The Western Conference playoff picture waited until the last day of the season to be decided, but the match ups are now set: Anaheim-Dallas, Colorado-Minnesota, St. Louis-Chicago, San Jose-Los Angeles. The Western Conference match ups are much more appealing to me, I think these have the potential to be 4 amazing playoffs series. With that being said, here is a look at my 1st round predictions for the Western Conference:
1. Anaheim Ducks vs. 4. Dallas Stars (Wild Card #2)
Season Series:
Dallas won the season series 2-1:
6-3 (Anaheim)
6-3 (Dallas)
2-0 (Dallas)
Players to Watch:
Anaheim: Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Teemu Selanne, Nick Bonino, Francois Beauchemin, Andrew Cogliano
Dallas: Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Kari Lehtonen, Trevor Daley, Alex Goligoski, Valeri Nichushkin
X-Factor:
Ryan Getzlaf (ANA) Jamie Benn (DAL)
Series Notes:
This series has the potential to be a very exciting series, 2 teams that are committed to two-way hockey. The Ducks enter the series having won the #1 seed in the Western Conference and the Pacific Division Title. They are lead by the dynamic duo of Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, who both finished in the top 10 in scoring this season. The Ducks might be the deepest team in the NHL up front, they have 4 lines who score goals and play hard hockey. The Ducks have several important role players like Nick Bonino, Andrew Cogliano, Matt Beleskey to name a few. This will mark the last playoffs for Teemu Selanne, who is set to retire at the end of the season. The only question mark for the Ducks is in net, as they have 3 goalies who could all start. The obvious choice is Jonas Hiller, the Ducks longtime goalie who was their starter for most of the season. However, towards the end of the season youngsters Frederik Andersen and John Gibson proved that they belong in the NHL while Hiller struggled down the stretch. Andersen finished his rookie season with an impressive 20-5-0 record, while Gibson started 3 of the last 4 games and went 3-0. Bruce Boudreau has a tough task picking which goalie to start, but I wouldn't be surprised if he changes his mind mid-series. The Stars enter the series after clinching their first playoff spot since 2008, led by their own version of the dynamic duo of Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. Lindy Ruff has done a great job in his 1st season as Head Coach of the Stars, and he looks to lead them to the upset. The Stars will need a big performance out of goalie Kari Lehtonen if they want to pull off the series win.
Prediction: The Stars are going to make this series a lot closer than people think, but ultimately the Ducks are too strong for the Stars:
(DUCKS IN 5)
1. Colorado Avalanche vs. 4. Minnesota Wild (Wild Card #1)
Season Series:
Colorado won the season series 4-0-1:
3-1 (Colorado)
3-2 SO (Colorado)
2-1 SO (Minnesota)
4-2 (Colorado)
5-4 (Colorado)
Players to Watch:
Colorado: Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene, Semyon Varlamov, Ryan O'Reilly, Gabriel Landeskog, Paul Stastny
Minnesota: Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Mikko Koivu, Jason Pominville, Matt Moulson, Ilya Bryzgalov
X-Factor:
Semyon Varlamov (COL) Zach Parise (MIN)
Series Notes:
The Avalanche were perhaps the best story of the 2013-14, if not the most surprising team for sure. The Avalanche finished 29th in the league and 15th in the Western Conference last season, which lead to big changes as Joe Sakic was hired as Vice President of Hockey Operations. His first move? Hiring former teammate Patrick Roy to replace the fired Joe Sacco as the Avs Head Coach. Patrick Roy has completely changed the culture of the Avs, he has the team buying into his system and playing great hockey. The Avs are lead by a slew of young, talented forwards upfront in Matt Duchene, Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, Ryan O'Reilly and Paul Stastny. The Avs need a big performance out of Semyon Varlamov, who is fresh off an NHL and career-best 41 wins. They will also need a big production from their defense, notably Tyson Barrie and Erik Johnson. The lone question mark for the Avs is the status of star player Matt Duchene, who is currently sidelined with a knee injury. My guess is the Avs will treat it day by day and se how he progresses. The Wild enter this series after winning the 1st wild card spot with 98 points. The Wild are lead upfront by a group of talented forwards in Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu, Jason Pominville, Matt Moulson and Mikael Granlund. They will need a big performance out of top defenseman Ryan Suter, who plays the most minutes per game in the NHL. The only question mark for the Wild is in net, after injuries to Josh Harding, Niklas Backstrom and Darcy Kuemper the job is now Ilya Bryzgalov's. The Wild will rely on Bryzgalov to stop the Avs potent offense.
