We haven't talked hockey in a while, but for a fan of the sport (cue the music) it's the most wonderful time of the year. There's a game almost every night and it's the best hockey you'll see all year long. There are no easy games in the playoffs, and only the better half of the league get invited to participate. So if you're wondering about the game this is a great time to be introduced to it.
There are still a few games left to be played, and a few seeds to be determined before we begin the next round of competition for the 2008 Stanley Cup. But if the rest of the rounds turn out anything like most of the first round matchups, this might be one of the most entertaining postseasons in recent memory.
Eastern Conference QuarterfinalsMontreal 3 Boston 3 - To Be DeterminedEntertainment abounds in the East, especially if you're a fan of bitter rivalry. Round one has seen The Devils and Rangers in the "Battle of the Hudson", but the real story has been a renewal of the oldest rivalry in Stanley Cup History. Boston and Montreal have clashed in more playoff series' than any other two teams in history. And this year's version has turned out to be a real treat.
Nobody expected the B's to do much more than win a game (if that much) in this series. Some experts didn't think they'd do even that much. Boston scratched their way into the playoffs along with Washington and Ottawa with 94 points, finished their regular season with a lackluster 4-2-4 record in their last 10 games and saw star centerman Phil Kessel benched for three games for "defensive deficiencies". Montreal started the series without the services of captain Saku Koivu, but got mind-boggling goaltending from rookie Carey Price, heir apparent to the throne with Cristobal Huet's departure at the trade deadline. And in the first four games, Price looked every inch like the star the Habs thought he would be. In those four games, he limited the Bruins to 5 goals, shutting them out once. But Game 5 in the Bell Centre saw him derailed and his goals allowed doubled in a single game as Boston shelled the Canadiens 5-1. Game 6 in Boston saw his goals against jump by another 5 as the B's nicked him for 4 goals in the third period alone.
The Habs went into the third period Saturday with a 2-1 lead and a 32-1-2 record when leading after two periods. Historically, they should have won. They didn't. Somehow the Bruins didn't get the memo. Boston overcame one goal deficits not once, not twice, but three times. And capped that with another tally after Montreal had evened the count at 4.
All of this sets the stage for what promises to be an incredibly entertaining Game 7 on Monday night in Montreal. Historically, the Canadiens should win it. In all their long and storied history, they have never lost a playoff series after leading it 3 games to 1. Boston, in all its long and storied history has never come back from a 3-1 series deficit to win.
In short, every gram of conventional wisdom gives this game to the guys from Quebec. But if that pesky fax machine in Boston fails to deliver yet another memo, all bets are off.
Pittsburgh 4 Ottawa 0 - Pittsburgh AdvancesBeware the first round sweep. The Penguins find themselves in the same position the New Jersey Devils did two years ago. A strong finish to the regular season and a relatively easy 4-game sweep of the banged up New York Rangers in the first round. In the second round, New Jersey quickly found themselves on the short end of a 2-0 series deficit -- including a 6-0 whipping in Game 1 of the conference semifinal. They lost that series 4 games to 1 and never really got a sniff at advancing. This year's Penguins rounded out their regular season 6-3-1 in their last 10 games -- nothing like the 10-0-0 finish of the 2005-06 Devils mind you, but respectable -- and manhandled a banged up Senators team whose leading scorer in the series was shutdown defenseman Mike Commodore. Their second round opponent is yet to be determined, but could very well be the overachieving Boston Bruins who have taken top-seeded Montreal to a seventh game.
The good news for Pittsburgh's next challenger is that the Devils dismissal in 2005-06 came at the hands of the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes.
The Eastern Conference title is Pittsburgh's to lose, especially if the Bruins pull off the upset they're currently building up to.
Washington 2 Philadelphia 3 - To Be DeterminedGoing into this series I would have expected better from the Capitals. They climbed the steepest of mountains this season, going from bottom of the barrel to the top of the division. They finished the season needing to win 7 straight games and they won 7 straight games. They snatched the division title from Carolina going down the stretch despite the Hurricanes playing their best hockey of the year in March and April. And oh yeah, they feature the league's leading goal scorer too.
The Caps made all the right moves at the trade deadline bringing in Cristobal Huet, Matt Cooke and Sergei Fedorov. Huet backstopped Washington to a torrid 15-4-0 finish from the trade deadline through the end of the year. Cooke provided grit and experience on the blue line and Fedorov brought championship experience and an added bonus that probably wasn't a consideration when George McPhee signed him. With injuries riddling the Caps defense corps, Fedorov stepped back to the blue line and played several shifts on the back end in Game 3 of the series. It wasn't the first time in his career Sergei had had to skate backward. In Detroit, Scotty Bowman had moved the centerman to defense on a couple of occasions. But it's unlikely that McPhee was thinking about that dimension when he went after Feodorov at the deadline.
