Hockey: Round Three Picks

So, Round Two's officially wrapped up and I went 2-2 with my predictions, continuing my .500 mark (now 6-6 overall). I got the Penguins and Stars, but flubbed on the Avs and Habs. For this round, I tied with Bob McKenzie, Eric Duhatschek and Maggie the Monkey, lost to Allan Maki (who's now a ridiculous 11-1 overall), Darren Dreger and David Shoalts (3-1), but beat James Mirtle, Matt Sekeres and Zanstorm (1-3). Most of them are beating me overall, though, due to my 4-4 first-round efforts.

Here's my picks for the conference finals.

East:
Pittsburgh versus Philadelphia: Penguins in six.

Nice to see the biggest Battle of Pennsylvania since Gettysburg reinvigorated. I like Pittsburgh here because of their overwhelming offense and great goaltending from Marc-Andre Fleury. Philly will try and run them out of the rink in the old Broad Street Bullies model, but ultimately, that won't be enough to prevail overall. Look for home-ice advantage to play a big role in this one: I think Pittsburgh will probably win all their home dates but go 1 for 3 in Philly.

West:
Detroit versus Dallas: Stars in seven.

This should be a tight series. Detroit has a tremendously deep offense, but I don't trust Chris Osgood in net at this point in his career (and the ancient Dominik Hasek isn't a much better option). I like Dallas' defence, and Marty Turco is playing lights-out at the moment. Brenden Morrow is also unbelievable, dishing out hits like there's no tomorrow. The aging Red Wings may wear down, and I'm not sure if Johan Franzen can continue to carry the offensive load: he may disappear in the next round a la Ryan Clowe.

I'll have an update on my fantasy team later, along with my selections for the next round there.