Recommended Posts

Well, I'm shocked and terribly disappointed at my Rangers. All I can say is that I'm glad that Sean Avery won't win the Cup, and that this must come as a pleasant surprise for the NHL and their biased, pro-Ovechkin articles found on their website. What could have been a great Original Six battle between Boston and New York will now be between Boston and Carolina, with Washington and Pittsburgh (Ovechkin vs. Crosby and Malkin; the league must be in tears of joy for that matchup) as the second series.

I'm predicting for the conference semi-finals:

Eastern Conference

1. Boston Bruins vs. 6. Carolina Hurricanes - In five games.

2. Washington Capitals vs. 4. Pittsburgh Penguins - In six games.

Boston is looking too good for a team like Carolina to beat, and will likely steamroll them only with a bit of trouble. Pittsburgh looked very sharp in their series, despite a few stumbles, and the Capitals' shortcomings prove that they can be beaten with excellent goaltending. If Marc-Andre Fleury can put up a good series, and with the explosive Penguin offense (as they showed in the last game of the series coming back from three goals down), the Caps will lose.

Western Conference

2. Detroit Red Wings vs. 8. Anaheim Ducks - In five games.

3. Vancouver Canucks vs. 4. Chicago Blackhawks - In six games.

The Red Wings are a no-brainer, despite criticisms of Chris Osgood's season. He did win the Cup for them last year, and has continued to play well in three of the four games in the first series. Their complete offense and strong defense make even the surprising Ducks falter. The Blackhawks seem to be an underdog, despite their better showing in the regular season, but their talent can easily show why they did so well. We forget that the Canucks defeated a poor team in the Blues, one that had a miraculous journey from last place to eight, but remained a team that could be beaten easily. The Blackhawks faced a much better team in Calgary. The Hawks' key is their young talent. Inexperienced, but once they get going, as they did several times against the Flames, they are hard to stop. The Canucks won on the back of their penalty killing and Roberto Luongo. If the Chicago power play clicks, or the young guns such as Kane and Toews start firing in goals on even strength, it will be tough for the Vancouver offense to match the Chicago scoring. The wild card will be if the Hawks' goaltending can do well. Even if it is not spectacular, a solid performance will be enough to back a high scoring team. Because Vancouver relies on both penalty kill and Luongo, where if one fails, the other will have little effect in stopping Chicago, and thus why Chicago has the edge.

Last round I predicted correctly five out of the eight series (although my choice of St. Louis was more of a wish than a serious prediction, but I will not pretend that I knew better), with only one choice winning in the correct amount of games.

Even though i didn't get the games won correct i successfully guessed the winner for 7 out of 8 matches (i knew i should have chosen Anaheim over San Jose) , go me! :D

1. Boston Bruins vs. 6. Carolina Hurricanes - In six games.

2. Washington Capitals vs. 4. Pittsburgh Penguins - In seven games.

I would really love the 'canes win this series and with Staal and Whitney leading by example it's certanly a possibility, Ward also played very well (.938Sv% 2.11 GAA). But it's hard to bet against the Bruins. Thomas has better numbers than Ward (.946Sv%, 1.50 GAA) and the bruins scored nearly twice as many goals per game than the 'canes did.

The caps-pens series is gonna be fantastic to watch, no love loss between these two teams. I believe Varlamov will have another strong series here and the caps will advance in a close series.

2. Detroit Red Wings vs. 8. Anaheim Ducks - In five games.

3. Vancouver Canucks vs. 4. Chicago Blackhawks - In seven games.

The undoing of the ducks will be the penalty box. The wings are too good on the power play and they will ride that into the western conference finals. As for the 'nucks and hawks, im going go stick my neck out and say Vancouver in seven. I think Luongo will come up big when needed and he will be the main reason Vancouver go through.

...

Statistically speaking (so far in the playoffs) the Canucks and Hawks have been pretty much even in almost every category (faceoff percentage, goals for, goals against, shots on goal etc.), with Luongo having the edge in goaltending, Hawk's having the edge in PP and Canucks with the edge in PK.

  • 2 weeks later...

I'm quite delighted to see how my prediction turned out to be very true.

3. Vancouver Canucks vs. 4. Chicago Blackhawks - In six games.

I even managed to get the number of games correctly.

The Blackhawks seem to be an underdog, despite their better showing in the regular season, but their talent can easily show why they did so well. We forget that the Canucks defeated a poor team in the Blues, one that had a miraculous journey from last place to eight, but remained a team that could be beaten easily. The Blackhawks faced a much better team in Calgary.

