturday, April 12, featuring Nashville at Detroit (2 p.m., ET), and will continue coverage Sunday when Philadelphia travels to Washington to play the Capitals (2 p.m., ET). NBC will continue weekend afternoon coverage throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs in addition to prime-time coverage of the Stanley Cup Final.

CBC’s HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA continues its 56-year tradition of Stanley Cup Playoff coverage with a Wednesday doubleheader featuring Ottawa at Pittsburgh (7 p.m., ET) and Calgary at San Jose (10 p.m., ET).

TSN leads off its coverage Wednesday featuring the New York Rangers at the New Jersey Devils (7 p.m., ET).

RDS will show complete coverage of two series (Montreal vs. Boston and Pittsburgh vs. Ottawa) and will continue showing live Playoff action through the Stanley Cup Final.



2008 WESTERN CONFERENCE - PLAYOFF MASTER SCHEDULE
CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS - ROUND #1
SERIES A TIME #1 Montreal vs. #8 Boston Network
Thurs., April 10, 2008 7:00 PM Boston at Montreal CBC, RDS
Sat., April 12, 2008 7:00 PM Boston at Montreal CBC, RDS, VERSUS
Sun., April 13, 2008 7:00 PM Montreal at Boston CBC, RDS
Tues., April 15, 2008 7:00 PM Montreal at Boston CBC, RDS
Thurs., April 17, 2008 7:00 PM Boston at Montreal CBC, RDS
Sat., April 19, 2008 TBD Montreal at Boston CBC, RDS
Mon., April 21, 2008 TBD Boston at Montreal CBC, RDS

SERIES B TIME #2 Pittsburgh vs. #7 Ottawa Network
Wed., April 9, 2008 7:00 PM Ottawa at Pittsburgh VERSUS, CBC, RDS
Fri., April 11, 2008 7:00 PM Ottawa at Pittsburgh CBC, RDS
Mon., April 14, 2008 7:00 PM Pittsburgh at Ottawa CBC, RDS
Wed., April 16, 2008 7:00 PM Pittsburgh at Ottawa CBC, RDS
Sat., April 19, 2008 7:00 PM Ottawa at Pittsburgh VERSUS, CBC, RDS
Sun., April 20, 2008 TBD Pittsburgh at Ottawa CBC, RDS
Tues., April 22, 2008 TBD Ottawa at Pittsburgh CBC, RDS

SERIES C TIME #3 Washington vs. #6 Philadelphia Network
Fri., April 11, 2008 7:00 PM Philadelphia at Washington VERSUS, TSN
Sun., April 13, 2008 2:00 PM Philadelphia at Washington NBC, TSN
Tues., April 15, 2008 7:00 PM Washington at Philadelphia VERSUS, TSN
Thurs., April 17, 2008 7:00 PM Washington at Philadelphia VERSUS, TSN
Sat., April 19, 2008 1:00 PM Philadelphia at Washington NBC, TSN
Mon., April 21, 2008 TBD Washington at Philadelphia VERSUS, TSN
Tues., April 22, 2008 TBD Philadelphia at Washington TSN

SERIES D TIME #4 New Jersey vs. #5 NY Rangers Network
Wed., April 9, 2008 7:00 PM NY Rangers at New Jersey TSN
Fri., April 11, 2008 7:00 PM NY Rangers at New Jersey TSN
Sun., April 13, 2008 7:00 PM New Jersey at NY Rangers VERSUS, TSN
Wed., April 16, 2008 7:00 PM New Jersey at NY Rangers VERSUS, TSN
Fri., April 18, 2008 7:30 PM NY Rangers at New Jersey TSN
Sun., April 20, 2008 TBD New Jersey at NY Rangers VERSUS, TSN
Tues., April 22, 2008 TBD NY Rangers at New Jersey TSN

2008 WESTERN CONFERENCE - PLAYOFF MASTER SCHEDULE
CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS - ROUND #1

SERIES E TIME #1 Detroit vs. #8 Nashville Network
Thurs., April 10, 2008 7:00 PM Nashville at Detroit VERSUS
Sat., April 12, 2008 2:00 PM Nashville at Detroit NBC
Mon., April 14, 2008 TBD Detroit at Nashville VERSUS
, April 16, 2008 TBD Detroit at Nashville VERSUS (JIP)
Fri., April 18, 2008 7:30 PM Nashville at Detroit VERSUS
Sun., April 20, 2008 3:00 PM Detroit at Nashville NBC
Tues., April 22, 2008 TBD Nashville at Detroit

