The Rite of Spring

[Cujo]

[njmeadowlanders]

The Rangers sure picked a great time to go almost 6 periods worth of hockey without scoring a goal...

[NEW.ERA]

If we take the leaders in all the series, this is what the Semi-Finals will look like.

East

Florida v Ottawa

Philly v Washington

West

St Louis v Los Angeles

Phoenix v Nashville

One Stanley Cup champ among the eight, for a hockey fan they'll watch either way. Always love some new blood.

Also Sharks get maybe one last chance. Powerplay coming up.

[habsfan1]

There should be one of these for every team that gets eliminated.

[Kramerica Industries]

Back-handed empty netter from center ice by Andy McDonald has put this series in the books.

Blues and Preds are both into the second round.

[WSU151]

Of course, their over-achievers will go back to the norm next year and everyone who thought this was a remotely good team will realize that this year's team was an anomoly and they'll go back to picking top-10 next year. You can hold me to that.

Because the rest of your predictions of doom for the Panthers have come to fruition... let's see, you also predicted they weren't going to make the playoffs, then they were going to get swept, and now they'll be awful next year

Seriously, get some new material.

[ninersdd]

Time to hop aboard the Coyotes bandwagon.

[sportstar1212]

Go Blues! Happy they won but even happier to see the Sharks gone.

[Cujo]

Puckguy Suicide Level: HIGH

.....although he should be used to San Jose playoff futility by now.

[Seadragon76]

Has been ever a time where both Number 1 seeds lost in the first round? Because we are that close to seeing it happen.

BTW, Go Coyotes (Why not, right? I have what I wanted and that was to see the Dead Things get eliminated, so the rest of the playoffs is just gravy for me).

[RyanMcD29]

This is a sickening loss for the New York Rangers.

And sickening to believe both #1 seeds are on the brink of elimination. Upsets are fun, but so is good, high-quality hockey deep in the playoffs. And there's a good chance we won't see the best teams combating then.

See, at least with the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the quality tends to stay the same throughout. It's not like the NCAA Tournament where upsets hurt the quality later on in it

[Island_Style]

Of course, their over-achievers will go back to the norm next year and everyone who thought this was a remotely good team will realize that this year's team was an anomoly and they'll go back to picking top-10 next year. You can hold me to that.

Because the rest your predictions of doom for the Panthers have come to fruition... let's see, you also predicted they weren't going to make the playoffs, then they were going to get swept, and now they'll be awful next year

Seriously, get some new material.

You see, it is a tough realization that Toronto is currently a puke of a franchise compared to the Panthers and Yotes.

[WSU151]

Of course, their over-achievers will go back to the norm next year and everyone who thought this was a remotely good team will realize that this year's team was an anomoly and they'll go back to picking top-10 next year. You can hold me to that.

Because the rest your predictions of doom for the Panthers have come to fruition... let's see, you also predicted they weren't going to make the playoffs, then they were going to get swept, and now they'll be awful next year

Seriously, get some new material.

You see, it is a tough realization that Toronto is currently a puke of a franchise compared to the Panthers and Yotes.

If the Panthers are indeed awful next year, then I guess the Maple Leafs will have some competition on the golf course.

[DaRadniz29]

you should see some of the Sharks fans on facebook, ugh, playing the blame game.

I guess I'll go along with that - though considering since this is a team game...

I blame the ORANGE

No not Syracuse - the Orange in the Sharks uniform. The experiment hasn't resulted in much...

[The_Admiral]

Hey, hockey fans, do you love all the stars of the NHL like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, Alexander Ovechkin, Mike Green, Nicklas Backstrom, Erik Karlsson, Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture, Martin Havlat, Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Ryan Kesler, Roberto Luongo, Zach Parise, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Martin Brodeur? Well, you'll probably see none of them!

[Island_Style]

Hey, hockey fans, do you love all the stars of the NHL like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, Alexander Ovechkin, Mike Green, Nicklas Backstrom, Erik Karlsson, Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture, Martin Havlat, Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Ryan Kesler, Roberto Luongo, Zach Parise, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Martin Brodeur? Well, you'll probably see none of them!

Yup. Perhaps some new blood will emerge. That is why the NFL is so successfull. Every year you are talking about someone new.

[The_Admiral]

Boyd Gordon: Let's Start The Conversation.

[Island_Style]

Well, you sit there and be bitter. Im going to enjoy the sport. I am going to appreciate a fine playoff performance no matter who it is from.

The Incredible Sulk.

[ninersdd]

In the end, no serious Cup contender loses out on the division title to the Phoenix Coyotes.

[habsfan1]

Hey, hockey fans, do you love all the stars of the NHL like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, Alexander Ovechkin, Mike Green, Nicklas Backstrom, Erik Karlsson, Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture, Martin Havlat, Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Ryan Kesler, Roberto Luongo, Zach Parise, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Martin Brodeur? Well, you'll probably see none of them!

I lol'ed. I'm going to nominate this for PotD.