***Be advised...I had a separate WCF blog a few days ago but I reread it and I decided it sucked so I deleted it and started again to encompass both conference finals. The West had their first game last night and the ECF starts tonight. There was also a cross country drive last week and I've finally got settled in so that's why this is a bit "tardy to the party" as they say.***
Western Conference: Los Angeles Kings vs. Phoenix Coyotes
The semi's are over and this evening will start the Conference Finals when the Kings take on the Coyotes in game 1. The Kings were the 8th seed in the West and have scorched through the two tops seeds Vancouver and St Louis. They have been anchored by the sensational goaltending of Jonathan Quick, a tough defense, hustle and timely goal scoring. The Phoenix Coyotes were the "weakest" of the division winners but they managed to beat a high powered Blackhawks offense by holding them to 12 goals in round one then dispatched the Predators in the semi's. Phoenix is very similar to Los Angeles in the fact that they rely heavily on journeyman goalie Mike Smith and opportunistic scoring. Phoenix has a mix of grizzled, cagey veterans like Ray Whitney (39 years old & the teams leader in points during the regular season), Shane Doan and Darren Lankgow (both 35) mixed with youth like Antoine Vermette, Mikkel Boedker and Keith Yandle. The Coyotes top 3 scorers in the regular season were all over 30 but in the playoffs much of their scoring has come from the youngsters. I should note that the scoring has been pretty balanced, Vermette has 5 goals and Boedker, Doan and Martin Hanzal all have 3 goals each.
Neither team scores a lot (Kings have 27 goals in 9 games and the Coyotes have 29 goals in 11 games) but they are opportunistic and neither team takes bad penalties. That's what this series may boil down to; who can take advantage on the power play or which team takes the foolish penalty in a bad spot. The Kings had 132 PIM compared to only 104 PIM for Phoenix. Both teams can bring the pressure in the offensive zone and are aggressive on the forecheck in the defensive end. Both Quick and Smith have been nothing short of excellent between the pipes. Quick has a 1.55 GAA and a .949 Save Percentage. Smith has a 1.77 GAA and .948 Save Percentage while facing 126 more shots than Quick.
Both head coaches have had playoff success in the past. Darryl Sutter came to the Kings with 49 games to play and was 12 games above .500. Whatever he did the Kings responded by scratching their way into the playoffs and knocking off the top 2 seeds in the conference. While coaching in Calgary he took the Flames to the Stanley Cup finals before losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 7 games. In his 13 years as a head coach with stops in Chicago, San Jose, Calgary and LA he's been to the playoffs 11 times and advanced into the semi's 4 times. To say the least he's a solid guy behind the bench.
Dave Tippett, a former Hartford Whaler standout from the 80's, took over for Phoenix in 2009 ans he's taken them to the playoffs in all of his 3 years there. Tippett has brought consistency to an organization that was in disarray from 2001-2009 (their only playoff appearance during that time resulted in a 1st round exit in 2002). This is Tippett's 2nd NHL stop. He was in Dallas from 2003-2009 and took the Stars to the playoffs 4 times and got to the semi finals twice.
These teams are evenly matched as possible. During the regular season the Kings & Coyotes met six times each team winning 3 times and 3 games went into OT. The Coyotes won the Pacific Division but finished only 2 points ahead of the Kings. Neither team scores a lot but I don't think either team would sit back on a 1 goal lead early in a game. Both teams will rely heavily on their netminders and basically try to grind it out and wear down the other team. The NHL would like nothing more than to see LA in the finals. I would have to agree that this is the best scenario but I would like to see Tippett take Phoenix to the finals. Phoenix has had a lot of problems off the ice, they just got sold and the owners will keep them in Phoenix. I'm not sure if Phoenix is even a good NHL city but I am going to be pulling for them. I can't see this series lasting any less than 7 games. Since I'm pulling for the Coyotes, I will pick them in 7 but I wouldn't be surprised if either team won. The only thing that would stun me would be if the series went less than 6 games or if 1 team won easily. This could be a grueling hard fought series.
Eastern Conference: New Jersey Devils vs. New York Rangers
These teams are no strangers to each other, division & territorial rivals with a lot of bad blood. They split the season series at 3 wins each and the fists were flying as the puck dropped when they last met on the ice March 19, 2012. In 1994, en route to their 1st Stanley Cup in 54 years, the Rangers came back to defeat the Devils in an historic game 7. In 2006 the Devils bounced the Rangers in the 1st round. One can argue that since the Rangers ended their Stanley Cup drought, the Devils have been the better franchise since then. The Rangers have only one trip to the conference finals (1997) then missed the playoffs for the next seven seasons whereas the Devils have been the Stanley Cup Finals 4 times (hoisting the Lord Stanley's Cup in 1995, 1999 and 2000). Since 1994 the Devils have only missed the playoffs twice (1996 & 2011). Of course the New York metropolitan area will always belong to the Rangers. It hasn't been an uncommon sight over the years to see more blue in the stands at a Devils home game versus the Rangers than red. But that's a topic for another time.