SERIES F TIME #2 San Jose vs. #7 Calgary Network
Wed., April 9, 2008 10:00 PM Calgary at San Jose VERSUS, CBC
Thurs., April 10, 2008 10:00 PM Calgary at San Jose CBC
Sun., April 13, 2008 10:00 PM San Jose at Calgary CBC, VERSUS
Tues., April 15, 2008 10:00 PM San Jose at Calgary CBC
Thurs., April 17, 2008 10:00 PM Calgary at San Jose VERSUS, CBC
Sun., April 20, 2008 TBD San Jose at Calgary CBC, VERSUS
Tues., April 22, 2008 TBD Calgary at San Jose CBC

SERIES G TIME #3 Minnesota vs. #6 Colorado Network
Wed., April 9, 2008 9:00 PM Colorado at Minnesota
Fri. April 11, 2008 9:00 PM Colorado at Minnesota VERSUS (JIP)
Mon., April 14, 2008 10:00 PM Minnesota at Colorado VERSUS
Tues., April 15, 2008 10:00 PM Minnesota at Colorado VERSUS
Thurs., April 17, 2008 9:00 PM Colorado at Minnesota
Sat., April 19, 2008 TBD Minnesota at Colorado VERSUS
Tues., April 22, 2008 TBD Colorado at Minnesota

SERIES H TIME #4 Anaheim vs. #5 Dallas Network
Thurs., April 10, 2008 10:00 PM Dallas at Anaheim VERSUS, TSN
Sat., April 12, 2008 10:00 PM Dallas at Anaheim VERSUS, TSN
Tues., April 15, 2008 8:30 PM Anaheim at Dallas TSN
Thurs., April 17, 2008 8:00 PM Anaheim at Dallas TSN
Fri., April 18, 2008 10:30 PM Dallas at Anaheim VERSUS, TSN
Sun., April 20, 2008 TBD Anaheim at Dallas TSN
Tues., April 22, 2008 TBD Dallas at Anaheim TSN

Catch wall-to-wall playoff preview coverage on Monday with expert analysis and projections from the NHL panel on TSN. McGuire's Monsters and the Fantasy Playoff Special will be available On Demand, while the Draft Lottery and Playoff Preview will be simulcast live on TSN.ca.

* McGuire's Monsters
Pierre's 2007-08 Picks
7pm et/4pm pt
* Fantasy Playoff Special
The experts draft their teams!
7:30pm et/4:30pm pt
* Draft Lottery Special
Who gets Stamkos?
8pm et/5pm pt
* Playoff Preview Special
Maggie Returns!
8:30pm et/5:30pm pt

[Alex The Great]

So THAT'S who's in the playoffs. sweet.

[QueerMike]

Best matchups in round one:
New Jersey v New York
Montreal v Boston
Minnesota v Colorado
San Jose v Calgary
Anaheim v Dallas

[Alex The Great]

i gotta make me picks for the pool!!!

[Showtime]

Great, the Bruins are now going to be 0-12 vs Montreal.

[Alex The Great]

:NelsonMuntz:




Montreal will polly make it to the confrence semis then fall to the Juggernauts like Pittsburgh and Detroit.

[Alex The Great]

I wonder who voted for the bruins?

[Poeman]

NY and NJ game today sets a good tone for this series...its gonna be nuts

[NewYorkSpider]

NewYorkSpider's Stanley Cup Final Prediction(made this back in September). Prediction

Playoff Pool

When doing your picks PM me. Just first round only.

I'll need winners of each game, how many games it takes and the winner of each series.

Ex. Anaheim in 6. 1.) Ducks 2.) Ducks 3.) Stars 4.) Stars 5.) Ducks 6.) Ducks

Points System (Gonna try to explain this the best I can.)

2 points for picking each individual win.
4 points for picking the correct series. (So if you get two games wrong, but still pick the correct winner in the number of games you predicted, I'll still give you 4 points.)
6 points for picking everything correctly. (Meaning each game picked right and the correct winner of the series.)

Picks Sent

Psycho Symbiote
Victor Creed
QueerMike
Fran
Kang604
Poeman
slinger
Themanofbat

[Alex The Great]

I'm so gonna win this

[Themanofbat]

Originally Posted by NewYorkSpider

NewYorkSpider's Stanley Cup Final Prediction(made this back in September). Prediction

Playoff Pool

When doing your picks PM me.

I'll need winners of each game, how many games it takes and the winner of each series.

Ex. Anaheim in 6. 1.) Ducks 2.) Ducks 3.) Stars 4.) Stars 5.) Ducks 6.) Ducks

Points System (Gonna try to explain this the best I can.)

2 points for picking each individual win.
4 points for picking the correct series. (So if you get two games wrong, but still pick the correct winner in the number of games you predicted, I'll still give you 4 points.)
6 points for picking everything correctly. (Meaning each game picked right and the correct winner of the series.)

