From coast to coast hockey fans are catching a glimpse of the NHL's best in this year's Conference Finals. The final four teams left to battle for the Stanley Cup truly epitomize their geographical conferences as San Jose and Vancouver meet out West, while Tampa Bay and Boston meet in the East. The West played out as it should pitting the number 1 seeded Canucks against the number 2 seeded Sharks. The East, meanwhile, saw both Washington and Philadelphia make dubious second round exits and left us with the number 3 seeded Bruins to face Steve Yzerman's upstart Lightning team which finished the regular season in the 5 seed. I realize we've seen a game in each of these series already but I thought I'd weigh in with my own previews and predictions as always. Coming off a 3 - 1 second round I'm sitting at 8 - 4 for these playoffs thus far and I'm not taking both game 1 winners if it makes you feel better. Here's how I see the final four breaking down.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
3 Boston Bruins VS 5 Tampa Bay Lightning (Winner - Boston Bruins)
Well, like I said, I'm not taking both game 1 winners. I've kind of put myself behind the 8-ball with this pick as Boston took a 5 - 2 thumping in front of their home crowd in game 1. Still, I feel the Bruins have what it takes to win this series in the long run. The first game of this series may have been slightly misleading I believe. Both teams were coming off of long layoffs after completing sweeps over the Flyers and Capitals respectively. Long layoffs in hockey aren't necessarily the best thing and usually provide some fairly wonky hockey. We saw just that in the first 20 minutes of play, especially from the Bruins. If you remove a 1:25 span in the first period then this was a 2 - 2 hockey game and played much more closely than the final score shows. Once again, this is the reason we play 7 game series in hockey and not a one game winner take all.
Let me start with the Lightning because to the victor go the spoils. Kudos to Tampa Bay for overcoming a long layoff and blitzing the Bruins in the first period of game 1. All around the Lightning played a solid road game and came away with a much needed win. Unfortunately, I just can't see this Lightning team continue to win hockey games on the backs of their 3rd and 4th lines. The Bergenheim, Downie, Moore line has looked more like Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Franzen these past few weeks while racking up the points. Throw in Teddy Purcell who is second on the Lightning in playoff scoring and there is the reason why Tampa is where they are. Game 1 was a prime example as Bergenheim, Brett Clark, Purcell and Marc-Andre Bergeron provided the 4 goals past a tender (Gagne scored into an empty cage). The Bruins are a big and physical team that knows how to play solid defensively and get under the other teams skin. If past history predicts future behaviour then maybe we might see Steve Downie try and take his skate off and chase someone around the ice with it a la Happy Gilmore. If the Bruins are able to shut down Tampa's big line then I don't believe the secondary scoring is going to continue at the pace it has been.
The Bruins are a better fundamental hockey team, plain and simple. They proved over the long 82 game haul to be a fundamentally sound juggernaut with the second best goal differential in the NHL next to, surprise surprise, the Canucks. The Bruins should be able to keep pace offensively with the skilled Lightning team and have a much better back end (although that didn't shine through in game 1). The loss of Patrice Bergeron is monumental for this Bruins team, but Bergeron has been skating with the team and hopes to be back by game 3 possibly. The one bright spot with Bergeron's injury is young Tyler Seguin made a splash in his first playoff game, scoring a highlight reel goal and arguably being the Bruins best forward on the night. I expect Tim Thomas to elevate his game after laying a bit of an egg in game 1 and the rest of the Bruins to be much more efficient and accountable with the puck for the rest of the series. The Lightning won't go quietly into the night, but I like Boston to win a hard fought series.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
1 Vancouver Canucks VS 2 San Jose Sharks (Winner - Vancouver Canucks)
Well Canada, one way or another were going to get a Canadian team back to the Cup for the first time since the Oilers fell to the Hurricanes in '06. Wait, what was that? Are you saying San Jose isn't a Canadian team? Don't they have like half the roster off the Canadian Olympic team though? Well, I never was very good at geography anyway so I apologize for my faux pas. Either way, this series features the two best teams in the West without a doubt. On paper and on the ice the Sharks and Canucks have great skill, veteran leadership, youthful exuberance and, oh ya, they both came within 1 game of blowing 3 - 0 series leads.
These two teams are also probably the most criticized teams for playoff failures over the past decade. The Sharks boast a plethora of talent, and have for years now, headed up by Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau. Yes, the same Thornton that has been labelled as someone who disappears come April and the same Marleau that was called 'gutless' by Jeremy Roenick for his play last series. The Canucks, on the other hand, feature the likes of the Sedin twins and Roberto Luongo. Yes, that's the same Luongo that, despite backstopping Canada to an Olympic Gold, is still considered overrated because of his playoff track record. And yes, these are the same Sedin twins who have been called soft and underachievers once playoff time rolls around. Well, I'm here to tell you that someone is going to get the monkey off their back in this series. Either Thornton and Marleau or Luongo and the Sedin's must make the Stanley Cup Final this season, that is for sure. The question is, which one?
As much as I feel for Sharks fans as they have had to endure season after season of phenomenal hockey from October through early April, only to watch their team fold come playoff time, I think they are in for it again. This time, however, it is simply because they are up against the best. The Canucks staved off their nemesis in round 1, they overcame the raucous crowd in Nashville in round 2 and after overcoming a 2 - 1 third period deficit in game 1 to take the early lead in this series I'm truly a believer that this is our Stanley Cup winner. Like it or not Canada, the Cup should return to Canadian soil in just under a month. Luongo, despite his horrid giveaway to Thornton, looks poised and ready this playoff season. The Sedin twins are rounding back into form after a non-existent spell in the first and second rounds and the Canucks are getting production from their grind line as well. This team is just too good to lose. There isn't a team in the NHL that is able to beat the Vancouver Canucks this season except the Vancouver Canucks. As long as this team continues to work hard night in and night out, we'll see the Canucks play in and hoist the Stanley Cup this season.
Well, better late than never right? Game 1 of both series is in the books and the Lightning and Canucks hold one game leads respectively. By the end of next week I expect to see the Canucks continue their winning ways and send the Sharks home for the umpteenth time and the Bruins to grind out a long series win against the Lightning. The Stanley Cup Finals are right around the corner people, this is what hockey fans live for!
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