Conference semis

Round two, here we go. After a 6-2 performance in the first round, I’m out to prove it was no fluke. So without further delay, the conference semi finals…

Montreal Canadiens v Philadelphia Flyers.
We’re looking at a pretty even matchup, right down to the fact both teams nearly succeeded in blowing 3-1 series leads.
These are two young teams, that lean heavily on their youth, and the invaluable contributions of a few cagey vets to get the job done.
Up front, two very strong offenses, led by lethal power play units. With seven players registering more than 50 points, the Habs were about as balanced as it comes in the regular season. The Flyers counter with six players over 50 points, including three players with more than 70, compared to just Alex Kovalev for Montreal.
Montreal had the league’s best power play in the regular season, Philadelphia was second, though the Flyers maintained their power play against Washington while Montreal’s fizzled against Boston.
Both teams have underrated puck-movers on defense, both teams have goalies looking to prove their worth. Both teams have fans that believe their coaches are in way over their heads.
In the end, does Philly’s grit win out over the Montreal’s abundant talent? If Montreal can play this series the way they played games one and seven against Boston, and if Martin Biron keeps coughing up leads the way he did against Washington, the Canadiens should win this series.
Also of note: the Habs swept the season series, winning all four games while outscoring the Flyers 15-6.
Montreal in six.

Pittsburgh Penguins v New York Rangers.
After disappointing runs in last year’s playoffs, both teams look to make their mark on this year’s proceedings. This series may come down to home-ice advantage, with the Penguins enjoying a 28-10-5 mark at home this season (including playoffs), and the Rangers putting up a fairly pedestrian 17-14-10 mark away from the Garden in the regular season-- though they’re 3-0 in the playoffs.
In their opening series, both the Pens’ and Rangers’ best players were just that. Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and New York’s Jaromir Jagr each posted eight points in making quick work of their first-round opponents. Evgeni Malkin and Scott Gomez each contributed seven points, and New York’s Chris Drury offered all the things Chris Drury offers, almost none of which ever appear on a score sheet.
Of course, for all the offensive firepower these teams have, this series will be won and lost on the blue line, and in the blue paint of the goal crease.
In both of those departments the Rangers have a very clear edge. The Penguins have a solid defense corps, but Sergei Gonchar, Ryan Whitney and Hall Gill have all been dogged by questions about their ability to defend their own zone. The Rangers on the other hand, just seems to keep improving. Watching Dan Girardi and Marc Staal start to come into their own in the New Jersey series was a pleasure.
And in goal, it’s no contest between Vezina-candidate Henrik Lundvist and Marc-Andre Fleury.
Both teams fared well in the first round against favourable opposition, and will face their first real test against one another in the second round. This series is the reason Gomez and Drury were given those contracts last summer.
New York in seven.

Detroit Red Wings v Colorado Avalanche.
Don’t tell Darren McCarty, Chris Osgood, Nick Lidstrom, Kirk Maltby, Adam Foote, Peter Forsberg or Joe Sakic that it’s not 1998.
Sure, it’s been a long time since this rivalry’s heyday, but it’s still fresh in the minds of fans, those seven players, and the people that provide the programming for the NHL Network, and this one should be as good as any of those series were, if less bloody.
Purely on the levels of talent two teams can offer, this series is one of the most compelling. Lidstrom is the best defenseman in the world, and one of the five best to ever play the game. Around him, Brian Rafalski and Chris Chelios are pretty good. They’ll be moving pucks to Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, and gifted speedsters like Jiri Hudler and Dan Cleary. Countering for Colorado are capable puck movers John-Michael Liles and Ruslan Salei, looking to spring Sakic, Forsberg, Paul Stastny, Milan Hejduk, and the gaggle of talented forwards the Avalanche have to offer.
And the speed. Oh the speed. With good ice in both Denver and Detroit, and offense-oriented systems, look for Osgood and Jose Theodore to face heavy fire throughout this series.
In fact, it doesn’t even matter which team wins this series, because the fans are going to be the real winners.
In the end, Detroit’s very slight edge in goal, and hefty edge on the blue line will carry them to the Western final.
Detroit in six.

