First Round Impressions

Player I was most impressed with: This one is a tie between Brent Seabrook and Kris Versteeg. Seabrook averaged more than 26 minutes of ice time in the 6 game series and was incredibly smart with the puck. Seabrook had 1G and 5A in 6 games, was a +1 with 2 PIM. I hope all this time doesn't burn him out if the Hawks make a deep run. Versteeg, a rookie, has 2G and 5A for 7 Pts in his first playoff series.

Player I was most disappointed with: Carey Price. Price was just awful in his teams quick exit, so much so that his fans mocked him for making an easy save on a dump-in late in a game that was over in the second period.

Stat I had never heard before: Brian Campbell has played in the playoffs in every season that he played more than 60 games. He has played 53 (and counting) playoff games and has 5G and 19A for 24 Pts is a -2 and has 30 PIM (2 of those cost the Sabres a shot at the cup, stupid puck over the glass rule). Not bad for a 29 year old.

Series Upset: This one is pretty obvious, the Sharks usually wait another round before rolling over but all it took this year was 6 games.

"Where did that guy come from?": Simeon Varlamov. Wow was this dude huge for the Caps. The 20-year old allowed just 7 goals in 6 games including 2 shutouts and a .962 save percentage. Oh yeah, his six playoff games doubled his total of NHL games played to a whopping 12.