NHL Weekly Preview - Jan 30-Feb 5

Games of the Week:

1. Pittsburgh Penguins @ Boston Bruins, 1pm, Saturday, February 4

Pittsburgh enters the week on a league-best seven game win streak, while the Bruins have lost three of their last five. Evgeni Malkin has been the best player so far this year, and his Penguins will hope the All-Star break won't affect the Russian superstar's hot pace. Meanwhile Boston will look to add to their four point Northeast Division lead and attempt to catch the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers. This game could represent a preview of a playoff matchup, and a meeting between these two top-tier Eastern Conference teams should not be missed.

2. Philadelphia Flyers @ New York Rangers, 1pm, Sunday, February 5

NHL Weekly Preview - Jan 23-29

Games of the Week:

1. Philadelphia Flyers @ Florida Panthers, 7:30pm, Tuesday, January 24

While the Flyers have six more points than the Panthers, it is Florida that sits one place ahead of Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference standings, as they are the leaders of the Southeast Division. The Panthers haven't played great hockey recently, as they are 3-4-3 in their last ten games and have a -13 goal differential on the season. Florida just snapped their four-game losing streak with a shootout win at Winnipeg on Saturday night. Philadelphia meanwhile have a solid +20 differential and have a league-best seventeen road wins on the year. 

2. St. Louis Blues @ Detroit Red Wings, 7:30pm, Monday, January 23

NFC Championship Preview

New York Giants @ San Francisco 49ers - Sunday 6:30pm

The Case for New York:

Last weeks’ win in Green Bay has made it all but impossible to look at this year's Giants team without comparing them to the 2007 Giants team. If the 2011 Giants want to reach the same level as the 2007 Super Bowl team, they should follow the media’s lead, and take a look back at their championship run. The 2007 Giants were a team of great balance, and while this year's team is going into San Francisco to face one of the league’s best run defences, the 2011 team has to commit—at least to some degree—to run the football.

Eli Manning will have to overcome a great 49ers defence this Sunday

AFC Championship Preview

Baltimore Ravens @ New England Patriots - Sunday 3pm

The Case for Baltimore:

Ricky Williams could fuel the Ravens ground attack Sunday

The Ravens outlasted Houston last weekend to gain their first playoff win since the 2000-01 season, when they defeated the Denver Broncos in the first round en route to their franchise's only Super Bowl. The Ravens scored seventeen points in the first quarter, added a field goal in the fourth and shut out the Texans in the second half. The Texans out-gained the Ravens in the game by 88 yards, but it was turnovers that made the difference for Baltimore. The Ravens' D forced three interceptions from rookie T.J. Yates and recovered a Jacoby Jones fumble while not turning the ball over once in the game. 

Taylor vs. Tyler

Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin have been inextricably linked since they were drafted first and second overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Here's a statistical look at these two young superstars, from their days as talented OHLers to the varied beginnings of their NHL careers.

	Taylor Hall, #4 Left Wing, Edmonton Oilers	Tyler Seguin, #19 Center, Boston Bruins
Born:	1991-11-14	1992-01-31
OHL Draft Position:	2007, 2nd Overall (WIN)	2008, 9th Overall (PLY)
OHL Points:	280	173
OHL Games:	183	124
OHL Pts./Game	1.53	1.4
OHL Plus/Minus	+115	+31
NHL Draft Position:	2010, 1st Overall (EDM)	2010, 2nd Overall (BOS)
NHL Points:	73	60
NHL Games:	101	114
NHL Pts./Game	0.72	0.53
NHL Plus/Minus	-12	+30
Playoff Points:	0	7
Playoff Games:	0	13
Stanley Cups:	0	1

NHL Weekly Preview - Jan 16-22

Games of the Week:

1. Boston Bruins @ New York Rangers, 1pm, Saturday, January 21

       The two best teams in the East face off in this Saturday afternoon affair. This matchup will revolve around the goaltenders, as both Tim Thomas and Henrik Lundqvist are in the top five in Goals Against Average and Save Percentage. These teams have a combined goal differential of +104 this season, and their matchup should not be missed as it could prove to be a preview of a potential playoff series come April.

2. San Jose Sharks @ Vancouver Canucks, 4:30pm, Saturday

NFL Divisional Round Predictions

New Orleans @ San Francisco

The Bottom Line:

The Niners’ defence and home field manage to contain the Saints—to some degree. Drew Brees still finds a way to get the Saints in the end zone, while Alex Smith can’t quite keep up.

The Score:
Saints win 31-24

Drew Brees will lead the Saints to a win in San Francisco

AFC Divisional Round preview

Denver Broncos @ New England Patriots - Saturday, 8pm

The Case For Denver:

After ousting the AFC Champion of 2 out of the past 3 seasons last Sunday, Denver's confidence is mile-high. The Broncos' overtime win against Pittsburgh ended Denver's three-game skid heading into the playoffs and set them up with a date against the Patriots in Foxboro.

This is a rematch of teams who faced off in week 15, which resulted in a 41-23 victory for the Pats in Denver. Tim Tebow had a decent day, running for 93 yards and two TDs, while throwing for 194 yards. The Broncos were even leading 16-7 in the 2^nd quarter until New England went off for 27 straight points and carried an eighteen-point lead into the 4^th.

Lance Ball was one of four Broncos to have a +25 yard rush against the Patriots in week 15.

NFC Divisional Round preview

New Orleans Saints @ San Francisco 49ers - Saturday, 4:30pm 

The Case For New Orleans:

The Saints have the hottest offense in the NFC, after rolling up a playoff-record 626 yards against the Detroit Lions. Once upon a time, this offense was considered to be too pass heavy. Now, however the Saints boast the most balanced and explosive attack in the NFL. They key for the Saints is to maintain this balance.

The Saints need to have some success running the ball, as this would open up the play action, which the Saints run extremely well. On the back-end of these play-action passes, the Saints receivers have to run crisp routes.

Marques Colston has 542 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns in his last 5 games.