San Jose Sharks v Dallas Stars.
Much like the Montreal-Philly series, this is another one of those wonderfully-even match-ups. The teams split the season series, with Dallas actually gaining more points by virtue of a pair of overtime losses.
It’s tough not to like what the Stars showed in their first-round series with Anaheim. Dallas dominated that series from start to finish, save for game five. They showed great patience, which was on display moreso than ever in game six, a game the Stars trailed at the beginning of the third period.
The Sharks, meanwhile, didn’t show a whole lot during their series with Calgary, being taken to the brink of elimination by the underdog Flames.
In that series, Evgeni Nabokov showed flashes of brilliance, but plenty of ordinary. Against a better-coached Stars team, those stretches of ordinary will haunt the Sharks. At the other end of the rink, Marty Turco looks ready to exorcise all of his playoff demons. After an excellent performance in last season’s first round, when he was simply outdone by Roberto Luongo, Turco put on another display of excellence in knocking off the defending champs.
The Stars also have an x-factor in defenseman Sergei Zubov, who resumed skating the day the Sharks were busy with a game seven. His return should only boost the Dallas power play, which went cold in the second half of their opening series, but has the ability to get hot at any time.
Also of note, when these teams met in the last game of the regular season, with no way to alter their seedings, the game got quite heated. As the tension mounted in that game, the Stars were able to turn in a rock solid performance. Yes, I just questioned the Sharks toughness, again.
Dallas in seven.

Beating a dead horse

Look, if the Knicks can wise up and fire Isiah, the Jays have to wake up at some point and fire Ricciardi, right?

Today, the Blue Jays released Frank Thomas, the 39-year old slugger with diminishing returns they’d signed before last season to fill the hole in their offense.

The slugger, at the time 37-years old, they signed for $10 million a year, instead of locking up, say, a pitcher.

The slugger, viewed as a locker-room cancer in his final days in Chicago. The slugger, who eventually sulked and complained to the media when he was benched for a game in Toronto.

The slugger, who suggested his playing time was being slashed so the Blue Jays wouldn’t be on the hook for another year of his $10 million contract.

The slugger, with a .167 batting average so far this season.

Good riddance to you , Frank Thomas. And here’s hoping someone at the top of the Blue Jays’ ladder is keeping a running tab of the mistakes they’re letting Ricciardi make.

Egg on the Sens' faces

Well, Ottawa, all I have to say to you is that you really deserved this. The Senators used to be a model franchise in the NHL. They were built through the draft after struggles early in their existence. They held on to their most important home-grown talent, and were able to turn mistakes like Alexei Yashin’s contract into important pieces like Zdeno Chara and the pick they used to draft Jason Spezza.

For a while, the Sens played underdogs to the big, bad, big-budget Maple Leafs, and on a place in the hearts of almost everyone outside of Toronto.

The Sens used to be loyal-- to a fault, keeping guys like Damien Rhodes, Jacques Martin and Magnes Arvedson around well beyond their best-before dates.

Coming into this season, new head coach John Paddock had to like the way his future looked. An intensely-loyal organization that he’d been loyal to. An organization that loves to build from within, as guys like Daniel Alfredsson, Anton Volchenkov, Andrej Meszaros, Chris Phillips and Ray Emery can attest to. The Sens were coming off a trip to the Stanley Cup Final, and were favourites to win their division, and get back to at least the Eastern Conference final.

But they stumbled along the way, and Bryan Murray, the man behind every shake-up in Ottawa the last two years, sent Paddock packing midway through the year. Murray stepped back behind the bench himself, helping to lead the Senators to just 18 wins in their final 38 games this season.

That run culminated with the Senators being bounced from the playoffs, on home ice, in just four games.

The blame for this disappointing season can’t all be put on Murray, or any other one player. But if nothing else, it proves Paddock was clearly not responsible for the mess the Senators find themselves in this post-season.

Looks good on them, if you ask me.

Memo to Montreal: that was the worst performance I’ve ever seen in a potential clinching game. Wearing mittens I could count the number of smart plays and good passes the Habs made in the third period.

