Playoff time!

April means for some that baseball has started but for others its the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 16 teams will enter but only one will hoist the famed trophy. So I'll lay down my predictions for the first round.

Eastern Conference

(1)Boston vs (8) Montreal- Boston won the season series 6 games to 2 and Boston was the first team to break 100 points as well. It doesn't help the Habs that Boston has nearly twice as few losses as them. Montreal barely made the playoffs and with a 4 game losing streak are in a dead skid while Boston has coasted the past month. At the time of this article Boston has taken the first game 4-2. Verdict- Sweep, Boston can easily take this in 4 games and they will.

(2)Washington vs (7) New York R- The Rangers axed their coach about 2 months back after seemingly collapsing from the top of the East. Rangers had a great start but fizzled due to injuries around January. Washington owns the season series 3-1 but the games were close. The Rangers have taken the first game in surprising fashion. Thanks to the goal tending of Henrik Lundqvist the Rangers held star Alexander Ovechkin and co off to win. The air around the Caps though is calm. Verdict- Rangers can win but not this series, the Capitals in 6.

(3) New Jersey vs (6) Carolina- On paper this was the worst opponent the Devils could get. The Hurricanes own the series 3-1 and were on a roll into the playoffs despite dropping the last two games of the season. Yet the Devils took the first game with no trouble. Goals by captain Jamie Lagenbrunner and others stopped the Canes 4-1. Carolina answered right back earlier tonite with an overtime victory with Tim Gleason scoring the game winner. Verdict- This one is gonna come down to the wire, The Hurricanes in 7.

(4) Pittsburgh vs (5) Philadelphia- Ah the old Pennsylvania rivalry. Pittsburgh with its stars facing off against it's in state rival should provide for some great games. The Penguins lead the season with a 4-2 record. Phily unfortunately is now in a hole. They've dropped the 1st two games of the series and now need to bounce back at home on Sunday. Verdict-Pitt is too strong for Phily to contend with, Penguins in 6.

Western Conference

(1) San Jose vs (8) Anaheim- San Jose owned the west and even earned the President's Trophy. Drawing rival Anaheim assures the first all California series since 1969. San Jose with Patrick Marleau and Devin Setoguchi anchor the first line and hopes the loud home ice advantage of the Shark Tank will propel them towards the Stanley cup. Anaheim, 2007 Stanley Cup Champs, are 7-2-1 their last ten games including a win at the Shark Tank. Anaheim stunned the San Jose crowd in the first game with a 2-0 win. Verdict-Unlike other playoffs, in hockey it is not uncommon that an 8 seed can knock off a 1 seed. This could happen but San Jose should hold their own with the home ice advantage, San Jose in 6.

(2)Detroit vs (7) Columbus- Detroit has rocked all year. The team is stacked with Zetterberg, Hossa, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Pavel Datsyuk. The team won 50 games this season for the 4th year in a row. Columbus is an underdog. This is their first postseason appearance ever. To be fair the team isn't even 10 years old but still. Their goalie Steve Mason has carried the load the whole season combined with smart play from the whole team. The only chance Colubus has realistically is to play every game perfect. So far that hasn't happened, they dropped game one 4-1. Verdict-No need for a bailout in Hockey Town, Detroit in 5.

(3) Vancouver vs (6) St. Louis- The Canuks had a stretch where they only lost 7 games in regulation. Having star goalie Roberto Luongo helps too. Vancouver had to hold off a stubborn Calgary much of the last have of the regular season. Thus the team is ready for the playoffs. St. Louis had been hit with injuries the whole season. There also young, four of their top scorers are under 26. This team kicked into gear at the perfect time to just get into the playoffs. Experience has shown, St.Louis is down 2 games in the series. Verdict-St.Louis has a bright future but not right now, Vancouver in 5.

(4) Chicago vs (5)Calgary- Chicago is returning after a 7 year absence of the playoffs. This team is lead by forwards Johnathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Patrick Kane, and Martin Havlat. Combine that with the wall that is Nikolai Khabibulin and you have yourself a dark horse in the west. Calgary has experience on their side. Anchored by Olli Jokinen and Jarome Iginla and NHL leading goalie Mikka Kiprusoff and you have a decent playoff match up. Verdict-Chicago just has more weapons offensively, Hawks in 6.

Check in when the 2nd round is about to take off for my analysis. 

image credited to Darryl Dyck, The Canadian Press