Everywhere in American sports television it has been said how the fact that Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby are out of the playoffs is bad for hockey. Those people have no idea what they are talking about. For the true hockey fans this postseason has been filled with surprises and what more could you ask for? I for one am very happy not to see another rematch of Penguins vs Redwings in the finals for the third straight year. This excitement is much more the case in the Eastern Conference then the West and here is why. The paths taken by the two teams remaining in the East Finals is simply amazing. The Montreal Canadians as an 8 seed had the mighty task of facing the 1 seed Washington Capitals in the first round. I for one picked the Canadians to bail out after only 5 games and after being down 3-1 in the series I felt great about that pick. 3 games later the Capitals were left wondering what just happened as the Canadians were moving on to face another superstar and last year’s Stanley Cup Champions. Sidney Crosby and the Pens would face the same fate as in yet another game 7 the Canadians prevailed against all odds. This time I didn’t make the same mistake as I chose the Canadians in 7. (They really helped me look good on that one).
The Philadelphia Flyers were a team that had a roller coaster ride of a season after being many people’s preseason pick to make it out of the East. Injuries would be their downfall for much of the season as they struggled to even make the playoffs. Ray Emery was the starting goalie at the beginning of the season but he would be forced out due to hip surgery. Brian Boucher would be his replacement and it was quickly realized that someone else would have to come in. When Boucher too would go down to a fluke injury in came journeyman Michael Leighton. Leighton was brought in to be a part time solution until the others healed, yet with him in net the team began to win. There was once again hope in Philadelphia. Although near the late push for the playoffs, Leighton too would find himself on the list of injured goalies in Philly. By this time Boucher was back and would have to keep the team a float. The Flyers were the last team to make the playoffs as they beat their bitter rivals the New York Rangers in a dramatic shoot out. They would then handle the New Jersey Devils in only 5 games in the first round of the playoffs. In round two the Flyers met another rival in the Boston Bruins. Boucher struggled as the Flyers went down 3-0 to start the series. Then came some good news as Simone Gagne would return to the line-up just in time to help the Flyers pull off a Game 4 OT win to stay alive. Then once again came the injury news as Boucher would indeed go down with yet another injury. This would happen in the same game Leighton was activated to back up Boucher as he became healthy. Leighton and the rest of the Flyers then went on a tear as they became the 3rd team in NHL history to erase a 3-0 deficit to win a series. They also came back from a 3-0 lead in Game 7 in dramatic fashion.
So here we are the 7 and 8 seeded teams in the East defying all odds to make it to the Conference Finals and a chance to play for the Stanley Cup. The Canadians now appear to be a team no one wants to pick against because of the play of G Jaroslav Halak. His play has already put him in the running for the Conn Smythe if the Canadians find their way to the Finals. Montreal has also benefited from the spectacular game of Mike Cammalleri, who is looking to set Canadian playoff records with his goal scoring. The Flyers now have home ice as a 7 seed in the Conference Finals, something that has never happened in the history of the NHL. The Canadians have been great on the road so home ice should mean little in this series. Both teams needed 7 games to get to this point in their last series and the Canadians have played more than anyone thus far. Montreal has been deemed the team of destiny after their performance so far and look to make it to the Finals. However, the Flyers have been so impressive and haven’t lost since getting Gagne back and seem to have an abundance of confidence in Michael Leighton by the way they have played in front of him all year. Chris Pronger was added to this Philly team to do one thing and that is take this team through the playoffs and he is doing just that. It would appear to be foolish to pick against the Canadians if this series goes seven games. Which is exactly why the Flyers must take care of business before then and I think they will.
Flyers in 6.
The Western Conference Finals will
again display the Chicago Blackhawks who exploded on to the scene last year
with the emergence of young stars like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. They
fought their way to the West Finals last year only to look very young and
inexperienced against the mighty Detroit Redwings. This year they look like a
team that has learned from their past mistakes and are
ready to take the next step. Their opponent will be the San Jose Sharks. The
last few seasons the Sharks have been seemingly unstoppable in the regular
season and have finished with the best record in the West. Then would then go
into playoffs only to exit soon after. Their recent collapses have made them an
easy target for jokes around the league. I once again had little faith in the
Sharks to win the cup this year because of those faults but did think that this
year they would make it to at least this point.
Chicago
is full of youthful exuberance and the line of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and
Dustin Byfuglien was extremely strong in defeating
the Vancouver Canucks for the second straight year in the Western Semi-finals. This
team added depth and has gained experience over the last year and is looking to
make a name for itself. Marian Hossa
was added to this squad last offseason after making it to the finals the last
two seasons with both the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Redwings. His
playoffs experience will be quite valuable however in both those trips to the
finals with those different teams, Hossa was on the
losing end. The Blackhawks faced all kinds of criticism of their goaltending
all season long and many said it was their only downfall. This was not a
problem last year when Nikolai Khabibulin was between
the pipes for the Hawks but they let him go for G Cristobal Huet. Huet was later replaced by newcomer G Antti Niemi, who has claimed the starting job for the Blackhawks run at the cup.
They have great defense with the likes of Brian
Campbell, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, and Kim Johnsson
who should cause problems for the San Jose offense.
The
San Jose Sharks started the playoffs against the 8th seeded Colorado
Avalanche and survived a scare of last year’s fate. They would come up big
though against the Detroit Redwings as they handled them easily in 5 games. The
poor play of G Jimmy Howard for Detroit had much to do with that. The Sharks
won a few close games with some great play from Joe Pavelski
and also their big dogs in Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley ,
and Patrick Marleau. Nabokov
still looks a bit shaky in net for the Sharks and hasn’t really looked great
since his collapse at the Olympics that sent Russia home early. How will he
play this series?
The
Chicago Blackhawks have a lot of speed that was too much to handle for
Nashville and Vancouver but San Jose can match it. Both goalies don’t look
particularly strong and are neither teams anchor. This series may be a high
scoring affair if both teams get going offensively. Both
these teams have a lot of star power as they should being 1 and 2 seeds in the
powerful Western Conference. This
one will come down to which teams stars show up and which goalie is able to
steal a game or two for their team. It is so difficult to choose the San Jose
Sharks one year after getting bounced from the first round by an 8 seed. The Sharks finally are
living up to their potential as they are in the Conference finals but the
Blackhawks were here just last year and are looking for a better showing. The
Blackhawks are probably many people’s pick in this one and I’m no different.
Blackhawks in 6
