Finally, the best time of the year is upon us. Nothing beats playoff hockey and the next two
and a half months are the best grind that sports has to offer. The battle for the Stanley Cup begins tonight
and will carry on until the early weeks of June until a champion is
crowned. There are plenty of great teams
in the playoffs but only a select few can really be considered contenders to
challenge for Lord Stanley. Let’s start
with the Hawks.
Since my last column here, in which the Hawks were in the midst of a
disastrous 9-game losing streak in February, the team has finally turned a
corner which is quite shocking considering that captain Jonathan Toews has been
out since the end of February. The trade
deadline came and the Hawks primary move came when they traded two draft picks
for defensemen Johnny Oduya from the Winnipeg Jets. While it was not a very popular move at the
time when the Hawks had more pressing needs such as a physical defensemen and
#2 centerman, as well as costing them the chance to drop an offer sheet on top
RFA’s like Ryan Suter, Zach Parise and Corey Schneider this summer. Even so, since the move for Oduya the Hawks
have gone 12-2-4 while Oduya has helped the Hawks transition game and has
helped fill the void to an extent that Brian Campbell helped fill, at a steep
price, while he was in Chicago.
The Hawks open the playoffs in Phoenix this Thursday as the
6 seed in the Western Conference. Toews
status for the playoffs is still in doubt although he has been practicing with
the team for the better part of the past two weeks. The makings of a serious run for the Cup will
depend on his health so whether or not he is able to come back and play
effectively remains to be seen. Phoenix
goaltender Mike Smith has been as hot as any goalie in the league the past
month and can play a big role in Phoenix winning this series if that keeps up.
Now on to the predictions:
Eastern Conference:
New York Rangers vs.
Ottawa Senators:
Rangers have been extremely consistent throughout the season
and have Vezina trophy favorite Henrik Lundqvist in net. Ottawa has been a fairly big surprise this
season as many experts had them picked dead last in the East this year.
Prediction: Rangers in 6
Boston Bruins vs.
Washington Capitals:
The defending Cup champs have cooled off the past month or
so but had a few dominant stretches throughout the year. Washington has struggled for a good majority
of the year and I feel they are lucky to even be in at this point.
Prediction: Bruins in 5
Florida Panthers vs.
New Jersey Devils
The Panthers shocked the hockey world by winning the
Southeast Division this year with a massive spending spree by former Hawk GM
Dale Tallon this offseason. New Jersey
will be relying on forwards Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise to carry them in
this series.
Prediction: Devils in 7
Pittsburgh Penguins
vs. Philadelphia Flyers
This series will definitely be the most intense and probably
most entertaining of all the first-round bouts.
All eyes will be on Pens captain Sidney Crosby and how effective he will
be after sitting out the majority of the year with concussion-like
symptoms. Philadelphia has a younger
team that will be tough as hell to out in the first round with the likelihood
of this series resting on goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov who has been known for his
playoff shortcomings in the past.
Prediction: Pens in 7
Western Conference
Vancouver Canucks vs.
Los Angeles Kings
Well I think it’s fair to say we all know who the pressure
is on in this series. Roberto Luongo
will get another crack at avoiding the pressure in the postseason that he is so
infamous for wilting under at the most crucial times. Daniel Sedin is expected to be back right in
time after he recovered quite quickly from his concussion that he suffered
while getting elbowed in the head by Duncan Keith in a game against the Hawks
back in March. Jonathan Quick has been
great for LA this year and could very easily steal this series against a Vancouver
team that will be under extreme pressure from a psychotic and unstable fanbase.
Prediction: Vancouver in 7
St. Louis Blues vs.
San Jose Sharks
St. Louis has been a surprise story this year as they had
been in contention for the President’s Trophy since new coach Ken Hitchcock
took over earlier in the year. San Jose
has largely disappointed this year and were just able to claw into the playoffs
during the final week.
Prediction: St. Louis in 5
Phoenix Coyotes vs.
Chicago Blackhawks
This series is hard to call right now with the impending
return of Jonathan Toews still up in the air for the Hawks. With or without him I still think they have
more depth and talent to overcome what has been relatively inconsistent
goaltending from Corey Crawford this year.
Prediction: Hawks in 7
Nashville Predators
vs. Detroit Red Wings
Nashville is a team that I feel can make a deep run this
year with a solid defense and Vezina candidate Pekka Rinne in net. Detroit is all too banged up right now and
have a poor record away from the Joe this year.
Prediction: Nashville in 6
Second Round
Rangers over Devils
in 6
Penguins over Bruins
in 6
Canucks over Hawks in
7
Predators over Blues
in 6
Third Round
Rangers over Pens in
6
Canucks over
Predators in 5
Stanley Cup Finals
Rangers over Canucks
in 6
It’s 1994 all over again.
Vancouver riots in the streets again as the deeper, more mentally stable
team in New York takes the Cup for the first time since this series went 7
games 18 years ago. However, I really
feel the Hawks could wind up in the finals which is largely contingent on how
healthy Toews is and if he does indeed return from his concussion. With a healthy Toews there really is no
telling what could happen.
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