Picks Sent

Psycho Symbiote
Victor Creed
QueerMike

I was going to send a PM, but I might as well make my stupidity public...

Do you just want the first round picks as mentioned above (who wins in how many games and mention which games they won), or do you want picks from the first round all the way to the Finals?

[Alex The Great]

Go Habs Go!

[Poeman]

Originally Posted by Themanofbat

I was going to send a PM, but I might as well make my stupidity public...

Do you just want the first round picks as mentioned above (who wins in how many games and mention which games they won), or do you want picks from the first round all the way to the Finals?

yeah can you confirm this for me too...then ill send over the picks too

[NewYorkSpider]

Originally Posted by Themanofbat

I was going to send a PM, but I might as well make my stupidity public...

Do you just want the first round picks as mentioned above (who wins in how many games and mention which games they won), or do you want picks from the first round all the way to the Finals?

Originally Posted by Poeman

yeah can you confirm this for me too...then ill send over the picks too

Just first round picks. I guess I should've mentioned that.

[Alex The Great]

indeed

[NewYorkSpider]

I'm glad the Flyers have some momentum heading into the postseason with two shutouts.

[Shifty]

Schedules now posted in first post!


04/06/2008 11PM-1130PM
HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA: Playoff Preview 2008 - CBC, CBC-HD, cbcsports.ca

04/07/2008
Playoff Preview Special 830PM-10PM EST TSN, TSN HD, TSN.ca

04/07/2008
800PM - 830PM EST NHL DRAFT SPECIAL Versus

04/07/2008 7PM-9PM EST
Hockeycentral Playoff Preview Rogers Sportsnet, Rogers Sportsnet HD

04/08/2008 700PM-730PM LOCAL
HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA: Playoff Preview 2008 - CBC, CBC-HD, cbcsports.ca

04/08/2008 11PM-12AM EST
THE SPIN: NHL Playoff Preview The Score, The Score HD

[War Party]

The Flyers/Caps should be an interesting series. Both teams are hot going in. Yeah, The Caps have Ovechkin and Huet is playing great. But I see the Flyers veteran leadership and physical play prevailing. And Biron has been playing great too. I see them winning this series in 6.

here is my take on the caps.

in the last 17 games they played a total of 3 playoff teams (4 games) and lost 2 of those games. over this 7 game streak to end the season they beat up on a combination of the panthers twice, lightning twice, hurricanes twice and the thrashers, not really the streak the flyers had against teams battling to win their divisions. i am not going to take anything away from this team, they won when they had to, but i feel like they have not REALLY been tested since the 19th of march in a loss to the blackhawks.

[Poeman]

Allright picks sent in!

[TLH]

Let's go Flames.

[Themanofbat]

I just sent you my picks...

[Shifty]

TSN.ca Staff

4/7/2008 12:50:23 PM

Tonight is the night we find out which team gets the opportunity to draft highly sought-after prospect Steven Stamkos.

Versus, TSN and TSN.ca will have live coverage of the NHL Draft Lottery tonight at 8pm et/5pm pt.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have a 25% chance of winning the lottery and almost a 50/50 shot at drafting first overall. The Los Angeles Kings have the second best chance in the lottery at 18.8%, followed by Atlanta (14.2%), St. Louis (10.7%) and the New York Islanders (8.1%).

These five teams are the only ones with a chance of winning the lottery and making the first selection. Should any of the other nine teams have luck on their side, they would only be able to move up four spots.

Stamkos is currently leading his Sarnia Sting in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. He has scored 11 goals in seven games thus far as the Sting battle the Kitchener Rangers in the second round.



In the regular season, the Unionville, Ontario native scored 58 goals and added 47 assists for 105 points, good enough for fifth in league scoring. He also played a big role in Team Canada's gold-medal performance at the World Junior Hockey Championship.

Last season, Stamkos scored 42 goals and added 50 assists for 92 points with the Sting in his rookie campaign.

The Lightning could certainly use the services of Stamkos to play behind Vincent Lecavalier since centre Brad Richards was dealt to the Dallas Stars at the trade deadline. Richards struggled to find wingers with chemistry so more help may be needed.

Should the Kings win the lottery, Stamkos would join a franchise on the upswing. Despite a tough year, the Kings boast some young talent at centre with Anze Kopitar, Michael Cammalleri and Patrick O'Sullivan. If the Kings are happy with their stable of centres, they could entertain a deal to move down and take one of the solid defencemen available.

