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THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR, PART III…
By Anthony | May 17, 2009
Greetings,
Can it get any better?
The 2009 National Hockey League playoffs have been one of the best in recent memory. Halfway through a four round marathon we’ve been on the edge of our seats practically every night.
There have been five win or go home game seven’s – three in the most recently completed round of play – and we’ve seen the emergence of a number of the game’s next stars.
Particularly pleasing has been the elimination of the long held adage that if you score first you win the game and the team holding a lead (by any margin, especially after two periods) is guaranteed to win.
This has been the postseason of the comeback, creating an amazing ebb and flow that has provided scintillating action.
Let’s recap the conference semifinals and my picks:
In the east both series went the distance, with the Pittsburgh Penguins rallying from a 2-0 deficit to eliminate Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals in a disappointing seventh game.
Perhaps it was the incredible pace, momentum swings and overall play of the first six games in this anticipated confrontation between Sidney Crosby and the amazingly skilled and energetic Ovechkin (8 goals, 6 assists in series), but the decisive game turned into a 6-2 downer with young goalie Simeon Varlamov allowing some questionable goals. However, he’s clearly established himself as the netminder of the future in D.C. with seven playoff wins, three more than what he had a month ago throughout his brief career.
In the put up or shut up category, this series exposed the shortcomings of Caps’ forward Alexander Semin, who earlier in the year questioned whether Crosby was as good as all the hype and then chose to become a perimeter player in May while Crosby scored eight goals against Washington in areas that the Russian winger refused to visit.
Additionally, Norris trophy candidate Mike Green, lauded all regular season for the offense he generated from the backend, was goal-less this series with just four assists.
Meanwhile, The Cardiac ‘Canes did it once again.
Game seven on the road against the east’s best team? No problem. Scott Walker dropped Aaron Ward with a sucker punch (he deserved at least a game suspension) earlier in the series, and then dropped the bomb on the B’s with a series-winning goal in overtime.
What more can you say about the job done by the entire staff in Carolina! And the atmosphere in the RBC Center appears to be invigorating even on television, as the hockey hotbed of Raleigh, North Carolina is second to none in terms of energy.
Truth be told they dominated the series early winning three of the first four games while making Boston look dreadfully slow. Funny because I thought their easy disposal of Montreal would give them much needed rest as the playoffs progressed, but that was not the case.
Next time you look up the word clutch in the dictionary you’ll find a picture of goalie Cam Ward alongside his gaudy numbers – four wins and no losses. The 25-year old is quickly becoming the best big game backstopper, if not the very best overall.
And that leads us to the west where Roberto Luongo was making a strong claim to some of the accolades thrown Ward’s way, but his performance in Chicago’s six-game series win was disturbingly alarming.
Now clearly the Vancouver defense has to be held accountable also, but the road to super stardom in net is paved with goalies that have bailed out many defensemen.
Too many blown leads against the Blackhawks, and while much of the fame and notoriety will go to Patrick Kane (hat trick in game six, game winning assist in pivotal game five) kudos should also be extended to Andrew Ladd, Dave Bolland, Adam Burish and Dustin Byfuglien for their physical presence and also to defensemen Brent Seabrook and Dustin Keith with honorable mention to Niklas Hjalmarsson (for absorbing hits and bouncing right back up).
Lastly, the most intriguing contest pitted the last two Stanley Cup winners engaged in a street fight.
Detroit edged Anaheim and proved in this writer’s eyes that toughness is not always displayed by fighting or just physical play.
The Red Wings almost uncanny ability to walk away from the bully tactics of the Ducks and play their game was the difference, and to date Chris Osgood has two Stanley Cup rings more than any goalie remaining in the playoffs.
They won this series without a goal from perhaps the game’s best all-around player in Pavel Datsyuk! And some very questionable officiating.
As for how I did with my series picks, I won the Pittsburgh and Detroit matchups; while game-by-game I went 14 and 13. Overall: series – 8 wins, 4 losses; game-by-game: 45 and 26.
Eastern Conference Finals:
(4) Pittsburgh vs. (6) Carolina
Call me crazy, but I am once again picking against the Carolina Hurricanes, with a caveat; if there’s a seventh game they’re my pick, lol…
Seriously though, the Penguins painful apprenticeship to becoming a Stanley Cup team began a year ago when they were taught very well by Detroit, and that will prove quite beneficial in this series.
The Penguins also have size up the middle with Evegeni Malkin, Crosby and Jordan Staal (competing against his older brother Eric) and the speed the Bruins desperately needed.
Sergei Gonchar appears to be healthy after missing time and then returning for a cameo appearance in game seven against Washington, as that should help their defense, but the determination of Sidney Crosby is the key here. Sid the Kid’s been amazing in terms of how he’s handling the pressure with 12 goals and 9 assists this postseason.
Also keep in mind that though Cam Ward has been superb for the Hurricanes he, nor their defense, has yet to face an offense like this, and his counterpart Marc Andre-Fleury, though not statistically comparable, has a knack for making the key save.
Penguins in six games.
Western Conference Finals:
(2) Detroit vs. (4) Chicago
An original six matchup that has tons of intrigue and story lines.
The youth and speed of the barely legal Blackhawks versus the wisdom and poise of the game’s most successful team the last ten years.
Will the defense pair of Brent Seabrook and Dustin Keith handle Franzen, Zetterberg et al?
Can Detroit further perfect their at times Harlem Globetrotter-esque puck possession game with Niklas Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Brian Rafalski and frustrate Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane?
Will Chris Osgood – winless against Chicago this season – outshine Nik Khabibulin in net?
Trust me there are many more subplots here, as both teams face an opponent quite different from anything they’ve seen this postseason.
I feel the key here will be whether Chicago can be patient defensively while Detroit controls the puck, and believe me they will have the puck a good portion of the time, did I mention that they are by far the best puck control team in the game. However, they’ve been known to cough up the rock (though not as much in the postseason) and if that happens and the Hawks are not running all over the place their transition game will cause the Wings major fits.
This meteoric rise to the final four is great for the Hawks, but I don’t believe they’ll go any further. Just too much experience and poise in Detroit.
Red Wings in six.
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