Most analysts chose the Canucks as their pick to win this series, but they should have not been the underdog.

The Hawks' key is their young talent. Inexperienced, but once they get going, as they did several times against the Flames, they are hard to stop.

And they did get going, several times. The 'Hawks were able to destroy leads with proficiency, and their offense won them the series, albeit that the defense corps still proved their skill. Brian Campbell displayed his speed and puckhandling skills, while Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook stopped many chances.

The Canucks won on the back of their penalty killing and Roberto Luongo. If the Chicago power play clicks, or the young guns such as Kane and Toews start firing in goals on even strength, it will be tough for the Vancouver offense to match the Chicago scoring.

Kane and Toews scored five goals between them in the last game, and all of Kane's were even-strength. Willie Mitchell mentioned that he did not believe that Kane had any skill other than at power play. Additionally, the power play managed to give Chicago a healthy advantage.

The wild card will be if the Hawks' goaltending can do well. Even if it is not spectacular, a solid performance will be enough to back a high scoring team. Because Vancouver relies on both penalty kill and Luongo, where if one fails, the other will have little effect in stopping Chicago, and thus why Chicago has the edge.

Perhaps Khabibulin was not spectacular nor solid, but he was reliable. He never let in seven goals in one game, at least. Luongo's poor play and the failures of the penalty kill both contributed to allowing the Blackhawks win, because it is simple: Make mistakes, and the 'Hawks will take that mistake and score goals.

I'm hoping for Anaheim-Chicago, because I don't think the Red Wings deserve to win this year(or any year for that matter), and a Boston-Washington game, because the Hurricanes would sweep Pittsburgh or Washington but Boston playing Washington would make for an interesting semi-final.

Pens move on! Crosby showed who's the better player by showing up when the pressure was on. As much as I would hate to see Detroit move on, I am intrigued by a possible rematch from last year. Only this year the Pens win then laugh in Hossa's face :p

Last round I predicted the winner correctly three out of four times, with one series having the correct amount of games as well. That makes my playoff prediction record at 8-4.

Interestingly enough, if Detroit wins, they will face either their 2002 or 2008 opponent in the Stanley Cup Final.

Eastern Conference

4. Pittsburgh Penguins vs. 6. Carolina Hurricanes

Western Conference

2. Detroit Red Wings vs. 4. Chicago Blackhawks

Last round I predicted the winner correctly three out of four times, with one series having the correct amount of games as well. That makes my playoff prediction record at 8-4.

Interestingly enough, if Detroit wins, they will face either their 2002 or 2008 opponent in the Stanley Cup Final.

Eastern Conference

4. Pittsburgh Penguins vs. 6. Carolina Hurricanes in seven games.

Western Conference

2. Detroit Red Wings vs. 4. Chicago Blackhawks in five games.

Forgot the number of games!

If Detroit and Pittsburgh finish off both of their series by Wednesday, the NHL has set the schedule to begin the Finals nine days after the end of the Conference Finals. What absolute garbage. I remember one analyst pointing out last year (and it becomes true yet again) why the NHL fails to understand that they are not the NFL - They cannot let a period so long to fall between series as the Super Bowl does. The fans grow bored and will lose interest with such a long break.

With tonight's finishing of the Conference Finals, my record now stands at 9-5 for the playoffs, with the Detroit-Chicago series one I correctly predicted the number of games as well (the third of the playoffs entirely).

For the Finals:

