I may have been a Detroit fan all my life but I was hoping for a Montreal/Detroit playoff final.
As for whats going to happen now, its just as I predicted word for word. Dallas beat Anaheim because Anaheim got their rings last year and lacked heart just like I noticed all season. As for San Jose its the same old formula without enough tweaks and they fell off in the second round as per usual. I like San Jose but they need to seriously adjust more, but I love that Thorton.
Dallas I think will get knocked out in 5 games, but my heart tells me 6 simply because Detroit seems to falter a bit with weaker teams. And yes Dallas is a weaker team and lack the depth to compete with Detroit's skill and fantastic scouting. No one knew Franzen would be a monster in the playoffs thats just icing on the cake.
Regardless of who we face next round (it will be the penguins) I say Detroit wins regardless. Those east teams honestly don't have what it takes this year to win against the Red Wings' formula. If they win, then by all means they earned it because they just broke through the defensive line of Lidstrom, Chelios, Rafalski, and Sheneider. Not to mention Chris Osgood's .95 save percentage. And they had better bring a defensive line from hell to stop Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Holstrom, and the countless others that consistently score not to mention the grind line of Draper and McCarty.
The most dangerous team on the east still in it without doubt is the Penguins and its not because of Crosby(over rated). The man I worry about the most is Malkin, hes a beast.
Just my thoughts after watching all the teams when I could this season. I typically don't watch the Wings much in the regular season because of our slow it down style, so I watch other teams with players like Ovechkin to see the fancy plays.