Commentary on the Quarterfinals
Some quick, random thoughts on the second round of the NHL playoffs.
Eastern Conference
Montreal Canadiens v. Philadelphia Flyers
Both teams were less than impressive coming out of the first round as they let their opponent back into the series. The two things that stood out to me were Carey Price started to look shakey against Boston and Philadelphia’s depth of scoring, which was why I went with the Flyers. Looking at the smaller picture Price obviously had an awful series, but in the larger picture his performance stacks up pretty well compared to other netminders who were thrust into such a prominent role so early in their careers.
On the one hand you could criticize Bob Gainey for trading away Cristobal Huet for a 2nd round draft pick. However by the time Guy Carbonneau decided to start Jaroslav Halak the Flyers had clearly seized control of the series. The commentary I recall reading at the time was that Gainey felt his team wasn’t quite a full-blown Cup contender, so he was willing to roll the dice with Price and use the draft pick to further bolster his hockey club. This would indicate that he thinks the window is just about to open up for the Habs to begin competing for Stanley Cup championships. As it stands right now Price gained very valuable experience and there is no reason to doubt his talent based on how he’s performed at every level of hockey prior to moving up to the NHL.
Philly has got to be the poster child for how you rebuild on the fly to go from basement dweller to final four contestant. Part of the rebuild was based on being able to trade away unnecessary talent [Peter Forsberg, Alexei Zhitnik], another part was making good hockey trades [acquiring Martin Biron last season, and Jason Smith and Joffery Lupul this offseason], and the final part was signing premier talent via free agency in the form of Daniel Briere. Both trades with Atlanta and Nashville were absolute fleecings on a par with the Roberto Luongo trade. Oh, and the Flyers got a 1st and 3rd for Forsberg.
I’m guessing the Leafs are kinda wishing they hadn’t signed so many of their players to no-movement clauses.
Pittsburgh Penguins v. New York Rangers
This summer the Rags decided to bolster their forwards but left their blueline pretty much as is. This is understandable given they were able to sign Scott Gomez and Chris Drury but the unwillingness to improve their defense played a large role in their demise. The Pens easily held New York’s group of gifted forwards below three goals per game while the blueshirts rearguards simply couldn’t contain Pittsburgh’s offensive weaponry. The Pens averaged three goals per game, which is typically the average offensive production you need to win a playoff series. With Jaromir Jagr’s contract likely coming off the books it would be in New York’s best interests to pass on trying to woo Marian Hossa and instead improve their defense.
The Pens made a smart calculated move to make the trade for Marian Hossa. There was no way they could afford the abundance of riches they had built up through the draft so they decided to trade some prospects for a guy who could help them immediately. By making the trade they correctly realized their window is right now and adding Hossa - who scored the series-clinching goal against the Rangers - has paid dividends as they have advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Western Conference
San Jose Sharks v. Dallas Stars
Brian Campbell was the big trade deadline acquisition for the Sharks, and based on how they looked at the tail end of the season they looked like the clear favorite for the Stanley Cup. They are built a bit like the New York Rangers with plenty of gifted offensive forwards and one of the better netminders in the league. Campbell was a move in the right direction as the Sharks - like the Rangers - need to improve their defense. They have some good young talent on the blueline but it doesn’t look like it’s quite ready for the rigors of the NHL playoffs just yet.
The Stars also received an immediate boost from their deadline acquisition of Brad Richards. The bang from the Richards acquisition didn’t last quite as long as the one Campbell added to the Sharks, but the Stars still advanced. Reaching the conference finals is due largely to their defensive play. Dallas is in fact is the lone team still playing that has averaged fewer than 3 goals per game in the post-season. This is a testament to their unfailing attention to playing good defensive hockey. Their ability to shut down Anaheim was understandable given Cory Perry’s injury and the fact they were able to focus on Teemu Selanne and Ryan Getzlaf as the main sources of Anaheim’s offense. But shutting down the San Jose offense was quite impressive.
Detroit Red Wings v. Colorado Avalanche
The Avs were in the same boat as the Rangers and Sharks: great group of forwards but seriously lacking in defensemen who would thrive in the playoffs. I thought the addition of Ruslan Salei and Adam Foote would help their cause, and they might have if not for a number of injuries to key forwards. Red Wings fans have seen Foote’s play quite a bit over the past couple years and he didn’t look like a dominant shutdown d-man while playing for the BJs. Salei is under contract but John-Michael Liles and Foote are both unrestricted free agents. Jose Theodore could work in net but the key area the Avs need to address is the dearth of talent along their blueline.
I’ve started to develop an opinion on the Red Wings that they went through their rebuild when Dave Lewis was the coach and through Mike Babcock’s first season. It says something about the organization - and perhaps the state of the Central Division at the time - that the team could compete for Presidents’ trophies and then get bounced in the first or second round while they were in the midst of rebuilding the team. Nicklas Lidstrom obviously remains as the core, the Red Wing who - if you had to point to one player in particular - is most responsible for the consistent high level of play over the past 15 years. Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov and Brendan Shanahan are obviously gone, but the team now has an influx of top-end talent coming into their prime, players like Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall. It’s still too early to tell if Johan Franzen is in the midst of an unbelievable streak that is an outlier or whether he is developing into one of the better power forwards in the league.
I’ll have my predictions for the Conference Finals tomorrow.
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[…] I suggested a couple days ago that I was developing the opinion that the team was going through a rebuild when Dave Lewis was coach and during Mike Babcock’s first year at the helm. Those ratings from FSN bear this out. Casual fans tuned out with Shanahan and Yzerman moving on before Hank Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk had become full-blown stars. They are tuning back in because this is an incredibly talented and successful team. And they are easy to like. Nik Kronwall hits like Vladdie used to and Johan Franzen is challenging records held by Mr. Hockey. That would be Gordie Howe, Mitch. […]