Gratuitous Steve Yzerman in a suit. He's practically playoff-ready. (AP Photo)
Congratulations, Oilers fans! You win Ryan Nugent-Hopkins! I’m just relieved it wasn’t Boston who won the Draft Lottery. But I digress.
We looked at the first five quarter-final series last night. Now here’s a glance at the games starting on Thursday.
Los Angeles Kings at San Jose Sharks
We know you dig Drew.
All three California-based teams made the postseason, and two of them will battle it out in the first round. The Kings are young and hungry, while the Sharks have firepower from Heatley and Pavelski. I’m giving the Kings the edge in this series. I just have a good feeling about Jonathan Quick between the pipes.
Buffalo Sabres at Philadelphia Flyers
Imagine Thomas Vanek. Now imagine him doused in champagne.
I smell an upset here. Philly didn’t play like the Atlantic Division champs in the home stretch of the season, while Buffalo has been red hot despite a slew of injury woes. But Miller and Vanek are back and ready to give Buffalita a reason to cheer.
(P.S. I found that terrific photo on the now-defunct blog Sabretooth’s House, but author Anne is the currently the boss of the excellent Queen City Sabres Blog. Do check it out, Buffalo fans. It has a dancing squirrel.)
Montreal Canadiens at Boston Bruins
I don't care if he looks like Drew Carey. I love Tim Thomas.
How much does hockey matter in the province of Quebec? Enough to move a federal leaders French language debate ahead one night because Habs fans are going to be tuned into this series. I expect a long one, but I don’t expect a repeat of last year’s Cinderella story. For one, Jaroslav Halak – the star of that series – is long gone. And frankly, in the battle of tenders, Tim Thomas rules over Carey Price.
On that note, I am predicting a Boston-Vancouver final. I know. When are my predictions ever correct? How about you? Who hoists Lord Stanley’s Cup this year? What series are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments.
(If you’re wondering which network is carrying your fave series, you can find the schedule here.)
Ladies... 
I am just rooting for a Canadian team. My brother and his friends drove through Calgary when they were playing in the finals against Tampa Bay, and their description of how excited everyone was made me so sad when they lost and no one in Tampa even seemed to care. So I’ve been rooting for Canada in general every year since (although Chicago was okay last year since it had been so long).
That makes me so sad (and makes me shake my fist at Gary Bettman). That just doesn’t happen in hockey markets up here. It’s practically religion in Montreal.
I listened to Team 1040 on Tune-in Radio this afternoon and it’s fun to hear the buzz among fans surrounding the Vancouver Canucks. That city is stoked!
Vancouver is so excited!!!! As a typical “can’t get my hopes up” Canucks fan I can’t bring myself to predict Vancouver, but seriously, GO CANUCKS GO!!!!