NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will be rooting for a re-match of last years Western Conference Finals with Detroit taking on Chicago. Not only are those two large markets but they are two great hockey cities. They are two original six franchises with one being a Yankee esque organization and the other carrying almost a 50 year title drought. It would also pit the "runner up" Marian Hossa against his teammates from a season ago. Will Bettman get his wish?
(1) San Jose Sharks
Regular Season Record: 51-20-11, 113 pts
Head-to-Head Record: 1-3
Last Stanley Cup Win: Never
Last Stanley Cup Final Appearance: Never
Total Championships: 0
Last Postseason Appearance: 2009
Players with Stanley Cup Rings: Dan Boyle, Rob Blake, Kent Huskins, Niclas Wallin
(5) Detroit Red Wings
Regular Season Record: 44-24-14, 102 pts
Head-to-Head Record: 3-1
Last Stanley Cup Win: 2008
Last Stanley Cup Final Appearance: 2009
Total Championships: 11
Last Postseason Appearance: 2009
Players with Stanley Cup Rings: Pavel Datsyuk (2), Henrik Zetterberg, Brian Rafalski (3), Johan Franzen, Nicklas Lidstrom (4), Nicklas Kronwall, Dan Cleary, Valtteri Filppula, Tomas Holmstrom (4), Kris Draper (4), Brett Lebda, Andreas Lilja, Brad Stuart, Kirk Maltby (4), Aaron Downey, Drew Miller, Jason Williams, Brad May, Darren Helm, Chris Osgood (3)
This is a very interesting series as it pits the Western Conference power house Red Wings against the career choke artist Sharks. The Sharks have the talent to not only play with but defeat Detroit and will most likely be favored. However the Red Wings have the experience edge and that can count for a great deal in the NHL playoffs. Both teams that skilled players like Datsyuk and Zetterberg on Detroit and Joe Thornton and Dan Heatley on San Jose. The speed and chemistry edge goes to the duo who has been in the playoffs every year since Z came into the league in 2003 and has lead the team to the finals each of the past two seasons. Heatley and Thornton played well in their first year together but at times looked lost when trying to determine where the other guy was on the ice in the first round. The Red Wings biggest advantage may be secondary scoring from role players. Guys like Tomas Homstrom, Johan Franzen, and Todd Bertuzzi can really get into opponents skin and aggravate a goal tender. First it was Holmstrom who would cause havoc in front of the net then he passed the torch to the Mule the last few years and through out the many injuries faced by Detroit this season Bertuzzi's big body and touch proved to be an okay replacement. While San Jose does have guys like Joel Pavelski and Patrick Marleau who can produce they just do not have the secondary scoring depth of Detroit. It takes these secondary players to win cups and the main reason the Sharks have never really came close to hoisting Lord Stanley before is they have not had enough of it. On defense, while San Jose does have a potential future Hall of Famer in Rob Blake who also is their team leader and brings the most playoff experience, the Red Wings have two guys like that who are Hall of Fame locks. Brian Rafalski who always finds himself deep in the playoffs and arguably the best d man ever, Nicklas Lidstrom. Once again I have to give the edge to Detroit, this time on the blue line.
The key to the series just as any other is of course the goalie play. Evgeni Nabokov is the veteran and more seasoned net minder. However, his success has almost all been in the regular season excluding a few spectacular saves here or there. It is very tough to go deep in the playoffs with a rookie goalie and the only rookie to ever win the cup as a starter is Patrick Roy in 1986 with Montreal. Howard has had big game tests though and not only picked up his first career playoff shutout against Phoenix but also won a pivotal game 7. If he falters the Red Wings can send out future Hall of Famer Chris Osgood to the ice, but his age is starting to finally show. If the Red Wings win it will be because Howard plays well. Coaching wise Mike Babcock beats his former assistant by a landslide. Babcock has 3 finals appearances and a cup to his credit while Todd McIellan has a ring, however it is from 2008 when he served under "Babs" in Detroit.
