For the past few off seasons, the New Jersey Devils seem to replay the same story over and over again. Since the lockout the Devils have not held onto a coach for longer than two seasons.

General Manager Lou Lamoriello tried coaches Larry Robinson, Claude Julien, Brent Sutter, himself, Jacques Lemaire and John MacLean without any success.

The draft came and went without a coach. July 1^st came and went without a coach. But now it seems like the Devils might hire a new head coach relatively soon.

Guy Carbonneau recently stepped down as head coach of the Chicoutimi Saguenéens of the QMJHL and could be a potential candidate. As a player, Carbonneau exemplified defensive minded hockey. In 230 games as head coach for the Montreal Canadiens, Carbonneau recorded 124-83-23.

However, the Devils’ troubles in the post-season the last few seasons are apparent. And Carbonneau has only won one playoff series.

He seems like a good fit, as do other speculated head coach possibilities, Ken Hitchcock, Michel Therrien and Mike Haviland.

Hitchcock has a similar coaching style to Lemaire. While coaching the Dallas Stars, Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets, Hitchock won 13 playoff series.

While Therrien coached the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Cup Finals in 2008, he was fired the following season. His coaching style, much like Lemaire’s, is defensive-oriented. He, however, focuses on offense as well.

With players like Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk, their offensive prowess cannot be wasted completely on a defensive-minded team. Both players have become bettter in the defensive zone over the past few seasons, but they both need the freedom in the offensive zone to put up points.

Therrien could be an asset for the Devils, if they want to adapt to his system.

Then there is Haviland, a New Jersey native, who could be the best choice for the Devils. He was named the American Hockey League’s coach of the year in the 2006-2007 season before becoming an assistant coach with the Chicago Blackhawks.

With the experience of the playoffs and a Stanley Cup victory under his belt, he could help the Devils get over their first round playoff hump.

The Winnipeg Jets had the opportunity to hire Haviland as their new head coach, but instead went with Claude Noel.

After three years of coaching under Joel Quenneville, Haviland seems ready to make the transition to head coach.

For now the speculation will continue as Lamoriello would not speak about who is and who is not a possible candidate to replace Lemaire.

By Alexander Monaghan
President

Photo Credit: Cheryl Lemanski

Every year the formula changes.

After last season, general managers around the League believed they could cut costs with their netminder since rookie Antti Niemi and journeyman Michael Leighton backstopped their respective teams into the Finals. The season before that, we thought every championship team needed two elite centers (still valid) and the year before that the League emphasized skill and puck possession.

The winning formula changes every season whether it be a high-tempo offense with a blue line full of puck movers (Carolina Hurricanes) or a gritty team from the back end out full of high-end skill (Anaheim Ducks).

Once again, the formula will change.

Take this year’s combatants — the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks.  Both teams have strong depth up front and on D. Each team also has an elite-level goaltender in Roberto Luongo and Tim Thomas. However, the Canucks and Bruins play a completely different style as Head Coach Alain Vigneault features highly skilled offensive players who are defensively responsible and Claude Julien is more comfortable keeping the games tight and relying on his Vezina Trophy winner and a couple of All-Star defensemen and elite two-way forwards.

Of the two, only the Canucks really compare to the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks when you consider their sheer top-to-bottom depth. Considering after their salary cap purge the current Blackhawks team almost defeated the heavily favored Canucks, they could be the most dominant team to win a Cup in the post-lockout era.

But how do the two compare?

How they got there:

The Canucks almost blew a 3-0 series lead, allowing the Blackhawks to force a Game 7, and then force an overtime within the game. Less dramatically, they would defeat the Nashville Predators in six games (but could have clinched in five) and made short work of the San Jose Sharks in five. Now, against the Bruins they hold a 1-0 lead in the series with hopes of going back to Boston with a two-game lead.

By comparison, the Blackhawks took the Predators in six, Canucks in six, swept the Sharks and then took the Cup in six games against the Philadelphia Flyers. While the Predators and Canucks both proved to be worthy adversaries, they never pushed the team to the brink of elimination — something the ‘Nucks came face-to-face with in the Western Conference Quarterfinals. They seemed to be the most dominant team in the playoffs, which is something both this year’s tournament lacked as the Bruins faced Game 7 twice as well.

In terms of ease, the Blackhawks take this round.

Photo Credit: Matt Boulton from Vancouver, Canada

Head Coach:

Prior to last season, Joel Quenneville never won a Stanley Cup. After successful campaigns with the St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche, the grizzled Head Coach made his way to Chicago in order to push them over the top. His success in the postseason gave him appeal to a young, up-and-coming team as he captured the game’s greatest trophy after only two seasons with the Blackhawks organization. His lowest winning percentage for any full season he coached was over 53 percent, making him a highly regarded bench boss.