In other news, happy trails to Steve McNair-- one of the best video-game quarterbacks of all time, and one of the best real-life quarterbacks of the last decade. His Titans were fun to watch, and I don’t think there’s anyone that dislikes McNair. Much the way it’s hard to think anyone will ever forget his, and the Titans, memorable performance in Super Bowl XXXIV. All the best, Steve, you were one of the best.

Goodbye Peter Griffin

I may just be a lowly guy with a lowly blog, whose readership includes his mother-- and not much else.

So I know I have no right to question TSN’s Bob McKenzie or ESPN’s E.J. Hradek, but in the case of former Vancouver GM Dave Nonis, I have to.

The Canucks let Nonis go this week after missing the playoffs, and this space couldn’t think of a better move (other than not hiring him in the first place). Now it’s no secret I’m no fan of Nonis, but that’s mostly because he hasn’t done much of anything to warrant a fan.

He took over Brian Burke’s Canucks team, and has left the team basically intact. Eight regulars, plus Matt Cooke, who was traded at this season’s trading deadline, remain. The Sedins were probably worth keeping, since it’s almost impossible to judge fair value in a return package. The Canucks can’t give away captain Markus Naslund or Brendan Morrison, both of whom are mere shadows of their former selves. Ryan Kesler is the only forward that has improved since Nonis took over the team. Trevor Linden was given a three-season goodbye lap, and as much as I’m a fan of Mattias Ohlund and Sami Salo, you’ve eventually gotta cut ties with players that can’t stay in the lineup-- especially when those players are 30 and 32, respectively.

As for the guys that have come in since Nonis took over, obviously Roberto Luongo has been spectacular. And Nonis was a big winner in that trade. Luongo and Lukas Krajicek have been much more important to the Canucks than Alex Auld (now with Boston), Todd Bertuzzi (now with Anaheim) and Bryan Allen have been the Panthers. Though Nonis loses points for failing to acquire a viable backup goalie to give Luongo a rest every now and then.

At a $1.6 million cap hit, Taylor Pyatt hasn’t been a horrible signing, but 37 points this season (and last) is hardly something to write home about. Jeff Cowan is another of Nonis’ guys. In 88 games in two seasons, his eight goals and four assists are un-paralleled. But it’s OK because Brad Isbister was able to turn in a serious contract-year performance of six goals and five assists in his 55 games. With 11 points in 71 games, was Byron Ritchie really the most reliable of the Canucks’ recent free-agent signings?

Admittedly, Alexandre Burrows had a pretty good season, and carved out a really nice niche for himself as the pest the Canucks haven’t had since Jarkko Ruutu. Of course, he was signed as a free agent by Bukre, not Nonis.

Alex Edler, Luc Bourdon, Kevin Bieksa, they’ve all become young stalwarts on the Canucks’ blue line. Of the three, only Bourdon was drafted by Nonis, 10th overall in the 2005 draft, which turned out a pretty impressive top-10.

From his three drafts, Nonis has exactly two players in the lineup regularly, and that’s if we’re generous and call Mason Raymond’s 49 games this season “regularly appearing.” Montreal and Columbus each boast three regulars from the 2005 draft alone. And sure, there are 10 teams that haven’t had a single player from those drafts appear regularly, but that’s hardly a good measuring stick, and the Canucks aren’t exactly overflowing with prospects.

What’s better, instead of trading older, veteran, oft-injured guys for decent prospects and picks, the Canucks are saddled with limited resources in the system, loads of cap room in 2008-09, but face the free agency of the Sedins, Pyatt, Krajicek, Edler and Burrows in 2009-10, and probably new deals for Naslund and Morrison this summer, eating up any cap space they had.

So in short, Nonis doesn’t draft well, doesn’t manage the cap well, and doesn’t know when to move his assets while they still have value. Sounds like a man that should be out of a job. And, in this very space, it was written about Nonis, “you won’t even get a chance to be a hypocrite when all is said and done because you’ll be out of a job before Sidney Crosby is an unrestricted free agent.” Another point for Steve. At least I never called him “Ted” this time…

Tomorrow we take on the Senators.