I think Howard has learned a lot from this season and of course the Sharks as stated in my earlier post carry a couple curses around with them. I do feel this may be one of the best series of this post season and it could possibly finally be a passing of the torch situation. Not so fast....the Red Wings despite their many injuries are making a statement this year and know how to deal with literally every obstacle that can come their way.
My pick: Throw the seeds out the window, Detroit in 6.
(2) Chicago Blackhawks
Regular Season Record: 52-22-8, 112 pts
Head-to-Head Record:
Last Stanley Cup Win: 1961
Last Stanley Cup Final Appearance: 1992
Total Championships: 3
Last Postseason Appearance: 2009
Players with Stanley Cup Rings: Andrew Ladd, John Madden (2), Tomas Kopecky
(3) Vancouver Canucks
Regular Season Record: 49-28-5, 103 pts
Head-to-Head Record:
Last Stanley Cup Win: Never
Last Stanley Cup Final Appearance: 1994
Total Championships: 0
Last Postseason Appearance: 2009
Players with Stanley Cup Rings: Mikael Samuelsson, Brad Lukowich
Two high scoring offenses square off in this star studded series. Both teams had very tough tests in round 1 and are primed to prove they can be elite. These are also two relatively young teams that could be meeting in the first of many playoff match ups for years to come. First off the speed and stick handling will be on center stage. The Hawks have top tier young guns like Patrick Kane, Johnathan Toewes and Patrick Sharp. Kane is the leader of this group and needs to step if Chicago can make another deep run. Marian Hossa despite his curse is one of the best all around players in the league and when he's on he can take over. Hossa has been known to sleep through playoff series in the past going back to his 0 goal 3 point total in last years Cup Final for Detroit, but he also can be the overall best skater on the ice if motivated. His ability to know exactly where to be on the ice and to have one of the best shots in the league can be a major asset to the Blackhawks. On the flip side the Sedin Twins captan the Canuck ship. Henrik Sedin became the first player in franchise history to lead the league in points during the regular season and his hot hand continued with him in the playoffs. His brother Daniel is no slouch and is one of the better face guys. Possession control could be a major factor in this series. As for secondary scoring, the Canucks have the experienced Swede, Mikael Samuelson at their disposal. He picked up right where he left off in Detroit and has scored big goal after big goal through out this year in Vancouver. While the secondary scoring edge may go to Vancouver the overall scoring depth favors Chicago. This depth even expands to the defense with Duncan Keith putting up a career high 69 points during the regular season. Defensively neither one of these teams have a strong focus on their guys actually playing their positions. The d men can score with the forwards but stopping an odd man rush often seems like a tall task.
The main defense for Vancouver comes from the goalie. Continuous Vezina candidate Roberto Luongo can dominate and make fans think of old school Dominik Hasek with his slinky for a spin. Often Luongo has been forced to carry the team but this years bunch has actually bailed him out several times due to the high scoring out put. In contrast and what could potentially be the deciding factor of this series Chicago unfortunately brings Antti Niemi with them. Niemi has flashed brilliance at times but more often then not is letting soft goals go by him and refusing to ever cover up the puck. If you stay near the net a re bound will surely be available to punch in. Niemi is also on a short lease from his poor play against a very low scoring Nashville team and if he falters Cristobal Huet could be asked to come in. Unlike the situation in Detroit with a Hall of Famer waiting on the bench the Hawks would send out another weak net minder out on the ice. Huet who was once labeled the next Patrick Roy in Montreal is a mental nut case. One bad goal and expect two more to follow in a matter of minutes. He is not a guy strong enough mentally or physically to lead a team in the NHL playoffs. The goalie competition has not made either one of these guys better, in fact it has made them worse.
My pick: It's a tough one and despite the extreme goalie problems in Chicago I think they somehow squeak by and get back to the West Finals, granted it certainly wont be easy. Home ice may decide this one. Chicago in 7.
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