Vigneault now enters his fifth season in charge of the Canucks and has won the Northwest Division four out of those five years. Unlike Quenneville, four of his nine years he missed the playoffs and he came to Vancouver after four relatively poor seasons in Montreal (missed playoffs three of four seasons). He was nominated for the Jack Adams Trophy while with the Canadiens but was fired the season after since the team once again missed the tournament.

Considering both coaches never won the Cup prior to their current teams, neither typically has an advantage. However, Quenneville held more past success which gives him the slight nod here again.

Photo Credit: Iwona Erskine-Kellie from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Forwards:

Depth, depth and more depth. Not the kind traded for at the deadline like stopgaps Maxim Lapierre or Christopher Higgins.  This Blackhawks team had the high-end talent in Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews and the complementary players in Kris Versteeg, Dustin Byfuglien, Troy Brouwer, Dave Bolland and Andrew Ladd. Couple them with gritty defensive forwards like John Madden, Tomas Kopecky, Adam Burish and Ben Eager and we can determine that this could be one of the strongest groups of forwards assembled in the post-lockout era. Even with an implosion which severed ties with Versteeg, Byfuglien, Ladd, Madden, Burish and Eager the Blackhawks still clawed their way back into the playoffs which emphasizes just how good this team was last year.

Similarly, the Canucks have elite talent in The Sedin Twins and Ryan Kesler. Alex Burrows might even be able to force his way into that equation considering just how affective he has been in this year’s show. They also boast some tough defensive forwards like Jannik Hansen, Raffi Torres, Tanner Glass and Lapierre. Their calvary has been adequate in Higgins, the now-injured Mikael Samuelsson and regular season whipping boy Mason Raymond but the bottom end is one of uncertainty and inconsistency. Vigneault has rotated Victor Oreskovich, Jeff Tambellini, Alex Bolduc and Cody Hodgson in an attempt to find a perfect medium. Perhaps the return of Manny Malhotra could alleviate this issue.

Regardless, the Blackhawks take this by a mile as the top-end talent is there but the depth is simply not comparable.

Defensemen:

Photo Credit: CANUCKS HOCKEY BLOG

Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith set the tempo as a perfect combination of ying and yang last season. Both mobile defenders, Seabrook’s intelligence allowed Keith to pick his spots in the offensive zone. Their stability allowed the second pairing of Niklas Hjalmarsson and Brian Campbell to flourish and make up for the third pairing of Nick Boynton, Brent Sopel and Jordan Hendry. When all of these guys were on their game, they had Keith at over 28 minutes, Seabrook 24 and Hjalmarsson 21 with no other blue liner surpassing 20 minutes.

This may be where the Canucks first hold an advantage as they boast six quality defenders and three others capable of playing decent minutes. Their top pairing of Christian Ehrhoff and Alexander Edler fits very well with the Sedins while Dan Hamhuis and Kevin Bieksa have formed a formidable shutdown pairing. The bottom set features some combination of Sami Salo and either Keith Ballard or Aaron Rome with mean d-man Andrew Alberts waiting to get into games. If Vigneault opts for a more mobile substitute, rookie Chris Tanev seemed up for the challenge in his limited playing time.

While the Blackhawks arguably have a higher end, the Canucks feature a more well rounded attack with the option of choosing mobility or snarl. Nobody has a more established top six in the League at this moment which gives the Canucks their first edge in the comparison.

Starting Goalies:

Niemi won the backup job from now-current starter Corey Crawford and then overtook Cristobal Huet for the starting gig in late March. As a veritable unknown, the Finnish rookie managed to get the job done despite what was considered a sub-par performance in the Finals. His success was questioned after winning as his arbitration reward earned him a ticket out of Chicago and into San Jose, where he would once again flourish. Due to his rookie status, the Blackhawks were able to win with a very tight budget which spawned the “don’t pay for goalies theory.” With two Vezina Trophy finalists vying for a championship, that theory has been debunked.

Luongo happens to be one of those finalists as he attempts to prove he can be the best goalie in the world. After toiling on the awful New York Islanders and Florida Panthers, Luongo was expected to win quickly and often in Vancouver. So far he somewhat disappointed fans after losing consistently to the Blackhawks in the playoffs but his ability to step up in big games like Game 7 of this year’s first round and in the Olympics last year has given him the confidence to try and take Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Elite netminder vs. raw rookie? Luongo and the Canucks take this one.

