Why Vancouver will win: Roberto Luongo is a candidate for the Hart Trophy, and he was arguably stronger yet in the first round against Dallas. There may be no tougher goalie to face in a best-of-seven series right now. Vancouver’s defense seems to know exactly when to pinch and when to retreat, and they receive decent offensive punch from the blueline.
Why Vancouver will struggle: Beyond Markus Naslund and the Sedin twins – who were quiet for the middle five games of the opening round -- the Canucks lack scoring depth up front. Against Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer, this could be a fatal flaw.
Why Anaheim will win: Niederpronger – also known as Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger – plays nearly 60 minutes a game. If the Canucks get past the rearguards, there’s always J.S Giguere or Ilya Bryzgalov as the last line of defense.
Why Anaheim will struggle: Luongo. It seems cliché, but Luongo can win a series on his own.
Conclusion: Look for a very low scoring series, as Anaheim’s blueline and Vancouver’s Luongo will make sure that is the case. In the end, the Ducks should be able to pound Vancouver at both ends of the ice, and that can be the difference in a long series.
Prediction: Ducks in six.
#1 Detroit vs #5 San Jose
Why San Jose will win: The Sharks have the West’s best depth at forward with Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Jonathan Cheechoo, Joe Pavelski, Bill Guerin…. you get the idea. The two-headed goaltending tandem known as Naboskala – Evgeni Nabokov and Vesa Toskala – ensure San Jose will have solid netminding, even in the case of an injury.
Why San Jose will struggle: Bill Guerin is the only Shark with his name on the Stanley Cup. On the other hand, Detroit features a plethora of past champions.
Why Detroit will win: The Red Wings were the league’s best regular season team and they dominated Calgary in the first round. The Wings have great depth up front and on the blueline, while Dominik Hasek has turned back the clock between the pipes.
Why Detroit will struggle: San Jose is a much younger, bigger, and more physical team. There is always a chance the Wings will start to show their age – but do not bet on it.
Conclusion: Perhaps the most intriguing series of the second round, this one could go either way. Detroit must find a way to shut down San Jose’s top two lines in order to advance to the conference finals.
Prediction: Sharks in seven.
Eastern Conference
#1 Buffalo vs #6 New York Rangers
Why the Rangers will win: Since acquiring Sean Avery before the trade deadline, the Rangers have been the NHL’s hottest team. Brendan Shanahan provides playoff grit and experience, while Jaromir Jagr is still one of the game’s elite players. Henrik Lundqvist has regained his rookie season form in goal, and the rearguards in front of him have turned around their mediocre early season performance.
Why the Rangers will struggle: Compared to the Sabres, the Rangers have a notable lack of depth. If Jagr or Shanahan struggles, who will pick up the slack?
Why Buffalo will win: No team rolls four lines better than the Sabres, yet they still have impressive top-end talent with the likes of Daniel Briere, Chris Drury, and Thomas Vanek. Ryan Miller has emerged as one of the league’s best netminders the past two seasons.
Why Buffalo will struggle: The Sabres might not have an answer for the ever-annoying Sean Avery, although they can limit Avery’s effectiveness by taking early leads.
Conclusion: Unlike last year, the Rangers peaked at the right time this season. Many observers are writing them off against the mighty Sabres, but that is a little premature. Look for a close, entertaining series between these two teams.
Prediction: Sabres in seven.
#2 New Jersey vs #4 Ottawa
Why Ottawa will win: From the start of the season, this Senators squad looked more like a playoff team than years past. The top line of Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza, and Daniel Alfredsson is as good as any in the league, while players like Mike Fisher, Chris Neil, and Anton Volchenkov provide depth and grit.
Why Ottawa will struggle: The Senators must overcome a history of falling short in spring. The image may have been true in the past, but it is likely overblown this season considering the makeup of this squad.
Why New Jersey will win: Martin Brodeur. The legendary goalie continues his remarkable career, and he can single-handedly win a series.
Why New Jersey will struggle: The Devils looked sluggish at times in the first round against a schizophrenic Tampa Bay squad. They will need a more consistent effort to knock off the Sens.
Conclusion: Ottawa’s offensive attack against New Jersey’s air-tight defensive system provides an interesting clash in styles, but the Senators have too many offensive weapons for the Devils to shut them down completely.
If there was ever a day that should have been great for Southern California hockey fans, Thursday was that day.
One night after the Anaheim Ducks knocked off the Calgary Flames in Cowtown to advance to the second round, the discussion should have centered around the play on the ice.
Unfortunately, in today's modern times, that is not possible. A litany of absurd television decisions has caused enough stress among Ducks fans that some are wondering whether winning the first round was a good thing after all.
