The NHL seems to have a quicker turnaround this year between the first and second rounds, so I'm trying to get this post out in a hurry. The first round of the playoffs was about as exciting a round as I think I can remember. Several multi-goal deficits were erased, lots of OT, lots of game 7s... makes me wish I could've watched more of the games than I got to. Here's a quick recap of the first round:

Washington_Capitals 0.464 0.252 0.114 0.048
Philadelphia_Flyers 0.594 0.277 0.139 0.061
Boston_Bruins 0.703 0.421 0.257 0.136
Pittsburgh_Penguins 0.664 0.355 0.189 0.089
Tampa_Bay_Lightning 0.336 0.125 0.046 0.014
Montreal_Canadiens0.297 0.123 0.047 0.016
Buffalo_Sabres0.406 0.184 0.070 0.025
New_York_Rangers0.536 0.263 0.139 0.063

Vancouver_Canucks 0.725 0.557 0.418 0.290
San_Jose_Sharks 0.555 0.313 0.130 0.064
Detroit_Red_Wings 0.566 0.259 0.086 0.035
Anaheim_Ducks 0.387 0.142 0.042 0.015
Nashville_Predators 0.613 0.293 0.119 0.055
Phoenix_Coyotes 0.434 0.145 0.047 0.017
Los_Angeles_Kings 0.445 0.150 0.077 0.034
Chicago_Blackhawks0.275 0.143 0.081 0.038

The predictor goes 6 for 8 this year in the first round - losing on the NYR and PIT bets. The Penguins suffered the loss of Malkin and Crosby which they couldn't really recover from (tough to lose those guys), but they made it a series. The rangers put up a good fight but couldn't hold onto a couple of leads that should probably be games they win. I was rooting for the Habs to upset the bruins, but that didn't happen ... and the Canucks managed to almost lose their series after taking a 3-0 lead.

So what do we have for the next round?

Washington_Capitals 0.610 0.260 0.100
Philadelphia_Flyers 0.407 0.232 0.093
Boston_Bruins 0.593 0.386 0.188
Tampa_Bay_Lightning 0.390 0.123 0.034

Vancouver_Canucks 0.726 0.535 0.371
San_Jose_Sharks 0.585 0.210 0.103
Detroit_Red_Wings 0.415 0.118 0.048
Nashville_Predators 0.274 0.137 0.063

The Bruins are still favourites out of the East to win the cup, but they've got a tough match ahead against the flyers. Meanwhile the Capitals have the edge on the lightning by a fair margin. In the West, the Canucks are heavy favourites again, but their success will depend on how they respond to the almost-first-round-collapse against the Hawks. Definitely Chicago was a tough first round draw though, and they have a very deep team so they should be up for it. San Jose has the edge against Detroit, but that series could probably go either way. It's tough to bet against the wings. Probably the series to watch this round.

Herald