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2014 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs: Western Conference quarter finals preview

Roar Guru
18th April, 2014
2

After looking through the Eastern Conference finals, here is my preview of the Western Conference quarter finals of the 2014 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs.

Minnesota versus Colorado
Avalanche coach Patrick Roy is a solid contender for Coach of the Year, having almost single-handedly lifted the Avs from mediocrity into a position of some power in the cutthroat, tough Western Conference.

It helps to have talent like Gabriel Landeskog, Matt Duchene and the NHL’s Rookie of the Year, Nathan MacKinnon. It’ll be fascinating to see how far this team can progress into the playoffs. Realistically, just getting to the post-season is an achievement.

Minnesota shape up okay, on current form, against the Avs, and might actually surprise a few people. Particularly so if recruit Ilya Bryzgalov continues his brilliant form of late.

He hasn’t lost in his last seven stars, displaying the sort of ability that he’d shown for years in Phoenix, but failed to produce under the bright, goalie-destroying lights of Philadelphia.

The key problem is that Bryzgalov is prone to absolutely shocking turns of goaltending, more so, perhaps, than any other goalie in the league. In some ways he’s an even more maddening version of Montreal’s Carey Price.

When he’s good, he’s great. When he’s bad, opposition offences lick their lips in anticipation.

Colorado’s goalie, Semyon Varlarmov, is the opposite. He’s dependable, and is more likely to win a game for his team than lose it. For that reason, and because the Avs have a little more front-end talent than the Wild, I’m pretty sure we’ll see Patrick Roy’s boys in at least one more series this season.

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Prediction: Colorado should win this one. How easily depends on whether Bryzgalov continues in his current vein of form or not.

Chicago versus St Louis
The Blackhawks welcome back stars Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane for their tilt with the Blues, adding to a star-studded team who might very well become the first team to win back-to-back Stanley Cups since Detroit in 1997 and 1998.

The ‘Hawks are scary good in every position, a perfect and lethal mixture of superstars and gritty role players, with Corey Crawford backstopping them between the pipes.

On the flip side are St Louis, a curious outfit who were well out front in the race for the President’s Trophy for finishing with the best win-loss record in the regular season, before a mystifying six-game implosion late saw them give up that honour to Boston, and number one seed in the West to Anaheim.

That string of losses also means that they draw the dangerous Chicago in the first round. Quite a turn of events, considering I had the Blues and the ‘Hawks

Still, don’t sleep on St Louis. If they can get back to the defensive-minded style of play that had them atop the Western Conference, watch out. Ryan Miller, the former Sabres goalie, was brought in to steady the Blues in net, but he’s seen his good start since being traded at the deadline eroded in the last week.

Prediction: Chicago wins, and it might be the best match-up of the quarter final stage. I have a feeling this one is going at least six games. As a whole, the ‘Hawks will go all the way if Kane and Toews stay healthy.

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This series will be a good judge of their fitness level, after many weeks on the sidelines.

Dallas versus Anaheim
The Ducks have some of the best game-breakers in the NHL: Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Cam Fowler, the evergreen Teemu Selanne…this is a team loaded with high-end talent. Courtesy of St Louis’ late-season troubles, the Ducks also own first seed in the Western Conference, which comes with the all-important home advantage.

Head coach Bruce Boudreau has put together a lethal line-up, reminiscent of his teams in Washington late last decade, when Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom were tearing it up, though he’s managed to infuse the Ducks with a little more defensive accountability. Boudreau’s teams had a history of choking in the playoffs. Does history repeat itself here? Ducks fans will be hoping it does not.

Dallas scraped into the playoff bracket in the last week of the season, and, as such, they draw the hardest match-up, against the best team in the conference.

Yes, the Stars have some handy big-names of their own – namely, Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn, both of whom have been tearing it up in Big D this season – and solid goaltending from Kari Lehtonen (who admittedly hasn’t seen the playoffs since 2007, and stunk it up as a member of the Atlanta Thrashers). But even with Lehtonen on song, the Stars can’t match the Ducks line for line. Don’t feel bad, Dallas. Not many teams can.

Prediction: Anaheim, easily.

Los Angeles versus San Jose
What’s not to like about this series? The Sharks look like they’re serious and the Kings are built for long playoff runs. You’ve got brilliant LA defence against red-hot San Jose offense, and the fact that these two teams just don’t like each other.

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It’s been a simmering rivalry this season, and one that might boil over now that we’re into the playoffs.

Key to the Kings’ chances of success is Jonathan Quick. The Team USA Olympic goalie will be desperate to atone for his perceived failures in Sochi by winning his second Stanley Cup.

The Darryl Sutter-coached squad favours a lockdown style of play, stifling their opponents, and that’s tailor-made for a deep playoff run. There are game winners on the Kings roster, too. Don’t sleep on Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter or Marian Gaborik.

Those guys know how to score clutch goals. And is there a better goal-scoring defenceman than Drew Doughty? The key for the Kings will be to slow the game down, and negate the Sharks high-powered offence.

Those Sharks have had a great regular season, and they have offense to burn. Established stars Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski , exciting rookie Tomas Hertl – the list goes on. Unfortunately, we’ve seen the Sharks enjoy great regular seasons in the past, but there seems to be some drama to plague the team, causing a collapse.

You feel the Sharks need at least a run to the Stanley Cup Final to get the monkey off their back, and to silence their critics. Facing off against their California rivals will either be the source of their demise, or a test that’ll see them damn near bulletproof going through the West.

Prediction: This series has all the feel of a seven-game epic. Home ice in Game 7 might just tip the ledger in San Jose’s favour, but anything – and I mean anything! – is possible in this one.

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