Prediction: Gotta go with my favourite team here, but I think they are the favourites regardless:
(AVALANCHE IN 6)
2. St. Louis Blues vs. 3. Chicago Blackhawks (Central Division)
Season Series:
St. Louis won the season series 3-2:
3-2 (St. Louis)
3-2 SO (St. Louis)
6-5 SO (St. Louis)
4-0 (Chicago)
4-2 (Chicago)
Players to Watch:
St. Louis: TJ Oshie, David Backes, Alexander Steen, Ryan Miller, Alex Pietrangelo, Kevin Shattenkirk
Chicago: Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith, Corey Crawford
X-Factor:
Ryan Miller (STL) Jonathan Toews (CHI)
Series Notes:
One of the best 1st round match ups in a long time, you could argue that these are the top 2 teams in the NHL. This is going to be a heavyweight clash, both teams can score goals and both teams can lock it down on defense. The Blues enter the series in the midst of their worst streak of the season, a 6-game losing streak. The Blues looked like a lock for the Central Division Champs just a week ago, but with the 6-straight losses and the streaking Avalanche they lost out on that chance. The Blues have some serious question marks right now, injuries to Vladimir Tarasenko, David Backes and TJ Oshie are very concerning. Backes and Oshie will hopefully be available for game #1, which would be a huge boost for them. Ryan Miller has struggled in the last few weeks after starting very strong for the Blues since the trade, and he will look to the lead the Blues in this series. They will also need a big performance from their defense, most notably the top pair of Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester. The Hawks enter the series as the defending Stanley Cup Champions and look to become the 1st team since the Red Wings of the 90s to win back-to-back Stanley Cups. The Hawks have been playing without Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews the last 2 weeks, but both are expected to return for game #1. The Hawks will need a big performance from their core, Toews Kane Sharp and Hossa, to win this series. We all know how important the depth guys are on Chicago, but in order to keep up with the powerful Blues they need their top guys to play well. They also need a big performance out of Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, who will be up against the Steen-Backes-Oshie line often. If Corey Crawford can regain his form from last playoffs the Hawks will be in great shape.
Prediction: This series is really hard to predict, it could go either way, but ultimately I think the defending champs will prevail:
(BLACKHAWKS IN 6)
2. San Jose Sharks vs. 3. Los Angeles Kings (Pacific Division)
Season Series:
Los Angeles won the season series 3-1-1:
4-3 OT (Los Angeles)
3-2 SO (San Jose)
4-1 (Los Angeles)
1-0 (Los Angeles)
2-1 (San Jose)
Players to Watch:
San Jose: Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns, Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture, Dan Boyle
Los Angeles: Jonathan Quick, Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Drew Doughty, Dustin Brown, Mike Richards
X-Factor:
Joe Thornton (SJS) Jonathan Quick (LAK)
Series Notes:
As I noted with the Blues-Hawks series, this is another stellar 1st round match up that will be very exciting to watch. The division rivals are both among the best offenses in the NHL, not to mention 2 of the bigger, stronger teams in the NHL. I expect this to be an extremely physical series like it was in the 2013 postseason when the Kings beat the Sharks in 7 games in the 2nd round. The Sharks enter the series as the 2nd seed in the division and will start game 1 and 2 at home. The Sharks have arguably the best offense in the NHL, which starts with the amazing 1st line of Joe Thornton-Brent Burns-Joe Pavelski. The Thornton line might be the toughest line to play against in the NHL, 3 guys with a ton of skill but also size that dominates on the cycle game. The Sharks also have Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl to round out a talented top 6. They will need a big performance from their top D-pair of Dan Boyle and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, as well as their goaltender Antti Niemi. The Kings enter the series as the 3rd seed in the division, and fresh off 2 successful playoff stints (Stanley Cup in 2012, Conference Finals in 2013). The Kings rely on goaltender Jonathan Quick, they will go as far as he takes them and he always seems to rise up during playoff time. The Kings will need to match the Sharks offensive production if they want to win the series, so pressure will be on the top 2 lines of Gaborik-Kopitar-Williams and Brown-Richards-Carter. Expect another big playoff performance out of defenseman Drew Doughty and Slava Voynov, who were a big part of their Stanley Cup run in 2012. They will also rely on the shutdown pair of Willie Mitchell and Robyn Regehr to limit the Sharks potent offense. This is going to be a great series.
Prediction: Like the Blues-Hawks series this one is really hard to predict and it really could go both ways, but I think the Sharks will get some revenge on the Kings from last season:
(SHARKS IN 7)
This would have Anaheim, Colorado, Chicago and San Jose moving on to the next round. The match ups would look as follows:
Colorado vs. Chicago
Anaheim vs. San Jose
-Joel Forman - The Forman Faceoff
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