Besides, more postseason Preds likely means more television screen time for the only country music performer I’d try and purchase front-row seats to see.

Poile I guess is regarded as a “builder” of NHL franchises as opposed to say a guider of one to glory. I’m not sure that’s fair; he’s only worked in two “small” markets in the NHL, though Washington today certainly can’t be regarded a small market any longer — thanks in no small part to Poile’s work here. He surely built the Caps up from laughingstock to contender. He has also answered the management call of our country for the World Championships on a number of occasions. Did you know that Poile has the word ‘Caps’ tattooed on a discreet region of his frame? So out West it’s easy for me to root for the Preds.

* * * * *

I left the Caps-Rags series with a heightened appreciation for John Tortorella. It was Torts’ Tampa club that took out a Jagr-led Capitals’ team in the 2003 postseason after the Caps won the first two games in Tampa by a combined 9-3 tally, the Bolts winning that series’ next four games. In 2009, Torts’ underdog Rags club pushed the Caps to seven games. And while this year’s Caps-Rags matchup lasted just five games, they were wars, all of them; only in the middle portion of game 5′s third period did you genuinely have a sense that one team was clearly going to get it done comfortably. Totorella seems to me to be a coach who knows not only how to maximize the talent of his roster but tailor his strategy to close talent gaps in series like we just witnessed.

Tortorella’s post-series press conference Saturday evening was chock full of commendably dispassionate analysis and frank introspection. He acknowledged, for instance, his club’s inherent shortcomings: “I don’t think our team is fully built. The Washington team was, for a number of years. You look at how that team is built with their draft picks . . . we’re not there yet. We have to play a certain way [because of limited talent].”

The coach correctly lauded the sacrifice and effort made by Dan Girardi, who was I thought the series’ finest performer.

“His finger was all over the place,” Torts acknowledged of his brutally beat up no. 1 rearguard, who had a finger dislocated above the knuckle. He also had an ankle X-ray-ed Saturday evening, the coach reported.

* * * * *

The Philadelphia Flyers may well survive the first round. Game 7 against Buffalo is tomorrow night in Philly. But this team will not see a follow-up Stanley Cup finals this spring, as its goaltending is, even by Flyers’ standards, shockingly horrific. (Ryan Miller hasn’t been much better, incidentally.)

* * * * *

With no small trepidation I’ll pick the Canucks in game 7 tomorrow night, mainly just cause of home ice and a sense that the odds are so overwhelming against seeing a second consecutive spring with a team overcoming a 3-0 series deficit to prevail. My new media colleague Ed Frankovic was the first I’d heard positing that Roberto Luongo isn’t 100 percent, and may even have yanked himself out of game 5 because of his condition. If you watched game 6 last night in Chicago you saw Cory Schneider get dinged up on Michael Frolik’s penalty shot. So the ‘Nucks appear to be a mess in net. Still, winning four straight over the President’s Trophy winner? If it happens, will any club ever accept that trophy again?

The Hawks’ fortunes have changed dramatically largely because Corey Crawford has been solid in net and the impact return of center Dave Bolland. The Sedins have a combined 12 points in the series’ 6 games, which is nice, but are skating a combined -6. Bolland, in just 3 games, has 7 points and is skating a +6. One man wrecking crew.

* * * * *

In the first four games of the Pens-’Bolts series Steven Stamkos had a lone assist. Game 5′s 8-2 Tampa drubbing saw Stamkos pot 2 goals and an assist. If he’s achieved some comfort in his first NHL postseason after the rough start I think he’s the difference in the remainder of the series.

With a little bit of luck we could witness the two Pennsylvania teams eliminated in game 7s on consecutive nights this week. It doesn’t get much sweeter than that.

* * * * *

Antero Niittymaki’s only had two games between the pipes for the Sharks, so I don’t put his stats on par with Michal Neuvirth’s, yet. If you look at goalies who’ve worked most or all of first round series, Neuvirth’s at the top of all key categories: .946 save percentage, 1.38 goals-against, 4-1 record. His most impressive stat, though, for me: he’s now 15-for-15 in postseason play in his North American professional career. Wow.

