re vlad s playoff picks in article vzhivov cunews vzhivov alfred carleton ca vladimir zhivov writes wales conference adams division semifinal boston vs buffalo the bruins are playing some excellent hockey and with cam neely back and moog his old self again this should be a cake walk bruins in i m hoping for a fuhr miracle but i agree that boston will likely win the series goaltending is about equal top offensive players are about equal mogilny lafontaine vs oates juneau but buffalo has no answer to neely not to imply that neely is not a top offensive player btw in fact he s one of my favourites even though he s a damn bruin and the rest of the matchup wrt lineup favours boston anyway but i think it will go six quebec vs montreal this one is very tough to call montreal certainly has the experience factor but quebec is more talented imho it ll come down to the goalies i ll go with experience and roy canadiens in agreed here but montreal will be pushed to the limit is it just me or does everything montreal does in the playoffs come down to roy go habs final boston vs montreal will bruin domination continue in this rivalry yes moog has consistently outperformed roy in the playoffs after other stuff bruins in five i can t predict a montreal victory because i ve been watching them play for weeks and imo they severly need some tougher players especially to play in the garden last time they beat the b s but boston had a clear territorial advantage the victory was roy s at the same time i can t bring myself to predict the possibility of a loss so i ll just say i will not be putting money on this series patrick division semifinal pittsburgh vs ny islanders what can i say the pens are flying high and have the most talent in the league agreed ny doesn t have the goaltending to stop the onslaught independent of the trouble they have given pittsburgh this year pens in five which is credit to ny washington vs new jersey capitals in agreed here too but i think it will go at least six jersey has a decent team and washington has done poorly against the division this year pittsburgh vs washington if the caps had bill ranford i might see an upset but don beaupre just doesn t inspire my hopes penguins in i think they will use tabaracci more after beaupre gets shelled i don t think it will go six either maybe five conference final pittsburgh vs boston a replay of last year the penguins are just as good as months ago and the bruins are much improved but penguins in if pittsburgh plays boston imo they win in likely five possibly six they own the bruins if they play montreal i think it will go to seven and once again i won t be putting money on the seventh game i say seven because the habs have played pittsburgh very tough this season campbell conference norris division semifinal chicago vs st louis or minnesota blackhawks in chicago will win but i think in at least six chicago is not that good imo and remember that they take ridiculous numbers of penalties detroit vs toronto the leafs have had an excellent season but they ve been playing playoff hockey all year the habs under burns were the same way and always wilted in the playoffs red wings in very true the leafs have much to be proud of but they will soon find out why montreal did so lousy in the playoffs toronto might win two or three at mlg though wings in six maybe even seven final chicago vs detroit this will be a war fedorov will win it in ot red wings in it will be a war possibly the most intense playoff series of them all and yes i think detroit will win probert will have to come up big though smythe division semi finals vancouver vs winnipeg canucks in our first disagreement canucks are playing like shit they don t use their size at all which may explain why they get hammered by a team chasing them calgary winnipeg in six calgary vs los angeles this would have been tough to call except for three things the kings don t have a goalie gary roberts will be back the kings shot themselves in the foot by trading a proven winner paul coffey for a proven loser jimmy carson gretzky is just too weary to carry this group flames in this is also tough for me to call because i haven t seen the smythe enough i don t think roberts will be well enough to figure in coffey is a non issue who cares what carson has done before and never underestimate gretzky la in six final vancouver vs calgary flames in if it is these two calgary will not need six games but i think it will be la winnipeg anyway and la in seven because of home ice coference final detroit vs calgary red wings in wow must ve been tough to go against your team but let s see i picked la detroit detroit will win probably in six stanley cup final pittsburgh vs detroit three in a row and official dynasty status for the pens or can the wings complete a dream season well the wings are better in goal not sufficiently so though imho and have better d men however mario and the boys can sure score look for jagr to shine in the playoffs though i sure would love to see probert beat some sense into him the pens are just too much especially since detroit will have a tougher battle to get here penguins in if pittsburgh plays detroit it will go longer than five and i wouldn t bet against the wings they are very strong imo and nobody knows how strong because they ve been underachieving most of the year if forced to choose though i d have to take the penguins a side note vlad last week you said that selanne was a better player than gilmour no way he is a more talented pure goal scorer but aside from the age difference there is no way i would take him over gilmour on my team i m not asking for flames either btw i ve spent more than enough time arguing on behalf of selanne and i still say he s a great player but while he and gilmour are both dangerous offensively give teemu an edge gilmour does it all i know a lot of gilmour bashing goes on esp from flame fans but imo you guys are letting your dislike of gilmour cloud your judgement when it comes to his skill he is easily one of the best all round players in the nhl dchhabra stpl ists ca
