NHL /NBA Conference Final picks

With all conference finals starting either today (Sunday) or tomorrow (Monday), it is going to be fun to see some great hockey and basketball in the next two weeks. Plus, if you are a sports fan, even if you do not like the teams inside of these conference finals, you can always root for the cinderella team, which in the NHL, you have your choice between the Flyers or the Candadiens, as both have gone through some tough roads to get here. Then, in the NBA there is the Celtics, who beat the NBA's golden boy in LeBron James. Or, in the west, you can always root for the Suns who are playing the always hated Los Angeles Lakers.

NHL Conference Finals

West
Chicago Blackhawks vs. San Jose Sharks

In this series, you have the still young, yet very talented Blackhawks going up against the Sharks, who have superstars which you can reel off easily. The 'Hawks youngsters also have a veteran superstar to lead them in Marian Hossa, who you really haven't heard a lot from thus far this postseason, but he is still there and still contributing greatly. The youngsters for the 'Hawks are Jonathon Toews and Patrick Kane. While the Sharks already have Dany Heatley, Joe Thornton, and Patrick Marleau along with an amazing goaltender in Evgeni Nabakov. All of those players have some great scoring ability as well, and it should be fun to watch. This is also the top 2 seeds in the western conference, which should come down to the wire.

Pick: Since I picked them in the preseason, I can't go back now. Blackhawks in 7.

East

Philadelphia Flyers vs. Montreal Canadiens

The East is complete opposite of the West in the fact that while the West features the top 2 seeds out there, the East features the bottom two seeds who, like mentioned above are really cinderellas. The Canadiens, who didn't secure a playoff spot until game 81, faced the Presidents' trophy winners in the Washington Capitals and they came back from a 3-1 deficit to win in 7, in Washington. Then, they went on to face the NHL's golden boy in Sidney Crosby, and defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins. They then proceeded to beat them in game 7, in Pittsburgh where it didn't seem as if the Penguins didn't even show up to play. Those wins were thanks in large part to their amazing goaltender, Jaroslav Halak, who has had a .933 save percentage. The biggest offensive force for the Candadiens has been Mike Cammallieri , who has scored nearly 1 goal per game, (12 goals, 14 games).
But, the Flyers have also faced adversity. They have had injury after injury to key players. Jeff Carter, their leading scorer is out for the entirety of the playoffs, Ray Emery, whom they signed to a one year deal was lost after an ab tear. Then, they lost Brian Boucher, who was playing amazing in the conference quarterfinals against New Jersey, to a knee injury. Finally, they have a journeyman goaltender in Michael Leighton who was picked up off waivers and has done amazing in the regular season and being plugged in in the middle of these playoffs. But, also the Flyers just barely got into the playoffs in game 82 in a shootout no less. They then proceeded to wipe the ice with the New Jersey Devils and the greatest goalie ever in Marty Brodeur. But, in the conference semifinals, they came back from a 3-0 game deficit, but not only that, in game 7, they were down 3-0 and came back to win 4-3. The Flyers will need to rely on Leighton to be as good as Halak and have the offense be very good to beat Halak. Then, the Candadiens will need Halak to be as good as he has been, maybe even better as the Flyers have had Danny Briere and Simon Gagne really step up and play well. But, in all actuality, this series revolves around Halak and how he does, if he continues to play up to his .933 save percentage, they'll win in 6, if he doesn't, they'll lose in 6. I'm picking the Flyers to solve Halak's puzzle and win in 6.

Now the NBA playoffs. Since I'm not an expert at all upon this, i'll just do the picks here.

In the East, the big 3 of the Boston Celtics (Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett) will shut down Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson and Vince Carter. They'll also play some very good defense, which is how they won the title in 2008 to win this series in 6.

In the west, Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire will continue to dominate and shut down Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol and continue to run everyone down. The Suns will win in 7.