Western Conference Predictions
by Bo Siemsen

Edmonton Oilers vs. Colorado Avalanche

To absolutely no surprise what so ever it was the Edmonton Oilers who clinched 8th seed in the West, if memory serves they have finished in 8th place 5-of-7 wcfhl seasons so far – once climbing to the lofty heights of 7th place and once falling to 9th. The Colorado Avalanche enter the playoffs after one of the most dominant regular seasons seen in the wcfhl history – though their team is a bit bruised with both Mario Lemieux and Adam Foote on injury reserve. Foote should be ready, Mario is questionable.

AVALANCHE – There is nothing that the Edmonton Oilers can do that the Avalanche cant do better. They are a bigger team, better skating, a lot more skilled, more experienced and better defensively. And that’s even before considering the game-breaking star quality on the Avalanche roster.

OILERS – The Oilers have very little going for them heading into this series. Their powerplay is bad, the penaltykilling is bad … the team is solid but nothing compared to the Avalanche. The only thing they’ve got going for them is a goaltender capable of minor-size miracles. Just look at his NHL stats with the New York Rangers last year … when did a goalie ever play that well with the Rangers ?

GOALTENDING – Patrik Lalime vs. Mike Dunham … the top-2 goaltenders in the regular season. Dunhams .914 savepercentage was only outdone by Lalime’s .921. The GAA is easily won by Lalime. Considering the better team in front of him Lalime has the advantage here.

PREDICTION – The Avalanche are so clear favourites that it’s not even funny … they will go through easily eventhough the Oilers might steal a game pushing it to 5. After all they did manage to win one of 6 regular season games … so the odds are that they’ll pick up one here too. AVALANCHE IN 5

 


Vancouver Canucks vs. St.Louis Blues

The St.Louis Blues have a big nasty, skilled, experienced team and Patrick Roy. Facing them is the Vancouver Canucks … and the Canucks … hmm, well they have … have … have to pray for a miracle and very very long playoffrun so that they can get 10 million dollars worth of debt cleared away.

BLUES – 2 40-goal scorers (Jagr, Bondra) and 5 players with 79 points or more … and Patrick Roy. I’m surprised to say this, but the Blues are even better than they were last year – and that’s saying something. Only downside is that Patrick Roy has been played all season and he’s worn down. But, then again … the Sharks have been in that exact situation and won the cup anyway. The Blues have 3 extremely good and balanced lines. Only questionmarks are Fredrik Olausson on D and Ulf Dahlen on the LW … but there are younger veterans capable of taking over their roles should the situation call for it (Ward on D, Parrish on LW)

OILERS – The Canucks will have to hope for something unexpected to happen for them to have a chance against the Blues. Quite simply, the Canucks are outmatched in most areas … skill … hitting … size … defensive ability … maybe except for goaltending ?

GOALTENDING – Speaking of goaltending, Khabibulin has actually had a superb season with no less than 13 shutouts … a number that may very well land him this years Vezina Trophy. But, come playoff-time it takes a lot to vote against the best money goaltender 8 million dollars could ever buy you … so I wont do that … instead I’ll call it even on account of Khabibulin being a bit more fresh.

PREDICTION – The Blues should go through this one without too much of a struggle, despite finishing the season in a bit of a struggle. It’s not that the Canucks are bad … the Blues are just better in all areas. BLUES IN 5.

 


Chicago Blackhawks vs. Dallas Stars

This is a matchup between a first time ever playoff team from Chicago and the re-emerging Stanley Cup Candidate the Dallas Stars. The Hawks are coming into the playoffs firing on all cylinders and riding a 4 game winning-streak … but it is still the Stars who will easily be considered the hot favourite to go through.

BLACKHAWKS – The Chicago Blackhawks may not have a lot on the roster with regards to pure offensive skill, but they do have a veteran-heavy lineup with loads of quality defensive players (Barnes, Holik, Brind’Amour, Carney, Roberts, Niedermayer, Ohlund and Brylin … that alongwith being one of the most gritty teams in the playoffs means the Hawks have a shot here.

STARS – The Stars have more size, speed and skill than the Hawks … and almost as much experience/leadership. What they don’t have – is discipline. Apart from the Panthers in the East the Stars is the most penalised team in the playoffs.

GOALTENDING – Roman Cechmanek vs. Evgeni Nabokov. Interestingly these two goaltenders were involved in an early season trade in which Cechmanek became a star and Nabokov became a Ranger … at the time the Stars considered Nabokov to be the better one of the two … so I am going to go with that and give a slight edge to the Blackhawks here. Nabokov’s 3 straight wins (since joining the Hawks) against Patrick Roy and the Blues doesn’t exactly hurt that assesment.

PREDICTION – First of all I'll predict this to be a loooong series with some multiple overtime games. In the regular season these two teams combined for 43 overtime games. Call me crazy. It’s obvious that the Dallas Stars is the better team on paper, but I will stick my neck out and predict an upset here. Not just hint at a possible upset … BLACKHAWKS IN 6.

 


Los Angeles Kings vs. San Jose Sharks

The Los Angeles Kings has managed to get into the playoffs for the 2nd year in a row … they have particularly been riding an early-season strong goaltending due of Arturs Irbe and Johan Hedberg, just like last year … and just like last year they are hopefully overmatched in the first round going up against the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

KINGS – The Los Angeles Kings have few advantages over the San Jose Sharks. The Kings are not as tough and gritty as they used to be … but they are still tougher than the soft-ice Sharks … and they have more veteran players than the Sharks. Maybe that gives them a glimmer of hope.

SHARKS – The Sharks is positively the only team close to the same skill level as the Avalanche, though they haven’t been as good this year as they have in the past. The top-unit with Bertuzzi Naslund Yashin Lidstrom and Redden should be able to terrorize any line they go up against … the major question whether the rest of the team will do anything to help out.

GOALTENDING – Arturs Irbe/Johan Hedberg vs. Olaf Kolzig. The Sharks have started Kolzig a lot less this season than they have in the past … he’s only started 66 games … that means he’s rested for the playoffs. Though, he’s had another poor regular season. The Kings had excellent goaltending for a long time, though it slowly faded as the season went on but they still both finished with very strong stats, considering the team they are on. Advantage Sharks … slightly.

PREDICTION – The San Jose Sharks will overpower the Kings with their first line. They’ll score at least 12 goals between them before the series is over. SHARKS IN 5.