Photo Credit: Matt Boulton from Vancouver, Canada

Special Teams:

The Blackhawks got the job done with a 22.5 percent success rate on the powerplay and a 83.3 percent penalty kill. Their PP ranked fifth in the League but only second in the Western Conference while the PK ranked fourth but first amongst their Conference peers. While not necessarily dominating, the special teams was not a problem on either end which allowed them to continue their winning ways.

On the other hand, the Canucks PP has been a strength as they rank third in the League with a 25.8 percent success rate. The powerplay has been able to adapt from the hard-working Predators to the shot-blocking Sharks with ease making it a force to be reckoned with. Their penalty kill, however, has been a bit worse, succeeding at a 82.3 rate. Considering they lack actual shutdown forwards, players like Kesler and Burrows are forced to take on even more minutes.

The Canucks hold a better PP but the Blackhawks could shut them down better. Push.

The Bottom Line:

As both Jeff Quirin and Dave Strehle predicted, the Canucks should wrap up this series. Of course, we likely counted the Bruins out of the playoffs against the Montreal Canadiens, the Flyers and the Tampa Bay Lightning so anything can happen. As far as comparability to last year’s formula, the ‘Nucks are the closest thing to last year’s Blackhawks but the latter takes the small edge due to depth up front, more experience behind the bench and ease in getting to where they need to go.

Feel free to post in the comments your thoughts on the matter as this article is merely the tip of the iceberg, not a definitive conclusion.

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove NHL / Philadelphia Flyers Correspondent

It doesn’t seem that long ago that Patrick Kane somehow squeezed a bad angle shot through Philadelphia Flyers’ goaltender Michael Leighton in overtime of game six at the Wells Fargo Center last June.  Kane’s goal gave the Chicago Blackhawks their first Stanley Cup championship in 49 years, and kept the Flyers drought going at 35 seasons.

The two clubs have had their problems at different times during the current season.

Chicago struggled through much of the regular season, possibly due to a combination of ”Stanley Cup hangover” and the fact that the team had a completely different look after being dismantled because of salary cap issues over the summer.  There tends to be a certain lack of chemistry when nine players are stripped from a club’s winning makeup, including an impact defenseman (Dustin Byfuglien) and the Cup-winning goaltender (Antti Niemi).

Despite their up-and-down year, the Blackhawks backed into a spot in the postseason on the last day of the regular season, courtesy of a loss by the Dallas Stars to the Minnesota Wild.

Philadelphia was breezing through their 2010-11 schedule, battling the Vancouver Canucks in a see-saw joust for the overall NHL lead in points.  But their play fell off significantly as the calendar flipped to February, and the Flyers saw the Eastern Conference crown slip away in the last weekend of the campaign.  As a matter of fact, the team limped badly down the stretch and had to pull out a 7-4 victory over the New York Islanders on the final day of the season just to take the Atlantic Division title away from a bruised-and-battered Pittsburgh Penguins squad.

Even though it was two very different paths taken by the 2010 finalists to this season’s playoff dance, both found themselves in a very similar predicament on Easter Sunday, as Chicago and Philadelphia each faced elimination games.

Both teams had to rally from third period deficits to send their respective contests into overtime, and both found the resiliency within to gut out a triumph in the extra period to keep their playoff hopes alive.

The Blackhawks knew their series with the Vancouver Canucks would not be easy.  The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Canucks were a well-oiled machine throughout the course of the entire regular season, and despite Chicago’s history of defeating Roberto Luongo and Vancouver in past postseasons, raced to a 3-0 games lead.

Just when it looked like the champions were set to face extinction, they suddenly came back to life in game four.  The ‘Hawks blitzed the Canucks for seven goals and chased Luongo on the way to a 7-2 drubbing at United Center.

The victory just happened to coincide with the return to the lineup of center David Bolland – who has helped to confound the Sedin twins in the past – and the resurgence of defenseman Duncan Keith, who had a rough start to the series.  Keith has three goals and five points in the last three contests.

A last hurrah for the home crowd, perhaps, or was there a detectable heartbeat coming from Joel Quenneville’s team?

Game five back in Vancouver provided a resounding answer to those questions.  The Blackhawks stormed out to a 3-0 first period lead and chased Luongo in the second period again, on their way to a 5-0 white-washing of the Canucks.  The champs were not only pulling themselves up off of the mat, they also looked ready and willing to defend their title.

Yesterday’s game six was a thriller.  After defenseman Kevin Bieksa had given Vancouver a 3-2 lead in the first minute of the third period, Chicago once again found themselves on the brink of elimination.  But less than a minute and a half later, Michael Frolik was tripped on a breakaway by Dan Hamhuis and awarded a penalty shot.  Cory Schneider,  who received the start after it was reported that Luongo suffered an ”injury” in game four, was injured in an attempt to stop the subsequent penalty shot goal by Frolik.  It appeared that he either pulled something in his right leg or groin area, and into the game came Luongo with a 3-3 score.

