By Andrew Miller
After taking a look
at the top teams in the East, it’s time to see who is going to be the kings of
the West. With the consistency and firepower of the Ducks and Blackhawks, the
two teams are up ten points on everyone else in the conference. Although the
Ducks claimed the last head to head match up, it’s a toss up any time these
teams clash. Who gets the best of each other in a seven game series come May?
Anaheim Ducks
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| (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo) |
This squad has
everything in place for a long run in the playoffs: talent, depth, goaltending,
and a great coach in Bruce Boudreau. The trio of Getzlaf, Perry, and Ryan are
taking the reigns, but the Ducks are much more than that. 10 forwards in
addition to the journeyman defensemen Sheldon Souray have scored at least five
goals. On their lethal power play nine different skaters have found the net. If
a team stops one line or even two, the Ducks could still manage to win.
Defensively, the
Ducks have no standouts, but no issues. Francis Beauchemin eats up minutes with
over 23 a game and all the way down the line they are solid. Souray, Lydman,
and Allen are all veterans who know what it takes to get to the Cup. The true
steal for the Ducks comes in between the pipes. Before the season, no one knew
Victor Fasth was, but after his consistency, he should be getting to be a
household name. In 15 games, he got the win in 11 of them with a 2.15 GAA and a
.922 save percentage. Hiller is no slouch posting respectable numbers himself.
The only issue may be deciding on a starter in the playoffs, but it’s a good
issue to have.
Chicago Blackhawks
What happened to
the goaltending questions in the Windy City? Through 30 games, the ‘Hawks have
only surrendered 66 goals which is best in the West. Corey Crawford is playing
out of his mind posting a 1.86 GAA and a .926 save percentage. The 28 year old
is hitting is prime with the rest of the team. Three years into his full time
starting job, his name in absolutely in the Vezina conversation. Everyone knows
the names patrolling the blue line between Keith, Seabrook, and Hjalmarsson,
but no one could have predicted Michael Rozsival and Johnny Oduya to make an
impact. Add youngster Nick Leddy to the mix and Chicago is looking at a
fantastic defensive corps.
Much less
surprising is the success of their high-powered high possession offense. The
Blackhawks lead the West in goals for with 102, barely holding off the Ducks at
100 even. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews have scored multiple highlight reel
goals supported by Hossa, Sharp, and the emergence of Bryan Bickell and Viktor
Stalberg. However, the team heavily relies on star power, similar to the
Penguins, and if a key player goes down as the season winds down, it could
spell disaster for Joel Quenneville and his team.
Verdict: Anaheim Ducks
Most numbers point
to the Chicago Blackhawks taking the Western Conference, but the deciding
factors will be the power play and depth. The Ducks are third in the league in
man up opportunities, while Chicago isn’t even in the top ten. More
importantly, there are no easy roads to the Cup, and the Blackhawks rely too
much on Toews and Kane to keep their offense clicking. The grind to the finals
will take its toll and wear down the super stars. And don’t forget Bruce
Boudreau is hungrier than anyone else to get to the finals after experiencing
losses in the playoffs with the Capitals. One thing is for sure; this series
would be one for the ages.