A legend in the making?

Yeah, it’s very early to call it, but clearly, it’s worth wondering.

Just one season and three playoff games into his NHL career, Boston’s Milan Lucic is making quite an impression, and showing a knack for coming up big on big stages.

We saw glimpses of what the future holds for this 19-year old pro at the 2007 World Junior Tournament, where he was one of Team Canada’s best players. The people of Vancouver saw it during the 2007 Western League playoffs, when Lucic practically carried the Giants past Medicine Hat in the final, and again when Lucic almost single-handedly led the Giants to the Memorial Cup championship. Lucic took home MVP honours, and was named to the tournament all-star team.

All Lucic did to follow that performance was to captain Team Canada during the Super Series last summer. Canada dominated the Russians in the eight-game set, winning seven of the eight games. After that, Lucic went ahead and won a roster spot with the rebuilding Bruins.

He showed grit and leadership all season long with the Bruins, and took on all comers, including a memorable season-long battle with Montreal’s Mike Komisarek, en route to an improbable playoff berth.

And it was against Montreal Lucic had his brightest moment of the season, scoring early in the first period of game three to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead on home ice. It’s well-documented that the goal gave Boston their first lead against Montreal all season long, but it’s worth mentioning again because of the magnitude. At a time when former all stars like Marc Savard and team captain Zdeno Chara had no way to solve the Canadiens, Lucic scored the biggest goal of the season.

It was a huge goal that only those special big-time performers can score. Lucic may have just three playoff games under his belt, but it certainly looks like he’s poised to become a big-time performer for a long time.

Just some thoughts.

Some thoughts that rattled around after the first night of the 2008 playoffs.

Evgeni Malkin’s goal. Oh. My. God. Seriously, he kicked it to his stick, which was being lifted at the moment he kicked the puck, got his stick back down, and flipped the puck past Martin Gerber from a nearly-impossible angle. Just wow.

Still in the Ottawa game, just one night ago, this very space criticized Wade Redden, and wondered what Wade’s got left in the tank. And while even my little sister could tell you Redden has been playing like hell lately, that fight was huge. Sure, he fights about as well as he’s played this season, but it was the message he sent to his teammates. The Senators were written off by almost everyone going into this game, and were sure to be written off by even more after. But Redden may have helped get the team focused again.

Out west, sure Colorado won, but they had to blow a two-goal lead to do so. Andrew Brunette is one of those guys that just gets the job done in the playoffs. He had an assist, and provided the screen on Joe Sakic’s overtime winner. If I may borrow from, and butcher a line from Wesley Snipes: always bet on Brunette.

Martin Brodeur looked pretty ordinary in game one. TSN showed a great clip of Brodeur at the end of the warm-up, leaning against the boards at the bench, looking completely disinterested. It followed a clip of Henrik Lundqvist looking so pumped up he might burst. None of this bodes well for the Devils. Of note, Sergei Brylin is another one of those playoff guys.

Speaking of those playoff guys, the Calgary Flames have one in Stephane Yelle. Maybe it was a one-off, and maybe Yelle goes back to his normal unproductive ways in game two, but I don’t see it. Playing with Jarome Iginla, Yelle is too smart, and too good to falter. Ryan Clowe scored a pair of goals for the Sharks, and while it’s premature to give him the label, he may be on his way to being one of those playoff guys as well.

Last note on the Sharks. The last minute of game one was nothing short of frantic, but is it just me, or did the Sharks seem a little too desperate to not lose? Might be worth keeping an eye on.

Elsewhere, this has been eating at my brain since the draft lottery, so I’m just going to put it out there: is there any way Tampa Bay doesn’t screw up the first pick? They don’t have amateur scouts (or so it seems), and don’t seem to know how to properly evaluate talent as said talent would fit within the organization, so they can’t afford to trade down-- not even to flip with Los Angeles. The Kings will at least be able to decide between Alex Pietrangelo (can’t tell you how happy I am to have that surname back in my world) and Drew Daughty with the number two pick. And they’ll be wise enough to not rush their pick to the NHL. Can’t say the same about Tampa.