Reuters / Frank Polich

With the chance to redeem himself Luongo stopped the first 12 shots he faced, but surrendered the game-winner to Ben Smith at 15:30 of overtime to take the loss.

In addition to Bolland’s defensive play, he has also contributed two goals, six points, and a +6 rating in the three games since his re-insertion into the Hawks’ lineup.

A year after Philadelphia pulled off the unthinkable by coming back from an 0-3 series deficit to beat the Boston Bruins – the first time that feat had been accomplished since 1975 – the Blackhawks are poised to make history in game seven on Tuesday night in Vancouver.

Speaking of Tuesday, there will also be a game seven played on that night in the Flyers – Buffalo Sabres series.

After Buffalo took a 3-2 series lead with an overtime win Friday night in Philadelphia, things looked very bleak for the Orange-and-Black yesterday.

And there was some history that didn’t bode well for Philly.  The Flyers had lost their previous two meetings to the Sabres in six games, and both ended with very ugly losses in the elimination contest.  In 2001, game six in Buffalo was an 8-0 pounding at the hands of the Sabres.  In 2006 the sixth game was played in Philadelphia, but had an almost-identical finish, as Buffalo trounced the Flyers in front of their home crowd, 7-1.

Game six yesterday had an early feel like the Sabres were primed to duplicate the process of annihilation in an elimination game against Philly.

Like much of this series has proven, the Philadelphia goaltending was once again in a very-giving mood.  Leighton curiously got the call to start for Peter Laviolette’s club, then proceded to yield goals on some pretty ordinary shots that staked Buffalo to an early 2-0 lead, and a 3-1 lead after one period.

It didn’t look like a “History Will Be Made” moment as much as it wreaked of history repeating itself.

Even though he would see just 4:33 of ice time – and all on the power play unit – defenseman Chris Pronger returned and provided inspiration for his teammates after missing 21 games with a broken hand.

As they had much the same way from an 0-3 hole in game five, the Flyers scratched and clawed their way back to tie the game at 3-3 midway through the second period.  But when mighty-mite Nathan Gerbe beat Brian Boucher – who had come in to replace Leighton after the first period - with a shot past his waving glove hand late in the second, it appeared Philadelphia was out of gas.

There were several factors working against the Flyers heading into the third period trailing by a goal.

The team that scored first in each of the first five games of the series had gone on to win that contest.  With Buffalo scoring the first two goals on Sunday, the Flyers would have to do a tremendous amount of work to reverse that trend.

Also in the mix was the reality that Philadelphia had lost in the first round the last three times in the year immediately following a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals (1986, 1988, 1998).

While these two statistics left nothing set in stone about Sunday’s tilt, it does seem that history has a way of repeating itself.

Ryan Miller, who had twice shutout Philadelphia by 1-0 counts earlier in the series, was still providing an amazing goaltending display for the Sabres.  Going into the third he had stopped 28 of 31 Flyers’ shots, many of the quality scoring chance variety.  Philadelphia hasn’t been able to muster much in the way of offensive firepower for the better part of the last two months, and the prospect of getting even just one past Miller in the remaining 20 minutes would prove to be a tall order.

With only 9:17 left in regulation and just four seconds after a Buffalo penalty had expired, Scott Hartnell was able to shovel a Mike Richards pass into the open Sabres’ net as Miller unsuccessfully tried to scrambled to get back in time to make the save.

The game headed to overtime.

Just 4:43 into the extra session, Ville Leino was able to knock home the game-winner on his second whack at the puck to grab the win for the Flyers and stave off elimination.

AP Photo/David Duprey

There would be no hand shakes following the Easter Sunday games involving the 2010 Stanley Cup finalists, but there will be after both game sevens on Tuesday night – in both Philadelphia and Vancouver.

Looking ahead to those games, there seems to be a tremendous amount of momentum garnered by both the Blackhawks and Flyers.

Chicago has a chance to match what Philadelphia pulled off last year against Boston, and something that has been accomplished only three times in NHL history.  Don’t think for a second that this won’t be on their minds when the puck drops Tuesday.

Add in the leadership of captain Jonathan Toews, the fact that rookie Corey Crawford has greatly outplayed Luongo in goal, the balanced postseason scoring attack (six Chicago players have five points or more; Vancouver has just two), and the determination of a proud champion, and all signs seem to point in the direction of the ‘Hawks.

Daniel Sedin leads all players in scoring in the series with five goals and seven points, but has just two goals and is a -6 in the last three games.  Twin brother Henrik has only one assist and is a -7 in those same three contests.