During the Devils run (1995-2003) they were a defensive orientated team that implemented the less than exciting "neutral zone trap." They didn't score much and the didn't allow many shots on goal but they won and won a lot. The Devils, since they have a tough time drawing a crowd, have always kept payroll low and chose to be a gritty team. The Rangers during this time had the likes of Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky come through (because you need a big name in NYC) but they didn't have the success that the Devils had. Since John Tortorella arrived at near the in of the 2009 season, the Rangers have been more of a defensive minded, grind it out, lunch pail type team (the excellent goaltending of Henrik Lundqvist was a big help). The Devils these days are not quite as defensive minded as they once were and have opened it up a bit more in the offensive zone.
The Devils struggled a bit in the opening round against a determined (but not as talented as the Devils) Florida Panthers. In the semi's the dropped the first game to the Flyers then won the next four to take the series. I would've thought the Flyers to win after the way they beat up on the Penguins. The Flyers seemed lost when they couldn't jump out to a 3 goal lead. The Rangers on the other hand have been taking to the limit in each of their playoff rounds by the Senators and Capitals. The goaltenders are excellent. Martin Brodeur has had his best playoff run since 2003 (last time NJ won the Cup) and Henrik Lundqvist was easily one of the top goalies in the NHL this year. So as in the WCFs, goals will be hard to come by. Especially since the Rangers have had scoring droughts. The Devils however are a bit better offensively. This is another series that's tough to call. Both teams have had a series go 7 games (both teams were down 3-2 in the opening round and came back to win the series). Coach Tortorella has won a Stanley Cup behind the bench for the 2004 Lightning but this is Peter DeBoer's first trip to the playoffs in his 4 year coaching career. I'm going to give a slight edge to the Rangers but it won't be easy.
It's a given the the heartless suits that run NBC want to see the Rangers and the Kings in the finals for the TV ratings. I have no doubt that would be a great series and it would put the NHL (which desperately needs TV ratings) in a good spot. I have no horse in the race (though year in & year out I hope for an Original Six Stanley Cup Final) but any match up between the 4 remaining teams would be a good series. It may not translate into TV ratings but it would be good hockey. Let's go Rangers & Coyotes! Thanks for your time.
Western Conference: Los Angeles Kings vs. Phoenix Coyotes
The semi's are over and this evening will start the Conference Finals when the Kings take on the Coyotes in game 1. The Kings were the 8th seed in the West and have scorched through the two tops seeds Vancouver and St Louis. They have been anchored by the sensational goaltending of Jonathan Quick, a tough defense, hustle and timely goal scoring. The Phoenix Coyotes were the "weakest" of the division winners but they managed to beat a high powered Blackhawks offense by holding them to 12 goals in round one then dispatched the Predators in the semi's. Phoenix is very similar to Los Angeles in the fact that they rely heavily on journeyman goalie Mike Smith and opportunistic scoring. Phoenix has a mix of grizzled, cagey veterans like Ray Whitney (39 years old & the teams leader in points during the regular season), Shane Doan and Darren Lankgow (both 35) mixed with youth like Antoine Vermette, Mikkel Boedker and Keith Yandle. The Coyotes top 3 scorers in the regular season were all over 30 but in the playoffs much of their scoring has come from the youngsters. I should note that the scoring has been pretty balanced, Vermette has 5 goals and Boedker, Doan and Martin Hanzal all have 3 goals each.
Neither team scores a lot (Kings have 27 goals in 9 games and the Coyotes have 29 goals in 11 games) but they are opportunistic and neither team takes bad penalties. That's what this series may boil down to; who can take advantage on the power play or which team takes the foolish penalty in a bad spot. The Kings had 132 PIM compared to only 104 PIM for Phoenix. Both teams can bring the pressure in the offensive zone and are aggressive on the forecheck in the defensive end. Both Quick and Smith have been nothing short of excellent between the pipes. Quick has a 1.55 GAA and a .949 Save Percentage. Smith has a 1.77 GAA and .948 Save Percentage while facing 126 more shots than Quick.
Both head coaches have had playoff success in the past. Darryl Sutter came to the Kings with 49 games to play and was 12 games above .500. Whatever he did the Kings responded by scratching their way into the playoffs and knocking off the top 2 seeds in the conference. While coaching in Calgary he took the Flames to the Stanley Cup finals before losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 7 games. In his 13 years as a head coach with stops in Chicago, San Jose, Calgary and LA he's been to the playoffs 11 times and advanced into the semi's 4 times. To say the least he's a solid guy behind the bench.
