Franz Liszt Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Before I get into my topic, can someone quickly explain how the playoff brackets work, I don't get how it goes. Anyway.. If the playoffs were to start today, which three western conference teams and one eastern conference team are you most nervous of to play against and why? Me - Winnipeg, Anaheim and Nashville. Montreal for the East. Winnipeg has too much size in Myers, Byfuglien and Wheeler, could be too much to handle. Anaheim's defense got a lot stronger. Nashville has enough offense but they play the trap when they start winning. Montreal has the grittiest bottom-6 after the trades they made. What's your opinions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G. Reaper Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Vancouver will face Los Angeles in the first round most likely. That's the team they should be afraid of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HerrDrFunk Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 So, here's how the new playoff format works: The conference leader plays the wildcard team with the least amount of points. The other division leader then plays the wildcard team with the second least amount of points. Finally, the two teams in each division that are ranked 2 and 3 play each other. So, if the playoffs were to happen today (3/3), the match-ups in the west would be: Nashville (1st Division Leader) - Minnesota (2nd Wildcard) Anaheim (2nd Division Leader) - Winnipeg (1st Wildcard) St. Louis (2nd in Central) - Chicago (3rd in Central) Vancouver (2nd in Pacific) - Calgary (3rd in Pacific) As for the teams I don't want to see us play, it's definitely Nashville and LA. Nashville has had our number for about a season and a half and we all know what kind of damage LA does in the playoffs. While it isn't possible with the new format (short of Vancouver surpassing Anaheim and other teams falling to wildcard spots) I would be thrilled to face Chicago or St. Louis in the 1st round. For whatever reason, we seem to be St. Louis' kryptonite (8-0-2 in the last 10) and we generally have very competitive games with Chicago. I'm just hoping that the Canucks and Flames can both hold onto the 2 and 3 spots. It would be a much better series than seeing us be bounced in the first round by LA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master Mind Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 If playoffs were to start today, that would be incredible for Vancouver. Biggest threats? LA easily #1, then Nashville, then Chicago and Anaheim. I'm not too concerned about any other teams in the west. They all have a chance to win, but I'd like the Canucks chances against the other teams. In the east doesn't really matter, since if you get to the finals there could be a mountain of injuries. Although I'd say Bolts and Rangers would be the toughest matchups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinphase Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Basically, we want Calgary to hang onto their spot at #3 in the Pacific. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownUndaCanuck Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Canucks are going to be playing the Kings, Sharks or Flames. Kings bolstered their blueline and now look damn scary, plus they'll finish hard. Sharks got a bit weaker at the deadline. Flames lost Giordano for the season so they'll start a tailspin soon, doubt they'll make the playoffs. Now I know the Kings and Sharks have had our number, but the Sharks have been a 0.500 hockey team at home and terrible all season long. We can definately beat them in the playoffs. The Kings have been 9-14-6 on the road (9 wins, 20 losses) and if we faced off with them we'd have home-ice advantage, so they're definately defeatable too. The Flames have looked good at times against us, but with no Giordano it'd be a cake-walk against them. IMO we'll have a tough 1st round matchup if it's not the Flames, but definately win-able. Moving on, assuming the Ducks win their first round comfortably (however they haven't been too good against the other Division), we'll have a real dog-fight of a series. The season series between the Ducks and Canucks has gone down to the wire (except for the last game where we had half an AHL roster playing). We can beat them, but it'd take 6 or 7 games and would be pretty tough. It's anyone's series IMO. Their defence looks like it will be shaky in the playoffs, with a bunch of offensive kids who don't play too well defensively. Now they bring in Wisnewski who puts up points, but has a shocking +/- over his last few seasons. If we somehow get out of the 2nd round, I think we'll be looking pretty good. We've owned the Blues and even though they got a bit better, we've just shown that even with an all-AHL defence, we can embarass them. They were pretty much playing with a full roster and lost 6-5 to us, with just 2 NHL defencemen. The Blackhawks are a similar story, we've done really well against them in the last couple of seasons and I'd be happy to face off against a Kane-less Blackhawk team but I doubt they'll make it through. The real opposition is Nashville, who will probably trounce us and in all honesty I don't see us scoring goals against that defence and Rinne. So in summary, the only teams I don't think we'd be able to beat easily are Nashville and Anaheim - the two Division leaders. If someone else can knock them off, we've looked pretty good against just about every other playoff team this season so I think we'd have a good chance. Ideal matchups: 1st round - Flames 2nd round - Ducks (or if they somehow lose to Winnipeg/Minnesota, take them) 3rd round - Blues (or Blackhawks) SCF - any team with a non-Vezina-candidate goalie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time Lord Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 LA isn't the #1 threat IMO. They are a threat for sure, but I just can't consider the 9th place team the #1 threat. Nashville and Anaheim for me. And facing Minnesota is unlikely but that's another tough matchup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbutcher Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 So, here's how the new playoff format works: The conference leader plays the wildcard team with the least amount of points. The other division leader then plays the wildcard team with the second least amount of points. Finally, the two teams in each division that are ranked 2 and 3 play each other. So, if the playoffs were to happen today (3/3), the match-ups in the west would be: Nashville (1st Division Leader) - Minnesota (2nd Wildcard) Anaheim (2nd Division Leader) - Winnipeg (1st Wildcard) St. Louis (2nd in Central) - Chicago (3rd in Central) Vancouver (2nd in Pacific) - Calgary (3rd in Pacific) As for the teams I don't want to see us play, it's definitely Nashville and LA. Nashville has had our number for about a season and a half and we all know what kind of damage LA does in the playoffs. While it isn't possible with the new format (short of Vancouver surpassing Anaheim and other teams falling to wildcard spots) I would be thrilled to face Chicago or St. Louis in the 1st round. For whatever reason, we seem to be St. Louis' kryptonite (8-0-2 in the last 10) and we generally have very competitive games with Chicago. I'm just hoping that the Canucks and Flames can both hold onto the 2 and 3 spots. It would be a much better series than seeing us be bounced in the first round by LA. Thank you Well explained Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatedkid666 Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Nashville, LA and the wild Rangers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad_Duck Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 I'm just gonna go total Apollo and say: "Who cares about the west? The Canucks are just going to kick the doors in at Nassau, MSG, or Bell Center, and take that Cup!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronalds.Kenins41 Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Toughest matchups LA, ANA, NASH, Minny, Jets (we would win the early games but over the series would eventually lose out) More favorable but still risky St.Louis, Calgary, Chicago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorvat Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Kings Ducks Preds (not as nervous as most people seem to be) Bolts Some would say Mtl but i think the bolts are the team in the east we would have the most trouble with. Itd be sweet to see my canucks play the habs for the cup for 3 reasons. Wed be playing for the cup. No matter what the cup will FINALLY be in canada for the first time in my life.(was born 3 months after canadiens last won) And canadiens are my second favourite team. Thats my dream finals matchup:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stackin'ThePads Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 The teams that I think would give the toughest challenge would be LA, Nashville, and Anaheim. I honestly don't think LA is gonna do that well in the playoffs this year but I think they would still give the Canucks some trouble based on the match up. I'm actually not as worried about Chicago and St. Louis like some people are. Vancouver has been the better team in head to head match ups with with the Hawks and Blues for the last few years, Especially the Blues. Calgary would be the ideal match up IMO , especially with Giordano gone. As for the Sharks I still don't have a good idea on how a 7 game series would go. I think the Canucks could grind out a solid 7 game series and win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCNeil Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Flames hold serve tonight. I wonder if this is the first time Flame fan are cheering for the Oilers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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