They are here!
With the Red Wings hopefully putting the Blackhawks out of business was a great way for them to enter the 1st round.

Lets hear it, who's gonna win the Cup?

Da Red Wings are my pick 

Vancouver is very good, I would say that the top 4 teams in each conference have a real chance at the Cup. Should be an awesome playoffs!

Vancouver for me

Vancouver Canucks

lambeater

I hate to burst everyone's bubble but it's obvious that the penguins are taking home the cup!!!!!

I'd like to believe that but.....  I admit I'm completely out of the loop this year on the NHL.

I was highly disappointed that Dallas lost and Chicago got in..

I like a good playoff season, but the last 3 seasons, the Sharks have been in form going into the playoffs, only to choke when it matters the most.

I grew up in Michigan so its the Wings for me!!!!

oops, a little bump in the road there, just playin the gate

Oh boy, Vancouver might be in trouble!!!

Nuggybuggy, I agree with you about Bertuzzi. What he did was moronic and despite some bad press and a law suit that seems to have gone nowhere, accountability for what he did has not shown up. I hated it when the Wings signed him. If you ask me, he doesn't add a whole lot that couldn't have been found elsewhere.

Meanwhile there are other goons out there purposely taking head shots and playing like low lifes. Matt Cooke of Pittsburgh comes to mind. I can't see how the Penns can simultaneously be upset about the cheap shot to Crosby (and I think it was) while they have a dirt bag like that on their bench. I think it is something they are addressing after his latest cheap shot. I'm not a 100% certain of this, but in the old days while things were brutal anyone playing like a punk was subject to retaliation by a teams fighter/enforcer. Now the instigator rules get in the way. Still, nothing made me happier than when 19 year old Evander Kane knocked out Matt Cooke with one punch. If similar quick justice could be delivered consistently to other dirty players, that might go a long way since the league is incapable of ruling consistently on anything.

I'm a little in shock over Chicago. I would be very nervous if I was a Canucks fan. The President's Trophy Curse is rarely overcome (Wings 2008 of course!).

As a Wings fan I can't imagine a better scenario that having both Vancouver and San Jose battle it out in a long series. I think one of the two is going down and I will pick the Canucks to fail.

Kevin, believe it or not I root for the Leafs all the time. It is way past due for this storied original six team to get back into it. It's just not right. Plus they really do have the coolest logo of any team. 

Ah, but at least they will have real hockey fans again!

Go Bruins!!! (but get your golf clubs ready!)

Deke, I finally got a chance to look at this video.  It was sweet.

But I disagree with the oft-held argument that fighting in the old days served as a significant deterred for cheap play.  If Matt Cooke cheap-shots someone, then maybe he gets beat up.  But we all know it doesn't end there.  Cooke's team will send out their enforcer to rough someone up, and so-on.

And the book "The Code" argues that, for example, people only fight with opponents in their own class.  So Matt Cooke wouldn't be facing off against Derek Boogard, for instance, no matter how egregious his play.  So how does this act as a deterrent for Cooke ?

Do we really think that play in the NHL was cleaner than it is now ? I remember my boyhood hero, Bobby Clarke, breaking Kharlamov's ankle.  Montreal erupted in riots after Rocket Richard got slashed in the head and then he proceeded to slash the Bruin in the head with his stick and then later break his stick on the guy's back.  I remember watching (on TV) my Flyers play the Soviet Red Army, and the Russians refusing to come back on the ice for what seemed like an eternity, because of the Flyers' absolutely brutal and dirty style of play.

What has happened is that our ability to scrutinize every single play  has increased to the nth degree.  We can watch every millisecond of every one of Matt Cooke's antics in slow-motion, any time we want.  Not much more than a decade ago, this was pretty much impossible.

And why aren't deterrents needed in NFL football ? Why is it that if a Sidney Crosby gets hurt, a fight must by unwritten rule occur, but if Tom Brady gets hurt by a cheap play or a late hit, a penalty gets assessed and the game goes on ?