Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 4.33

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The first round of the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs is now officially in the books and while many things turned out as expected – the Boston Bruins easily brushing aside the Montreal Canadiens, the Detroit Red Wings teaching the postseason newbie Columbus Blue Jackets a lesson in playoff hockey and the usual suspects leading the way in terms of scoring – there were several big league surprises. Here is our look at the top three surprises from the first round.

The Carolina Hurricanes got hot at the right time as the regular season drew to a close but after drawing a first round matchup with the New Jersey Devils, few gave them a chance. The Devils were being touted as the possible Eastern Conference representative in the Stanley Cup Final but the Canes paid no attention. Instead they battled right down to the final second, literally in game four, and stunned the Devils with a late explosion in game seven to advance to the second round.

If there was any year for the San Jose Sharks to finally go deep into the playoffs, this was it. Added were playoff grizzled veterans in Rob Blake, Travis Moen, Jeremy Roenick and Claude Lemieux who were expected to show the way in tough times but instead it was the playoff grizzled Anaheim Ducks that made times tough and never let up. The Ducks were certainly not a typical eighth seed but if anything the Sharks should have at least been in that series. They never were.

While the Washington Capitals defeating the New York Rangers was not a surprise, they way in which they went about it was. Nobody expected the Caps to have to fight back after falling down three games to one. Moreover, if the Capitals were to have any success, it was expected to come with Jose Theodore in goal and not the little known Russian Simeon Varlamov. Now heading into a dream matchup for the NHL against Pittsburgh Penguins, it is hands down Varlamov’s team.

But hey, all that was just rigamarole.