Math

Two week games at 10:30pm and the fourth one on a Sunday at 2pm ?!?! Screw that schedule !

Philly in 6, Price will steal at least two games all by himself.

The bracket automatically adapts to that in regard of who you pick. When I selected COL, CGY automatically moved upward to VGK. So yeah, I think if you don't pick the right teams in the 1st round, you're somehow screwed I guess...

Toronto ! That would be funny.

Why the hell my name is Pierre-d-10.1... ?

My suggestion: going with a 20-team format. The top-3 teams in each division earn a play-off spot, same a usual. Then I'd go with 4 WC spots. You add a wild-card round with #7-#10 and #8-#9 best-of-5 match-ups in each conference. Each division winner faces the WC round winner, with the lowest WC seed meeting the conference champion, and the highest WC seed meeting the second one (the other division winner) Then, business as usual with an already built bracket. That would have the advantage of bringing on more teams and strengthen the playoffs race with more teams involved. Moreover, you don't make huge changes to the current format. With the number of teams up to 32 and the OT loser point, it's possible to reach like 96-97 points with 40+ wins and still miss the playoffs, while it was possible to enter them with a losing record in the early 90's. A little tweak would be good in that sense.

Hurricanes in 6. The mental aspect will be the key with a Carolina team on fire and the Bruins still searching form themselves and not having played real playoffs hockey yet. If the Canes are able to build a 2-0 lead, they will defeat the Bruins. However if this series extends, The Bruins have a better shot on the long-term.

Flames in 6. Stars have lost 8 of their past 9, they don't have any offense and zero confidence right now. Benn, Seguin, Radulov, Klingberg have a horrendous season so far, Pavelski and Perry have some flashes here and there but are way too slow, Hintz is not the player he was since his injury. The Stars will still win 2 games, one because the Flames will suck, the other on a misunderstanding.

Капризов ! To make everybody's happy.

A sweep please. I'm already fed up with Habs planning talks from Val d'Or to Gaspé for their future SC parade on Ste-Catherine street.

Taking a walk in the streets, I totally forgot both teams have played. I noticed some people wearing Habs gear, caps and shirts. Nothing extraordinary, but still a bit more than usual. Then I realized the game was the night before, and it freaked me out. Those people, the game yesterday... sh!t the Habs surely won... It was confirmed when I got back home. So opportunistic...

If the nets a hattie everytime he plays in Centre Bell, I'm fine about the Pens selecting him. But the Pens will win the next two games, sending the two teams where they belong. Right... No... ?

I'd say Toronto got Starsed. (well, not. At least Toronto can score goals)

A confirmation that the Bill-Masterton is a no brainer.

"The greatest fans in the NHL"

According to NHL.com, not only the Caps and the Lighting are defying the rules of hockey, but also the rules of the time-space continuum.

The Pens MUST win this series But Lafrenière MUST NOT BECOME A HAB EITHER. The negative pressure in Montréal will be too strong, this organisation will burn him.

Logo: A Nice job. Simple but not simplistic, big thumps up with the alternate logo with the Space Needle on top of it. I love when logos are straight with different references embedded. However, if they suck, I see coming from Japan the nickname "Seattle Anchors" Color Scheme: B- At least it's not the usual Red/Blue/White combo but I was hoping a bit more boldness than just stealing borrowing Titans' colors. The thin red trim matches good with the different shades of blue (unlike the Wild's forest green). Name: F---- Kraken... Seriously ?

Honestly, no. The only advantage it would have is to go to some games within a 10-mn walk. I always stick to the teams I root for, and especially if they have a long history of sucking (Raiders and Cubs, somehow I think I deserve it). And frankly, the chances for QC City to have the NHL back is about less than 0.1%. Equilibrium is now reached between conferences, situations in Florida and Carolina are now settled, Phoenix will move back downtown. Having talked with some people close to the Québec market, they all agree that the Nordiques' return won't happen. It would be the smallest market and foremost a french one. Lots of politics is involved and that's the least thing the League wants in this business. So we have now a great new NHL 19,500-seat arena entirely funded by provincial taxpayers for... Junior hockey. The city and provincial government did all wrong by building the arena first while Buttman didn't promise anything, he just said that Québec could be a potential spot and they took his words for granted.

These kind of games when there's just nothing to do. North Stars were trailing 3-2 in the series, they allowed the first goal, forcing them to rush, hence open spaces. Then you don't have many choices and against a talented team that had everything on its side, that was the logical outcome. In fact, it's not a bad souvenir: I was still in Switzerland, there was no internet and modern communications channel, I could only rely on magazines and our internet ancestor, a command line window plug-in on the TV with MS-Dos style writing. When I got up in the morning to see the result, I just couldn't believe it and I remember that day as if it was yesterday. The Cinderella run was really unexpected, they qualified as the last seed in the playoffs with a losing record before upsetting Chicago, St-Louis and Edmonton. The North Stars were leading the SC final, but they finally hit the wall, the final step was just too high. Sure! Originally from Switzerland but I'm part czech too and now living in Québec City. A real bastard

The previous ones were really great I think, but the switch to Adidas along with the new number typo style was unfortunate.

Love the red "O" jersey, and definitely in favor of the throwback return.

Well, the 8-0 rout of the North Stars in game #6 of the 1991 SC final (when the Pens won its first Cup) is still stuck in my throat. To make a short story, I became Canadian a while ago and grew up as a fan of the Stars franchise. I've always despised the Habs, their arrogance, cockiness, the fact that they consider themselves as the best team, having the greatest fans in the galaxy, their versatility (win 3 games in a row, Lord Stanley, here we come ! Lose 3 in a row, fire everybody) and always living in the past when they won cups where goalies used to put leather on their faces and hockey was a totally different sports with the NHL having only 6 teams. And I hate the fact that they were given a second chance to be in the playoffs as they had almost 0% chances of making it. To be honest, I have more respect for Leafs fans who have been eating sh!t for decades and still remain loyal for the most of them. Same thing for Edmonton.

I won't go as far as saying "Let's go Pens", but I'll definitely go with a "Screw the Habs".

@WordsOfWisdom Don't get me wrong, I agree mostly with your previous post. It's not that I don't want to see hockey, it's hockey in August, in the middle of summer vacations and with this format, I am more like "meh...". Hard to jump suddenly into it. But I forgot to mention, I'll be faithful to myself, be a dirty ol' beyotch sold to the devil sitting on my principles and watch this thing as soon as it starts.