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I am absolutely stunned
at what just happened in the
2nd round of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Western Conference
is typically the tougher of the two conferences to not only qualify, but win in
the playoffs – yet, here we are into the final four, and the top two teams are
still standing. Ho hum, right? Wrong! Not only did we lose Detroit, did
anybody get a load of what went down in the Eastern Conference?
Let’s just say,
the NHL had it bang on when they conceived their ad campaign for this year’s
playoffs – “History Will Be Made”. Well, history was made in the 2nd
round – not once, but twice!! Well, you could even argue three times with
Detroit finally bowing out after what seems like an eternity of Conference and
Stanley Cup Final appearances.
Just when everybody
was calling Montreal’s 1st round upset of Washington a fluke, they
did it again – this time against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh
Penguins, in 7 hard fought games, and in the end a well deserved victory for the
Habs. As much as Sidney Crosby didn’t want to make excuses, it was evident he
had no clue what to say or what to do about it.
As if that
wasn’t enough – just when we were anticipating a Boston sweep to set up what
would have been an historic series in itself, the Philadelphia Flyers all of a
sudden got some life – an OT win in Game 4, after Brian Boucher went down hard.
In came Michael Leighton, and all he did was get the Flyers a 4-0 shutout in
Game 5. A hard fought 2-1 nail biter at the Wachovia Center in Game 6 set up a
first in 36 years – the possibility of a team coming all the way back from a 3-0
series deficit to win in 7 – and Philadelphia didn’t disappoint – a 4-3 come
from behind 3-0 win in Game 7, a come from behind 3-0 series deficit to win the
series 4-3. So the Flyers get the Canadiens, and Boston gets relegated to
cheering for the Celtics. It is us, the fans and commentators alike, who now
get rewarded with watching what will surely be another spectacle on ice, no
matter who wins.
Does it get any
better than this? We’re only
halfway home folks!!! The Stanley Cup awaits a winner, and as they say on CBC,
the tradition continues…
EASTERN
CONFERENCE FINAL
Philadelphia Flyers vs Montreal
Canadiens
Headliner:
Expect the unexpected, period.
How they got here:
Philadelphia upset Boston in 7 games; Montreal upset Pittsburgh in 7 games
Early Conn Smythe Candidates:
Philadelphia – Mike
Richards, Chris Pronger, Claude Giroux; Montreal – Jaroslav Halak, Mike
Cammalleri, Brian Gionta
Need to see more from:
Philadelphia – Lukas Krajicek, Darroll Powe; Montreal – Mathieu Darche, Sergei
Kostitsyn
Philadelphia wins if:
They get to Halak and force
Montreal off their game – enough said.
Montreal wins if:
They ride the momentum they’ve
been riding so far, get the timely goals they’ve been getting, and get the
goaltending. It’s safe to say there was no pressure on the Habs to even get out
of the first round, now in the Conference Final, the spotlight will be on them
like never before, especially in a city as hockey mad, if not more than
Montreal. Jacques Martin has been coaching a long time, though, and at this
stage he should know what it takes after all those years in Ottawa – this is old
hat for him. Best part of all, he has his team buying into the system.
Throw all of the
Cinderella theories out the window – while it’s a definite certainty midnight
will eventually come for one of these teams – give the edge to the hot goalie
and a team with a little more rest. Nobody has acknowledged the experience, and
fact is – Montreal has a lot of guys who have been here before. Bob Gainey
planned it this way – but we’ll talk more about that if and when Montreal makes
their 35th Stanley Cup Finals appearance. Still plenty of hockey yet
to play before we can even think of going there. After what we’ve seen so far,
nothing should surprise us.
Prediction:
Canadiens in 6
WESTERN
CONFERENCE FINAL
San Jose Sharks vs Chicago
Blackhawks
Headliner:
Did the Sharks finally shake the proverbial playoff monkey off their backs, or
is Chicago finally destined for greatness?
How they got here:
San Jose defeated Detroit in 5 games; Chicago defeated Vancouver in 6 games
Early Conn Smythe Candidates:
San Jose – Joe
Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau; Chicago – Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane,
Patrick Sharp
Need to see more from:
San Jose – Manny Malhotra, Niclas Wallin; Chicago – Brian Campbell, John Madden
San Jose wins if:
They keep scoring, stay out of the penalty box and get better goaltending than
Roberto Luongo offered Vancouver. He may not have enjoyed hearing Alain
Vigneault tell the media he was the 2nd best goalie in the
Chicago-Vancouver series, but in the end, he really was. Evgeni Nabokov, take
heed. The Sharks are going to need their top players to produce more than ever,
because this Chicago team, you might have heard, they’re pretty good.
Chicago wins if:
They continue to get under the
skin of their opposition and force them into penalty trouble. The Hawks are
lethal on special teams, both power play and shorthanded, but they’re pretty
darn good full strength too. They have so many players who can hurt you on the
scoreboard (and hurt you literally, Dustin Byfuglien anyone?), the Sharks will
have their hands full in this one.
I said at the
very beginning of this season and again at the start of these playoffs Chicago
should come out of the West, and they haven’t given me any reason to believe
they still won’t.
Now if you
want to talk about history being made – just imagine for one second a
Montreal-Chicago final. History will be made indeed. It could even repeat
itself. I can see the caption on the TV ad now – “What if we didn’t enter a
virtual time warp?”
Prediction:
Blackhawks in 6
More Puckin' Around...
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