One of the best first rounds in the last couple of decades is under way in the NHL. Prognostications thus are not easy, but who are we as sports fans to shy away from a chance to expound on ultimate game outcomes?

Here we go. Tampa Bay beats the Islanders because they are better. Boston wins over Montreal so long as Joe Thornton stays in the lineup. New Jersey gains a mild upset over Philly. The same for Ottawa over Toronto, but this battle for Ontario looms as a humdinger.

Tampa Bay then bests New Jersey, but this is my heart hoping for good things for Lightning coach and former University of Maine Black Bear John Tortorella. Ottawa tops the Bruins because the Senators have a fire in their belly.

Ottawa wins the East in an up-and-down offensive battle with Tampa Bay.

In the West, Detroit derails Nashville in a hurry. San Jose will beat the Blues who are not that good. Vancouver slips by Calgary in a slugfest. Dallas comes back to upset Colorado, a team with internal problems between coach and players.

Detroit bests Dallas in round two and Vancouver ousts San Jose. Vancouver, using the much-publicized Todd Bertuzzi suspension as a shot of adrenaline, upsets the No. 1 Red Wings in seven games. This will be a great series if it comes to pass.

Then, in an all-Canadian final, the Senators win, using the drive from their seventh-game loss last year against New Jersey in the Eastern Conference finals as an over-the-top impetus.

This will be a series that will warm the hearts of all Canadian fans in the land where the ice game is still the national pastime. It will be a classic series that any hockey fan will long remember.

As always, should any of the above predictions prove slightly off, i.e., wrong, this column will self-destruct and you will have no recall of its contents.

Positive vibrations

In a world of ugly and heartbreaking news, here’s a few random acts of kindness in the sports world.

Oakland A’s third baseman Eric Chavez received his Gold Glove trophy Monday and gave it to his infield coach Ron Washington, writing on it, “not without you.”

The Devil Rays let Don Zimmer, former Yankee coach and now a Rays senior advisor, throw out the first pitch in this his 53rd year in baseball.

Toronto goalie Ed Belfour had a shutout in the last game of the year and gave the puck to linesman Ray Scappinillo, who worked the match and is retiring after a 33-year officiating career. Tough guy Tie Domi, Belfour’s teammate, suggested the move to his netminder.

The Oakland A’s invited the young girl who lost an arm last month in a shark attack while surfing to throw out the opening-day first pitch. Star pitcher and surfer Barry Zito of Oakland talked hanging 10 with her as she waited by the dugout to take the field.

Texas manager Buck Showalter called one of his minor leaguers before the Rangers’ first game this week. The young man was discovered to have a brain tumor last year and was not expected to live. They successfully operated this year and he is going to make a baseball comeback

Showalter said to me, “I just wanted to get everything in a proper perspective.”

Old Town native Gary Thorne is an ESPN and NBC sportscaster.