This week, we are doing a special two episode playoff schedule for our podcast, Dudes on Hockey, on Thursday and Sunday. Beginning tomorrow, we talk to Adam Brady, the Anaheim Ducks Director of Publications and New Media and official team blogger. His work can be found right here. Should be a fun show and we have another special guest lined up for Sunday…..more on that later.

Watching and reading the abundance of coverage and hype the last two days, it’s clear that NHL people around the league believe that the West Coast match up of Sharks/Ducks could very well be the best first round series this year. There’s no shortage of stories to cover, between the Sharks playoff implosions, the penalty filled final meeting, Perry vs. Nabby, Parros vs. Shelley, Man vs. Food. All of these subplots make for good conversation, which we hope to continue on tomorrow’s podcast with special guest, Adam Brady.

I’m going on the record with my first round picks. Here goes nothin’.

West: Sharks in six, Wings in five, Blues in seven, Blackhawks in five.
East: Bruins in four, Capitals in six, Devils in six, Penguins in seven

This would make for the following 2nd round match-ups:
(6) Blues vs. (1) Sharks
(4) Blackhawks vs. (2) Red Wings
(4) Penguins vs. (1) Bruins
(3) Devils vs. (2) Capitals

Here are a few thoughts going into tomorrow’s game.

-Who is going to play on the 4th line for the Sharks? It looks like, from all reports, that the 3rd line now consists of Cheechoo, Goc and Moen, so the 4th line is Grier, Roenick and TBA. I believe that TBA is Jody Shelley in this series because we know how physical it is going to be. We can’t ask Clowe Moen and Murray to do all the heavy lifting – so Jody will be need for this series, and possibly this series only. This gets to my next point….

– Why is Jamie McGinn here? Shouldn’t he be playing on the top line for the Worcester Sharks playoff run against the NY Rangers AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolfpack? Well, my thought is that McLellan prefers McGinn to his other Shelley options (Plihal, Lemieux) and if the Sharks draw a more up-tempo team in Round Two like St. Louis or Chicago, then McGinn might get the call and he needs to be around the team to make a full impact when he’s needed in two weeks….just a hunch.

– This series could come down to who’s penalty kill is better. The Ducks have been on fire on the PP in the final weeks and the Sharks PK has been one of the worst in the league at 71.4% (consider that the Toronto Maple Leafs had the worst for the year at 74.7%). Luckily, the Ducks were worse, only slightly, at 70.8%. We know how potent both PP’s can be….so the winner in this battle will literally “kill” the others Cup hopes.

– Game 1 for San Jose is more important than ever. If the Sharks drop the first one, they have three days to sit around and think about it. I would rather have the Ducks staggering out of the Ultra Lounge, smelling of Goldschlager and corn-nuts on Santa Clara Street when Chris Pronger stops Francois Beauchemin and says. “I don’t think we’re gonna win this one (hiccup) Franny……Where the hell is this Pink Poodle place?”