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Ready to Call a Vancouver-Pittsburgh Stanley Cup Final

Posted on April 29, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

The first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs told us three things: (1) Henrik Sedin IS the most valuable player in the National Hockey League this season, (2) the Pittsburgh Penguins appear ready to defend their Stanley Cup crown and (3) nothing beats a great goaltender.

How ’bout that Jaroslav Halak? He made 53 saves in Game 6 and 41 saves in Game 7 as he led the Montreal Canadiens to the biggest upset of this playoff year. The Habs were down 3-1 in the series when Halak decided to win it himself, stopping 131 of the final 134 shots he faced to give the Canadiens a 4-3 series win over President’s Trophy champion Washington Capitals. So much for Alex Ovechkin in this year’s post-season.

It was the fourth time in eight years, the No. 8-seed had beaten the No. 1-seed in a first-round series, and it means we went 6-2 with our picks in the opening round.

Let’s take a look at the second round:

Western Conference

San Jose Sharks (1) vs. Detroit Red Wings (5)

The Sharks looked good in round one against Colorado and appeared to get rid of the playoff jitters. The aging Wings, who just don’t play very well at home these days, looked great on the road against Phoenix. This will be a great series, but I think it’s the Sharks in a close one.

San Jose Sharks in seven

Chicago Blackhawks (2) vs. Vancouver Canucks (3)

The Canucks finished strong against L.A., scoring 17 goals in the final three games. The Hawks were lucky to get past Nashville. The Canucks gain some revenge from last year.

Vancouver Canucks in six

Eastern Conference

Pittsburgh Penguins (4) versus Montreal Canadiens (8)

In a year of upsets, I don’t see one here. Sidney Crosby is on a mission and the tiny Canadiens will tire, Jaroslav Halak or not.

Pittsburgh Penguins in six

Boston Bruins (6) versus Philadelphia Flyers (7)

Tuukka Rask is a better goaltender than we think and Boston gets Marc Savard back. This one is still a toss up. The Flyers will win if Brian Boucher matches his first round heroics.

Boston Bruins is seven

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Big Week for Pennsylvania Hockey. Canucks Look Like Real Contenders.

Posted on April 26, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Sunday night, the Vancouver Canucks eliminated the Los Angeles Kings in six games in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

That’s not a surprise by any stretch, but the way in which the Canucks eventually woke up and drilled the Kings was quite telling. The Kings took a 2-1 lead in the series after winning 5-3 in Los Angeles in Game 3 and then, it would appear, Vancouver got pissed.

The Canucks went on to win 6-4, 7-2 and 4-2 as Henrik Sedin, who really should be the NHL’s most valuable player this season, had a goal and four assists in the final three games of the series. When a team puts up 17 goals in three games in a Stanley Cup playoff series, that team is really on its game.

Now look, we picked the Canucks to win in six and so did a lot of other generally misguided pundits, but I think we all believed Roberto Luongo’s goaltending would be the difference. That wasn’t the case. In this series, it was the Canucks offence that made the difference and quite frankly, if that keeps up, it will make the Canucks a legitimate contender for the Stanley Cup.

Meanwhile, it was a big week for the two Pennsylvania teams. The Philadelphia Flyers, who were 5-1 against the New Jersey Devils during the regular season, continued to take it to the Devils and ousted favoured New Jersey in five games. We picked Jersey in seven, but we did not believe that Philly would put a blanket on the Devils the way they did. We also didn’t expect goaltender Brian Boucher to be as good he was (1.59 goals against average and a .940 save percentage) and yet he was clearly the pleasant surprise of the series.

It was a little tougher for the Pittsburgh Penguins who needed six games to take out the Ottawa Senators. The Sens were feisty in this one and despite a serious stomach problem, Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson did everything he could to keep the Sens alive. Unfortunately for Ottawa fans, it wasn’t enough against a Sidney Crosby-led Pens team that really looked like the defending Stanley Cup champions when it counted. Crosby finished the six game series with 14 points and appears to be on the way to a Conn Smythe Trophy.

The San Jose Sharks took out Colorado in six games and I’m surprised it went six. The San Jose players finally got rid of the knots in their collective stomach and won a playoff round with ease. It’s about time.

Before the week ends, Boston, Washington, Chicago and, yes I still believe Detroit, should wrap up the remaining four series. That will leave us at 7-1 in the opening round and ready to predict a Vancouver-Pittsburgh Stanley Cup final.

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It’s Run-To-The-Playoffs Time in the NHL.

Posted on March 7, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

ST. PAUL, Minn. – As the Calgary Flames whipped the Minnesota Wild 5-2 on Sunday afternoon, the NHL started its run to the playoffs.

Most NHL teams now have 16-18 games left this season. We’re solidly past the three-quarter-pole and there are just five weeks left in this rather odd season.

After a 14-day break for the Olympics, the NHL is loading up on games and there will be some tired superstars once the playoffs roll around. Until then, let’s take a quick look around The League.

1) Monday night (actually Tuesday morning at 12:10 a.m.), I’m Eric Nelson’s guest on the Eric Nelson Show on 8-3-0 WCCO radio in Minneapolis and we taped the segment on Sunday at the Xcel Energy Center.

Eric asked me to set the NHL’s final four. I told him, Chicago and San Jose in the West and Pittsburgh and Washington in the East. He then asked, “Which teams are the darkhorses?” I told him that question was more fun.

In the West, Detroit is finally healthy and they could be scary when it counts if Jimmy Howard can get the job done in goal. I like Vancouver, too, if Roberto Luongo doesn’t choke like a dog as he did last year.

In the East, I like Buffalo and New Jersey because they both have great goaltenders (Ryan Miller and Martin Brodeur). As Brian Burke always said, “We call it the Stanley Cup playoffs because we can’t call it goalie.” He may not have been right about Ian White, Alexei Ponikarovsky or Matt Stajan, but he’s right about that.

2) There was a time in the late 1990s and early 2000s when a Canadian player in the NHL’s Top 10 in scoring was a rarity. A decade ago, the stats were dominated by Europeans.

However, while Euros such as Alex Ovechkin and Henrik Sedin are at the top of the NHL’s scoring stats today, there are now five Canadians and one American in the Top 10. What is even more interesting is that Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby took over the goal-scoring lead on Saturday with his 43rd and 44th and young Steven Stamkos scored his 40th of the year on Saturday. Youth is also being served.

Maybe that Canada-U.S. Olympic final will be a trend, not a fluke.

3) Metis star Rene Bourque hadn’t scored a goal in 15 games until Calgary Flames head coach Brent Sutter put him on a line with Jarome Iginla and Matt Stajan. You’d think it was the return of the Hot Line.

Sunday night at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., the Bourque-Stajan-Iginla line combined for 10 points as the Flames drilled the Wild 5-2. Iginla had three goals and an assist, Stajan had two assists and Bourque, suddenly playing the best hockey in more than a month, had a goal and three assists.

The Flames have been struggling, but since Sutter created this line, Calgary has won two straight solidified their hold on ninth and are now only one point out of eighth and two points out of seventh.

At this stage of the season, a simple move like a line change can positively alter a team’s fortune. Sutter’s decision to create the Bourque-Stajan-Iginla line might have been the move that gets Calgary into the playoffs.

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