The first round of the NHL playoffs has the same kind of frisson as March Madness. The No. 6 Philadelphia Flyers (25-1 at press time to win the Cup) and the No. 7 Calgary Flames (12-1) are making a lot of Cinderella noise, but chalk still rules.

Fast-forward to the Stanley Cup finals, where I expect to see the top seeds in both conferences: the Detroit Red Wings (11-4) from the West and the Montreal Canadiens (11-2) from the East. Anything can happen in a seven-game series, and the Habs have the hot goalie in Carey Price, so they’re my value pick on the futures market.

My prediction, on the other hand, stays with the Wings. They dominated the NHL this year at 54-21-7. If Dominik Hasek (a substandard .902 save percentage in 2007-08) has one of his occasional playoff meltdowns, Chris Osgood (.914) is there to pick up the slack. Put the champagne and the octopus on ice.