Next stop – Denver

With two teams so evenly matched on paper, who’s going to win?

This is a tough one to call – but somebody has to win, so I can’t just call this a wash. Even the intangibles are basically 50-50, as neither Colorado nor Edmonton have won anything in awhile and both teams will be very motivated to win. Both teams are having breakout seasons for the first time in a long time.

I think this one’s going to come down to which team gets the better bounces and luck in the series. Which team gets more timely goaltending? Which team gets more fluky goals? Which team will win the special teams battle?

So I’m going to pick……

*drumroll*

Colorado in seven.

I know, pretty bold prediction from an Oilers blogger, but I think of myself as a unbiased blogger and while I think it’s a foregone conclusion this series will be so close it will go seven games, I still think Colorado will win. There’s only one simple reason for this – Colorado plays in a tougher division and thus far has faced stiffer competition to get to where they are as opposed to the Oilers, who play in what is arguably the NHL’s worst division, not the least of which is because the most recent expansion team plays there and thus gives the other clubs the chance to run up some wins.

I hope I’m wrong – I’d love to be proven wrong in this case – but I’m picking Colorado to win the series ultimately.