Good Times Grimes

You won that round, Macca! Very surprised to see Ottawa get up...I sure hope that they can't go all the way. Getting closer to the business end of things: Anaheim v Nashville Ottawa v Pittsburgh

I'm not keeping score, but I think any limited success that I've had in the tips has been a combination of luck and living in an NHL obsessed country for years and being exposed to more media/analysis around playoff time than those in Australia. Still, a 4/8 first round score indicates that I need to pay a bit more attention! Let's see how round two goes: St Louis v Nashville Anaheim v Edmonton Washington v Pittsburgh Ottawa v New York Rangers

Can't say I'm too disappointed with the result as the Leafs far exceeded everyone's expectations this season. Next year is when this start to get really exciting. 4/8 tips isn't a great success rate! I'll have to do a bit more research before round 2!

Great win by the Leafs, but the real story is in the Nashville-Chicago series. Rinne has been dominant! Two shutouts and two assists in enemy territory.

Tough loss this morning, but showed plenty of good signs. Andersen was solid and the Capitals didn't look invincible. We only need to win one game there...

Apologies...haven't been overly active on Demonland for some time. What an exciting final week, and what an achievement by Matthews to hit 40 goals in his rookie season! I'd never have predicted the Leafs would be able to scrape into the playoffs at the start of the season. The wheel is turning and the season will be a success, regardless of how the first round goes. Unfortunately I'll be picking the Capitals as well, but that won't stop me watching all the games and praying for the best! My picks: East Montreal vs NY Rangers Ottawa vs Boston Pittsburgh vs Columbus Washington vs Toronto West Minnesota vs St Louis Edmonton vs San Jose (McDavid is just too good). Chicago vs Nashville Anaheim vs Calgary

I see lots of parallels between the Leafs and the Dees. It'll be very interesting to watch how both sides go in "completing" their rebuilds. I'm very optimistic about both.

You put the mozz on them! What a great streak that was. Some of their previously unknown players stepped up and became elite players of the competition. Wennberg, Atkinson, Saad have all been fantastic. Matthews is a freak. Babcock said that he'd be a dominant player in the league by Christmas. He wasn't wrong. He's been sensational since mid-November.

As Demons supporters, we know that feeling all too well. I'm happy that the Cubs won, but would really like to see a hard salary cap introduced into the MLB.

What. A. Game. Curses can be broken.

Been following it very closely and was devastated when my Blue Jays went down to the Indians, a team that I think we should have beaten. Despite Cleveland not having won since 1948, I think that every neutral supporter would have to be on the Cubs bandwagon at the moment given the ridiculous length of their drought. There is also a lot of talk about the inappropriateness of Chief Wahoo and the Indians name and how it would be a travesty if a team with a racist brand like Cleveland's were to win it.

Matthews seems to be able to play hockey.

Also note the hashtags that he used on the photo: #deesupayingattention #draftthiskidwhileyoustillcan...nothing about the Dockers.

Well, today was crazy. Subban to Nashville, Weber to Montreal Hall to New Jersey, Larsson to Edmonton Stamkos re-signs in Tampa Bay for 8 years Not too sure what Edmonton were thinking...they got absolutely annihilated in that trade. I know that they were looking for a right-handed shooting defenseman, but surely they could've done much better than Larsson if they were willing to give up Hall. Both Subban and Weber are right-handed shooting defensemen, and I'm sure that Edmonton would be kicking themselves knowing that both of those players were on the market. Larsson is an underperforming first round pick who's never done anything of note in 5 seasons in the NHL, and I think Edmonton have really shot themselves in the foot here. Not too sure about the Nashville-Montreal trade, either. I just don't see how each team benefits from the trade.

He is, and due to the relatively (knock on wood) small injury list, it would be hard to promote him at present given that Michie has been promoted for King and Wagner was our nominated rookie. White requires another LTI to be promoted.

It's a tough one to predict. To me, SJ looks stronger overall on paper, but Pittsburgh's star players are better. I'll flip a coin and go with San Jose in 7!

I won't spoil the result in case you were recording it, but it was a great game!

You were right with your prediction of the West, Macca. SJ looked very strong last night to move through to the final. Tonight it's the battle of the regular season backups (Vasilevskiy vs. Murray) as Tampa and Pittsburgh play game 7. You'd have to back Pittsburgh tonight given that they're at home and Tampa is likely going to be missing Stamkos. Still, a strong performance from either goalie could be enough to carry their team through.

I think Pittsburgh is a pretty safe bet to make the final, and while I agree that San Jose look good, I wouldn't be surprised to see the West go either way. How good has Matt Murray been for Pittsburgh? Pretty amazing to think that he's a rookie when he's playing like he has been.

A bit of a delayed response (haven't posted in a while), but how nice was Shanahan's [censored] eating grin when he discovered we won the first pick?

Been absent from this thread for a while, but I'll throw my picks in too: Washington vs Philadelphia (5 Games) Florida vs New York Islanders (7 Games) Pittsburgh vs New York Rangers (6 Games) Tampa Bay vs Detroit (7 Games) Dallas vs Minnesota (5 Games) Anaheim vs Nashville (6 Games) Los Angeles vs San Jose (6 Games) St. Louis vs Chicago (5 Games)

The commentators (not usually known to dabble in hyperbole) were saying it one of the greatest first halves of a debut of all time

What a great debut. Looks right at home in our midfield.

I think we're a very safe bet to finish last, however I recently read that whoever finishes last has about a 45% chance of slipping to fourth overall in the draft. I think the lottery system is fantastic and should be introduced into the AFL, but it would be devastating to not get the top pick after being so terrible.