We know Tampa is taking Steve Stamkos first overall. We know Stamkos is too small to play in the NHL and dominate right now. We know he needs at least one more year in junior. We know John Tortorella rides his players exceptionally hard. And we know Tampa is more than likely to rush Stamkos to the NHL.

This is not a Patrick Kane-and-Jonathan Toews or Kyle Turris situation. The Bolts won’t look at Stamkos as the first perfect chip in a rebuilding project, and there will be a lot of pressure on him, and him alone, to take the Bolts back to the promised land-- in year one.

Please, Tampa Bay, do all hockey fans a favour, and trade the pick to Columbus for Nik Zherdev and their first-round pick. It’s the only way to save this kid’s career.

Playoff preview, day two

And the East.

Montreal Canadiens v Boston Bruins.
It’s hard to ignore the way the Canadiens have dominated the Bruins lately, winning the last 11 times they’ve met.
It’s hard to ignore the parallels between Carey Price’s emergence as a rookie, and Patrick Roy’s emergence as a rookie in 1986, including their 2007 and 1985 Calder Cup wins.
It’s hard to ignore the great season Alex Kovalev had in 2008, posting the second-highest points total of his career.
And of course, it’s hard to ignore the fact the Canadiens won the Eastern Conference.
But the hardest thing to ignore is the 2004 playoffs, when the Bruins were heavy favorites against Montreal in the first round, and pulled off a memorable collapse, losing a 3-1 series lead.
That series is a cautionary tale the Canadiens have to consider as they prepare to take on the Bruins.
Montreal’s biggest asset is their ability to play hockey any way their opponents want to. If the Bruins want to open up and run-n-gun (they don’t), Montreal can match them. If the B’s want to play defense, and clog up the neutral zone, Montreal can break through, and if the Bruins want to get rough and tumble, even the Kostitsyn brothers showed they’re prepared to stand up to Zdeno Chara.
Montreal in five.

Pittsburgh Penguins v Ottawa Senators.
Oddly enough, the Senators have already been pretty well written off heading into this series. Though for good reason.
The Sens really are a mess between the pipes, and their team defense has deteriorated. Chris Phillips has not been able to match the level he played at during last spring’s run to the Final. Wade Redden has slipped so far, the Sens are desperate to trade him, and the younger guys just don’t seem quite ready.
But Pittsburgh’s best defenseman is Sergei Gonchar, whose defensive-zone play isn’t exactly lauded. The Penguins’ concept of team defense is basically “Get the puck to Crosby.” These teams don’t play a whole lot of defense, as evidenced by the fact both teams were in the bottom-third of the league’s penalty killers.
So, as it should, this series will come down to Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley versus Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, and whichever power play gets hot.
Here’s the one caveat. If Pittsburgh gets outside of their regular game plan, if they try to play more conservatively and check the Senators, getting outside of their puck-control system, they’re done.
But I think Michel Therrien is too smart to do that.
Pittsburgh in six.

Washington Capitals v Philadelphia Flyers.
This one is just too tough to call. But here goes.
Alex Ovechkin cannot be stopped, and most nights, he cannot be contained. Do the Flyers assign Mike Richards to check Ovechkin throughout the series? My guess is yes, since Jim Dowd can‘t skate with Ovechkin, Scottie Upshall or Scott Hartnell will take too many penalties against Ovechkin, and no defensive pairing can do it alone. That takes Richards out of his role as Philly’s top scorer, even if they play strength-on-strength.
And even if they slow Ovechkin down, the Caps have shown since the trade deadline that guys like Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Semin, Sergei Fedorov, and the always-clutch Matt Cooke need to be contained.
The Capitals’ secondary scorers, though, aren’t as deep as Philly’s. Where the Caps make up for that, is in the emergence of Mike Green on defense. Coupled with Tom Poti, the Caps always have a blue liner on the ice to make a strong first pass, and they’ll be able to catch the Flyers’ defense on their heels often.
The biggest difference is likely in goal. Martin Biron had a really good season in Philly, and is a very good goalie. But Cristobal Huet is one season removed from an All-Star Game appearance (Biron is one season removed from being a backup), Huet is 3-0 in his last four starts against Philly, including a shutout (Biron has one win in his last three starts against Washington), and since a Tuesday night game in November in Montreal is more pressure-packed than this Friday’s game in Washington will be, Huet has an edge when it comes down to playing under fire. His 11-2 record, and 1.36 goals-against average and .936 save percentage down the stretch with the Caps is further evidence of that.
Capitals in six.

