In our last issue we offer a 200 000$ prize for the Gm who predict the playoff standing.  Well nobody was right.  For this reason we offer to all gm the opportunities to guest on who will be the point leaders at the end of the playoff!.  You must send your prediction before April 21st.

Good luck !

Eric Brunelle
CHLNEWS manager
Anaheim GM

Finnally the playoff begins.  Lots of team aspire to win the cup after a long 82 games season.  This month we exclusively talk about our prediction on who must win in each division.  Kurt and John, two of our best analyst try to predict the first round winner in West and they give prediction on how many games.

In the same way, Eric Brunelle try to predict on the east conference, who will win and in how many games.

Have a nice month!

Eric Brunelle
CHLNEWS manager
Anaheim GM

       With my own Hurricanes in the East playoff hunt I thought it would be easier and safer to look at the West playoff races. We might as well start at the top with Edmonton who is seeded 1 taking on Chicago in 8th.Edmonton was tied for 2nd overall in the CHL with the Islanders amassing 111 points and finishing 27 points
ahead of the BlackHawks. With the likes of Hull, Roenick and Gonchar who got 11 PP goals this season I don't think that Chicago can match with the mighty Oilers,  but will not be an easy walk for the defending champions. Edmonton took the season series as well 2-1-0. Prediction-Edmonton in 5 hard fought games.

    On to Anaheim sitting in number 2 versus number 7 San Jose. The Sharks look to be in tough and hope to not bow out 4 straight like last years playoff performance against Edmonton. The Ducks have 36 goal scorer Yashin leading the charge, along with him Sundin, McEachern, Palffy and Hasek between the pipes. San Jose may have
used up their energy just getting into the playoffs as they had to fight off Chicago, LA and Colorado to make it. Can Petr Sykora and an aging Clark bring victory for the Sharks ? I really dont think so. In the regular season Anaheim was 4-2-0 against the Sharks. Preditction-Get out the brooms The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim will make
it 4 straight.

    Moving on to St. Louis in at 3 against the team the played last year in the first round Calgary at number 6. This should be an interesting series to watch. The Blues finished 18 points ahead of the Flames and will need players like Doug Weight and Tony Amonte to step it up a notch in the playoffs. Calgary will be looking to Adam Oates, Adam Deadmarsh and Cliff Ronning to push them through. The difference in this series will be in net. Curtis Joseph for the Blues and Trevor Kidd for the Flames. Cujo is the difference he has proven time and time again he is teh playoff goaltender you want to have on your team. During the season the Blues held a slight edge 2-1-1. Prediction-The Blues should win this but I can see it going the distance 7 games.

    Which brings us to number 4 Nashville against Dallas at the 5 spot.Normally this can be the tightest of series. This one I dont think should be that close. The Preditors are a
little deeper than the Stars with Mike Peca and Michael Nylander up front and a solid defence with Kevin Stevens.The Stars a pinning there hopes to get back to Lord Stanley like a couple of seasons ago on some unproven rookies Jan Hlavac and Pavel Brendl, if Dallas is to pull an upset here it will have to be Roman Turek in net to pull this off. Prediction-Nashville in 5 games.

    Well that are my predictions, I wish all the teams good luck.

John Leipert
GM Carolina Hurricanes
 

Edmonton Oilers(1) vs Chicago Blackhawks(8)

Chicago has survived to become the 8th place seed in the West. Surviving the first round of the playoffs, however, is a different story.  Chicago will have their hands full with the defending CHL champions.  Edmonton is having another outstanding year, led by the veteran right winger Brett Hull.  Hull, who is tied for first in team goals with Jeremy Roenick and defenseman Sergei Gonchar, is hungry to bring another championship to Edmonton.  Chicago will need to contain  the Edmonton offense, especially on the powerplay in order to compete with the Oilers.  Chicago desperately needs production from their powerplay, with only 7 goals, during all of the regular season, with the man advantage.
Prediction:  Edmonton in 5
 

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim(2) vs San Jose Sharks (7)

Although Anaheim can boast the best offense in the conference, the Sharks are willing to put their defense and goaltending to the test in this series.  Byron Dafoe leads San Jose into the playoffs with a 2.22 goals against average accumulated over 58 regular season games.  Dafoe will need help from his defenseman, mainly Brad Stuart (who is +18) and Aki Berg (who is day to day and should be back soon), to clear the front of the net and allow him the ability to see the shots.  And the shots will no doubt come fast and furious from the potent Anaheim offense. Alexei Yashin and Mats Sundin, of Anaheim, together make the best  one-two punch at center of all the playoff teams.  Their combined 162 points during the regular season portray just how dangerous these two are.  Even if San Jose can shut one of these talented players down, the
chance of them containing both centers is highly unlikely.
Prediction: Anaheim in 5
 

