NHL Playoff Predictions 2011: Projecting Winners for the Entire NHL Playoffs

April 11th, 2011 by Alan Zlotorzynski Leave a reply »
It took until the last scheduled game of the NHL regular season to complete this year’s Stanley Cup playoff picture, but it is fair to say that after last year’s tournament, no one should be counted out.

The final team into this year’s field was last year’s champion, the Chicago Blackhawks. On Sunday, the Detroit Red Wings allowed the Dallas Stars a chance to steal the eighth and final playoff spot with a win over the Blackhawks at Joe Louis Arena.

With their destiny in their hands, the Dallas Stars lost to the Minnesota Wild 5-3, allowing the Hawks to sneak back in to the playoffs. The chase for the Cup begins Wednesday with five opening-round matchups scheduled to take place.

This season was one of the most competitive seasons in recent memory. In the Eastern Conference, just 14 points separates the No. 1 seeded Washington Capitals and the No. 8 seeded New York Rangers. Since the 2000 season, only the '08 playoffs (10 points) had a closer point margin separating the top and bottom seeds.

The Vancouver Canucks dominated the Western conference in winning this year’s Presidents Trophy a ...

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