But through the first three games of the series it was the Flyers who carried the play and dictated the nature of the game. Even in Game 1, when the Caps posted a 5-4 win, Washington was chasing for most of the game. It was only some late-game heroics from Alex Ovechkin that saved that game for the Caps and he hasn't been able to repeat the feat since. In fact, the Rocket Richard winner has managed only one goal and 19 shots through 5 games. The stories of the series have mainly been north of the Chesapeake Bay with Danny Briere finally finding a likely partner in Vaclav Prospal and Martin Biron finding a home in the Flyer goal. Those three, along with Mike Knuble, led the Flyers to a 3-1 series lead -- a lead Philly has relinquished only twice in its history.
But in order to advance, the Flyers will have to put down the rebellion brewing in D.C., and sooner rather than later. Washington has only once overcome a 3-1 series deficit, but their only victim was -- you guessed it -- the Flyers. If they should even the series on Monday, all bets are off. But it remains to be seen if youth and enthusiasm can overcome age and experience.
New York Rangers 4 New Jersey 1 - New York AdvancesMaybe I overestimated the Devils, or underestimated the Rangers. But I would have picked New Jersey to win this series in any year and if I could pick it again I would still handicap them as the winner. First, last and everywhere in between they have Martin Brodeur behind them. Brodeur hasn't yet taken onwership of the record book from Patrick Roy, but he's not done yet. Debates about the best forward in hostory almost always center on Lemieux and Gretzky. Debates about the greatest goaltender in history usually come down to a choice between Roy and Brodeur. Yes, he's that good.
But it helps that he plays in a system that has always, does, and probably always will support its goaltender. It also doesn't hurt that he starts 70-75 games a year even now after 16 years of action. In this age of salary caps and free agency there are very few things you can rely on year in and year out. But a couple of those things are that Marty Brodeur will rank near the top in every significant goaltending statistic and the Devils will be at or near the top of the Eastern Conference. Whether you love 'em or hate 'em, you have to give the Devils their due. There's a culture of success in certain special locker rooms, and the Devils have one of those.
The Rangers on the other hand had that culture of success at one time -- back in the days when there were only five other teams to compete with. But over the last couple of decades, the guys in Manhattan have been to the top, to the bottom and everywhere in between. They've fared better than you might have expected in the post-lockout, salary capped NHL but I honestly never saw a series win over Jersey coming. At least not so convincing a series win. But the Devils never really found second gear, and much of the credit for that has to go to the Rangers -- specifically to Henrik Lundqvist. It didn't hurt that long-time Devil Scott Gomez defected across the river in the off season. It didn't hurt that Chris Drury defected from Western New York either. But the Devils have lost players to free agency, injury, retirement, trades and virtually every other avenue over the years and have always found a way to be right in the middle of the playoff picture. The Rangers have historically been able to lure high-powered free agents and make themselves extremely average in the process. Mark Messier's guarantees notwithstanding. With the salary cap limiting them to spending on a level more consistent with the rest of the league, the Rangers have finally had to face the same harsh realities that their 29 competitors have to face. You can buy all the high-priced free agents you want, but if you're not getting the best out of the rest of your roster, you can't succeed. Not in the long term at least.
To their credit, New York has qualified for the post season in every year since the salary cap went into effect. Perhaps necessity has made them realize that there isn't a magic bullet for success. You have to earn it.
How well they've learned the lesson will likely be demonstrated when the conference Semifinals come around. In a historically perfect world, their next opponent would be the Canadiens but there are a couple of other teams that will have some input into that. The most likely candidates, though, will be the Habs or the Penguins meaning the Blueshirts will probably have to solve one of the top two seeds in the conference. And don't count on a 5-game win for New York in any of the likely scenarios.
Western Conference QuarterfinalsDetroit 4 Nashville 2 - Detroit AdvancesDisappointing, but not unexpected. The Predators were overmatched, but as game as they come. If they hadn't gone into Game 5 missing their two top centermen, maybe it's a different story. But they did and it wasn't. But there was a lot to be encouraged about if you're a Nashville fan and the top of the list has to be Dan Ellis. Who? Exactly. Where did this kid come from? It's not that teams haven't had playoff success with rookie goaltenders before -- the 2005-06 Carolina Hurricanes won a Stanley cup in front of a kid named Cam Ward. But in Carolina's case, Ward was a backup for most of the year and if he faltered in the playoffs, Peter Laviolette could always "fall back" on the guy who won 38 games for him during the regular season. And in fact that's exactly what he did do at one point in the Conference Finals.
But Nashville had no such luxury. It was pretty much Ellis or Bust for the Preds, and the young netminder stunned the hockey world shutting down the likes of Heinrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, etc, etc
ad infinitum. And he was never better than he was in Game 5 at Joe Louis Arena. Though the Predators eventually lost that game 2-1 in overtime, the reason they were still hanging around at the end of regulation -- or even at the start of the third period -- was the man between the pipes. Ellis withstood a barrage of 54 shots, stopping 52 of them. And these were not ordinary shooters. When your team is outshot by a 2.5:1 ratio and you're still in the game, it's because your goaltender has not been merely superb, he's been spectacular. And he continued the trend in Game 6 back home in Nashville. Unfortunately, so did the guys in front of him who couldn't dent Chris Osgood.