Here are some thoughts about the team’s performance:

• Lazy was the word of the night. There was an apparent lack of interest in the game from many of the players. Caps players took lazy penalties, made poor passes and took shots that had little chance of making it to the net. Washington escaped with a gift, as the Islanders outplayed them most of the night. It was clear the players knew they did  not play well too, as few came out to address the media afterwards.
• The Islanders certainly could have capitalized on their shots more if John Tavares and Marc Streit had been in the lineup. Fortunately for the Caps, they were not, and the team did not have to keep track of any real scoring threats.
• I bet no one thought the Caps’ penalty kill would be better than their power play. Through four games Washington is a pristine 15-15 on the penalty kill, including a 3-3 night against the Isles. Meanwhile, they are an abysmal 2-17 on the power play this season.
• Semyon Varlamov appears to be ready to start, but should he? Michal Neuvirth (my pick for the team’s best goalie) has been nothing but solid in net. His performance included a clutch save on a Matt Moulson breakaway in the third period. The save on Moulson was just one of many by Neuvy, as the young netminder was hung out to dry by his defense much of the night. In my opinion, Neuvy has earned the role of starter for a while.
• Speaking of defense, the Caps did not look interested in playing much of it. John Carlson stuck out as one of the d-men who struggled the most. He may have added to his point streak tonight, but head coach Bruce Boudreau said there are other aspects to the game than just scoring. Captain America over-skated puck and was caught out of position several times. None of this is unexpected, as he is just a rookie.
• Many in the press box were questioning the decision to dress D.J. King. He does not skate particularly well, New York is not a team known for fighting this season and after a slew of poor performances, excluding the New Jersey game, one would think a coach would want to put out his best players. Sure, King fought, but he really did not add all that much to the game. With only 4:43 of ice time, its hard to believe there was not another player who could have contributed more.
• Next up for the Caps are the Nashville Predators. Nashville has been stingy when it has come to giving up goals, only surrendering three goals in the first two games. One thing in Washington’s favor is that Predators starting goalie Pekka Rinne missed the last game due to injury. The Caps will most likely be facing rookie Anders Lindback, as good a gift they will likely receive in the early stages of the season.

Eastern Conference

Prediction: Caps in 5; (Alex however has a Caps’ sweep)

The first round matchup between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New Jersey Devils is full of questions. Will the goaltending hold up for both teams? Will Ilya Kovalchuk emerge for the Devils? And of course, the inevitable question of whether Daniel Carcillo, also known as the cleanest player in hockey(note sarcasm), will earn himself a suspension.

While there are so many questions in the series, picking the winner is really a no-brainer. Philadelphia is just lucky to be in the playoffs, and they may steal a game or two in the series, but there is no way they will prevail. The boys in orange and black just don’t have enough offense and goaltending is just a wee bit of a question mark.

On the the other end of the ice is the New Jersey Devils, a team filled with All-Stars, Olympic medalists, and some guy named Martin Brodeur. Sure, Marty hasn’t been stellar in all high pressure situations, but he remains a top-5 goalie in the league. Not only that, but he has a solid defensive corps in front of him. By no mean do any of them stand out as a top-5 d-man, but they certainly have the experience and hockey knowledge to take the team a long way.

In short, despite the inevitable antics, the Flyers do not have a snowball’s chance in hell to win this series. Rangers blogger for SNY, Jimmy Hascup, described Philadelphia’s style of play perfectly. He said, “they don’t even play hockey, they should be in the MMA Octagon.” That is exactly why they will not win this series.

Prediction: Devils in 5

Ryan Miller moves from the pressure of the Winter Olympic Games to the pressure of the NHL playoffs. That said, the job should be a little easier for him this time around because he won’t be facing an offensive powerhouse like Team Canada. Instead, Miller and Sabres will be facing the Boston Bruins in a divisional matchup.

Fans will be lucky if Buffalo and Boston combine for more than 20 goals in this series. Both teams are built on their defense and lack a lot in the scoring department. Boston is led by Zdeno Chara and Dennis Wideman, while Buffalo’s defense features Calder candidate Tyler Myers and Henrick Tallinder.

In all reality though, both team’s live and die with their goalies. Miller is right at the center of discussion for the Vezina Trophy and has even garnered discussion for the Hart. Tuukka Rask will oppose him  between the pipes for the B’s. He has had a solid season between the pipes, posting a 1.97 GAA and a .931 save percentage. That said, there was a stretch of time where he did lose nine games in a row.