It would be a dream come true for Thrashers' GM and head coach Don Waddell if he could step up to the podium in June and announce Stamkos' name. Atlanta has some good young talent but there is an immediate need down the middle. This season, Eric Perrin led all centres in scoring with 12 goals and 45 points. Bryan Little is a rising star and Stamkos would solidify the position for years to come.

The Blues seem to be on the right track but top centres Keith Tkachuk and Andy McDonald are not getting any younger. The transition to the NHL would be made much easier for Stamkos if his wingers were 43-goal man Brad Boyes and Paul Kariya.

The Islanders need scoring and Stamkos could fill the void. Centre Mike Comrie led the team in scoring this season with just 21 goals and 49 points. Bill Guerin led the team in goals with 23.

Other propects expected to be drafted early in June include OHL standout defencemen Drew Doughty of the Guelph Storm, Alex Pietrangelo of the Niagara IceDogs and Zach Bogosian of the Peterborough Petes.

[Immortalfire]

Lord Stanley's cup is San Jose's to lose. They've got the talent, but do they have the will?

[kang604]

Originally Posted by Immortalfire

Lord Stanley's cup is San Jose's to lose. They've got the talent, but do they have the will?

that depends on their big name players putting up big name numbers, which they havent in the past. marleau and thornton have not had standout performances in the post-season and that, imo, has been their demise in the past.

but i think this year will be different. San Jose will win the Cup, but their biggest test will be when and if they meet Anaheim. If its not the Sharks, its the Ducks.

[kang604]

Originally Posted by slinger

TSN.ca Staff

4/7/2008 12:50:23 PM

Tonight is the night we find out which team gets the opportunity to draft highly sought-after prospect Steven Stamkos.

Versus, TSN and TSN.ca will have live coverage of the NHL Draft Lottery tonight at 8pm et/5pm pt.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have a 25% chance of winning the lottery and almost a 50/50 shot at drafting first overall. The Los Angeles Kings have the second best chance in the lottery at 18.8%, followed by Atlanta (14.2%), St. Louis (10.7%) and the New York Islanders (8.1%).

These five teams are the only ones with a chance of winning the lottery and making the first selection. Should any of the other nine teams have luck on their side, they would only be able to move up four spots.

Stamkos is currently leading his Sarnia Sting in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. He has scored 11 goals in seven games thus far as the Sting battle the Kitchener Rangers in the second round.



In the regular season, the Unionville, Ontario native scored 58 goals and added 47 assists for 105 points, good enough for fifth in league scoring. He also played a big role in Team Canada's gold-medal performance at the World Junior Hockey Championship.

Last season, Stamkos scored 42 goals and added 50 assists for 92 points with the Sting in his rookie campaign.

The Lightning could certainly use the services of Stamkos to play behind Vincent Lecavalier since centre Brad Richards was dealt to the Dallas Stars at the trade deadline. Richards struggled to find wingers with chemistry so more help may be needed.

Should the Kings win the lottery, Stamkos would join a franchise on the upswing. Despite a tough year, the Kings boast some young talent at centre with Anze Kopitar, Michael Cammalleri and Patrick O'Sullivan. If the Kings are happy with their stable of centres, they could entertain a deal to move down and take one of the solid defencemen available.

It would be a dream come true for Thrashers' GM and head coach Don Waddell if he could step up to the podium in June and announce Stamkos' name. Atlanta has some good young talent but there is an immediate need down the middle. This season, Eric Perrin led all centres in scoring with 12 goals and 45 points. Bryan Little is a rising star and Stamkos would solidify the position for years to come.

The Blues seem to be on the right track but top centres Keith Tkachuk and Andy McDonald are not getting any younger. The transition to the NHL would be made much easier for Stamkos if his wingers were 43-goal man Brad Boyes and Paul Kariya.

The Islanders need scoring and Stamkos could fill the void. Centre Mike Comrie led the team in scoring this season with just 21 goals and 49 points. Bill Guerin led the team in goals with 23.

Other propects expected to be drafted early in June include OHL standout defencemen Drew Doughty of the Guelph Storm, Alex Pietrangelo of the Niagara IceDogs and Zach Bogosian of the Peterborough Petes.

this year is a very deep draft.

im hoping LA gets the 1st pick, because with O'Sullivan, Cammalleri, Kopitar and Brown they dont really need another prospect forward and would be more inclined to trade down as their is a wealth of blueliners in this draft.

any other team that gets the #1 pick is probably gonna take Stamkos, he is just too good of a talent to pass up.

another pick to watch out for is Nikita Filatov. yes, he is russian, which may see him drop in the draft but he definitely has the talent to be a top 10, possibly top 5 pick. kyle beach and mikkel boedker are also top flight talents.

will be a good draft this year.