It is that wonderful time of year again, the weather turns warmer and playoff hockey begins. As a casual fan, you could not ask for a better first round match-up with the Boston Bruins playing against the Detroit Red Wings in the playoffs for the first time in over 60 years. With the Red Wings spending the majority of their time as a franchise in the Western Conference, there is not much to speak of as far as a rivalry is concerned. But, with their move to the Bruins own Atlantic Division, it was only a matter of time before these two Original 6 powerhouses clashed. Let’s get right down to it:

Special Teams:

For the past decade plus this category was a no brainer. But now, because the Bruins have improved leaps and bounds on the Power Play this year, it appears to be a no-brainer in the opposite direction. The Bruins had the 3rd best Power Play in the NHL this year while the Wings were only 18th. On the penalty kill the Bruins have their usual advantage where they were 8th in the league and the Red Wings were 12th. Advantage: Bruins

Forwards:

The Bruins had two 30 goal scores for the  first time since 2004 in Jerome Iginla and Patrice Bergeron. The Bruins also had 5 players score at least 20 goals while the Red Wings only had 1  in the young Gustav Nyquist with 28. Granted, the Red Wings were decimated by injuries throughout the year to key players like Datsyuk and Zetterberg; but their scoring production was way down over the course of the year. The Wings finished the year 16th in goals while the Bruins were 3rd. Even though the Red Wings have the flash, speed, and big names, I have to give this category to the Bruins based on numbers. Advantage: Bruins

 Defense:

Even without Dennis Seidenberg for the entire second half of the season, the Bruins still managed to rank 2nd in the league in goals against average (2.08 goals per game). Normally in playoff situations I am wary of trusting young defenseman, but, all of the Bruins’ defenseman have Stanley Cup experience, including Finals experience. They know what it takes to get the job done in the playoffs and I would expect nothing less. Detroit is once again in the middle of the pack at 16th in goals against and don’t have anyone who stands out on the back line. Advantage: Bruins

Goaltending:

Not much needs to be said here. The Boston Bruins have the, soon to be Vezina Trophy winning Tuukka Rask going against the struggling Jimmy Howard. This is by far the biggest advantage in the series for either side. Think back to how bad the goaltending situation was for the Flyers against the Bruins during the Stanley Cup year and expect something similar from Howard and the Wings. Advantage: Bruins

Coaching:

I don’t know where I stand on this one.  Mike Babcock is one of the best coaches in Red Wings history which says a lot. He is widely regarded as the best coach in the game. As the head coach of Team Canada at the Olympics this year he named Claude Julien as his top assistant coach. Their game plan against the United States looked eerily similar to the Bruins game plan against the Penguins the year prior. These are two of the best coaches in the game today and I am willing to give Claude a lot of credit in this one. Advantage: Push

Other Factors:

Player You Will Hate: Justin Abdulkader. Detoit doesn’t really have any guys that evoke hate, even in the playoffs. But, there is always that one player that gets under your skin. This guy would fit in perfectly on the Bruins. He is a top line guy for Detroit who isn’t afraid to go into corners and grind and even throw his weight around, a rareity for them.

Player Who Will Haunt Your Dreams: Tomas Tartar. He is one of those small, quick guys on Detroit who puts the puck in the net. Straight out of the Thomas Vanek mold. You will be sick of him by the end of the series, after he is done leading Detroit in scoring for the series.

“Fun Facts” You Will Be Sick Of: Did you know that Claude Julien and Mike Babcock were roommates in Sochi during the Olympics? Well if you didn’t, you know now and I am sure that the good folks at NBCSN will remind you a hundred times. The other fact that will become super annoying: Reilly Smith’s brother Brendan plays defense for the Red Wings so get ready for all of those stats about brother vs. brother playoff match ups and shots of Mom and Dad in the crowd.

Series Prediction:

On paper this looks like it should be a short and sweet series, get in, get out, kind of deal. Unfortunately, this is the NHL we are talking about and things never go according to plan, or easy. Two things that the Boston Bruins will find extremely annoying are the fast skating game and the lack of willingness to play physical from the Red Wings. The Bruins love to be the bullies and love it even more to be challenged physically. That is where the whole, “Don’t Poke The Bear” thing came from and make no mistake, the Red Wings will not do anything that comes close to poking. They are unemotional robots and won’t feed into the Bruins bully tactics. Bottom line, the Bruins get the job done but not as soon as we would all like it to be. Prediction: Bruins in 6.

As always follow me on Twitter especially during Game 1 as I will be there in Section 326. Tweet at me and come say “Hi”. The playoffs are here, let’s enjoy the ride, and, of course, Lets Go Bs!