All in all, the deciding factor of this series will be Ryan Miller. Tim Connolly, Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy will only have to provide modest offense if the Miller we have seen all year shows up. If he is not on his game though, this could be a longer series, with neither team lighting the lamp more than three times in a game. Sorry Boston fans, I know you were happy you made it, but the worst thing for a team to run into in the playoffs is a hot goalie. And in the case of Ryan Miller, maybe the world’s best.

Prediction: Sabres in 6

This matchup may be one of the most deceiving of all the Eastern Conference first-round pairings. On one side of the ice there is the Pittsburgh Penguins, the defending Stanley Cup Champion, and one which has been to back-to-back Cup finals. Opposing them is the somewhat undervalued Ottawa Senators. Ottawa flew under the radar for a lot of the season, but the talent and experience is in place to make a deep playoff run.

Pittsburgh has a star-studded lineup, but you don’t need us to tell you that. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar lead a team with high expectations and fans with higher. Anything but a repeat will be unacceptable, and the biggest thing that might prevent them from hoisting the Stanley Cup sat on the bench during the Olympics. Marc-Andre Fleury is a talented but erratic netminder.

If Ottawa’s veterans can knuckle down and play the kind of hockey that once won them a conference title, then they have a fighting chance against Pittsburgh. Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson, and Mike Fischer possess the skills needed to steal a game or two in Pittsburgh, and there’s always the human shot-blocking machine, Anton Volchenkov. A huge blow perhaps to Ottawa’s chances was the end of season injury to Alexei Kovalev — a torn ACL.

Still, Ottawa’s goaltending could be one of the more under-reported storylines of the first round. Brian Elliott doesn’t have to stand on his head, but he has to be better than Marc Andre Fleury. And he’s plenty good — one of the best goalies this past season. This is not the same Pens’ Cup-winning club of a year ago — it’s a team whose blueline doesn’t look nearly as strong and stable absent the departed Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill. Pittsburgh should be able to pull it out, but it won’t be without some nail biting in the closest series of the Eastern Conference.

Prediction: Penguins in 7

Western Conference

What’s not to like about the other conference’s first/last first-round series? If people are calling Montreal/Washington the David and Goliath first-round series, then this series might be more in the realm of Sparta versus Persia proportions. San Jose is the perennial second-round flop that everyone expects will do well and Colorado is the little engine that could, a team that wasn’t even supposed to be around right now, and almost wasn’t.

The reason we’ll take San Jose in this matchup is only because they normally lose in the second round (last year against Anaheim was an exception). The season series was even, and Craig Anderson had an outstanding first half but slipped up a bit this calendar year. Not forecasting necessarily that he will, but we’re also not going to be the ones to say he can’t pull off an awesome April turnaround. If Colorado’s young team, led by Matt Duchene and the trade deadline-acquired Peter Mueller, gells and is olivious to postseason pressure by virtue of their collective youth and inexperience, they stand a chance at upsetting San Jose and Dany Heatley. He might realize he should have stayed in Ottawa.

Prediction: Sharks in 7

If Chicago had reliable netminding we’d call this one of the early enders in round one. It still might be — that’s how loaded the Hawks are. But Nashville plays the Western conference’s most physical brand of hockey, and that could pose a challenge to Chicago’s fleet of skilled scoring forwards.

It’s Antti Niemi vs. Pekka Rinne in net — advantage Preds. Still, while Nashville has an unheralded corps of offensive weapons up front, and some terrific bangers on the back end, they’re no match for the elite Hawks.

Prediction: Hawks in 5

After scraping through with the Art Ross Trophy, Henrik Sedin and the Canucks will be at full force in the first round and a force to be reckoned with. But, if there’s one upset that is likely to occur in the first round, it’s gotta be this one. Los Angeles has an amazingly gifted young core, and more than capable goaltending in Jonathan Quick. They also have a great supporting cast in vets like Jeff Halpern and Ryan Smyth, who reignited his scoring touch with Anze Kopitar at center.

Vancouver’s lineup is as deep as they come in the NHL, but we’re not so confident that Roberto Luongo and the British Columbians will be as physical as Los Angeles. The secondary scoring on this team is fantastic, though, with last summer’s acqusition of Michael Samuelsson a clever signing. Alexandre Burrows, Mason Raymond and Ryan Kesler all had career years, and it seems they’ll continue their top-five goal production in the postseason. But we’re willing to take a gamble on Los Angeles and say they’ll wear Vancouver’s forwards down physically with the likes of Drew Doughty, Rob Scuderi and bone-crusher Jack Johnson on the blueline.

