Ron Raymond’s NHL 2007 Playoff Outlook

The NHL playoffs are one of the most exciting playoff in sports, as NHL Hockey teams played a dozen or so pre-season games, 82 regular season games and now they must grind it out nearly every second night for the next 60 days in intense battles. When it comes to NHL playoffs, it all boils down to one thing, defense! The team that plays the best defense normally wins their series and your best penalty killer is always your goaltender.

When you look at this years top goaltenders, you always have to watch out for the New Jersey Devils, as Marty Brodeur is the king when it comes to playoff hockey and it will be interesting to see how Roberto Luongo does with the Canucks, as he was stuck in Florida the last few years and he’s not use to playing in the post season. Plus, you have Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom who’s come on to the scene as one of the hottest goaltenders after the all-star break and it’s comforting for Jacques Lemaire to know they have Manny Fernandez to fall back on in case Backstrom falters.

Now that the NHL doesn’t put up with the clutch and grabbing and are more strict on the obstruction calls, you’re seeing the talented players shine and I’ve come up with my “factor chart” in which I feel certain aspect of the game will play a major role in the ’07 Playoffs.

See my factor chart here: click here…

As you can see, I took into consideration how teams done in 1-goal games this season and was a bit surprised on certain teams that have been involved in 1-goal games, such as the NYR with 43 and I think this will help them in the playoffs. In fact, a 1-goal game calls for good defense and mistake free hockey and great teams find a way to win those type of games. Also, fatigue plays a big role in the second and third round of the playoffs, so you are going to see allot of back to back games along with 3 games in 4 nights to accommodate the television networks. Therefore, teams like Detroit and Vancouver have not fared well in this situation, whereas Minnesota, Nashville and Anaheim have relished this opportunity. Furthermore, the back-to-back games are killers for the older players and teams like Detroit who carries older veterans will be challenged in this situation, as the Red Wings were 4-12 SU in back to back games this season.

Another important factor you must consider when handicapping the NHL playoffs, goal scoring and goal scorers. When you look at a team like Dallas, they are sound defensively, but you can’t win every game 2-1 or 3-2, you will need to find the twain on certain nights when you fall behind and they are the worst team in the playoffs with only two 20-goal scorers, while Buffalo and the surprising Islanders have 7 and 6 respectively.

They say your best penalty killer is your goaltender and teams need to stay out of the box when it comes to the playoffs, as certain teams have a horrible time killing penalties like the Tampa Bay Lightning who are the worst Penalty Killing team in the playoffs with a 78.4% effective rate. However, to their credit, they are the 3rd best team in the league in not taking penalties with 897 in PIM’s behind New Jersey (830) and Minnesota (862).

When it’s all said and done, I think it’s going to boil down to discipline, goaltending and teams who can find a way to win the 1-goal games and that’s why I have New Jersey and Minnesota meeting in the finals this year. In fact, I really like the Minnesota Wild and have them to win it all at +2850 at Olympic Sports.

Good luck with your predictions and may the best team win you some money this playoff season.

Cheers,

Ron Raymond