The start of the playoffs is too sweeeeeet!! Even my buddies Kev and Scott are excited.

Ottawa Senators: The Shawshank Redemption: The Sens went through a lot of distractions this year; the Spezza debate, the ongoing questions about lack of grit and of course, the financial situation that surrounded the team all year. Despite all the distractions the Sens had a terrific season. A line from the movie sums it up: the Ottawa Senators - who crawled through a river of sh*t and came out clean on the other side. As for a playoff prediction I don't see the team getting past the 2nd round. My big question about this team still rests with coach Jacques Martin (refer to Dungy Theory). That being said I would like the team do well and so I'll end on a positive thought from Andy Dufresne. Remember, fans, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies.

New Jersey Devils: Goodfellas: What other movie reference would you expect for a team that plays in New Jersey? It all starts at the top with the boss of the family, GM Lou Lamoriello (Paulie). He's been known to play hardball with his free agents (Guerin, Niedermayer) and he refuses to waver with guys who demand trades, i.e. Mike Danton. Has anyone seen Danton lately? Someone may want to check the East River. The Devils are the same story each year; they get just enough scoring, they play a well disciplined style and rely heavily on Martin Brodeur. Last year the Carolina Hurricanes ousted them in the 1st round. The Devils hope to improve on the result with basically the same team minus Petr Sykora and add Jeff Friesen and Oleg Tverdovsky and new coach Pat Burns. Perhaps Brodeur was burnt out after last year's Olympic gold medal win. That won't be the case this year. The Devils look good entering the playoffs and as always their style of play works perfectly for the low scoring, tight checking style of the playoffs. The Devils view goals scored upon them like guys who talk out against the family; it doesn't happen and if it does then it's taken care of very quickly. The Devils should reach the conference finals and their success after that depends on their ability to produce offensively.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Armageddon: The success for this year's Lightning squad was orchestrated by two prior decisions: 1. Acquiring a legitimate game-stealing goalie in Nikolai Khabibulin. 2. Resisting the temptation to trade away franchise player Vincent Lecavalier. The mere premise of the Lighting qualifying for the playoffs is as believable as the plot for Armageddon. I mean seriously, the balance of the world rests on a team of deep-sea oil drillers pioneering a mission to space? Is this even remotely believable? Along with the play of Lecavlier and Khabibulian, coach Tortorella has gotten tremendous performance out of super overachievers Vinny Prospal, Martin St.Louis and defenseman Dan Boyle. Its hard to see this team continue to overachieve in the playoffs although the Anaheim Angels showed that anything is possible with last years World Series win. I do see the Lighting beating their first round opponent Washington simply because the Caps haven't been overly impressive this year. Can the Lighting get past the 2nd round? Let me put it this way: Armageddon is a 2-1 favourite of happening over the Lightning moving past the 2nd round.

Philadelphia Flyers: Rocky: The Flyers have entered the playoffs in top stride. Offense was a problem for much of the year until a trade brought the team Tony Amonte, who has subsequently reunited with former teammate Jeremy Roenick to provide a barrage of goals. Coupled with the addition of Amonte has been the return of power forward John Leclair, who missed a large portion of the season due to injury. Add Simon Gagne, Keith Primeau and Mark Recchi into the mix and suddenly you have an Apollo Creed sized helping of goals. Ken Hitchcock has brought stability and defense to a Flyers organization that has shown examples of imploding defensively in the playoffs. Goaltending is still a question mark until Cechmanek can prove otherwise. The playoffs can end for the Flyers in a number of ways. It can end like Rocky V, something that the Flyers would prefer to acknowledge never happened. Or the playoffs can end like Rocky IV, exacting revenge on the Ivan Drago's of the Eastern Conference and coming out on top. I'm leaning towards the Rocky IV finish.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Lord of the Rings: The Leafs made a big splash around the trade deadline adding Owen Nolan, Doug Gilmour, Phil Housley and Glen Wesley. The additions of Nolan and Gilmour are great because it provides them with two great playoff performers and players with tremendous courage and heart. Unfortunately the defensive additions aren't enough to properly address a defensive core that has trouble containing teams with a lot of speed up front. The Lord of the Rings comparison is because of their annoying and die-hard fans. Dressing up like Gandalf to a movie premiere and cheering for Darcy Tucker and Tie Domi is a saw off of stupidity. Also the story of the Lord of the Rings is an old fantasy as is the story of the Leafs trying to convince people they are a legitimate Stanley Cup favourite. The Leafs will lose a tough opening round series to the Flyers, leaving fans saying the old sentiment, "next year".

Washington Capitals: Rounders: Banking on the Capitals making a long run in the playoffs is like watching Mike bluff KGB; it's a gamble. The Caps have little momentum entering the playoffs and in fact, must be feeling low after their inability to catch the Lighting in the race for the South "Least" division title and more importantly home ice advantage in the playoffs. Jagr has looked uninspired for much of the season other than a midseason tear that had people reminiscing about the dominance he displayed in his Pittsburgh years. The Caps are extremely thin on defense with a lineup that's rounded out with career minor leaguers: Joel Kwiatkowski, Jason Doig and Rick Berry. Having that kind of a defense in the playoffs simply doesn't cut it. Plus the sooner the Caps get eliminated from the playoffs the sooner Jagr can start making his NBA and MLB picks.

Boston Bruins: Dazed and Confused: Alright, alright, alright. Does anyone know what's going on with this team? They fire their coach with less than 10 games to go in the season and after a scorching start the team almost fell out of playoff contention. This team suffered greatly in the off season with the loss of 40-goal man Bill Guerin to free agency and the decision to not resign goalie Byron Dafoe. Goaltending has been an issue with the Bruins all year and the mid season acquisition of Jeff Hackett didn't solve matters. Hackett and Shields have flip-flopped back and forth and neither goalie has shown they have the ability to shine in the playoffs. This team lives and dies by the play of Joe Thornton. Thornton is largely responsible for the team even clinching a playoff spot. He can score, pass, play the role of power forward and enforcer. If only he could play goal this team might have a chance. The addition of Sergei Samsonov back from injury will be a nice playoff boost. Couple that with the play of Glen Murray and you have a team that knows how to score. As for the first round the Bruins can expect an O'Bannion style initiating from the Devils and an early golf season.

N.Y Islanders: Donnie Brasco: The most important member of a successful playoff team is a goalie. A goalie can steal a victory and is counted upon to be stellar throughout the playoffs. Games are close scoring affairs often decided by one goal; thus the importance of solid net minding. When the Islanders made a deadline deal in sending G Chris Osgood to the Blues for a prospect and draft pick, they made a choice. That choice was to settle for a 1st round loss. I don't see the inexperienced Rick Dipietro and miscast Lacrosse goalie Garth Snow being able to backstop the Islanders into a deep playoff run. Osgood has big game playoff experience and even owns a Stanley Cup ring. Mike Peca is a great playoff performer but he will have a tough time carrying the offensive load while focusing on his defensive responsibilities. Alexei Yashin was brought to the Isles to lead the team offensively but he's been a big disappointment this season registering a lowly 28 goals. The news gets worse for Isles fans; Yashin is not a playoff performer by any stretch of the imagination. Simply put Yashin is a fugazi, a fake. So if you're counting on the Isles to make some noise in the playoffs you can Fahgetaboutit!