...the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Eastern Conference
(1) New York Rangers vs
(8) Ottawa Senators
This will be a short series; the Rangers have arguably the most powerful roster in the Eastern Conference. The Sens might *possibly* have enough firepower to win Game 4 at home, but the statistical probability of this is marginal, at best.
Tor predicts: Rangers in four.
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(2) Boston Bruins vs
(7) Washington Capitals
This is the second-most interesting match-up in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals because the Washington Capitals experienced a badly-needed resurgence in the final two weeks of the regular season, just barely nudging out the Buffalo Sabres for a playoff berth – and then wiping out the Rangers 4-1 at Madison Circular Garden in the final game of the regular season. However, both of their best goaltenders, Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvirth, are trying to recover from injuries, so the younger, less-experienced Braden Holtby will start the series between the pipes. But the Caps have the services of Nicklas Bäckström and Mike Green, from whom they badly need some goal-scoring, since their superstar captain Alexander Ovechkin cannot play 60 minutes per game. This will also be the playoff coaching debut of Dale Hunter, who replaced Bruce Boudreau earlier in the season. It has not been a smooth ride for the Capitals, to say the least.
Meanwhile, the Bruins still have most of the same dramatis personæ from their 2011 Stanley Cup championship team. Only the Rangers, Penguins, and possibly the Devils seem to have the depth to upend the Bruins.
Tor predicts: Bruins in five.
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(3) Florida Panthers vs
(6) New Jersey Devils
The Devils played exceptionally well this season under new head coach Pete DeBoer; Ilya Kovalchuk found the net 37 times this season, while rookie Adam Henrique dished off 35 assists and deserves consideration for the Calder Trophy as the most outstanding rookie of the year. Goaltender Johan Hedberg has shown flashes of brilliance, which the Devils will need as Martin Brodeur is nearing the end of a Hall of Fame-caliber career. Over the three previous seasons, DeBoer was the head coach of the Panthers, so he knows about some of the talent his team will face.
But since DeBoer's departure from Miami, the Florida Panthers have added some badly-needed playoff experience on their roster in the persons of John Madden, Marco Sturm, Kris Versteeg, Tomáš Kopecký, Brian Campbell, and Sean Bergenheim. Meanwhile, the first Iowa native to play in the NHL, goaltender Scott Clemmensen, has proved to be a standout first-stringer in the NHL. First-year coach Kevin Dineen played sixteen seasons with teams based in the NHL's Eastern Conference; his experience and demeanor have been a tremendous asset for the Panthers, who won their first division title this season. While they played inconsistently down the stretch – and the Devils notched more overall points in the conference standings, I feel that the Panthers have what they will need to get past New Jersey this spring – but they will need all 420 minutes of regulation time to do it – and probably some overtime, as well.
Tor predicts: Panthers in seven.
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(4) Pittsburgh Penguins vs
(5) Philadelphia Flyers
*This* is the marquee matchup of the four in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals – and given several fiery battles between these cross-state rivals toward the end of the regular season, this series is one that I predict will go six long, brutal games.
The Flyers have several
What the Penguins accomplished during much of the regular season without Sidney Crosby in the lineup is even more impressive; assistant captain Evgeni Malkin is deserving of the Hart Trophy as the NHL player most valuable to his team during the regular season. Forward Matt Cooke has become less of a penalty risk; last season he took some dangerous and cheap shots at opponents, drawing 129 penalty minutes and the ire of many hockey fans. Through all 82 regular season games this year, Cooke has taken only 44 PIM, while potting 19 goals and 19 assists. If Cooke can keep his wits about him when the Flyers start taking their inevitable
The Pens have also gotten scoring from Pascal Dupuis, James Neal, and even 33 points from center Tyler Kennedy. The Penguins' blue line is deeper than that of the Flyers; Letang, assistant captain Brooks Orpik, and Minnesota natives Paul Martin and Matt Niskanen give the Pens offensive and defensive strength. Finally, the Penguins have the better and more-consistent goaltender in Marc-André Fleury.
This series will be a six-game demolition derby; I sincerely hope the Penguins can get through it unscathed by injuries. The Flyers have enough
Tor predicts: Penguins in six.
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Western Conference
(1) Vancouver Canucks vs
(8) Los Angeles Kings
Like their Eastern Conference counterparts in New York, the Vancouver Canucks are an overwhelmingly talented, high-scoring, and deep hockey team. That they captured the President's Trophy for most overall points in the regular-season standings proves that they had no drop-off following their Game Seven loss in last year's Stanley Cup Final to the Bruins.
On paper, the Kings have a talented roster of players; captain Dustin Brown, forwards Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Brad Richardson, Justin Williams, Trevor Lewis, and especially Anže Kopitar are capable of delivering timely goals. The blue line is not spectacular, but it is solid with veterans Drew Doughty, Matt Greene, Willie Mitchell, and Rob Scuderi. Goaltender Jonathan Quick probably flies under the radar of most hockey writers because the majority of Kings games are in the Pacific Time Zone; he is good enough to give the Kings the chance to steal this series from Vancouver. At times, backup goaltender Jonathan Bernier also has been dazzling this season.
It is worth noting that the Kings and Canucks split their regular season series, 2-2, with three of the four games decided by one goal. And this series marks the second time in three seasons that these two teams have met in the playoffs. The bottom line is that while the Kings are a better team this year than they were over the past several seasons, the Canucks are every bit as good as they were last season, although first-string goaltender Roberto Luongo has still lost his way on the ice during parts of this season, just as he did during last year's Stanley Cup Final. Still, we must face the strong possibility that we will see a rematch of franchises from the 1994 Stanley Cup Final.
