Western Conference Predictions

Vancouver Canucks vs Minnesota Wild

We though the Canucks were dead but good old John had one more trick for us, winning 15 of their last 20 games, Vancouver came from behind and did clinch a playoff spot, the last one available, it's a red hot team the Wild will face in the first round.  The Wild on their side have been pretty much on a roll all season long, winning 56 times for 118 points, they've been on the top of the league's standings for several months before the Wings passed them in the final weeks of the schedule.  Two teams with a lot of experience, we might get a long series.

Wild
Weber is the man in Minnesota, with Giordano in St. Louis he was the league leading scorer among defenceman with 101 points, good for the 7th rank in the entire league.  Among the leaders for minutes played and block shots and a really good + 20, he's the key for the Wild during these playoffs.  Just signed a 4 year/ $27 M contract last summer, money well spent for the Wild.  But he won't be alone at the blue line, Meszaros with 71 points and Beauchemin with 70, were the second and third best scorers for Minnesota this year, the Canucks will have a hard time containing this dynamic trio.

But their forwards can score too, six of them got a 20+ goal season this year while Camalleri finished first in scoring with 68 points.  Pominville (30-35-65) , Marleau (26-29-65), Legwand (25-38-63) will play a major role during this series as well as former Canuck, Shane Doan (30-35-65).

Crawford has been really solid in the net, by far the best save % in the league (.923), he got 40 wins in only 56 starts this season, A Vezina trophy candidate.

Canucks
Experience is the key for the Canucks. Good old Elias, Jokinen and Tanguay  helped by Spurgeon at the blue line lead Vancouver to the playoffs. Reilly Smith and Sean Couturier acquired from the Bruins earlier this year are also key elements if the Canucks want to create the surprise in the first round.
Veterans Mitchell and Brewer will have to play a lot of minutes, are they too old for this?  Strallman (14-32-46) who was solid offensively this year will complete the top 4 for the Canucks.

Now the big question mark, who's gonna get the call in the net? Bryzgalov
(16-10-1, GAA3.09 % .901) or Ward (25-24-6, GAA 2.93 %.0897)?  The Canucks finished the season with 7 straight wins, both goaltenders sharing the task (Bryzgalov 4, Ward 3), can we imagine the Canucks going into the playoffs with a goaltender rotation?

Stats
Minnesota 56-20-6  118pts  292 GF(2nd)  206 GA (3rd) power play 24.5% (2nd), PK 81.4% (8th)
Vancouver  41-34-7  89pts  255 GF (14th) 253 GA (22nd) power play 18.9% (21st), PK 76.4% (28th)

Minnesota won this year matchup against the Canucks, 2-0-1 in 3 games

Obviously, the Canucks will have to stay away from the penalty box, everything favors Minnesota in this one, but I expect this one to be a long one, when you win 15 of your last 20 games, you gotta do something right.

Wild in 6



Colorado Avalanche vs Anaheim Ducks

We've been expecting the Avalanche to fall off of the playoffs picture all year long but they never did.  While the Ducks were underachieving at the beginning of the season, the Avs were fighting with the Blues and the Hawks for the second place of the division.  GM Leger kept calm and decided to stay with the players who brought him to the finals last year and it paid off.  Anaheim has been one of the best teams in the league since Christmas.

Colorado
Phenomenal season for Steven Stamkos who easily won the Art Ross and Rocket Richard trophies with 137 points (57 goals), 26 more points than Sidney Crosby at the 2nd rank in the league.  his linemate, Jeff Carter did pretty good too with 43 goals and 106 points (5th) and led the league with a + 50 differential.  Cogliano (21-34-55), Wilson (17-24-41) did also contribute offensively.  At the blue line, Letang kept a 1 point per game average and Bogosian with 46 points had a good season too. 

The Avalanche hope the late acquisitions of Quincey, Greene and Brodeur will pay off against the Ducks.

There's obviously a lack of depth in Denver, can 3 players carry the Avs over in the playoffs like they did in the regular season?

Anaheim
One of the best teams offensively and defensively in the league, there's no apparent weaknesses with the Ducks.  Six players scored more than 20 goals, Wheeler (39) and Kesler (34) leading in that category.  If these 2 guys don't hurt you, keep an eye on Plekanec (26-56-82), Lucic (29-38-67) and Mouslon (23-34-57). Top 6 forwards combined for a differential of +158.    Veteran defenceman Wideman and Timonen contributed offensively with 40 goals and 141 points.   Johnny Boychuk was instrumental as well in this Division title, he can hurt you on both sides of the ice.  Bartkowski, Ference and Phillips complete this really solid defensive squad.  41 wins for Rask, GAA 2,53 and %910, he's ready for the playoffs.

Stats
Anaheim 51-25-6-108pts 283 GF (4th), 212 GA (6th), power play 22.7% (5th), PK 78.1% (24th)
Colorado  44-30-8 96pts  259 GF (12th), 253 GA (21st), powerplay 26.1% (1st) PK 82.5 (3rd)

Colorado won this year matchup against the Ducks, 2-1-0 in 3 games

Everything's against the Avs in this series, there's just too much depth in Anaheim, this being said, playoffs are often about PP/PK and we have a huge mismatch here, Colorado were first in the league this year on the PP and Anaheim finished 24th on their PK.  still..