Call it the “Bolland affect”.

And Ryan Kesler, who tied Daniel for the Vancouver lead with 41 goals during the regular season, has just three assists in the series.

But the Canucks will not go quietly.  Having fought so hard during the season to build a strong foundation for success in the playoffs, Tuesday night will be all-out gorilla warfare.

In the City of Brotherly Love, game seven will also be a hard-fought affair.  There has been no love lost between the two clubs, and a war of words has erupted in both cities.

Richards aired his grievances to the media regarding some penalties being doled out on his club -particularly an elbowing major he received in game three when he raised his arms to protect himself from a Patrick Kaleta charge - and the lack of calls on the Sabres.

Buffalo head coach Lindy Ruff snapped back that “They’re doing a lot of whining“, and that the Richards comments was just posturing for upcoming games.  “That’s a bunch of crap,” Ruff said earlier in the series.  “That’s for the media.  That’s for the officials to read.  That’s ‘Here, let’s get the next call.’  That’s a bunch of crap.”

Things haven’t gotten any better since Richards’ push of Tim Connolly from behind that sent the head of the Sabres’ forward into the glass.  Connolly has had problems with concussions in the past and he will not play in game seven.

The injury may not even be his head at all but rather his shoulder.  But at any rate, Buffalo did a bit of posturing of their own after the game.  “That’s the kind of hit the league has been talking about is dangerous,” Miller told the Buffalo reporters after the game.  “They better seriously look at that one.  It’s unbelievable.”

“It’s something the league definitely is going to have to take a look at,” Ruff chimed in on the subject.

Seems getting the Philadelphia captain out of game seven is a priority, but the NHL evidently has decided to not take any further action against Richards for the hit, according to Rogers Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos, by way of Philly.com’s Frank Seravalli.

Boucher – who has garnered all three Flyers’ wins in this series - will get the start between the pipes for Philadelphia.  Going against his usual silense on the matter, Laviolette made the surprise announcement in his post-game press conference yesterday.  “Yes, Brian Boucher will start game seven,” he said.

The Flyers’ big guns have been Claude Giroux (a goal, seven points, +4), ex-Sabre Danny Briere (five goals), Kris Versteeg (four assists, +5), and James van Riemsdyk (three goals, +2, NHL-leading 38 shots on goal).

Another key aspect has been offensive contributions from a pair of blue liners - Andrej Meszaros (a goal, five points), and Kimmo Timonen (goal, three points, team-leading +7).  The added dimension has helped Philadelphia generate more quality scoring opportunities as the series has progressed.

Buffalo has gotten the most out of Tomas Vanek (five goals, -6), Tyler Ennis (goal, four points, +1), and Tim Kennedy (goal, three points, +3).  But they are missing one of their leaders in Jason Pominville (goal, four points) after a scary incident in which he was cut along the back of his left leg by van Riemsdyk’s skate blade.

Ruff also added that Derek Roy would be taking Connolly’s spot in the Sabres’ lineup for game seven.

“He’ll (Roy) be ready, we’ll get him ready tomorrow,” the coach said.  “This team is going to battle to the bitter end.”

Depending on how game seven ends will determine just how bitter it ends up being for Ruff and the Sabres.

When the new “History Will Be Made” videos are made after tomorrow night’s contests, will they include a Blackhawks’ miracle comeback, as well as one by the Flyers?

That remains to be seen.  But for one day, at least, the 2010 Cup finalists were both able to avoid elimination and force a game seven in their respective series.

______________________________________________

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

Take a deep breath in this fine Monday. Do you smell it? Yep, that’s playoff hockey alright. For some puckheads it’s a sweet scent they’ve become accustomed to. For others it’s the bitter stink of another failure.

In the Western Conference the journey to the hockey god’s promise land was as arduous as ever. A whopping 97 points was required for entry beyond the red iron gates. Marking the second consecutive season 95 points or more was the entry fee and at least 6 teams finished with 99 or more.

Who made it through?

1. Vancouver Canucks
2. San Jose Sharks
3. Detroit Red Wings
4. Anaheim Ducks
5. Nashville Predators
6. Phoenix Coyotes
7. LA Kings
8. Chicago Blackhawks

Who didn’t?

9. Dallas Stars
10. Calgary Flames
11. St. Louis Blues
12. Minnesota Wild
13.Columbus Blue Jackets
14.Colorado Avalanche
15. Edmonton Oilers

In this week’s Around the League: Western Conference Edition I’m deviating from the norm. Over the course of the week I’ll be taking a look at each first round matchup and what the seven teams setting tee times should be up to this summer.