Dave Tippett, a former Hartford Whaler standout from the 80's, took over for Phoenix in 2009 ans he's taken them to the playoffs in all of his 3 years there. Tippett has brought consistency to an organization that was in disarray from 2001-2009 (their only playoff appearance during that time resulted in a 1st round exit in 2002). This is Tippett's 2nd NHL stop. He was in Dallas from 2003-2009 and took the Stars to the playoffs 4 times and got to the semi finals twice.
These teams are evenly matched as possible. During the regular season the Kings & Coyotes met six times each team winning 3 times and 3 games went into OT. The Coyotes won the Pacific Division but finished only 2 points ahead of the Kings. Neither team scores a lot but I don't think either team would sit back on a 1 goal lead early in a game. Both teams will rely heavily on their netminders and basically try to grind it out and wear down the other team. The NHL would like nothing more than to see LA in the finals. I would have to agree that this is the best scenario but I would like to see Tippett take Phoenix to the finals. Phoenix has had a lot of problems off the ice, they just got sold and the owners will keep them in Phoenix. I'm not sure if Phoenix is even a good NHL city but I am going to be pulling for them. I can't see this series lasting any less than 7 games. Since I'm pulling for the Coyotes, I will pick them in 7 but I wouldn't be surprised if either team won. The only thing that would stun me would be if the series went less than 6 games or if 1 team won easily. This could be a grueling hard fought series.
Eastern Conference: New Jersey Devils vs. New York Rangers
These teams are no strangers to each other, division & territorial rivals with a lot of bad blood. They split the season series at 3 wins each and the fists were flying as the puck dropped when they last met on the ice March 19, 2012. In 1994, en route to their 1st Stanley Cup in 54 years, the Rangers came back to defeat the Devils in an historic game 7. In 2006 the Devils bounced the Rangers in the 1st round. One can argue that since the Rangers ended their Stanley Cup drought, the Devils have been the better franchise since then. The Rangers have only one trip to the conference finals (1997) then missed the playoffs for the next seven seasons whereas the Devils have been the Stanley Cup Finals 4 times (hoisting the Lord Stanley's Cup in 1995, 1999 and 2000). Since 1994 the Devils have only missed the playoffs twice (1996 & 2011). Of course the New York metropolitan area will always belong to the Rangers. It hasn't been an uncommon sight over the years to see more blue in the stands at a Devils home game versus the Rangers than red. But that's a topic for another time.
During the Devils run (1995-2003) they were a defensive orientated team that implemented the less than exciting "neutral zone trap." They didn't score much and the didn't allow many shots on goal but they won and won a lot. The Devils, since they have a tough time drawing a crowd, have always kept payroll low and chose to be a gritty team. The Rangers during this time had the likes of Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky come through (because you need a big name in NYC) but they didn't have the success that the Devils had. Since John Tortorella arrived at near the in of the 2009 season, the Rangers have been more of a defensive minded, grind it out, lunch pail type team (the excellent goaltending of Henrik Lundqvist was a big help). The Devils these days are not quite as defensive minded as they once were and have opened it up a bit more in the offensive zone.
The Devils struggled a bit in the opening round against a determined (but not as talented as the Devils) Florida Panthers. In the semi's the dropped the first game to the Flyers then won the next four to take the series. I would've thought the Flyers to win after the way they beat up on the Penguins. The Flyers seemed lost when they couldn't jump out to a 3 goal lead. The Rangers on the other hand have been taking to the limit in each of their playoff rounds by the Senators and Capitals. The goaltenders are excellent. Martin Brodeur has had his best playoff run since 2003 (last time NJ won the Cup) and Henrik Lundqvist was easily one of the top goalies in the NHL this year. So as in the WCFs, goals will be hard to come by. Especially since the Rangers have had scoring droughts. The Devils however are a bit better offensively. This is another series that's tough to call. Both teams have had a series go 7 games (both teams were down 3-2 in the opening round and came back to win the series). Coach Tortorella has won a Stanley Cup behind the bench for the 2004 Lightning but this is Peter DeBoer's first trip to the playoffs in his 4 year coaching career. I'm going to give a slight edge to the Rangers but it won't be easy.
It's a given the the heartless suits that run NBC want to see the Rangers and the Kings in the finals for the TV ratings. I have no doubt that would be a great series and it would put the NHL (which desperately needs TV ratings) in a good spot. I have no horse in the race (though year in & year out I hope for an Original Six Stanley Cup Final) but any match up between the 4 remaining teams would be a good series. It may not translate into TV ratings but it would be good hockey. Let's go Rangers & Coyotes! Thanks for your time.
No comments:
Post a Comment