And it’ll be a huge four-game blockbuster too.

The 2009 NHL Playoffs continue with a four-game extravaganza you shouldn’t miss. Unless of course you’re not Canadian.

The Boston Bruins, after securing the overall no.1 seed in the Eastern Conference, will begin their road for the Stanley Cup when they take on the Montreal Canadiens. Boston comes into the series with an 8-2 run that got them within a point of winning the President’s Cup. Tim Thomas has excelled all year, and the outstanding depth at both offense and defense has changed the Bruins from being a mediocre team to a club that seem destined to win it all this year.

Although the Bruins may not be used to such high expectations, they shouldn’t really have too much trouble against the Montreal Canadiens.

In the West, we have Game 1 of the best of seven series between the San Jose Sharks and the Anaheim Ducks. Four teams in the West are selected to make the playoffs every year since the lockout and the Sharks and Ducks always seem to occupy two of the spots.

And yet, this will only mark the first time that the two teams from the state of California will meet in a playoff series. Unfortunately for the Anaheim Ducks, this may be a rather quick series as the Sharks have the Ducks trumped on just about every statistical category.

We also have the defending champions Detroit Red Wings…

Yes, the NHL still holds its annual playoff tournament.

And while most of us would rather keep our eyes glued on the NBA’s postseason wars, the 2009 NHL Playoffs still got underway and our friends from SPORTSBETTING.COM wasted no time in milking from it.

The puck dropped on the NHL postseason on Wednesday and as it stands, the balance of power lies in the West with the defending champions Detroit Red Wings and the San Jose Sharks listed as the odds-on favorites at SPORTSBETTING.COM to take the Stanley Cup at +300. Boston has the best odds of the Eastern Conference teams at +500.

The defending champions will take on the Columbus Blue Jackets first. A threat to repeat as champs, the Detroit Red Wings had a successful season accumulating 51 wins, 21 losses and 10 OT losses for 112 points but thanks to some shoddy goal tending, went 3-7 in their final 10 regular season games. Chris Osgood, who finished the season with a 3.09 GAA and a .887 save percentage, is expected to start for Detroit.

In stark contrast, the Wings will be up against a good, albeit young, goalie Steve Mason (33-20-7, 2.29 GAA, .916 save percentage and 10 shutouts) and the Columbus Blue Jackets, who finished the regular season with…

When we speak about the action happening lately on ice, one team from Boston ended their losing skid as soon as that ”other” team tried to end theirs.

For the Boston Bruins, their slump is over in the 2009 NHL hockey season. Bruins center Marc Savard said after his team won its second in succession to put a two-game losing streak to bed. ”If that’s a slump that seems pretty good.”

The two consecutive losses weren’t the slump; it was the way the club had been playing for several games. The Boston Bruins are leading the pack in the tight Eastern Conference with a 31-7 win-loss slate.

The Bruins are 8-2 in their last 10 games, followed by the Washington Capitals with 27- 13.

Taking third is the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers have gone 12-0-2 in their last 14 games at home and have not lost in regulation there since Nov. 8. They thrive off the energy of the raucous crowd that are more akin to those in the 1970s than those that have been booing regularly the last few seasons.

The Montreal Canadians are fourth at 25-10, the New York Rangers in fifth place with 25-15 and closing in at sixth are the New Jersey Devils with 24-15. Rounding up the top 10 in the Eastern conference standings are the Buffalo Sabres, the…