NHL FINAL 4 PREVIEW

Maybe it’s too early to suggest the NHL has regained its standing as one of the four major sports in America, but there is definitely reason to believe that a return into that group is near.

Last week in Chicago, friends that would normally only be focused on Chicago Cubs baseball were not only watching the Chicago Blackhawks resurgence and playoff success—home games on local television, mind you—they were texting me in jubilation after clutch goals.

The NHL playoffs are a fantastic time for hockey fans and this year has been a special treat. The second round brought three series that took all seven games to decide and one that featured the top two offensive players in the world going head-to-head in Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

So, with the excitement of the first two rounds in the books, what does the conference finals have in store?

How about the renewal of one of the greatest rivalries in the sport between the Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings with a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals on the line? These original-six teams are separated by one great lake and the red in both jerseys represents the bad blood that exists between their players and fans.

OFFENSE: There’s just as much skill on the ice here as there was in the aforementioned Capitals/Penguins series with a number of players capable of lighting the lamp. As a matter of fact, both the United Center and Joe Louis Arena better have extra light bulbs on hand for the red lights behind each goal.

Detroit’s Henrik Zetterberg has always given the Hawks a problem. In 34 career games, he has 17 goals and 19 assists. And of course, there’s super-skilled Marian Hossa with his laser-quick wrister he can fire past a goalie at any time. Then, there’s prime playoff performer Johan Franzen, who continues to impress at the most important time of the year. Franzen has tallied 15 points (8 goals) in Detroit’s 11 games. The Hawks cannot let him get on a roll if they want to come out on top.

For Detroit, the real key will be the play of center Pavel Datsyuk. Nominated for three regular season awards, Datsyuk has had a disappointing playoff run thus far. After recording 32 goals and 65 assists in the regular season, he has tallied just one goal and four assists in the playoffs. Keeping him down is a big key in this series.

Meanwhile, the Blackhawks counter with young and talented players of their own. This list is long but focuses on captain Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.

Kane, in particular, is skating better than he has in months and just torched the supposed best goalie in the world—Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo—for six goals, including a hat trick in game six. Toews didn’t score all series until depositing two goals of his own in the clinching game. If one of the youngsters is hot, the Red Wings will have a problem, but if both are going well at the same time the Hawks can pull the upset.

The key for the Hawks will be the line of Martin Havlat, Andrew Ladd and Dave Bolland. Considered the team’s third line, there have been stretches when they have clicked like a legitimate top line. A testament to the outstanding depth of the Blackhawks, if this line is playing well the series could go the distance.


Dustin Byfuglien (Buff-LYNN) will need to do his best Tomas Holmstrom impression in front of the Detroit net and throw his weight around like he’s done since the playoffs began. If he reverts to his regular season play, the Red Wings should write him a “thank you” card when the series is over.

DEFENSE: Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom remains the best defenseman in the world and can shut down the opponents’ top line on any given night. The rest of the defense is as solid as they come with Brad Stuart, Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson.

Brian Rafalski could be the key to the entire series, however. Injured for much of the Anaheim series, Rafalski was able to play limited minutes in the final two games but failed to contribute very much. He loves to join the rush and is the quarterback on the power play. If the injury bug continues to be a problem, it would greatly benefit the Hawks. But if he returns to his regular season form (10 goals, 49 assists in 78 games) Detroit might score on every power play.

The big problem for Chicago is the fact that only one defensive pairing—Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook—are truly outstanding defenders. While his numbers don’t show it, Keith actually looks a bit tired— which is to be expected, as 25-30 minutes of ice time tend to take a toll by game no. 90. However, his partner has jumped into the elite d-man class this post-season, as Seabrook has been a beast on the blue line.


So the issue here is which talented Detroit line do they match up with? Calgary only had the Jarome Iginla line to fear, Vancouver only had the Sedin twins’ line. The Red Wings have two supremely talented combinations up front.

This means that either the defense pairing of Brian Campbell and Niklas Hjalmarsson or Cam Barker and Matt Walker needs to seriously step up their game.

The series will be lost if both pairings fail to focus on defense as opposed to joining the offensive fun.

GOALIES: This is about as evenly matched as you can get both in statistics and experience level. Chris Osgood and Nikolai Khabibulin are not in their prime and probably won’t be doing a decent Martin Brodeur impression during the series. Meanwhile, both netminders have won a Stanley Cup and know how to show up in big games.

Osgood hides behind a superb defense but can be beat. The young and speedy Hawks showed that great goalies are no problem having put a plethora of pucks past both Luongo and Miikka Kiprusoff. If this series falls on Osgood’s shoulders than the Wings are actually in some serious trouble.


Khabibulin has been far from spectacular in the playoffs but if one of these goalies is going to shine and carry a team on his back, it’s going to be the one that can morph into a wall. Two seasons ago Khabibulin owned Detroit, posting a 5-2 record and 2.69 goals against average against them. This year was an entirely different story and the numbers will need to more closely resemble the 2007-08 variety.

OFFICIAL PREDICTION: Don’t let the Blackhawks 2-2-2 regular season record against the Red Wings fool you. Both wins came at the end of the season when neither team had anything to play for. Detroit went as far as to rest both Lidstrom and Hossa, among others.

The fact of the matter here is that the Red Wings are the superior team in nearly all aspects. That’s no knock against the Hawks, and while upsets occur all the time in the NHL playoffs this one is hard to imagine.

Before the season, I said the Hawks would make the playoffs as a 7 or 8 seed and maybe win a round. This season has far exceeded the expectations of any true fan or expert, but the magical ride comes to an end, as Chicago is still a year away from making a serious run at hockey’s holey grail.

RED WINGS WIN THE SERIES IN 7 GAMES.



EASTERN CONFERENCE: The Hurricanes have been the most clutch hockey team we may ever see. They’ve scored with 0.2 seconds remaining in the 3rd period to break a tie. They’ve scored twice in the final 80 seconds of a game 7 to beat Brodeur and the Devils and then won another game 7 in overtime to get to this point.

While it’s hard to overlook Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward and the fact that he has yet to lose a playoff series, he’s also never seen a player quite like Sidney Crosby.

Crosby seems to be on a mission much like LeBron James in the NBA. He proved he’s the best player in the world by eliminating Ovechkin’s Capitals and has 12 goals and 9 assists for 21 points in only 13 games thus far.

This Penguins team is better than last year’s that went to the finals. They are tougher, more physical and have better leaders in trade acquisitions Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin.



Oh yeah, and Crosby just seems unstoppable.

It will still be an entertaining series and pay close attention to Carolina center Eric Staal, one of the game’s premier skaters and a top-10 forward in his own right.

Nonetheless, we will have a rematch for the Cup.

PENGUINS WIN THE SERIES IN 6 GAMES.