Yesterday, I showed east coast bias by preview the 1st
round of the NHL Eastern Conference Playoffs. That means we’re going out West
today and looking at eight teams, one of whom will eventually win the Stanley
Cup because the West always wins.
Dallas Stars vs.
Minnesota Wild
The Stars were the best team in the West throughout the
season and won hockey’s toughest division. Despite being best in the west, no
one really believes in the Stars. The Wild fired their coach and basically got
into the playoffs by sucking just a little less than the Colorado Avalanche.
Goaltending: The
Stars have two good goaltenders, which means they have zero great ones. I have
no clue who is going to start the playoffs for them and I’m not sure I trust
either Kari Lehtonen or Antii Niemi. I wouldn’t be shocked if Ruff started
Lehtonen and then rotated the two for every three goals given up. The Wild will
go with Devin Dybnuk and he’ll lose.
Best Player:
Jamie Benn led the NHL in scoring last year but Dallas missed the playoffs
because the NHL and NBA decided to conspire and thought it would be a good idea
if each league leading scorer didn’t make the playoffs. Benn and Tyler Seguin
are a deadly combo, but Benn will likely be without his running mate for the
first game or two.
Other Factors:
The Wild have a lot of veteran players who could really pressure the Dallas
defense into making mistakes. The Wild can’t get into a shootout with the Stars
because Stars shoot and I don’t even know what the fuck a Wild is. If the Wild
can slow the game down, they have a chance.
My Pick: Stars in
Five
St. Louis Blues
vs. Chicago Blackhawks
These two teams are good. They’ve been consistently good for
years now. They always make the playoffs. The difference is, the Blackhawks win
the Cup while the Blues don’t win a round.
Goaltending:
Corey Crawford is a proven playoff winner. No one thinks he’s an elite goalie,
but the guy knows how to win rings. That’s what matters, right? The Blues are
another team without a true #1. Jake Allen and Brian Elliott are just guys with
generic names who I wouldn’t trust in a playoff series.
Best Player:
There are a ton of good players in this series, but Patrick Kane is the best.
He led the league in scoring this year and he’s American so suck it, Canada.
Kane, along with Jonathan Toews, will have to continue to carry the Blackhawks,
who don’t have the depth that they’ve enjoyed in previous years.
Other Factors:
The Blues have a ton of offensive talent and that talent seems to disappear in
the playoffs. The Blackhawks are great at getting teams to play their game in
the playoffs. They did it to St. Louis last year and they’ll probably do it
again this year. Maybe the Blues have smartened up, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Either way, this should be the best series of the first round.
My Pick:
Blackhawks in Seven
Anaheim Ducks vs.
Nashville Predators
A lot of people, including myself, picked the Ducks to win
the Stanley Cup prior to the season. Then they got off to terrible start and
that pick looked really dumb as everyone panicked. Then they turned it around,
won the division, and made me look like I know what I’m talking about. The
Predators were a good team and actually went out and acquired scoring to let
their fans know, “we’re kinda going for it this year.”
Goaltending:
Pekke Rinne is solid, but not spectacular for Nashville. He played well in
stretches throughout the season, but he’s constantly underperformed in the
playoffs. Meanwhile, the Ducks are another team with two good goalies, which
appears to be a theme in the West. Frederick Andersen and John Gibson split
time this season and I’ll just assume that Bruce Boudreau will rotate them
every two games like he did in the regular season because why not?
Best Player:
Anaheim has Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf while the Predators have a lot of
young talent up front, but I’m actually going to go with defenseman Shea Weber.
He’s a game-changer on the back-end, both defensively and offensively. If Weber
can shutdown Anaheim’s top unit and contribute on the scoresheet (or at least
allow Roman Josi to contribute), Anaheim will have their hands full.
Other Factors:
The Predators finally have an offensive punch that they’ve been missing over
the years. Ryan Johansen allowed #2 and #3 centers who were playing #1 and #2
roles to slide down the depth chart while giving forwards James Neal and Filip
Forsberg a little extra boost. The Ducks are a little banged up heading into
this series. The Predators beat the Ducks early in the year and Steve Cook was
gloating on twitter, sub-tweeting me about my pre-season Ducks pick. That’s
just bad karma.
My Pick: Ducks in
Seven
Los Angeles Kings
vs. San Jose Sharks
These two teams are always good in the regular season and
then they go in opposite directions. The Kings are great in the playoffs and
the Sharks usually suck. The Sharks had a 3-0 series lead in 2014 against the
Kings and lost the series. That’s how bad the Sharks are in the playoffs.
Goaltending: Jonathan
Quick played really well this season, winning 40 games, and is the best playoff
goalie in recent memory. That’s all you need to know. And the Sharks are
another team that has two solid goalies. Maybe teams can figure out a way to
combine their two solid goalies into one really good goalie. Probably not.
Martin Jones served as Quick’s back-up last year and did really well as the
starter this year. He’ll get the nod for the Sharks.
Best Player:
There are a ton of good players in this series. Both teams have high-end talent
up front and house potential Norris trophy candidates in Drew Doughty and Brent
Burns. I’m giving the nod to Joe Thornton here, not because I think he’s better
than the Kings Anze Kopitar or teammate Joe Pavelski, but because he needs a
big playoff performance. Thornton has been labeled a choker for most of his
career, disappearing in the post-season as his teams flame out in rounds one or
two. This might be Thornton’s last shot at a Cup.
Other Factors:
Penalty kill could be huge in this series. Both teams have average at best
penalty kills while also having really good power plays. The team that cashes
in most with the man advantage will likely be the team that wins this series.
My Pick: Kings in
Six
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