No. 1 DETROIT RED WINGS (53-21-7) vs. No. 8 NASHVILLE PREDATORS (41-32-9)
Despite the fact Detroit finished 24 points ahead of Nashville in the Western Conference standings, the Preds matched up well against the Wings. In eight meetings this season, both teams were 3-3-2.
“It’s just another example of how close the league is today,” Preds head coach Barry Trotz told us last week. “We struggled against St. Louis and I really thought that Chicago was the most talented team in our conference. I think Chicago has the talent to be a great team in the future. But Detroit, as outstanding as they were, weren’t that intimidating for us. We matched up well against them.
“Of course, we weren’t intimidated by anybody, all year. We’re a lot better than people think.”
There is no doubt, the smaller, slightly slower Preds won’t be intimidated by Detroit, but if you watch the following Youtube video, you’ll see what happens to Nashville when they try to stick-check the Wings instead of take the body. http://youtube.com/watch?v=R0cGTQmN0wc
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=R0cGTQmN0wc]
Have to admit, I’d love to see Nashville take out Detroit, but I’m starting to think that the President’s Trophy-winning Red Wings, are the team to beat in the West this year.
Detroit in six games.
No. 2 SAN JOSE SHARKS (49-22-10) vs. No. 7 CALGARY FLAMES (42-30-10)
It’s pretty difficult to figure out how the Flames are going to beat this Sharks team.
San Jose finished the season with 108 points while the Flames had only 94. San Jose had 49 wins while Calgary had 42. San Jose went 7-2-1 down the stretch (19-0-2 in an unbeaten March and early April) while Calgary went 5-5-0 down the stretch and was fortunate to make the playoffs.
However, Calgary played well against San Jose this season. While the Sharks won the first meeting of the season, 4-1, in Calgary on Oct. 22, the Flames won the next three – 3-2 in OT in San Jose on Jan. 3, 5-4 in Calgary on Jan. 30 and 4-3 in overtime in San Jose on Feb. 12.
Calgary has a 50-goal scorer in Jarome Iginla, the consummate team leader, and a pretty solid goaltender in Mikka Kiprusoff. The Flames are also coming off a solid 7-1 win in Vancouver on Saturday night.
But the Sharks are terrific.
“That’s the best team I played against this season,” said Vancouver Canucks centre Jason Jaffray. “Of all the teams I saw, that’s the one with the biggest toughest players and the best system. That’s the team I’ve picked to win the Cup.”
A team led by the great Joe Thornton and Norris Trophy candidate Brian Campbell, the Sharks have the best goaltender in the West (some might say the best in the league), Evgeni Nabokov.
The Sharks will be tough to beat.
San Jose in six.
No. 3 MINNESOTA WILD (44-29-9) vs. No. 6 COLORADO AVALANCHE (44-31-7)
The toughest team on the block – a team with four legitimate goons – will take on a team with a handful of the best young players and old players in hockey in what could be a very intriguing series.
The Minnesota Wild, the Northwest Division champions, are led by their superstar rightwinger Marian Gaborik (42 goals, 41 assists), but it’s the sight of 6-foot-3, 230-pound Chris Simon, 6-foot-2, 240-poundTodd Fedoruk, 6-foot-7, 260-pound Derek Boogard and 6-foot-3, 210-pound Aaron Voros. They say, fighting doesn’t have a place in the playoffs, but if the Wild decide it does, look out.
The Avs, on the other hand, have a very nice team, a team that’s had a number of its top players hurt this season. Now, most are healthy, and the Avalanche will be a difficult opponent in the first round.
It’s a team with superstar older players such as Joe Sakic, Adam Foote, Ruslan Salei, Milan Hejduk, Ryan Smyth and Peter Forsberg and up-and-coming superstar younger players such as Marek Svatos, Paul Stastny and Wojtek Wolski. If the Avs, a team that beat Minnesota 4-3 in a shootout in the final game of the season, remain healthy throughout the playoffs, they’ll be extremely tough.
It’s also a good thing that Minnesota has home ice advantage. The Avalanche finished with 27 wins at home, it’s most since winning 28 in 2001, the year the Avs won their last Stanley Cup. However, the disciplined, hard-nosed, hard-checking Wild went 5-2-1 against the banged-up Avs this season. It’s hard not to like Minnesota.
Minnesota in seven.
No. 4 ANAHEIM DUCKS (46-27-8) vs. No. 5 DALLAS STARS (44-30-7)
Two of the NHL’s top teams of the decade, the Dallas Stars and the defending Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks should give fans a great series.
During the season, the Stars won five of eight meetings against the Ducks and outscored Anaheim 24-15. Based on the regular season totals, this should be one of the upsets of the first round.
But not so fast. The Ducks won the final two meetings 2-1 and 3-2 and played a lot better against Dallas with Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer in the lineup. The two veterans won’t playing together until February.
Still, this will be a great series and a tough one. The Ducks won the Stanley Cup last year by leading all teams in fights.
This year, the Ducks were second to Calgary (70-69), but Dallas was still 10th (48) and they won’t back down. Just take a look at Krys Barch vs. Brad May I-IV.
May vs. Barch I, Nov. 5, 2007
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mMTNBFncds8&feature=related
May vs. Barch II, Nov. 21, 2007
http://youtube.com/watch?v=6Ypr03UZ72w&feature=related
May vs. Barch III, Jan. 15, 2008
http://youtube.com/watch?v=IuoJSD6IhFg&feature=related
May vs. Barch IV, March 19, 2008
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GU09BDjk4oU&feature=related
This will be the most bitterly contested series in the West and if Barch and May have their way, it might be the only series in which fights play a significant role.
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=mMTNBFncds8]
Ultimately, this one will be about goaltending and I like Giguere (2.12 GAA, .922 save pct.) over Turco (2.32, .909) by the smallest of margins.
Anaheim in seven games.
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