Carnac the Guru: And What Thrives at the Poles?

By Hockey Guru


Eight long hours until the drop of the puck. Man, this is gonna be awesome. The second round is winding down .... (cue the music) ....



What a great playoff season so far. With 10 of the 15 playoff series in the books already - and at least one other ending tonight - the action is slowing down. The upsets, the injuries, ths subplots, the unpredictability of these playoffs has been simply amazing. But not tonight. Tonight will be great action so let's get into trying to predict the outcomes of these games.

Before moving forward, let's pause and reflect on what has happened so far:

• Western Conference Quarterfinals - the 1, 2, 3 and 5 seed advance.
  
• Eastern Conference Quarterfinals - the 1, 2, 3, and 5 seed lose.

• Western Conference Finals are set with the 1 and 2 seeds.
  
• Does that mean the Eastern Conference Finals will be the 7 and 8 seeds? Will there by perfect mirror images from the two conferences?

If this prediction of the polar extremes of the conferences is to come true, it would mean that Montreal closes out Pittsburgh tonight and Philly would have to force a Game 7 in the other Conference Semi-Final. Well, going back and playing with his crystal ball, this is what the Guru foresees:

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The end is upon on us. The end of this series and the end of the season for one of these teams. The Canadiens are the better story - the heart, the overcoming of not just long odds, but of all the adversity they've faced. They are the overachieving underdog. The Penguins are the underachieving champions. Last year's Conn Smythe winner, Evgeni Malkin, has had a lesser role in this series than Maxim Lapierre. Or perhaps, his lack of production is a major role in this series.

This is going to be a very difficult game for Pittsburgh to win. It is expected that they will come out and play their best game of the playoffs tonight. With that said, they MUST be disciplined and NOT shoot the puck. Yeah, you heard right. They are stuck in the conundrum of having to score goals without shooting. If they get to 35+ shots on net, it is like playing too aggressively in pinball - the machine will tilt and you'll helplessly watch as your opportunity rolls down the drain.

The Guru loves good stories and loves the underdog, but in his gut he sees Pittsburgh finding a way to pull off a Game 7 victory and thereby potentially extending the career of one Wild Bill Guerin for at least another two weeks. His crystal ball foresees the Penguins throwing away the passive approach though - this will be an up tempo game. While players will be diving to block shots and getting back defensively on both sides, there will be mad speed and crazy shots. As Dan Bylsma recently said, "Game 7 feels like a flip of a coin."

The Guru flipped a coin and here was the result:



Final Score: Pittsburgh 5 - Montreal 2 (with two empty net goals to ice a close game)

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While not quite as big as a Game 7, the result could be exactly the same for Philadelphia - GAME OVER, if they lose. Of course, that was true about Games 4 and 5 and they survived through those games. Tonight's prediction won't catch any of the long-time Guru-maniacs off-guard, but just to be certain, let's play with the crystal ball again (any excuse to touch the ball).

Claude Julien proved something to the Guru last spring. The lesson the Guru took away from observing the Bruins flop against Carolina was that Julien couldn't make adjustments. When the Bruins found themselves down, he called the team out in the papers and gave them the day off to figure things out on their own. The inability to make any adjustments in that series cost them. Spewing out cliches such as focus, discipline and getting pucks to the net are great and all, but it appears that the Flyers have made the adjustments necessary to score on Rask and shut down the Bruins. And I'm not the only one who sees this as a problem.

Tuukka Rask gives the Bruins a legitimate shot to win. The Brian Boucher injury may not be as severe or grotesque as it first seemed, but he's still out. With Michael Leighton back in nets, however, the Flyers may have improved their goaltending a bit. Tonight's prediction is that the Flyers continue to make history as only the third ever comeback from a 3-0 series deficit continues to unfold. Final Score - Philadelphia 4 - Boston 1.

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