This handy little chart (below) , beautifully (cough cough) formatted by yours truly, lists all of the Illegal Curve contributors predictions for the upcoming playoff run.

A few interesting things to note about the predictions:

1) The New York Rangers might as well not bother to show up. Eight predictors, eight Washington victories predicted.

2) The goaltending disparity between Chris Osgood/Ty Conklin and Steve Mason is weighing heavily on the minds of the predictors.

3) Anaheim is a team to be feared and avoided? Not according to the IC team who feel, by a seven to one margin, that the Sharks will get by their in-state cousins.

4) Four series are to close to call (Car-NJ, Pitt-Phil, CBJ-Det, and Cgy-Chi). Despite this, the only team to receive two votes for Cup champion are the New Jersey Devils, who four predictors believe won’t even get out of the first round.

5) Along the same lines of the Devils winning the cup, Zach Parise receives two votes for Conn Smythe.

6) We invite all of our Illegal Curve readers to submit their own predictions. I would be pleased to add it to the chart below upon receiving them. If we get enough entries, perhaps we will even offer a touque as a prize once I figure out some sort of convoluted scoring method. Please send your predictions to drew@illegalcurve.com . If you don’t want to be subjected to ridicule over bad predictions, but still wish to comment on our predictions (cowards!), please comment below.

2009 1st Round                        Playoff Predictions                
  DREW   RICH   DAVE   KYLE  
  winner games winner games winner games winner games
Boston vs Montreal BOS 7 BOS 5 BOS 5 BOS 5
Washington vs New York WASH 5 WASH 6 WASH 6 WASH 6
New Jersey vs Carolina CAR 6 NJ 7 CAR 7 CAR 7
Philadelphia vs Pittsburgh PITT 7 PHIL 7 PITT 6 PITT 7
                 
San Jose vs Anaheim SJ 6 SJ 7 SJ 6 SJ 6
Detroit vs Columbus DET 6 CBJ 7 DET 6 CBJ 7
Vancouver vs St. Louis VAN 7 VAN 6 VAN 5 STL 5
Calgary vs Chicago CGY 7 CGY 7 CHI 6 CHI 6
                 
Eastern Conf Champion WASH   PHI   CAR   BOS  
Western Conf Champion SJ   VAN   DET   CBU  
Stanley Cup Champion WASH   PHI   DET   BOS  
Conn Smythe Winner OVECHKIN   RICHARDS   HOSSA   THOMAS  
                 
  ARI   ADAM   NEIL   EZZY  
  winner games winner games winner games winner games
Boston vs Montreal BOS 4 MTL 7 BOS 6 MTL 7
Washington vs New York WASH 5 WASH 5 WASH 5 WASH 7
New Jersey vs Carolina CAR 6 NJ 6 NJ 5 NJ 6
Philadelphia vs Pittsburgh PITT 7 PHIL 7 PITT 6 PHIL 7
                 
San Jose vs Anaheim SJ 7 ANA 7 SJ 7 SJ 4
Detroit vs Columbus CBJ 6 DET 6 CBJ 7 DET 6
Vancouver vs St. Louis VAN 6 VAN 5 VAN 5 VAN 5
Calgary vs Chicago CHI 5 CGY 6 CHI 6 CGY 7
                 
Eastern Conf Champion BOS   NJ   WASH   NJ  
Western Conf Champion SJ   ANA   VAN   DET  
Stanley Cup Champion SJ   NJ   VAN   NJ  
Conn Smythe Winner SETOGUCHI   PARISE   LUONGO   PARISE  
Drew Mindell

Host of the Illegal Curve Hockey Show and Illegal Curve Post-Game Show.

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