NHL 2008 Stanley Cup Conference Finals

NHL has announced the schedule for the 2008 Stanley Cup Conference Finals. This year’s series should be very entertaining. All four teams have been to the Stanley Cup Finals and have won the cup. Who will advance to this year’s final series and win it?

Eastern Conference

Pittsburgh – Philadelphia
Series | Gamebreakers

This is a difficult series to pick a winner. Both teams and their goalies are playing well in this year’s playoff run. Just to note, the Flyers won the regular series, 5-3. But, Sidney Crosby only played in four of those 8 games. I figure that this series has to go 6 or 7 games. Let the battle of Pennsylvania begin.

Western Conference

Detroit – Dallas
Series | Gamebreakers

Another difficult series to pick a winner. Dallas has played real well this season and is definitely a better team than their number 5 seeding. Detroit had the best record and is getting production from unexpected source, Johan Franzen. If he continues to produce, the Red Wings should be heading to the Finals. But, if Dallas manages to steal a victory in Game One, the Stars may vault themselves again to the Finals. The winner of Game One will win this series but it will take at least six games to decide the winner.

At this point, I am 8-4 in my predictions. In the first round, I picked the correct winners in the West while I picked only 2 of 4 in the East. In the previous round, I was again 2 out 4. So in round three, I see the Flyers and Red Wings in the Final. But, I could see the Pens and Stars there as well.

Who do you like to see in the Finals?

NHL Western Conference Finals Set

Well, the Dallas Stars pulled it off by defeating the San Jose Sharks in 4 overtimes, 2-1.  The game became the eighth longest game in Stanley Cup Playoff history. So, no West Coast champion this year.

But, we have two former Norris Division rivals facing off for the Western Conference champions.  This should be an excellent series as well.  Look for more details this week.

The schedule for the Conference Finals was changed by the NHL.  The Western Conference will begin play on Thursday and the Eastern Conference Finals start on Friday.  This is a day earlier.  Check the initial schedule here.

So, through two rounds, my predictions place me at 8-4.  This next round will be hard to predict.  All four teams are playing well.