It doesn’t take the fact that our hometown Blackhawks finally made the post season for the first time in seven years to get us excited about the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It doesn’t hurt, though, either.  Cindy and I have been tracking the playoffs for the last few seasons now, making our own picks as to who’s going to win in each round. We each have our own ways of picking our favorites, and they don’t necessarily match up against who’s the better team. We also don’t always see eye-to-eye in our choices, so that makes following the games that much more entertaining.

Seeing that we now have our blog more active than in years past, I thought I’d share our picks for the 2009 playoffs. Unlike last year, our picks for the first round were pretty much the same except for one match-up.

Western Conference

San Jose vs. Anaheim – As much as we’re happy that the Ducks ended up with the 8th seed in the West, mostly for the sake of former Hawk James Wisniewski, Cindy and I both are picking San Jose to take the first round.

Detroit vs. Columbus – It’s painful for us as die-hard Hawks fans to choose Detroit over Columbus in this series, but neither one of us thinks the Blue Jackets can pull off the upset.

Vancouver vs. St. Louis – I think we’ll be secretly cheering for the Blues, but ultimately Cindy and I are sure that the Canucks will make it through to Round 2. Luongo is just too good of a goalie to tank it against a #6 seed.

Chicago vs. Calgary – Duh! Cindy and I are pulling for the Hawks, of course. Not sure they can do it in four games, even though we swept the season series against the Flames, but we’ll be happy with a series win in 5 or 6 games.

Eastern Conference

Boston vs. Montreal – We both became fans of the Bruins right around the All-Star break. If not for our Blackhawks making the charge in the West, we probably would be routing for the Bruins more. Montreal just isn’t the team they used to be.

Washington vs. New York – Cindy isn’t a big Ovechkin fan, but neither one of us likes to see Avery in an NHL sweater. We’d rather see the Capitals take it into the second round.

New Jersey vs. Carolina – Alas, we can’t agree on everything.  Cindy is pulling for Brouder and the Devils, and I think she has a crush on Parise (shhh, don’t tell her I’m on to it).  I, on the other hand, want to see the Hurricanes get closer to the finals after they missed out on the playoffs last year.

Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia – Cindy and I are pulling for the Pens in this first round rematch from last year’s playoffs. Other than the finals last year with Pittsburgh and Detroit, their series against Philly was the best one to watch last year. This year aims to more of the same.

So those are our picks for round one. I think we’ve played it safe on most of them, but that just means if there are any major upsets, we’ll be happy with their outcomes. Be sure to share your thoughts as well as tag along here for updates as Round One progresses.

Thanks,
– Kris