Most obvious is the ridiculous game times in the second round. With all four lower-seeded teams winning in the opening round, Anaheim has home ice for the second round. It would seem that is a good thing, but when the schedules were released, it is obvious that is not the case.
The Ducks and their fans are rewarded by two of their first three home games starting at noon. Yes -- hockey, the one sport that mercifully has eschewed afternoon games through the game's history -- has given the team with home ice two noon games.
Afternoon games are bad enough as players tend to be out of their normal biorhythm, but a lunch time game is downright absurd. The whole point of a home game is comfort -- players sleep in their own beds and go about their normal game day routines. Starting a game seven and a half hours earlier than a normal game completely eliminates that advantage.
In addition, most crowds are not as enthusiastic during afternoon games. Yes, NFL crowds are rowdy, but that comes from the pre-game libations more than anything. Do not count on the rowdy tailgating to happen for the weekend games in Anaheim, as summer daytime weekend traffic can often be worse than rush hour.
If more than half the seats are filled at game time, it will be a miracle. And if they are not, it is not the fault of the fans. Rather, it is the fault of NBC, the network that has foolishly timed their game times all season long so most of their broadcasts actually start in the morning on the west coast.
To top off the absurdity, consider this is a Western Conference series, and yet it is being played at a time that is more convenient in the Eastern Time zone. For fans in Southern California and Colorado's Front Range, it is more than a bit of an inconvenience. Both regions are places where people take pride in their outdoor activities, and few people are interested in watching television on a warm spring afternoon.
If this is what having an NBC contract means, the NHL needs to terminate the contract with NBC immediately, if not sooner. NBC's picture quality has been the worst seen in decades, a sign they are simply not using a good enough satellite link. Many fans wonder how CBC and OLN can broadcast a game in quality good enough to clearly make out players' numbers from a distant center ice camera, yet on NBC, the picture is so fuzzy it can actually be hard to tell the teams apart.
The NBC fiasco must come to an end. Between inconvenient game times and brutal picture quality, NHL fans would be better served by watching the game on the Center Ice package.
Even if the NBC issue could be resolved -- something that looks unlikely -- the NHL has another television headache on their hands in Southern California. Unable to get all playoff games on their normal station, Fox Sports Prime Ticket, the Ducks put two first round games on KDOC, an independent station from Anaheim. Unfortunately, KDOC is not available on all Southern California cable systems, and even the most powerful antenna can be powerless to pick up the station from some locales. For example, the entire San Diego metropolitan area is shut out, as the station is not offered to cable or satellite customers for the area's 3 million-plus residents.
When the games are on a local station, OLN's broadcast is blacked out. Game seven was one of those games. In other words, San Diego residents were unable to watch game seven, as the broadcast was blacked out on OLN because it was on KDOC. However, San Diego residents do not receive KDOC.
OLN reportedly received more than 300 angry phone calls from San Diego Wednesday night, but nobody seems to know who is to blame for the fiasco.
The NHL has rebounded better than any other league has from a year-long lockout, but these television issues could alienate many fans. The casual fan does not, and should not, accept absurd blackouts and inconvenient game times. The die-hard fan may take time off work and drive a couple of hours to watch a game on television, but that can not be a long-term solution.
The NHL needs to stand up to NBC and inform them hockey is traditionally a night game. Canadian viewers, most of whom greatly dislike afternoon games, deserve better. CBC and TSN do not make incredulous game time demands as NBC does, and for that, Canadian fans and networks get tossed aside as if they were unimportant. This comes despite ratings that indicate a higher total number of people -- not just percent of population -- tend to watch in Canada than in the United States.
In reality, the heart of the game is in Canada, and that may be truer today than ever before. A story three years ago in the American media expressed shock that a playoff game involving the Ottawa Senators received less than half the television ratings of most regular season Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts.
What the American media did not say is the game was an afternoon game. Canadian fans tend to be more steadfast in their dislike of afternoon games than American fans, and rightfully so. Hockey is traditionally a night game, and afternoon games simply do not have the same excitement for many true fans.
In an ideal world, Canadian telecasts would be available to American viewers, and contracts such as the deal with NBC would not be needed. Since that is unlikely to happen, it is time for the NHL to stand up for the fans in arenas and all fans who dislike afternoon games.
Tell NBC the games are in the evening, and that is final. The amount of casual fans picked up by having a game on NBC -- as if anyone does not have cable or satellite these days anyway -- is far less than the number of fans who are being alienated by inconvenient game times.
As a life-long hockey fan and sports fan in general, sports has always been a big part of my life. I have combined that with my interest in writing to create a long-term interest in sportswriting , something that has manifested itself in various sportswriting opportunities over the years.
