The NHL Conference finals begin a little later today with the Western Conference kicking things off at 3pm EST. While I really thought this was Vancouver’s year to shine, I’m not entirely shocked that the Blackhawks were able to handle them, even after getting devastated in the opening game of the series. It’s that predictable One seed versus the number Two seed matchup. No odd defying here, the best two from the West’s regular season are going head to head to play for Lord Stanley’s cup. What is crazy, however, is the East. Almost every analyst had it either being Washington or Pittsburgh to represent the East when the playoffs started. The upstart Montreal Canadians came along and destroyed everyones predictions. Since the playoff format was change in 1994 no 8 seed in the East(and only one in the West) has ever made it to a conference final. The only thing crazier is that the team with home ice advantage in the East is the 7th seed! That’s right, two teams who made the playoffs in the very last couple of games of the season are now playing for the honor of representing the Eastern conference and a shot at winning it all. The Flyers had an easier road of it, but getting this far is still pretty impressive, especially since Boston had them on the ropes and the clawed their way back to get the winning goal with under 8 minutes remaining in Game 7 of the series. So here we are, the Conference picks. … More The Conference Finals – Predictable and not so