Which brings up perhaps the most interesting point of Detroit's post-season. Dominik Hasek has a history of leaving his backup holding the bag when the playoffs roll around. Luckily for the Wings, the guy holding the bag this year has already backstopped them to a Stanley Cup. That was 10 years ago, but judging from his Game 6 performance he hasn't lost his edge. If Osgood has lit the afterburners, the Red Wings could be a very, very tough customer for their remaining opponents.
San Jose 3 Calgary 3 - To Be DeterminedThis Game 7 is going to be have quite a different complexion than the one coming up in Montreal on Monday. The Canadiens can win it if they can take away Boston's will in the early stages of the game. If the Habs let the Bruins hang around until the third period, though, they're done. Looking at the Pacific Time variation on Game 7, the Sharks can't win by simply taking the Flames out of the game early. We saw what happens when they try that approach in Game 2 when Calgary chipped away an early 3-0 deficit and wound up winning. The Flames' will can't be snuffed out by a first period outburst,
quod erat demonstradum. But the Sharks have had their comeback moments in the series as well. If you're lucky enough to have a cable or satellite provider who will let you watch, you really shouldn't miss this game. This series and the one between the Wild and Avalanche have been the two most evenly matched of this year's playoffs. But the Sharks-Flames matchup is not only evenly matched, it's an even match between to mirror image teams. Both are explosive offensively, and both are gritty and physical when necessary. The game -- and the series -- could turn on a single hit, a single goal, or a single save.
Should the Sharks prevail, they would face another Northwest Division opponent (Colorado) in the semifinals. And you can expect that series to be a carbon copy of this one. Calgary would earn the right to play Detroit if they get by San Jose, which would see them jumping out of the frying pan and into the... flame? And if Detroit thought they had trouble with rookie Dan Ellis in the first round, just wait until they have to figure out Mikka Kiprasoff in the encore. Either of these teams could challenge for the conference title, but they'll have to get by each other first. At the end of the day, I just see the Sharks having too much firepower for Calgary to handle -- Kiprasoff notwithstanding.
The one thing that's certain about Game 7 is that no matter which team wins it, it won't come as a shock to anybody.
Minnesota 2 Colorado 4 - Colorado AdvancesThis series surprised a lot of so called experts, but it shouldn't have. It was everything you would have expected. The only eyebrow raiser was the Houdini act of Marion Gaborik. One point and zero goals in six games? When your team concept is defense first last and always, your leading scorer has to produce better than that or you will lose. Which they did.
On Colorado's side of the ledger the surprises were good ones. Jose Theodore has -- for now anyway -- regained the form that won him both the Hart and Vezina Trophies in 2002. Maybe the mountain air has been good for him, but he was sensational in Game 5 in St. Paul stealing a game for the Avalanche who were outshot by a canyon-sized margin. What's been equally impressive is Joel Quenneville's confidence in his depth players. He beat Minnesota by sending four lines at them all game long regardless of the score or the situation. When a coach has that luxury, good things invariably result. Special teams play didn't go the way the experts predicted either. The Wild were supposed to have a big advantage in odd-manpower situations, but somebody forgot to tell the Avs about it. This showed in particularly sharp relief in the penalty-fest that was Game 4 in Denver.
With Peter Forsberg back in the fold to power the "second" line -- and occasionally take a shift with his old buddy Joe Sakic, with Adam Foote back to check the opposition's top winger and with the contributions of relative newcomer Andrew Brunette the Avalanche could go very deep into the playoffs. Do they have enough to win another Cup? Possibly, but I wouldn't put any money on it unless you're getting odds you can't refuse. A Conference Final appearance is well within the realm of the possible though, if Theodore continues to play the way he has through the first six games.
Anaheim 2 Dallas 4 - Dallas AdvancesAnaheim was supposed to have all the advantages in this series -- with home ice being the biggest of them. Two games into the set, it was apparent that home ice wasn't going to help them. It wasn't so much surprising that Dallas won the first two in the Ducks' barn, but it was surprising that they did it so easily. The Ducks never really showed up until the series shifted to Dallas and by that time it was too late. So long Chris Pronger, we'll miss seeing you.
Not.
It's pretty early to be predicting a Western Conference champ, but if I had to answer that question here and now, the Stars would get the vote. Marty Turco is a man on a mission, Mike Modano is... well, he's Mike Modano, and the Stars feature arguably the most underrated player in the postseason in Stephane Robidas. Throw in Brendan Morrow and -- oh yeah -- that Richards guy they picked up from Tampa and Dallas makes a formidable challenge. They'll also be easily overlooked having finished third in the Pacific division overshadowed by San Jose and the now vanquished Ducks. But underestimating them is a mistake most players and any competent coach won't make.
Can Dallas bring a second Cup home? The experts would probably make them the fourth most likely to succeed, but we all know what that's worth. If Turco's goaltending stays at its current level -- or better yet improves -- he has the firepower in front of him to make life interesting for either of the Stars' possible semifinal opponents.
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