New Jersey Devils v New York Rangers.
Another tricky one, if only because the Devils won the only game between these two teams that really mattered in 2008. On the last day of the regular season, the Rangers had an opportunity to sweep the season series, and grab home-ice advantage in this series. The Blue Shirts won eight more games at Madison Square Garden this season than they won away from home.
But the Devils jumped out to an early lead, and while they ultimately needed extra time to win, win they did. And clinched home ice for this series.
Special teams is the most likely area that will give either team an edge. The Rangers had a better penalty-killing unit this season (sixth overall to New Jersey’s 13th) and a slightly better power play percentage (22nd to New Jersey’s 25th).
In their seven losses to the Rangers, the Devils scored just seven goals, and were shut out twice. And while four of the eight games went to overtime, the Devils lost three of them. It’s hard to bet against Martin Brodeur, but it’s hard to like a team that can’t score at any time, let alone in the clutch.
Despite their poor road record, the Rangers were 3-1 in the swamp, and should be able to win one more there in the playoffs.
Rangers in six.

Playoff preview, day one

Let’s start in the West.

Detroit Red Wings v Nashville Predators.
Certainly, no one expected the Predators to be holding onto a playoff spot before the season started, but they gritted out a strong season and now they’ll face the President’s Trophy-winning Red Wings. Some reward.
Being NCAA tournament season and all, everyone loves a Cinderella, it’s just doubtful the Predators can wear those slippers against this Wings team.
The Wings have the same strong offensive attack they’ve always had, and they’ve been stingier than ever, giving up a paltry 184 goals this season.
If the Wings have any weakness, it may be their penalty killing-- the one area the team finished outside the top five. That said, Nashville’s middling offense turns into a pop-gun offense when they have the man advantage. The Preds had the league’s fourth-worst power play in 2008.
Then there’s this: I’ve seen a guy named Dov Gromet-Morris win more games in the American League than I ever saw Dan Ellis win there (0-6 in games I saw). Sure, minor league success, or lack thereof, doesn’t necessarily translate to the NHL level, but I can’t put too much faith in a guy with that stat facing a future Hall of Famer like Dominik Hasek.
Red Wings in five.

San Jose Sharks v Calgary Flames.
For selfish reasons, I would love to see the Flames go all the way to the Final. Realistically, though, I just don’t see them getting past these Sharks.
Despite low individual scoring totals, and despite finishing in the bottom half of the league in team scoring, the Sharks managed to post the second-best points total in the NHL with 108.
Rather than smoke and mirrors, the Sharks relied on Evgeni Nabokov, whose superlative season should leave him in the Vezina Trophy hunt. His 46 wins led the league and 2.14 goals-against average was third best. In addition, the Sharks had a knack all season long for getting their way out of trouble, posting the best penalty killing percentage in the league. Their top-10 power play also made teams pay for giving them the man advantage.
As it were, the Flames had the league’s 10th-worst penalty kill, and found themselves shorthanded more than every team except Anaheim. Only Atlanta, Carolina and Toronto gave up more power play goals than the Flames did.
Of course, for the Flames, it all comes down to Jarome Iginla and Mikke Kiprusoff’s performances. If Kipper gets hot, and Iggy can continue to drag this team with him, all bets are off.
Sharks in seven.