St. Louis Blues (3) vs Calgary Flames (6)

Even though St. Louis cannot boast the firepower of the Mighty Ducks, they were able to finish one point behind them for third spot in the conference.  The reason behind the Blues success can be attributed to the man behind the mask... Curtis Joseph.  Through 56 regular season games, Joseph has accumulated 33 wins and a goals against average of 2.14 with 5 shutouts.  In their push to catch Edmonton and Anaheim, however, the Blues have overworked Joseph and may not have allowed him enough time to rest for the start of the playoffs.  The Calgary Flames have two goalies who play on a regular basis.  It will be interesting to see which goalie will get the nod when the puck drops in St. Louis.  Although Billington got more starts, Trevor Kidd ended the season with a
better goals against average and an amazing 7 shutouts in only 35 games of work.  Adam Oates will lead the Calgary offense against the Blues, but he will need help from the rest of the offense if they are to beat Joseph on a regular basis. 
Prediction: St. Louis in 6
 

Nashville Predators (4) vs Dallas Stars (5)

If Dallas were able to dress a healthy team, this would probably be the easiest series to predict an upset.  The fact is, however, that Dallas has four players who will miss, at least, the first game of the series. Turner Stevenson, Steve Konowalchuk, Larry Murphy, and Vladimir Orszagh are all recovering from injuries.  The Stars will miss veteran Murphy on defense, especially as a point man on the powerplay.  Chris Pronger will have to step up in the absence of Murphy.  Jan Hlavac and Pavel Brendl
(both with 62 points) will need to continue their spirited play in order for Dallas to have any success.  Mark Messier will add leadership to the only western conference team that made the playoffs this year that did not qualify last year.  Being used so much in the last half of the year, has made Mike Richter a little worse for the wear.  Richter enters this years playoffs a little less rested than the Nashville coaching staff would like him to be.  Coach and GM Kurt Laschuk said that he wishes he could have given Richter more time to rest before the playoffs.  "When you play Anaheim in two of your last three games, you can't really afford to not play Richter", Laschuk said.  Laschuk said that he still was not sure if he will start Richter or backup Bob Essensa for the first game.  Nashville will need to rely on center Mike Peca to lead them in offense and defense.  One of the best two way forwards in the conference, Peca is a player that can definitely determine the outcome of a game.  Youngster Lubos Bartecko, a fan favorite, will be watched closely by the Nashville faithful to see if he can imitate the success he displayed during the regular season.  Nashville has won 3 out of 4 of 
the regular season match ups; but anything can, and usually will, happen in the CHL playoffs.
Prediction: Nashville in 7

Good luck to all teams!

Kurt Laschuk
CHL Newspaper Reporter
Nashville GM

On the east the prediction aren't easy to make. 

New Jersey (1st, 120pts) vs New York Rangers (8, 81pts)

This series is maybe the easiest to predict.  The Devils have the most powerful team in the CHL.  Rangers won't be able to stop Devils for sure even if they have a good momentum lead them to the playoff!
Prediction New Jersey wins in 5 games

Buffalo (7th, 91 pts) vs Montreal (2nd, 110 pts)

This series will be sort.  The only players could help Buffalo is Martin Brodeur.  But goalies can't scores goal (Maybe except Brodeur :-) ) and Buffalo as in the regular season will miss goal.  With Players as the Bure, Turgeon and Fleury, Montreal could easily win by offensive play.  Brodeur will see lots of rubber!  
Prediction Montreal wins in 5 games

Ottawa  (6th, 98 pts) vs Carolina (3rd, 93pts)

That series is sound strange.  The division rules put Carolina at the 3rd place even if Ottawa and NY Islanders was better in points system. Carolina haven't a team to win the cup.  The leaders are Bondra and Irbe.  That could be enough to win a first round but against Ottawa that will be hard.  Seelane the Maurice "Rocket" Richard winner of the season will probably lead Senators to the next round.  Roy, Mogilny and Satant will support him in that way. 
Prediction Ottawa wins in 6 games

Boston (5th, 100 pts) vs NY Islanders (4th, 111 pts)       

That series will be the most exciting in East.  Even if NY islanders got 11 points over Bruins, The rivalities between these team will be really cool!  Both teams have great scorers as Forsberg, Niewendyk, Bourque from Boston and Demitra, Kariya, Sakic and Primeau.  Lots of goal will probably be the story of this series.  The problem for both team is front the net.  Boston have Jocelyn Thibault a young goalie never make is mark in playoff.  On the other side, Vanbiesbrouck already win Stanley cup.  But is unregular.  Hope for Islanders he will be at his top! Islanders have in general a better team in all aspect of the games they will win!
 Prediction Islanders wins in 6 games

Eric Brunelle
CHLNEWS manager
Anaheim GM