Fragopoulos reviews his picks from the first round, offers new ones for the second round

Mostly because of a shortage of free time this week I will review my selections of the first round and my predictions for the second.

Starting with my failed picks:

Tampa Bay in 6 – I thought the injury to Ben Bishop was not as serious as it truly was, or that it was even a ruse. After the playoffs had begun, there was an article by Tasha Meares of Fansided.com, "Tampa Bay Lightning Goaltender Bn Bishop Not Returning 'Anytime Soon'". It implied that there was an outside chance he could play if the series was extended or if the Lightning were to get into the second round. This turned out to be a doomed selection. Kind of reminds me of Minnesota in last season's playoffs.

Columbus in 6 – I like the way they play and I am not sold on Fleury. I stayed with this selection even though I knew that Horton was not going to be playing because he was going to have surgery to repair a sports hernia. The article on cbssports.com by Chris Peters was written on April 11^th, 2014 and it refers to the injury. I was stubborn and it cost me.

Colorado in 6 – Do you go against Patrick Roy and the two Stanley Cup rings plugging up his ears? Seriously though, the Avalanche are an explosive young team and I was not sold on Minnesota's goaltending. This article, "Wild's goalie situation still murky", from Scott Burnside of ESPN had me believing that Colorado was going to win the series.

St. Louis in 7 – Yes, they Blues were in a downward flunk but I thought they would start fresh in the post season. Chicago was going to be a tough out and I thought they could do it. They only allowed 191 goals against in the regular season (compared to Chicago's 220). Defense wins… but not this time.

Now my successes:

Boston in 6 – Talk of the season series and puck possession stats did not influence me here. Boston is the Presidents Trophy winner and with a +84 goal differential I felt they could beat the generally older Red Wings. Simple as that.

NY Rangers in 7 – I like Philadelphia's offensive upside but I don't like their goaltending. It has been talked about over and over again since Ron Hextall was no longer a Flyer. The Rangers do have Lundqvist and I thought if it went to game seven he would seal it for them.

Anaheim in 6 – The way they played all season long impressed me. It is also hard not to take the Western Conference winners either. Dallas was tougher than I thought and I was worried when Getzlaf got hurt. Luckily it was not as worse as it could have been.

Los Angeles in 7 – I have been burnt by San Jose before and don't trust myself to pick them as they are constituted right now. I liked that the Kings have practically the same core that got them the Cup. That was my logic and I was fortunate that the Sharks didn't sweep the series.

Now for Round Two:

Boston in 6 – Montreal has confidence and they play Boston well but I think that the Bruins will get under their skin. The fortunate calls and bounces that were going the Canadiens way will either be neutral or go the Bruins way.

NY Rangers in 6 – The Rangers might have an injury with Rick Nash which concerns me but I remain not believing in Marc-Andre Fleury. Unfortunately, that is what it boils down form me.

Chicago in 7 – The Wild are better than the squad that faced the Blackhawks in the 2013 Playoffs. They will have emotional fuel from the previous season upsetting defeat. Upsetting not because they were favored but more due to the poor performance that I am sure left them with a poor taste in their collective mouths. Much like how I selected Los Angeles in the first round it is because the Blackhawks also have much of their roster from the Cup win in tact too. Experience gets them through to round three.

Anaheim in 6 – The Kings got into round two by the skin of their teeth. They are happy that they were not demolished by the Sharks. I feel they will be overconfident and mentally exhausted. I am still concerned about the injury to Getzlaf but I predict that they will be victorious.

Not all that hard to explain. Yes I did go four and four, however, my predictions for the Cup Finals are still alive.

If I go 50 / 50 again, I hope it will be Boston and Anaheim that will be in the winner's circle.

I'd be happy with that.