Prediction: Kings in 6

This may be the most intriguing first-round matchup — the Cinderella story Coyotes, owned and managed this season by the league, and flirting with no. 1 overall out West well into March, and the late-surging Wings, who’ve battled through ravenous injuries to earn an underdog-with-an-edge status this postseason.

The Coyotes will need Vezina candidate Ilya Bryzgalov to keep up his backbone backstopping ways in this series. Bryzgalov merely won 42 games in the regular season and posted an eye-popping eight shutouts. Detroit will counter with rookie netminding (and Calder candidate) sensation Jimmy Howard. All the experience in this series is obviously on the side of Detroit. All the MoJo appears to be with the Wings. But wouldn’t it be an amazing feather in the Phoenix cap if they took down the perennial conference power?

Prediction: Wings in 6

Is your dream to work in the Sports & Entertainment Industry?
Well, you are not alone and it is never too early to start gaining the skills and information you need to get a head start.
All high school and college level students are invited to join the Nashville Predators “Breaking Into Sports” Workshop. This one-of-a-kind event will take place on Saturday, November 1st from 2:30 ‚Äì 6:00 p.m. and will be followed by watching the Predators take on the Florida Panthers at 7:00 p.m.
During this special event, you will have the opportunity to hear from a panel of industry professionals and learn the paths they took to get to their current positions. Some of the special guests include:
• Ed Lang, President, Nashville Predators
• Todd Turner, former Director of Athletics, Univ. of Washington, Vanderbilt Univ., North Carolina State Univ. and Univ. of Connecticut
• Michael Santos, Dir. of Hockey Operations, Nashville Predators
• Brock Jones, Dir. of Booking, Sommet Center
• Dan Rossetti, President, Ascension Sports Partners, LLC
The day doesn’t stop there as you will also have a chance to speak with representatives from sports teams, media outlets, and colleges and universities from around Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky. You will be able to learn about everything from Sport Management Programs to openings within their team’s front offices. If you see a career in sports in your future, this is an event you won’t want to miss!

These kids don’t know how good they’ve got it. Every team should do something like this; it’s good way to get your future workforce engaged and thinking ahead. And hey, if nothing else, they get to see a game. Win-win for everyone!

I hope they don

One of the drills was a familiar but dreaded hockey drill called Mountains; although, some hockey players refer to them as Suicides. It consists of hard skating back and fourth, stopping at each line, and always returning to the goal line without resting. I heard some girls breathing heavily and fatigue was setting it but I took it as an opportunity to finally regain some body heat that was lost due to our attire.

A guy would read this and see nothing wrong with it, but women would easily read between the lines for what she’s really saying: she’s in great shape, too bad for the losers who can’t handle a little exercise.
On to the trivia portion of the competition:

Some of the questions ranged from naming some of the newly signed players to explaining the physics behind laying ice.

Now I’m impressed: Blue Crew members have to know the physics of laying ice? Does that question come up a lot?
On to some role-playing exercises:

After dancing, we moved onto the improv portion. We all partnered up (a veteran with a new girl) and drew a strip of paper out of a hat. On the strips of paper were different scenarios that can possibly happen during a Thrashers game and we would have to act out a scene. One girl would have to act it out the wrong way and the other girl would act it out the right way…My strip of paper said, “You accidentally spilled a Thrashers fan’s drink,” while some other strips said, “You threw a t-shirt out in the stands and it hits a fan in the eye.”

In Washington, the answer to either of these hard-hitting social issues is simple: you immediately hire a lawyer, because you’re going to get sued for damages.
As for the Preds Dancers and Goal Girls, after seeing some of the pics of their photo shoot on the blog, I’d like to know how they define a “healthy breakfast.” I just don’t see those ladies chowing down on a stack of pancakes.
H/t to Canucks and Beyond and Puck Daddy.

“The Samuelis have been terrific owners. They’re perhaps the most community-minded and charitable people in all of Orange County,” Bettman said. “I am not going to fret about something that may or may not be substantiated at the end of the day.”

Read all about it at The Star.

I’ve included picks made by the Whale with those of the Hurricanes, and of those made by the Nordiques in association with Colorado, to even out the survey period. No need however to add Winnipeg to Phoenix’s draft woes — the Desert Dogs know how to screw the draft pooch up high all on their own. Take a look: