Madness: Reviewing our 1st-round picks; Plus: Sharks-Wings poll

So...anyone's playoff bracket take a severe beating last night?

I guess I had the Caps bowing out in round 2 anyway, but now my only Eastern survivor is Pittsburgh. On that note, check WebBard's FanPost to review how everyone did in the first round (BenHasna picked the Habs. Doh!). And feel free to add picks for round 2 and beyond over there.

Today I really feel bad for the old-time Capitals fans who have been through so much heartbreak like this since 1987. For the first time in my life, I actually feel guilty for enjoying the Easter Epic so much -- how screwed up is that? (Then again, any of them who worship Dale Hunter deserve such pain until they repent.)

Today you can make your pick on the Sharks vs. Red Wings series, which starts tonight. It has the potential to be epic, or to be another example of the healthy Wings regaining their dominant form, another example of the Sharks disappointing their fans like some such Capitals squad, or finally, a chance for San Jose to cast their demons aside. Chris Osgood is still around, but this time he can't hand the puck to Jamie Baker. I can't wait.

Meanwhile, after the jump, a look at our collective intelligence and madness from our first-round polls and select comments of wisdom and tomfoolery.

Here's the East first-round series, how everyone voted here, and what we/you said:

Capitals (1) vs. Canadiens (8)

So ... yeah. Bit of a surprise to see the Caps fall in seven, then.

Wisdom: "Many assume last year was the Capitals' stumble -- that Game 7 home chokejob against the eventual champs. But history tells us sometimes these teams stumble multiple times." (Me!)

Tomfoolery: "Caps in five." (Oh ... that was me, too.)

Devils (2) vs. Flyers (7)

Boy, we sure called this one. Though if you look at the overall poll of who would win, it was split evenly. So kudos to you Flyers voters, and shame on me.

Wisdom: There wasn't a lot of wisdom in comments, though WebBard had been warning us about how the Flyers handled Jersey easily during the season. I did not get my wish for both teams to be swallowed up by the sea.

Tomfoolery: Me, with this:

Reasons to Pick the Flyers: They ... are an NHL team. Devils in six.

Penguins (4) vs. Senators (5)

The accurate prediction was the second-most popular vote. Yay for us!

Wisdom: "I like what Cory Clouston has done in Ottawa, but they should be outmanned by the Pens, and the defending champs won't be going down that easily, this early. ... Penguins in 6." (Me!)

Tomfoolery: No one said anything regrettable about this series. Pretty much everyone who commented figured Pens in 4, 5 or 6. "[We] can handle things, [we're] smart! Not dumb, like everyone says, but smart And [we] want respect!"

Sabres (3) vs. Bruins (6)

Oh. Oh, dear me. Either we really have some Boston haters here, or the Bruins just got no respect. I'll claw for credit in that I expected a long series, but I joined all but 8% of you (14% if you count the Bruins in 7 crowd) in blowing this call completely.

Widsom: We really didn't have any. Like, none. But I do get my couch back sooner than expected.

Tomfoolery: "Sabres in 4! I’m riding a lucky streak as of late!" --albeezle. Sorry man. That hurts.

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So that's it for our Eastern picks. We'll revisit the West first round later. All told, collectively (by majority) we only picked the right winner in one series. Then again, the only home team to win was the fourth seed -- the one we picked right -- so we needn't go to da box and feel shame.