Yesterday, I took a look at the pretty straight-forward Eastern Conference. I call it straight-forward not because of the match ups but because most of the teams have been in their current position for a while.
The West is a completely different story. There was an all-out assault by four of the Pacific teams up until the last week of the season when the Stars were essentially eliminated and that number dropped to three. There was so much confusion that up until the last week, it was useless to try and formulate the 'magic number' on the playoff security. But also in that mix was Colorado trying to claw their way in and then Calgary who put themselves on the outside looking in about a month ago with a string of losses but still almost climbed back.
Not only was there a free for all just trying to get in, there was a battle going on in the middle for home-ice advantage in the first round between Nashville, Detroit and Chicago and then there was a still fight for the Presidents Trophy and number one overall seed until the last night of the year. In the West, nothing was known until it was all said and done.
So let's take a look at the match ups that we did end up with.
#1 Vancouver Canucks vs. #8 L.A. Kings
These two teams each won two of the four game series in the regular season, but that means absolutely nothing now.
The Canucks really had a bad slump from about mid-February to almost mid-March in which they went only 5-9, not what you'd expect from the top-seed in the West. Vancouver was able to hold on and turn it around at exactly the right time though. They won the Presidents trophy for the second straight year with a win Saturday and the Sedin twins once again led the team finishing 1-2 in scoring. Roberto Luongo hasn't been as great as he once was this year but its obvious he's passed his advice on to Cory Schneider who has played phenomenal in his increased role this season.
Los Angeles is a young team that has weathered the storm the past few seasons and now have the supporting cast to help young Anze Kopitar. Jonathan Quick has played out of his mind this season posting a 1.95 GAA and .929 SV% in 69 games. The Kings did have to ride him late just to make the playoffs and fatigue could become a factor especially if they make a deep run.
I think Los Angeles is headed in the right direction and next year could be their best in quite a while but Vancouver is just playing too hot right now for the Kings. Normally I would say this would be a 5 game series, but this one could go six or maybe even seven only because of Jonathan Quick.
I've got Vancouver in 6.
#2 St. Louis Blues vs. #7 San Jose Sharks
The Blues swept the four game season series and I see this series going somewhat along the same lines.
Ken Hitchcock. Ken Hitchcock. Ken Hitchcock. He is the only reason the Blues are in the position they are, just missing the number one seed by two points. St. Louis has had some down years recently and with them they were able to draft some high talent. Now Hitchcock comes in and is able to get everything to mesh together. This team doesn't have one star player, but rather they spread the points around. Backes, Oshie, Pietrangelo, Shattenkirk and Perron all have 40+ points. Couple that with two of the best statistical goalies in the league in Jaroslav Halak (1.97 GAA, .926 SV% in 46 games) and Brian Elliot (1.56 GAA, .940 SV% in 36 starts) and you've got a solid team that I see going deep. They don't score a ton of goals but they have the least allowed in the entire league playing in the Central Division where they play Nashville, Detroit and Chicago six times each.
San Jose is a good team once again led by 'Jumbo' Joe Thornton with 77 points with Logan Couture, Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski all hovering in the 60+ point range. Antti Niemi has had a good season, but his team leaves him out to dry way too much to be able to compete with this Blues team. He allows almost 2 1/2 goals per game but still saves over 91% of his shots. Especially with the Blues goaltending tandem, the Sharks aren't going to be able to outscore their opponent.
The Sharks are an aging team trying to compete with the youth of St. Louis. I just don't see them standing much of a chance in this series. I'm taking St. Louis in 5.
#3 Phoenix Coyotes vs. #6 Chicago Blackhawks
Against all odds, the Coyotes have made the playoffs for the third season in a row. And although everyone wanted the Chicago-Detroit match up in the first round, this should be a good series.
Dave Tippett is the magician that makes this team run. There was an amazing article in Sports Illustrated a while back that detailed his daily life in an organization that has been on life support in Phoenix for several years and almost had the plug pulled on several occasions. The fact that this team is here, much less for the third year in a row, can be directly attributed to him. Veteran Ray Whitney, Radim Vrbrata and long-time captain Shane Doan have led this team offensively while Mike Smith has been solid in net. Smith has a 2.21 GAA but still manages to stop 93% of the shots against him. This is a team that has almost no depth and relies on Smith way too much, but they deserve all the credit in the world for winning the Pacific this year.
The Blackhawks have been able to rebound after their purging of players in the summer after their cup victory and this is a young, talented team. Hossa, Sharp, Kane and Toews lead this team all with over 55 points. Corey Crawford isn't performing as well as he did last season, but he doesn't have to this time around. Chicago has a solid defensive core centered around Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Niklas Hjalmarson that is there to help him out.
This will be an interesting series to see how Phoenix performs after a long playoff push and they have the ability to vary the length of the series but I don't see them winning it. I like Chicago in 6.
#4 Nashville Predators vs. #5 Detroit Red Wings
Nashville won home-ice advantage in this series by two points. That is more important to them than it is for Detroit because they avoid the extra game in the always-brutal Hockeytown. Each team was 2-1 at home during the regular season series, but those weren't playoff crowds.
Nashville is another team that does a great job spreading the wealth on offense with seven players between 40 and 60 points. Pekka Rinne is the anchor of this team in net and is the key for this team in the playoffs. Veterans Martin Erat, David Legwand and Mike Fischer are top three in scoring and all three need to contribute in order to help out Rinne in net. One thing Nashville cannot afford to do is leaving Rinne out to win the series himself against this Detroit team.
The Red Wings are the epitome of consistency in the NHL. Detroit has made the playoffs in 21-straight seasons including four Stanley Cups during that time. They have a great history of getting production from the classic veterans in their lineup as well as the younger players coming in and this season is no different. Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk and Valterri Filppula all have 65+ points and are followed closely by Johan Franzen and Juri Hudler with over 50 points. Jimmy Howard has taken the reins of an organization that has relied on veteran goaltenders in years past and is the future of the team, and the future is bright.
I think Nashville will be a good opponent for Detroit and this will be the closest series in the West but Detroit is just too big of a task for Nashville. I've got Detroit in 7.
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