The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs will kick off Wednesday night, prompting EA Sports to release its traditional pre-postseason predictions, courtesy of the latest entry in its sim-minded pucks game, NHL 09. Come June, when 15 other teams have come and gone, EA Sports' latest predicts that it will be the Boston Bruins who hold the Stanley Cup high after beating the Chicago Blackhawks in a six-game Finals series.

　　After finishing the regular season atop the Eastern Conference, the Bruins' path to the Finals will take them through their long-time rival--and possible Celine Dion acquisition--the Montreal Canadiens, the resurgent Carolina Hurricanes, and a seven-game slugfest with Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, according to the EA sim. There they are projected to meet a battle-tested Blackhawks team fresh off series victories over the Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks, and the San Jose Sharks.

　　The EA Sports simulation suggests a hard-fought postseason, with no sweeps in the 15 different series, with five of the matchups needing all seven games to determine a winner. Among the more notable predictions are a first-round upset of the perennial Cup contender Detroit Red Wings at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets, a franchise that has never before even made the postseason.

　　Don't put the champagne on ice just yet, Bruins faithful. Last year's simulation picked the San Jose Sharks to topple the Montreal Canadiens in a seven-game Finals series. What actually happened was that the two teams EA Sports projected to lose in the Conference Finals--Detroit and the Pittsburgh Penguins--actually made it to the finals, where the Red Wings took care of business in six games.