Vancouver Canucks vs. Chicago Blackhawks

Is there a more anticipated pairing in the opening round than the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks? No, it’s not possible.

The old axiom that playoff series build rivalries holds true for these two clubs. They’ve met in two consecutive spring sessions with the Hawks coming out on top of both viral series. Needless to say that Coach Joel Quenneville’s boys are in the heads of the Canucks and their fans, whether they admit it or not. How Vancouver deals with historical trends will tell the league as a whole if they are the next “San Jose Sharks” or “Detroit Red Wings”. Playoff flopper or dynasty in the making. Alian Vigneault’s legacy will go much the same way after this watershed showdown.

All of the pressure in this best of seven battle falls on Vancouver netminder Roberto Loungo. Who has gone from extraordinary to ordinary when facing the black and red. Allowing 42 goals in 12 playoff games against the Hawks. An average of 3.5 per game. Quite a stark contrast to his 2nd best in the league 2.11 GAA this season.

If any team can score four or more over an extended stretch to overcome goaltending adversity, it should be the Canucks. The Brothers Sedin, Daniel and Henrik, tore through the NHL this season. Combining for 60 goals and 198 points. Add in Ryan Kelser’s 41 goals (and Selke winning like all around play) and Alex Burrows 26 goals in 72 games and putting the puck in the net should be a given.

Tasked at stopping the leagues most prolific offense (NHL high 3.15 goals/game) will be former Norris winner Duncan Keith and his pairing partner Brent Seabrook. The duo was the backbone of the Blackhawks surge to lift Lord Stanley’s Cup a year ago and must rediscover their prowess. After slipping throughout the 2010-11 campaign, all the pressure in the Windy City falls to them. Can they shut down the dynamic Sedins? Can they help put the 4th rated power play (23.1%) over the 3rd rated (85.6%) Vancouver penalty kill? can they pump up the 25th rated PK (79.2%) to stop the top ranked power play (24.4%)?

Corey Crawford is the Hawk to watch for. The rookie goaltender assumes must hold back the Canucks attack when eventual breakdowns occur in the defensive scheme. It’s not the same type of guys in front of Crawford that were in front of another wet around the ears netminder, Antti Niemi, when Chicago won last season. Number 50 will have to step up and make bigger individual saves than his predecessor. Too much to ask of a 26 year old in his first time around the block? Probably, but he is a better option Marty Turco.

Who Has The Edge?

Forwards: Vancouver
- Jonathan Toews and Patrik Kane match up well with the Sedins. As does Marian Hossa with Ryan Kesler.  With Patrick Sharp hobbled, Dave Bolland questionable and the supporting cast in the bottom 6 and third pairing degraded due to cap constraints, Vancouver gets the edge. The likes of Tomas Kopecky, Troy Brouwer, Viktor Stalberg and Michael Frolik don’t match well against Mikael Samuelsson, Alex Burrows, Raffi Torres and Mason Raymond.The edge in defensive specialists would go to Vancouver if not for the loss of Manny Malhotra. Instead the advantage goes to the Hakws with former Canucks center Ryan Johnson and Jake Dowell.

Defense: Push
- Vancouver should have the edge due to experience in their depth, but injury issues could come back to haunt them. Up and coming Swede Alex Edler has played only two games since January 24th due to back surgery. Who knows if he can knock all the rust off to get back to where he was. Top free agent signing Dan Hamhuis missed 18 games due to injury this season and is just came back from a Concussion. Given the health issues and questions there, gritty Kevin Bieksa and offensive dynamo Christan Ehrhoff will be key contributors to reaching four victories.

The Hawks don’t have injury issues, but instead of depth concerns. How will Nick Leddy handle the elevated pace and pressure as a rookie? Can Chris Campoli be counted on for 20 minutes for a legitimate contender? Will Niklas Hjalmarsson and Brian Campbell be able to stop the second wave known as Ryan Kesler? Questions from the regular season linger. It’s just not the same type of group and that raises red flags.

Health questions vs Depth questions = Push. That said, if Keith and Seabrook come out ready to play, advantage Hawks.

Goaltending: Vancouver
- Say what you want about Bobby Lou, he is the elder statesmen between the pair of starting goalies and deserves to be the favorite. History tells us the advantage isn’t by much however.

Prediction: Vancouver in 6
This one is almost going all the way. Chicago may be limping in, but they’ll steal a couple and give the Canucks a wake up call.

After the final horn went to officially end game five, the tell tale signs were all there that this may finally be the end of the line for the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Flyers players looked tired.  Despite outhitting the Chicago Blackhawks, 45-35, Philadelphia took the more punishing checks for a good portion of the night.

