Conflicted about who to root for? Read this

It's been easy as a Red Wings fan, up until now, to pick who to root for in the NHL Playoffs. With the Wings already through to the second round, you have been -- hopefully -- rooting for long series, so the competition comes into the second round much like the Wings did last year -- tired and a little beaten up.

But now, with just one or two games left anyway, who do you want to win? Here's a handy guide:

Vancouver/Chicago: OK, you may feel like you've been selling your soul for the past few days, rooting for the Blackhawks to extend the series. And it might have tested your gag reflex Sunday night when you cheered for a wonderful play by Marian Hossa that set up the game-winner to set up a Game 7. But now what? You hate the Blackhawks, like any good Red Wings fan does, but the Canucks are the one seed, and the better overall team.

As far as who poses a bigger threat, I still think it's the Canucks. If they get it going, they could be dangerous once they get by their yearly bugaboo -- the Blackhawks. And I have a feeling a Game 7 win against Chicago would be the type of win this team needs to get on track. Then again, Roberto Luongo.

I really don't think the Blackhawks can beat the Wings in a playoff series, but they're showing right now that they're still an incredibly dangerous team, especially if Corey Crawford is on top of his game.

So who do you root for? Swallow hard and root for the Hawks. Not because the Canucks are all that scary -- I really don't see them that way anymore -- but because a Blackhawks win could mean the Wings avoid the San Jose Sharks in the second round, and instead get the luxury of home-ice against Nashville and not much travel in the next round. It also eliminates the possibility that the Wings would have to get to the finals by playing flying across the country for all of their road games.

Kings/Sharks: Fuck the Sharks. Does that help? Sure, Jonathan Quick has been a thorn in the Wings side, but there's really very little chance the Wings would even see the Kings. If they win and so does Vancouver, they'll play the Canucks. If they win and so does Chicago, the Wings get the Blackhawks and the Kings go to Nashville. Sure, the Kings could beat Nashville, but that's a lot of projecting. In other words, this is a no-brainer, continue rooting for the Kings.

Sabres/Flyers: The East is strange to me, because I think if the Wings get through the West, barring any kind of major injury, they'll win it all. I'm just not that scared of the teams in the East. Is that foolish? Maybe, but I don't think so.

Anyway, in this series, you could root for the Real American Hero in Ryan Miller, or you could root for extra excitement in Round 2 with the Flyers advancing. Why? Because everybody hates the Flyers. So as much as it pains me to say, this, root for Philly.

Bruins/Canadiens: Again, I'm going with excitement here, and I think a Flyers/Bruins series would be ridiculously fun. So as much as I dislike Boston, I'm rooting for the Bruins.

Penguins/Lightning: This should be a really easy one for all of us, right? The Penguins are the Penguins, and the Lightning were built by Steve Yzerman. I mean, there's no question where our hearts are in this one, and that will no doubt come out tonight while I'm watching the game.

But my head? My head tells me we have a chance to see Capitals/Penguins in the second round, with a subplot to end all subplots: the return of Sidney Crosby. So I'll root for the Lightning, but I'm not going to be heartbroken if the Penguins lose. Yeah, I said it.