Tor regretfully predicts: Canucks in six.
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(2) Saint Louis Blues vs
(7) San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks are an interesting riddle, wrapped in a conundrum, deep inside an enigma. In theory, the Sharks have plenty of talented hockey players; last season they went to the Western Conference final, where the lost to the overpowering Canucks. But this season, predicting when the Sharks will play well has been as difficult as predicting when the San Andreas and Calaveras Faults (both of which run underneath the city) will let go. The leading point producers this season have, predictably, been Joe Thornton, Logan Couture, Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski, and steady rear-guard Dan Boyle, who was an important part of the Tampa Bay Lightning's 2004 Stanley Cup championship team. Another Cup-winner from 2010, goaltender Antti Niemi is the Sharks' clear number-one goaltender and will get all of the playing time this spring, barring injury. Coach Todd McLellan is plenty competent; whenever he has been a head coach or assistant coach, his teams have never missed the playoffs. But they have been a surprising disappointment this season.
The Saint Louis Blues started this season very inconsistently, so head coach Davis Payne was fired on November 6 and replaced by Ken Hitchcock, the coach who led the Dallas Stars to their only Stanley Cup championship in 1999. The results were almost immediate; the Blues have been among the two or three best teams in the NHL since Hitchcock took over; the Blue finished the regular season with the second-best record in the NHL, going 49-22-11. The Blues are just as deep a team as the Rangers, although their overall goaltending depth (Jaroslav Halák and Brian Elliott) *slightly* outweighs that of the Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Biron, as well as the aforementioned Luongo and Cory Schneider in Vancouver.
Break out the brooms.
Tor predicts: Blues in four.
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(3) Phoenix Coyotes vs
(6) Chicago Blackhawks
For once, the Coyotes have enough depth to escape the first round of the playoffs, which the NHL has badly needed since long before the league rescued the franchise from former owner Jerry Moyes. The Coyotes played well-enough to make the playoffs, but with the logjam of excellent teams in the NHL's Central Division, the Coyotes were in a situation where they almost needed to win the Pacific Division outright or face missing the playoffs. As a Western Conference team, the Coyotes tend to fly "under the radar" of most fans, although the scoring depth through the middle has been more consistent than in recent years. Defense has been a pleasant surprise; two of the seven highest point-scorers have been blue-liners Keith Yandle and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Similarly, right wing Radim Vrbata, a cast-off in Colorado, Carolina, Chicago, and Tampa, has potted 24, 19, and 35 goals over the past three seasons, respectively.
Two other positions have been admirably manned this season: Goaltender Mike Smith has been a legitimate star for the Coyotes this season, having won 38 games versus 18 regulation-time losses and ten OTLs in 67 appearances. His play has been nothing less than outstanding this season and the Coyotes will ride him as far as he can take them this spring.
The other position that has been very competently executed over the last few seasons is in the head coach's office; Dave Tippett continues to be the saving grace of the franchise. When the NHL finally finds a new ownership group for this club; the new owners owe Tippett and GM Don Maloney more than just a debt of gratitude.
Just 22 months removed from their Stanley Cup championship, the Blackhawks remain a competitive team; they notched more victories (45) and points in the standings (101) than did the Coyotes (42 and 97, respectively). They still have four legitimate offensive superstars in their currently-injured captain Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Patrick Kane, and Marian Hossa. They also have scoring depth in Andrew Shaw, Viktor Stålberg, Duncan Keith, Dave Bolland, and Brent Seabrook. Also particularly effective on offense and defense has been Minnesota native Nick Leddy, who still represents the worst trade ever made by the Minnesota Wild; Leddy would have been a mainstay of the Wild franchise had Minnesota GM Chuck Fletcher not traded the rights to Leddy away to Chicago before last season.
The Blackhawks' biggest problem right now is goaltending; both Corey Crawford and Ray Emery have had bouts of inconsistency this season, and that is the weakness that the Coyotes will exploit.
Tor predicts: Coyotes in six.
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(4) Nashville Predators vs
(5) Detroit Red Wings
Hockey fans like me have been waiting a long time for a series where the Red Wings would fail to capture home-ice advantage. However, the team reeled off 23 consecutive home victories, a streak that ended only when they lost to the Canucks in a shoot-out on February 23. When future Hall of Famer Nicklas Lidström and goaltender Jimmy Howard went down with injuries, the rest of the league could not capitalize because of the depth of the Wings' forwards and defense, along with some excellent goaltending by Joey MacDonald.
While the Music City Kitties still don't register with some casual fans, I guarantee that no NHL player or coach takes the Predators lightly. Captain Shea Weber and assistant captain Ryan Suter are as good a defensive pairing as any in the NHL. Now reunited, the Kostitsyn brothers have helped the Preds considerably, as have North Dakota native Paul Gaustad, Mike Fisher, and the veteran Hal Gill. Finally, the Preds have one of the tallest and most talented goaltenders in professional hockey in Pekka Rinne. So long as Todd Bertuzzi (who still deserves to be in jail) does not put any of Nashville's players into the hospital, the Predators should have enough talent to send the Red Wings home early.
If the Predators make all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, Rinne will deserve consideration for the Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to the player most valuable to his team during the entire playoffs. And the Predators *will* advance to the Western Conference Semi-final again this year.
Tor predicts: Predators in six.
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May the best teams win... except the Canucks.
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