The NHL playoffs will drop the puck starting Wednesday and with the new playoff format the seedings mean little to nothing concerning the match ups. Lets dig into the No. 1 Boston Bruins v. No. 8 Detroit Red Wings
Breakdown: The Red Wings are not a normal No. 8 seed due to being devastated by injures all season. It isn't likely they will be fully loaded during the series, but they still took three of four games from the Bruins this season. Detroit was the one team no one wanted to play, but the Bruins are no push over. They are the No. 1 seed for a reason and are stacked top to bottom with the likes of Tuukka Rask, Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara. These two teams haven't played against each other in the playoffs since 1957.
Bruin to Watch: Jarome Iginla
Iginla disappeared the last time we saw him in the playoffs. The series against his current team was on top forget as he only mustered five shots the entire series and showed his age a bit. Now that Iginla is in Boston he is much more likely to play a major role in any type of playoff run the Bruins muster. Iginla can play as well as he has this regular season or disappear again and take a big piece of Boston with him.
Red Wing to Watch: Henrik Zetterberg
Normally it wouldn't be a story or a series altering move for a player who hasn't played in two months to suddenly join the fray, but Zetterberg could unset everything we knew about this series. Zetterberg was averaging 1.07 points per game before his injury and could make the series much more interesting if he could find it in him to play. The Wings will have to win a game or two without Zetterberg for it to matter, but if they can they have a legitimate shot to knock off Boston
Prediction: Bruins in 7
Mark me down as a believer in the Red Wings potential, but they are just too battered to win the series. They will give the Bruins a nice scare before it is all said and done, but the Bruins will be better for it going forward.
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