MONDAY COMMENTARY – BECAUSE IT’S THE CUP

(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary on Cat Country 98, Rock 98.5 FM & LTD Radio)

Welp, this is it.

What we’ve all been waiting for.

The curtain rises on the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs tonight on four fronts: NY Islanders at Carolina, Florida at Boston, Minnesota at Dallas and L.A. at Edmonton. All Game 1s, obviously.

As of Friday, all the first round series hadn’t been determined yet so I couldn’t give predictions but that’s not the case today. So here we go …

Perhaps the most anticipated match-up is Toronto vs Tampa for the second straight year. Last year the Lightning won in seven games. This year, the Leafs will win in seven. Why? Because they have to.

The Florida Panthers are my rooting interest in these playoffs – in the East at least – but I just don’t think they’ve got the gumption to top the best regular season team in NHL history. Bruins in five.

The Tri-State Area will be buzzing with all three teams in the tournament, including the Devils and Rangers. The upstart Devils actually have home ice advantage, but I don’t think it’ll matter. Rangers in five.

I’ve gotta speed it up. The Islanders meet the Hurricanes in a series I probably won’t catch a second of but it says here Carolina will take it in six.

In the West, the Oilers and Kings meet for the ninth time in Stanley Cup history and Edmonton has won six of eight so far. They will again; this time in six.

I think the longest series will be Dallas and Minnesota; two teams who battled for the division lead right to the end. So they’re close. I’ve got the Wild in seven in the round’s only real upset.

The defending Cup champs from Colorado will need no more than six games to dispatch Seattle who can be forgiven for being just happy to be there.

And the series you’ll probably hear about the most in these parts is Vegas/Winnipeg which opens Tuesday at the Fortress. Sorry Jets fans, but the Golden Knights will take it in six, on their way to the Stanley Cup.

That’s it — those are the picks!

And I caution you not to take them to the bank.

That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary

(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm ET on GameTV, WQEE and all major podcast platforms)