Cristobal ‘the Crystal Wall’.
Hip Hip Huet.

Whatever you call him, he’s your starting goalie for the Montreal Canadiens 2006 Playoff run.

Rightfully so.

After all the goaltending controversy and ups and downs this year Cristobal Huet came in and turned the team around single handedly. His cool calm compure and playing style inspired confidence among all his teammates and turned a sub-par golf course bound team into a 7th place finish and a playoff birth.

What he can do in the playoffs remains to be seen but nothing indicates he won’t be able to play the same way. I don’t see Huet getting ‘rattled’ or thrown off his game in any kind of way because it’s the playoffs. I don’t see him cracking under pressure but rather relishing in the oppurtunity to be the main guy for the Canadiens chances. How is he going to feel coming onto the ice on Wednesday night to 21 thousand+ hockey mental fans?

All the playoff predictions are in and other than some french media the consensus is on Carolina as the winner. Numbers, odds, regular season records are what people are basing this on. Look where those ‘expert’ pre-season predictions ended up. The Canes weren’t even supposed to be in the playoffs much less 1 point shy of the Conference title. Were the predictions correct? Not even close. Are the new playoff predictions correct?

Hmm.

Anyway you look at it this year’s playoff teams appear to be a very strong crop. 16 quality hockey teams will have to be whittled down to 1 Stanley Cup Champion.

Gone are the days where you could say 1st overall is a guaranteed lock for the cup. Tampa Bay who won the last Stanley Cup finished in 16th and in the last playoff spot overall. Throw all the regular season numbers out the window and get ready for some entertaining and quality hockey.

There’s always upsets in the playoffs, that’s what you can bank on. It’s almost impossible to correctly pick how it’ll go but for fun let’s take a stab at how it will all unfold.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Stanley Cup Final

Dallas

Buffalo (6 games)

Buffalo

Yes you heard it here first. A 1999 Stanley Cup rematch with the Sabres getting revenge for Brett Hull’s ‘foot in the crease’ winner. Sweet redemption 7 years later.

Maybe I’m a little biased on the Habs two round success but their chances at upsets are as great as any teams.

How do you see it going?