With only a few hours until the playoffs begin- finally! its been so long!- i had to scramble to get my picks down on virtual paper. Now, if and when im proven right ill have the documentary evidence to prove it.

Without further ado, in the Eastern Conference...

(1) Ottawa vs. (8) Tampa Bay - Ottawa wins, 4-1

(2) Carolina vs. (7) Montreal - Carolina wins, 4-2

(3) New Jersey vs. (6) New York - New York wins, 4-3

(4) Buffalo vs. (5) Philadelphia - Buffalo wins, 4-2

Semi-final:

(1) Ottawa vs. (6) New York - Ottawa wins, 4-2

(2) Carolina vs. (4) Buffalo - Carolina wins, 4-3

Conference Final:

(1) Ottawa vs. (2) Carolina - Carolina wins, 4-3

Western Conference

(1) Detroit vs. (8) Edmonton - Detroit wins, 4-1

(2) Dallas vs. (7) Colorado - Dallas wins, 4-2

(3) Calgary vs. (6) Anaheim - Calgary wins, 4-2

(4) Nashville vs. (5) San Jose - San Jose wins, 4-2

Semi-Final:

(1) Detroit vs. (5) San Jose - San Jose wins, 4-3

(2) Dallas vs. (3) Calgary - Calgary wins, 4-2

Conference Final:

(3) Calgary vs. (5) San Jose - Calgary wins, 4-3

STANLEY CUP FINAL

(2) Carolina vs. (3) Calgary - CALGARY WINS, 4-3

Hooray, the Stanley Cup is back in Canada! In an all-red match-up, the Flames will again go down to the wire but this time, they'll pull out the amazing win on the back of Mikka Kiprusoff.

For now, these are my predictions. ill be back later with the full breakdown of why i think this way, but it may be with the knowledge of Game 1 results. i also reserve the right to predict the outcomes of each series as the playoffs go on, in the amazing circumstance that im not 100% correct in these picks. Till then...