2. Detroit Red Wings vs. 4. Pittsburgh Penguins - In six games

I believe we'll see the same result as last year.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Tor Browser 15.0.15 by Razvan Serea Protect your privacy. Defend yourself against network surveillance and traffic analysis. Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. The Tor software protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents somebody from watching your Internet connection and learning what sites you visit, it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location, and it lets you access sites which are blocked. The Tor Browser Bundle lets you use Tor on Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux without needing to install any software. It can run off a USB flash drive, comes with a pre-configured web browser to protect your anonymity, and is self-contained. Tor Browser 15.0.15 changelog: All Platforms Updated NoScript to 13.6.20.1984 Updated Tor to 0.4.9.9 Bug tor-browser#42436: Allow for multiple configured (front, reflector) domain fronting pairs in Moat module Windows + macOS + Linux Bug tor-browser#44997: Captcha doesn't work in TB desktop Linux Bug tor-browser#44886: Backport tor-browser#44361: Notify Linux i686 users that they won't receive updates anymore Download: Tor Browser (64-bit) | Tor Browser (32-bit) | 109.0 MB (Open Source) View: Tor Browser Website | Other Operating Systems Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Less disk space means less bandwidth demands which means lower operating costs for service providers... that's where money talks. ... cuz it's not about improving video quality!... that's just marketing spin.
    • And thereby lies the rub. AV1 support is not as wide as paid analysts would have the industry believe. With AV2 around the corner, it's going cause more time backlog in adoption (how many recent purchasers will upgrade yet-again within the next 6-12 months? most would rather stay pat for another 1+ years before even thinking about upgrading their setups).
    • Microsoft OneDrive is getting a simple yet much needed feature by Sayan Sen Microsoft has been steadily expanding OneDrive’s file management capabilities over the years, including for shared content and shortcuts, although it has had its flaws, too. The cloud storage platform introduced support for folder shortcuts several years ago, allowing users to pin frequently accessed shared folders from OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams. Now, Microsoft is refining that experience further with a new way to organize those shortcuts as revealed in a recent Microsoft 365 roadmap addition. Previously, shortcuts added through the “Add shortcut to My files” option would appear alongside all other files and folders in the root of a user's OneDrive. And although it's meant to be useful, this approach could also create clutter along the way, especially for heavy users who may have to work with large numbers of shared folders across multiple projects and teams on their systems. This is where Microsoft’s latest feature comes in, as it is looking to address this inconvenience by giving users the option to place new shortcuts inside a dedicated “Shortcuts” folder instead. The feature is designed to keep shortcut links organized into a single location instead of scattering throughout the main OneDrive directory. Hence, the idea is to make navigation and usability easier and simpler. The first time a user chooses this option, OneDrive will automatically create the folder, and to help make it stand out from the other folders, the Shortcuts folder will have a distinct visual identity featuring a unique color and a building-style icon. That being said, the new Shortcuts will behave just like any other folder in OneDrive, and as such, users will be able to move it to a different location, rename it, share it with others, or remove it entirely if they prefer a different structure. You can view the entry on the Microsoft 365 roadmap website here. Currently, the feature is in the "in development" phase, but the tech giant expects the rollout to start next month (July 2026). Do keep in mind, though, that new feature rollouts often get delayed.
    • VS Code 1.123 introduces massive upgrades for persistent AI developer workflows by Paul Hill Microsoft has just released Visual Studio Code 1.123 alongside its annual developer conference, Build 2026. This release, as always, has a heavy focus on advanced AI agent integration and making the built-in browser more robust. Notably, this update brings big sync changes that keep your AI agents persistent across sessions. With this update, VS Code now supports cross-machine syncing for chat histories, touched files, repository contexts, and related PRs via GitHub accounts, tying users even more into Microsoft’s developer ecosystem. This update also introduces the new /chronicle command that allows you to query past sessions using natural language, generate instant standup reports, and get personal productivity insights. Microsoft has also made some improvements to network-dependent operations, it explains: “When a terminal command that is run by a local agent requires access to domains that are not configured as allowed domains, the command is automatically retried inside the sandbox with unrestricted network access. After that, if it still fails, it falls back to unsandboxed execution. This allows network-dependent operations such as git fetch to finish, while keeping filesystem protections in place.” Microsoft has not stopped there; in this update, it also allows developers to drag, drop, and pin multiple agent sessions side-by-side for easy code comparisons in real-time. It also introduces the Research Agent, accessible via /research. This is a read-only, depth-optimized tool that gets data from the web, local codebase, and GitHub to give you a Markdown report on complex APIs or unfamiliar code. Now, let’s talk about the integrated browser and some security enhancements. VS Code 1.123 features enhanced screenshot capture tools that allow for targeted Area Screenshots and Full Page Screenshots to send layout context instantly to AI chat. The address bar has also been revamped, supporting favorite pages and tab management. Finally, on the security front, this update introduces a safety-first two-hour delay on third-party extension auto-updates to safeguard against compromised or buggy releases. This release is now available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. If you have VS Code, keep an eye out for the update availability notification. If you still don’t have VS Code, you can get it here.
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      B2Proxy earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Year In
      MadMung0 earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Week One Done
      jefred earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Apprentice
      JoeyNeo went up a rank
      Apprentice
    • Week One Done
      oliviaexpo earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      482
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      227
    3. 3
      Skyfrog
      71
    4. 4
      FloatingFatMan
      60
    5. 5
      Nick H.
      54
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!