The view from here:

I've been perusing more blog sites and I'm gaining more anticipation and anxiety as the series come closer.

NHL.com gave some terrific statistics yesterday and I happened to think they were good enough to re-post on this blog, which says a lot. I like to do my own digging and create my own statistics. I think that most researchers have an idea, a theory they'd like to prove and they manage to find statistics to support them no matter what. "Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics," as the story goes.

The full story on NHL.com is in sixteen parts, reflecting the 16 teams that are in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Nice, eh?

Our first story of interest is about uncertainty and rookies in goal. One needn't look to far to remember that last year's Flyers team went directly to the Stanley Cup Finals with Michael Leighton. Does anyone remember Cam Ward? He'd never played a game in the post-season before the Hurricanes rode him like the wind to their first and only Cup success ever. Neuvirth and Bobrovsky are both seriously untested in the second season and Crawford in Chicago is actually a legitimate rookie. Rinne in Nashville has only played six playoff games, and Quick in Los Angeles has only played six, too.

A second story of interest would be the so-called 'Presidents' Trophy Curse' which, from what I remember, was broken by the Detroit Red Wings in 2008 when they won the Cup. Other than that, no winner of the Presidents' Trophy for the best regular-season record in the NHL has even managed to make it to the Finals. I'd say that the Vancouver Canucks are well-placed to discontinue that trend, and I'd also say that if they did, two teams in four years winning the whole thing and at least making it to the final would mean that you'd have to reconsider how important 'the Curse' really is.

How about playing seven games in your conference quarterfinal? Statistics show that the last 32 teams to win their first series in seven games have failed to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Here's one that I love -- winning the first game of the series gives you a 27-13 win/loss ratio in the series as a whole. That's a .613% win record, but it could be better. That is, it could be better if you win the second game irregardless of what the result of the first game of the series was. Teams who win the second game have a 28-12 win/loss ratio in the series, which is a .700%.

There is one that only applies to one team, and that is that no player who has won the Rocket Richard Trophy for most goals scored in the regular season has ever won the Cup. That means that Corey Perry is cursed!

There is also only one team that has ever won the cup after missing the playoffs the previous year: 1994's New York Rangers. So, The Rangers of this year, Anaheim and Tampa Bay are just spinning their wheels.

Okay, so that's that.

Now on to more 'expert' predictions.

Washington vs. New York:

Shaune Vetter -- NY Rangers in Six games, citing Washington's goaltending problems.
Travis Yost -- Washington in Five games, citing Washington being underrated and NYR barely scraping into the playoffs.
Travis Hughes @ SB Nation -- Washington in Seven.
Mike Chen @ SB Nation -- Washington in Seven.
Steven Lepore -- Washington in Six.
Zachary Zielonka -- Washington in Six.

Philadelphia vs. Buffalo:

Shaune Vetter -- Flyers in Five -- they're hungry for success, he says.
Travis Yost -- Flyers in Seven -- Buffal's streaky scoring will let them down.
SB Nation's writers:

TH -- Flyers in Six.
MC -- Flyers in Six.
SL -- Sabres in Five.
ZZ -- Flyers in Seven.

Boston vs. Montreal:

Shaune Vetter -- Montreal in Six -- Carey Price has more to prove.
Eric Engels -- Montreal in Six -- a bias, he's the Habs writer.
Travis Yost -- Montreal in Six -- Cammaleri to come alive again!
SB Nation's writers:

TH -- Bruins in Six.
MC -- Bruins in Six.
SL -- Bruins in Seven.
ZZ -- Bruins in Five.

Pittsburgh vs. Tampa Bay:

Shaune Vetter -- Lightning in Six, citing Roloson with unfinished business.
Travis Yost -- Lightning in Seven, citing better, healthier offense.
Eric Smith @ Hockeybuzz.com -- Lightning in Six.
SB Nation's writers:

TH -- Lightning in Seven.
MC -- Lightning in Six.
SL -- Penguins in Five.
ZZ -- Penguins in Four.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Vancouver vs. Chicago:

Shaune Vetter -- Hawks in Six, citing a curse on the Canucks when it comes to Chicago
Travis Yost -- Canucks in Six.

San Jose vs. Los Angeles -- Sharks in Seven, citing the Thornton factor.
Travis Yost -- Sharks in Five, citing the lack of goalscoring.

Detroit vs. Phoenix:

Shaune Vetter -- Coyotes in Seven, citing Detroit's struggles down the stretch.
Travis Yost -- Red Wings in Seven.

Anaheim vs. Nashville:

Shaune Vetter -- Nashville in Six. It's their year!
Travis Yost -- Anaheim in Seven.

That's it! Enjoy the games!