NHLteamsprepareto battlefor LordStanley'sCup

Eastern picks by Kevin Scott Western picks by Bill Matoney assistant copy editor and assistant sports editor

Eastern Conference

New Jersey Devils (1) vs. Montreal Canadiens (8)

This series would be a good indication of what would happen if the Green Giant were to get into a fight with his good buddy Sprout.

The Devils are just too big and physical. Their style of play is more suited for the rough-andtough atmosphere that is brought about by the playoffs. Goalie Martin Brodeur is on fire at the right time and Doug Gilmour will be responsible for the Devils' scoring, while guys like Bill Guerin and Bobby Holik will chip in goals as well.

The Canadiens are just too small to compete with the big boys. Mark Recchi and Saku Koivu will be smothered by the Devils' "D ." Goalie Jocelyn Thibault is an unproven commodity in the post-season, which will definitely hurt them.

Keys to victory: NJ-smother Mtl's quick forwards. MltThibault.

Prediction: Devils in 5

Buffalo Sabres (2) vs. Ottawa Senators (7)

Do not be surprised if every game in this series goes into overtime.

The Sabres playoff fate is on the shoulders of one mangoalie Dominik Hasek. In his only playoff appearance two years ago, however, he was shelled by the Flyers in five games. The pickup of Miroslav Satan at the trading deadline was a great move and may prove to be a much needed offensive lift in the playoffs.

The Senators' attitude is that they have nothing to lose. They are expected to be thrown out of the playoff party before it really gets going. Goalie Ron Tugnutt has been playing fantastic lately and there is no telling how youngsters Alexi Yashin and Alexandre Daigle will handle the post season pressure.

Keys to victory: Buff-score early and often. Ott- keep attitude.

Prediction: Ottawa in 7

Philadelphia Flyers (3) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (6)

The one thing you can count on in this series is that there will be plenty of goals scored.

Ron Hextall has faltered down the stretch and his confidence is on the verge of shattering. The saving grace for the Flyers, however, is that the Legion of Doom will dominate the Penguins' defense. Philly's defense has struggled as well and may end up costing the Flyers a game or two.

Goalie Ken Wregget has been bothered by a groin problem, but he will be between the pipes because rookie Patrick Lalime has not been as dominant as he was in the beginning of the season. Backlmer Darius Kasparaitis is a guaranteed thorn in Lindros' side. The return of Jaromir Jagr, though not at 100 percent, will help fuel the Penguins' upset bid and Mario Lemieux 's farewell tour will give him extra incentive for that last Stanley Cup push.

Keys to victory: Phi-Lindros. Pitt-Kasparaitis' play vs LOD.

Prediction: Flyers in 6

Florida Panthers ( 4) vs. New York Rangers (5)

The focus on this rnatchup will be on goaltending as two of the league's best, the Rangers' Mike Richter and the Panthers· John Vanbiesbrouck, will go head-to-head.

The Panthers will rely heavily on their defensive style of play that brought them to the finals last year in order to control the Rangers' big guns. The addition of Kirk Muller will help leading scorers Ray Sheppard and Scott Mellanby, while defensemen Robert Svehla and Ed Jovanovski will lay punishing hits on the Rangers' quick forwards.

The Rangers will look to Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier to grab hold of the reins and justify the team's $37 .9 million payroll, the highest in the league, to take them deep into the playoffs.

Their power play, which was top-ranked in the regular season, is one of their only hopes to beat the Panthers and the Beezer.

Keys to victory: Fla-defense. NYR-powerplay goals.

Prediction: Panthers in 7

Western Conference

Colorado Avalanche (1) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (8)

The deepest team in the league faces the underachieving Blackhawks. Regular season disappointments, Alexei Zhamnov and Eric Daze, notched back to back hat tricks in their last two regular season games. Tony Amonte is always a scoring threat and Chris Chelios is guaranteed to step it up.

Chicago will either die or die faster as a result of their midseason trade of their superstar goalkeeper. Playoff standout, Ed Belfour, was found expendable due to the 'Hawks' confidence in Jeff Hackett. Colorado will show the world that Hackett is nothing more than an overachieving Islander.

With no apparent weaknesses, the 'Lanche look to be the next team to repeat as Cup champs since the '91-92 Penguins. Just remember one thing: favorites turn into letdowns most of the time.

Keys to victory: CbiZhamnov. Col-show up to rink.

Prediction: 'Lanche in 5

DaJlas Stars (2) vs. Edmonton Oilers (7)

After missing the playoffs last year, the Stars rebounded to be the league's second best team. The inexperienced Oilers look like champs one night. and chumps the next.

With a balanced scoring attack, the Oilers look to Curtis Joseph to be the last line of defense against the Mike Modano-led stars. If frequent tnJury list visitors Joe Nieuwendyk and Greg Adams stay healthy, the Stars can make fast work of the young Oilers. Both teams can score a ton of goals, but Dallas plays significantly better in their own end. Goaltenders Andy Moog and Arturs lrbe need to play as well as they did in the regular season in order to make it more than one and·done.

Keys to victory: Dallas- stay healthy. Edm- CuJo

Prediction: Dallas in 6

Detroit Red Wings (3) vs. St. Louis Blues (6)

St. Louis needs divine intervention to even have a chance.

Brendan Shanahan and Detroit will give Grant Fuhr sunburn from lighting the lamp behind him. Pierre Turgeon is a playoff flop, and the Blues' defense is week.

The Vladimir Konstantinov led Red Wing defense will knock St. Lou's snipers, Brett Hull and Joe Murphy, into next season. Stephan Matteau is a playoff standout which is one plus for the Blues.

Keys to victory: Osgood and Vernon.

Prayer

Detst L-

Prediction: Detroit sweeps

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (4) vs. Phoenix Coyotes (5)

This series is centered around one player: Coyotes' goalie Nikolai Khabibulin. When he is hot, you can see the smoke coming from his ears. Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne, the second and third leading scores in the league, need to exploit the "Bulin Wall" early in the series.

An easy way of doing this is getting Phoenix to take bad penalties and score on the power play. Anaheim is the best in the league with the man advantage, but Phoenix will make it difficult (3rd best penalty kill).

Phoenix has the deeper offense. Anaheim has the superior defense.

Guy Herbert needs to stand on his head against Keith Tkachuk and Jeremy Roenick (and his shiny Nike skates).

Like the East's Buffalo and Ottawa series, these games will constantly go into OT. With wins by the score of 2-1 or 6-5, each game will be close due to the dueling goaltenders.

Keys to victory: Anaoutscore CoyotesPho-outscore Ducks Prediction: Coyotes in seven and opening space for full-timers, part-timersand temporaries at our Horsham and Fort Washington, PA facilities.

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