Minnesota Wild v Colorado Avalanche.
This series may actually be harder to handicap than the Washington-Philadelphia series, but I’ll give it a try.
Minnesota won the season series rather handily, going 5-2-1 against Colorado in 2008. But, just one of those wins was in Colorado. The Wild will have to find a way to win games in Denver if they’re going to win this series.
By the same token, Colorado’s 17 road wins were the fewest among playoff teams. So they’re also faced with the prospect of being forced to win on the road.
Are we actually witnessing the second coming of Jose Theodore in Colorado? Is Niklas Backstrom ready for the playoff spotlight?
Can we get the Minnesota Golden Gophers to play a seven-game series against the Denver Pioneers while we’re at it?
Here’s the fearless, and wildly unlikely prediction. As he did in 2003, Andrew Brunette will score the series-winning goal, but this time, he scores it for Colorado against his old team.
Colorado in seven.

Anaheim Ducks v Dallas Stars.
This is barely worth the effort it will take to type it out.
J-S Giguere is the second-best playoff goalie in the league. Marty Turco is one of the worst the league’s ever seen.
Sami Pahlsson is the second coming of Jere Lehtinen, who isn’t even a shell of his former self anymore.
Ryan Getzlaf v Mike Ribiero, you’re kidding right?
As much as I love Trevor Daley and rookie Matt Niskanen, and as solid as Stephane Robidas, Philippe Boucher, Matty Norstrom and Nicklas Grossman have been, I’d like to introduce you to Kent Huskins.
Huskins, who you’ve probably never heard of, posted a plus-23 rating this season. That’s equal to, or better than every single Star’s plus/minus.
Of course, watching Steve Ott try to goad Chris Pronger into a series-long suspension will be a lot of fun, and the most intriguing part of this series.
Anaheim in five.

Stanley Cup prediction

Let’s kick things off with a look back at my pre-season predictions, the worst I’ve ever offered. Though, to be fair to myself, I did have Pittsburgh finishing second in the East.

The good: The Western Conference. While I flip-flopped Detroit and San Jose at one and two, I had Minnesota third, Anaheim fourth, and Colorado, Dallas and Calgary in the post-season dance-- just in the wrong spots. I had the Kings in last place, and even called Edmonton’s goaltending switcheroo.

The bad: Buffalo, Florida, Carolina and Tampa Bay. I had all of them in the playoffs. Instead, the three teams I picked to finish 13th, 14th and 15th (Philly, Washington and Boston, respectively) will all enjoy the post-season, though not very long for two of them.

So, here’s the Stanley Cup pick, and we’ll get down to the business of breaking down the series Monday and Tuesday night.

It’s the Ducks. Of course it’s the Ducks. Starting from the net out, other than Martin Brodeur and Dominik Hasek, no other goalie has as much playoff experience, and particularly Stanley Cup Final experience, as J-S Giguere.

On defense, the formula certainly worked last season, and it’s just very hard to beat a team that has either Scott Niedermayer or Chris Pronger on the ice at all times. Matthieu Schneider brings a boatload of experience to the blueline, Francois Beuachemin took a step back this season, but is one of the best fourth-defencemen around. Add a little Marc-Andre Bergeron to taste, and some Kent Huskins, Sean O’Donnell and the underrated Joe Dipenta, and the Ducks have the best blue line corps around.

Up front, the Ducks dropped off a little in 2008, scoring 53 fewer goals than in 2007. That said, Ryan Getzlaf missed time with injuries, as did Corey Perry, who didn’t really take the step forward most thought he would, and Teemu Selanne only played 26 games. It’s easy to see how the team’s production dropped off.

That said, the Ducks also gave up fewer goals in 2008. This squad really clamped down defensively, and checking-line guys like Travis Moen, Rob Niedermayer and Sami Pahlsson all played to the top-notch form they showed last spring.

There’s also the little matter of how well this team played after Scott Niedermayer returned from semi-retirement. In 34 games without Nidermayer, the Ducks had a 15-15-4 record. Since his return, they’ve posted a 32-12-4 record. I guess he’s pretty good. And if that’s not enough, since Selanne’s return from his semi-retirement, the Ducks are a startling 20-5-1.

So, for all of these reasons, and many more, the Anaheim Ducks will repeat as Stanley Cup champions. There’s just nobody out there that can stop them in a seven-game series.