Anaheim in 5




Chicago Black Hawks vs St. Louis Blues

Two of the best teams meeting in the first round, this one should be really interesting.

St. Louis
Mark Giordano had a stellar regular season, unexpected to say the least, with Seabrook (18-56-74) at the blue line, they've been the key to the Blues success this year.  Gaborik (35-49-84) who led the forwards offensively, got the best season of his career.  Taylor Hall (26-43-69), Nielsen (26-42-68) and Granlund (23-40-63) also played a major role. They can also count on young players like Nyquist and Tarasenko to contribute offensively.  GM Peltara traded for Sami Salo to solidify his defensive squad.

Varlamov won an impressive 48 games even if his save% (902) dropped considerably this year, he was absolutely amazing last year in the playoffs, can he repeat?

Chicago
Led by a rookie GM who made good acquisitions to improve his team, Brad Boyes, Johan Larsson, Pascal Dupuis, Jan Hejda, Drew Miller, Jarret Stoll and Tyler Bozak joined the Hawks this year.  Tyler Seguin became the player we were all expecting, getting 102 points (45 goals).  As usual Eric Staal (36-46-82) was up to the challenge with another good season.  JVR (26-40-66) was the only other treat offensively, this is why the trade for Bozak (29-36-65) became a necessity.

The Hawks did get a lot of offense from their top 4 defenceman, Markov (18-60-78), Streit (15-54-69), Coburn (19-46-65) and Hejda (8-45-53) have caused headaches to all the other teams in the league... don't get the wrong idea, these guys can also stop you defensively.
 
Craig Anderson got 37 wins out of 58 stars, in his case too, save % is lower than expected (.900) considering what he did accomplish last year.  But just like Varlamov, his team scores a lot of goals.

Stats
St Louis Blues 52-24-6 110pts  269 GF (7th),   216 GA (10th), Power Play  19.0% (20th)  PK 80.3% (14th)
Chicago Black Hawks 54-26-2 110pts 278 GF (5th), 215 GA (9th), Power Play  19.8% (14th) PK 78.2% (22nd)

Chicago won this year matchup against the Blues, 4-1-0 in 5 games

Well that's a tough one, offensively and defensively they're about the same, pretty much same thing with the PK, PP and goaltending as well.  I think the Hawks are more "playoffs ready", more experience on their side, depth acquisitions done by GM Jank should pay off.

Hawks in 7


Calgary Flames vs San Jose Sharks

First playoffs birth for the young Sharks, congrats to GM Clost who was really patient and who made a few moves at the right time to avoid missing the playoffs again.  On the other side Michaud was trying to make the playoffs without sacrificing their youth, mission accomplished.


San Jose
When the Sharks traded for the Sedin Brothers, we knew  GM Clost was serious about making the playoffs.  Jaden Schwartz was the main man offensively with 84 points.  The Sedin also joined Rick Nash (32-31-63) and Landeskog (30-32-62).  Another huge acquisition for the Sharks was James Wisniewski.  Marc Methot, Brenden Dillon and Tyson Barrie were doing pretty good before that trade, but now San Jose got their main man on the Power Play.  RJ Umberger is another late addition that could help the Sharks along the road.

Josh Harding (GAA 2.77 % .900)  got the majority of the starts for the Sharks this season but Andersen (GAA 2.57 % .912) might get the call to jump in if Harding is not up to the task in the first games of the series.


Calgary
GM Michaud was not afraid to trade star player Evander Kane at the trade deadline and it didn't cost them a playoffs spot, Patric Hornqvist is now in and they'll count on him to beat the Sharks, same for Vermette who came in from NY.  The Flames got a solid season from forwards Stepan (30-41-71), Little (31-39-70) and Okposo (29-38-67).  They get more depth with players like Franzen, Helm, Tlusty and Belesky.  They can also count on a really solid first pair of d-man with Subban and Byfuglien.

Cory Schneider had a good season (33 wins, GAA 2.64 %.913) and he's been really good last year in playoffs despite losing in the first round.

San Jose Sharks 44-34-4-92 pts 259 GF (10th), 236 GA (13th), Power Play 19.1% (19th),  PK 79.8% (16th)
Calgary Flames 41-34-7-89 pts 248 GF (16th), 241 GA (17th), Power Play 18.0% (26th) , PK 80.9% (11th)

Calgary won this year matchup against the Blues, 3-2-0 in 5 games

Are the Flames exhausted by their playoff run in the last weeks of the season? Can the Sharks win in the playoffs with so many inexperienced players? Can Harding beat Scheider in a best of 7 series?

Flames in 7

Adrien Binette

Great article! I see things going differently for San Jose, but I'm a little biased....

Western Conference Predictions
Western Conference Predictions

• 0 teams Like this  11 years

Steeve Cyr your guess is as good as mine ;-)

11 years  0 teams Like this

Paolo Clara

great article steeve :) its a rematch for me and John :) last year he took me to game 7 :) so i expect his team to come hard this year :)

Western Conference Predictions
Western Conference Predictions

• 0 teams Like this  11 years