Mike Richards looked gassed.  As did Claude Giroux, Simon Gagne, and just about every other Flyer, for that matter.

Chicago forward Dustin Byfuglien laid several bone-crushing hits, particularly on Philly defenseman Chris Pronger.

Those hit appeared to take a toll on Pronger, and the defenseman finished the game a career-worst -5.

Philadelphia left the ice a defeated team Sunday night.  Chicago had beaten them in nearly every aspect of the game, and the Blackhawks needed just one more win to lock up their first Stanley Cup in 49 years.

When you have a team in this spot, you don’t do anything to provoke them.  Let a sleeping dog lie.

You use the tactic that Philadelphia Eagles coach Dick Vermeil employed back in the 1980 NFC Championship game.

Up against a tough and talented Dallas Cowboys’ team, Vermeil used the media to stroke the egos of the Cowboys players and organization during the time off leading up to the game.

By the time the contest started, Dallas thought all all they had to do was show up and they would be well on their way to the Super Bowl.

The Eagles ran all over the Cowboys for the entire 60 minutes that day, easily beating an overconfident Dallas team.

I have never forgotten that moment, and wondered why more teams haven’t used it themselves.

These past two days were the perfect time for Chicago to use Vermeil’s example, to say all the right things and hope that the Flyers went quietly into the night on Wednesday.

But instead, the struggling Chicago Tribune took the exact opposite approach and decided to publish this photo centerfold in hopes of more sales:

There is a difference between taking good-natured shots at players and crossing the line into cheap shot classlessness.

It’s rather ironic that the Tribune basically forgot about the Blackhawks, much like the rest of Chicago, during their years of futility.

Now that the team has been rebuilt and stands on the threshold of greatness, a bad sideshow was not what Chicago wanted to portray.

Pronger couldn’t have cared less:  ”I don’t read what you guys write.  Good or bad.  I really don’t care, to be honest with you.  I’m worried about playing this game.”

Perhaps the biggest disappointment in the whole situation is that the Blackhawks coach and players weren’t even involved.

Joel Quenneville must be furious.  Trying to finish off the fourth and final win in a Cup Finals is difficult enough, a task that could become even more arduous with the cheap shot.

Do you really want to anger the opposing player who has been the best on the ice for much of the series?

And if there is any justice, the hockey gods will give Pronger and the rest of his teammates a strong second wind.

And maybe even give Pronger the opportunity to do a curtsey at United Center’s center ice on Friday night with Lord Stanley raised above his head.

Worst-Kept Secret “Revealed”, Leighton Probable Starter in Game 6

Since the end of game five on Sunday night, it has been amazing to see all of the media outlets pondering which goaltender would be manning the Philadelphia crease on Wednesday night for game six.

Incumbent starter Michael Leighton was pulled after the first period of game five trailing 3-0, having given up three goals on 13 shots.

Leighton’s goals given up were not horrendous.

The first, scored by Blackhawks’ defenseman Brent Seabrook, was a deflection off of defenseman Chris Pronger’s skate.  It changed direction just enough to keep the puck away from Leighton’s waiting right pad, and ended up as a seeing-eye goal that went just between the Philly net minder’s right skate and the goal post.

That one play seemed to shift every player on the ice into a different gear.

The players in the red home team uniforms, already moving faster than their opponents, kicked it into overdrive.

And conversely, anyone in the road whites seemed to downshift into first gear.

The second goal was probably the one that Leighton would like to have back.  On a delayed Philadelphia penalty call, David Bolland’s flip banked off of Leighton’s right skate, which he didn’t get up against the post, and trickled into the net.

And Leighton played down the effect of being hit on the knee by a shot in warm ups prior to game five.

“It’s just a bruise.  It didn’t affect the way I played.  Once you get on the ice, you don’t really think about it.”

Laviolette’s pulling of Leighton in favor of Brian Boucher has been done before, most-recently in game one in Chicago.

Some even took Laviolette’s decision not to name a game six starter as a sign of not having confidence in Leighton.

But as Laviolette stated today, “Our goaltender has the best numbers in the playoffs, I didn’t think I’d have to announce it.”

Leighton has been this team’s best goaltender over the course of the entire season, and there is no reason to change that now.

Sporting an 8-2 record with a 2.34 goals-against average, Leighton has earned the right to play Wednesday night.

End of “story”.

