Jackson’s View From the Couch

Where things stand now, I cannot tell who is going to come out of each series. Each game gives me a different idea of who will win it.

I’ll start us off in the Western Conference today.

Detroit – Anaheim: Every thing I thought about this series changed when Detroit annihilated Anaheim last night. For the first three games Anaheim looked really sharp, despite a loss in game one.

Jonas Hiller, up until last night, continued doing a stellar job in net for Anaheim. I don’t know what happened to him last night. He needs to knock that off if Anaheim even wants to have a chance against the Wings.

I see this series going in six games now with Detroit taking it. I think that loss last night really hurt all that confidence Anaheim had built up over the last few weeks in the playoffs.

The officiating in game three was absolutely horrendous. The biggest load of crap was right at the end of the game when the ref “lost sight of the puck” when it was just lying in the crease and Marian Hossa knocked it in. The puck went in before the whistle blew, but the ref apparently intended on whistling. This would’ve sent the game into OT and possibly have turned the whole series upside down. It really sucks when a ref can decide a game like that.

Vancouver – Chicago: Just today I got my Vancouver hat in. I adopted them as my team for this playoff run.

This series keeps flip-flopping so it’s really hard to get a grasp on the series.

Chicago looked really good last night in game four. They kept Vancouver out of it, only allowing them 15 shots all game long. If Chicago can keep this style of hockey up, they will dominate Vancouver for the remainder of this series and be a huge challenge for whomever they play next.

Marty Havlat always seems to save the day in these sorts of games, first against Calgary, now against Vancouver.

I think whoever wins game five will win the series.

Now for the Eastern Conference.

Boston – Carolina: I definitely didn’t see Carolina overcoming Boston like they have in this series so far. The question is will Boston bounce back after being manhandled by the 6th seed? Game four is tonight. If Boston cannot win tonight, they are done. Carolina is moving on.

Carolina has really risen to the occasion and come up with a couple of amazing games. In game two they even shutout Boston. Who could’ve seen this coming?

Cam Ward has played like the beast he was back when Carolina won the Cup in 06. If he can carry his team into the next round that would be amazing.

Zdeno Chara hasn’t seemed to be himself this series. It may not look too bad on the score sheet, but he has made some sloppy turnovers, some even resulting in goals. He’ll need to step it up a few notches to come out of this series alive.

I see this series going to a game six. I don’t know who will win, but I’m throwing out six games anyway.

Washington – Pittsburgh: Here is everyone’s dream match up, Washington and Pittsburgh! The big Crosby/Ovechkin rivalry is on fire. Both these stars showed what they were made of in game two when they both got hat tricks. These guys get psyched when they play against each other.

Amidst all the commotion is some very solid goaltending by the rookie, Simeon Varlamov. I’m sure a lot of people are waiting for him to slip up and fail, but I think he will stay solid throughout this series. Marc-Andre Fleury on the other hand, hasn’t been on top of things like he should. He’s been letting quite a few in that were very possible to stop. He’s going to need to step it up if he wants to advance to the next round.

I think this series is the most likely series to go to seven games. In seven games, I think Pittsburgh is going to advance.

That’s all I had for this week. Hope you enjoyed reading!

Jackson Oakes for the Red Light District