Now we move West, a short distance to Chicago, and then a long way to San Jose!
Chicago vs San Jose
Chicago comes in after another tough series against Vancouver. Chicago is getting it done on the road, which they will need to do in this series as they are giving away home ice for the first time in this years playoffs.
How good on the road? They've won five straight games on the away, and have only lost one game overall outside from the United Center.
One again, Chicago pressed Vancouver in their own end with tenacious fore checking and got through Luongo. Can they do that against San Jose? I finished this up in MS Word after game one...and so far I think so.
Leading the way offensively was Jonathan Towes. He's red hot with now with 21 points in 13 games. Patrick Kane, ever dangerous, leads the team with 7 goals. Defenceman Patrick Keith and Duncan Keith have been getting it done at both ends for the Hawks.
As for some surprises, Dustin Byfuglien has scored 5 goals, but many of them have been clutch red lights. Marian Hossa is now in his third straight conference finals, and has been steady, although unspectacular. You never know what to expect from him. But right now, he leads the team in an unlikely category: penalty minutes (19). None of them have been at bad times...but that does show some grit, now doesn't it. That has always been something that I felt Hossa lacked in '08 and '09.
Among other defenceman, Brent Sopel and another surprise, Niklas Hjalmarss, have really been getting it done in their own end.
Goaltending? Antti Niemi is getting better with every series. Yeah, he got shelled some games against Vancouver, but is playing so well that Cristobal Huet has almost become and afterthought in goal. Having won game 1 against San Jose (44 saves, by the way), Niemi is making the most of his first ever season in the playoffs at the NHL level.
San Jose has been no less impressive then the Hawks as evident by their series against Detroit. For those who remember, the fierce fins won their first ever playoff series against Detroit back in 1994. And now, years later, they had to again weather the storm to beat them.
5 games? Yes, it was. But all four wins by San Jose were by 1 goal, and San Jose showed their poise by coming back to win that crucial game 3.
For San Jose, the offence is more spread out than Chicago. Pavelski, Thornton, Heatley, Boyle and Clowe ALL have more than 10 points. Right behind them is Devin Setoguchi and Patrick Marleau with eight points.
On the defence, in addition to Clowe is Douglas Murray and Jason Demers. Don't overlook their offence, either. Combined they have 11 points in 12 games. And lets not forget about the ageless Rob Blake. This is his forth decade of playing, and at age 40 years, he is providing a good veteran presence.
Evgeni Nabokov has stepped it up in the postseason, putting up numbers on par with Niemi. I'm not about to overlook his game one performance against Chicago: 38 saves in a narrow 2-1 loss.
But that loss may set the tone for the series. Statistically, it's close. But the reality is the Hawks come in with last years semi-finals experience and the hunger to go at least one step farther. San Jose, I think, is probably glad that they're appearing in their second conference finals in franchise history. That tells you something.
Prediction: Chicago in six games
References
"Official Site Of The National Hockey League." NHL.com. The National Hockey League, n.d. Web. 24 May. 2010. <http://www.nhl.com/>.
Sports Reference LLC. Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. Web. 24 May. 2010.
Chicago vs San Jose
Chicago comes in after another tough series against Vancouver. Chicago is getting it done on the road, which they will need to do in this series as they are giving away home ice for the first time in this years playoffs.
How good on the road? They've won five straight games on the away, and have only lost one game overall outside from the United Center.
One again, Chicago pressed Vancouver in their own end with tenacious fore checking and got through Luongo. Can they do that against San Jose? I finished this up in MS Word after game one...and so far I think so.
Leading the way offensively was Jonathan Towes. He's red hot with now with 21 points in 13 games. Patrick Kane, ever dangerous, leads the team with 7 goals. Defenceman Patrick Keith and Duncan Keith have been getting it done at both ends for the Hawks.
As for some surprises, Dustin Byfuglien has scored 5 goals, but many of them have been clutch red lights. Marian Hossa is now in his third straight conference finals, and has been steady, although unspectacular. You never know what to expect from him. But right now, he leads the team in an unlikely category: penalty minutes (19). None of them have been at bad times...but that does show some grit, now doesn't it. That has always been something that I felt Hossa lacked in '08 and '09.
Among other defenceman, Brent Sopel and another surprise, Niklas Hjalmarss, have really been getting it done in their own end.
Goaltending? Antti Niemi is getting better with every series. Yeah, he got shelled some games against Vancouver, but is playing so well that Cristobal Huet has almost become and afterthought in goal. Having won game 1 against San Jose (44 saves, by the way), Niemi is making the most of his first ever season in the playoffs at the NHL level.
San Jose has been no less impressive then the Hawks as evident by their series against Detroit. For those who remember, the fierce fins won their first ever playoff series against Detroit back in 1994. And now, years later, they had to again weather the storm to beat them.
5 games? Yes, it was. But all four wins by San Jose were by 1 goal, and San Jose showed their poise by coming back to win that crucial game 3.
For San Jose, the offence is more spread out than Chicago. Pavelski, Thornton, Heatley, Boyle and Clowe ALL have more than 10 points. Right behind them is Devin Setoguchi and Patrick Marleau with eight points.
On the defence, in addition to Clowe is Douglas Murray and Jason Demers. Don't overlook their offence, either. Combined they have 11 points in 12 games. And lets not forget about the ageless Rob Blake. This is his forth decade of playing, and at age 40 years, he is providing a good veteran presence.
Evgeni Nabokov has stepped it up in the postseason, putting up numbers on par with Niemi. I'm not about to overlook his game one performance against Chicago: 38 saves in a narrow 2-1 loss.
But that loss may set the tone for the series. Statistically, it's close. But the reality is the Hawks come in with last years semi-finals experience and the hunger to go at least one step farther. San Jose, I think, is probably glad that they're appearing in their second conference finals in franchise history. That tells you something.
Prediction: Chicago in six games
References
"Official Site Of The National Hockey League." NHL.com. The National Hockey League, n.d. Web. 24 May. 2010. <http://www.nhl.com/>.
Sports Reference LLC. Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. Web. 24 May. 2010.
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