David Strehle
NHLHS Flyers Correspondent / NHL Writer
dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @PhilaDAVEia

Central

• The Hawks look to play well against the Sharks tonight.  ”Looking back at our trip so far we’ve had some really good games and some games we’ve been really bad,” defenseman Duncan Keith said. “Our goal now is to have another really good game in San Jose.
• Two players will miss tonight’s Blue Jackets game with the flu. Derek Dorsett also remains out for the time being.
• Brad Stuart sustained a sprained left shoulder last night, just two days after the return of defenseman Niklas Kronwall.  ”It doesn’t feel great, but I could have finished the game, it was just at that point, why risk making it worse,” Stuart said.
• The Predators know what they need to do to return to their early season form after losing four straight.  ”We have to get back to our entire group buying into it. There are certain parts of our game that our strong, but right now the intensity and commitment haven’t been there,” said goaltender Dan Ellis.
• Only a powerplay tally by Christian Ehrhoff separated the Blues from another victory.  ”We were in position (to win) and they found a way to get the extra (goal) on the power play,” Blues coach Davis Payne said.

Northwest

• The losing streak hits eight with their recent loss to the Stars 4-3 but there were positives to this loss.  ”We played as a team, as a group of five out there, offensively and defensively. We were moving the puck, skating the way we had been earlier when we had success for two periods . . . but we were tentative in the third, we shelled it up there,” said Jarome Iginla.
• Ryan O’Reilly does not need to score to be trusted in Colorado.  ”With Ryan, you don’t necessarily see the results on the score sheet,” Avs coach Joe Sacco said.
• Both Mike Comrie and Gilbert Brule should return to the Oilers lineup.  ”This is a way to pass on that extra message. It’s been a pretty good comfort zone on a team that has lost so many games. They’ve never had to worry about not playing,” said coach Pat Quinn.
• Antti Miettinen and Pavel Datsyuk played a shooting match last night, trading goals in the first period
• Even though the Blues shut down the Sedin twins, Mason Raymond scored two goals.  ”It’s not by accident,” said Canucks coach Alain Vigneault. “If there’s one player on our team right now who’s going the extra mile as far as trying to improve himself as a player, it’s Mason. He’s spending a lot of time with our skills coach before practice, working on his skills. He’s even coming in on his days off. There’s a reason why he’s having the success, he’s putting in the extra time.“  

Pacific

• The Capitals dominated the Ducks in the third period leading to a 5-1 victory but the third period started 1-1.  ”It’s a 1-1 game,” said Corey Perry. “We had them right where we wanted them going into the third. We gave up one quick one and then all of a sudden bang-bang-bang.”
• Mike Ribeiro may return to the Stars lineup soon.
• Helene Elliot of The LA Times runs down tonight’s Kings-Blue Jackets matchup.
• The Coyotes scoring two goals in the final 90 seconds to tie Detroit could be the turning point of their season. “I think we were a bit more fragile as a team last year,” said Daniel Winnik. “All the young guys we had, not just used to making those kinds of comebacks like that, especially against a team like Detroit.”
• Huge matchup tonight between the Sharks and Blackhawks, with winner claiming first place in the league.  ”It’s a lot bigger than that,” Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “We have a chance to tie for first, and that’s a huge game.”

strong>Central

• Tim Sassone of The Daily Herald calls last night’s game one of the worst of the season.  ”That might have been one that was at the bottom of the heap,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville.
• Raffi Torres should be one of the names moved come March 3rd.  ”It’s out of my hands,” Torres said. “I’d love to stay here, and I hope I’m not hurting my cause (by scoring and driving up trade value). It’s a great city, a great organization, a great thing to be a part of.”
• The Red Wings’ most recent loss unraveled in the third period.  ”I thought we played real well the first two periods,” Nicklas Lidstrom said. “They had a couple of chances, but we were able to spend a lot of time in their zone and create a lot of chances. I thought it got away from us a little bit there in the last 10 minutes.”
• John Glennon of the Tennessean writes a touching story about Joel Ward.  Ward’s biological father passed away when he was 14, while his stepfather came into the picture at 17.  The latter, Rodger Minard, joins Ward for the second year in a row at the father’s trip.
• Are the Blues underachieving or simply not that good?  Dan O’Neill of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch goes over both sides of the theory.

Northwest

• Sad days in Calgary as Jarome Iginla clearly seems upset about his and his team’s recent play.  “The desire is still there,’’ Iginla said. “The leadership (questions) . . . I understand that it happens when you lose a game the way we did (Monday) night.”
• Kyle Cumiskey constantly overcomes obstacles.  He continues to play physically despite his 5’10″ stature and continues to play well despite his playing partner.  ”I don’t think it really matters who he plays with,”coach Joe Sacco said.
• Coach Pat Quinn implemented yet another bag skate following the Oilers recent 6-0 trouncing.  ”What you’re doing is purging a bad performance … you’re getting rid of it all by sweating and getting mad and all that sort of stuff,” said coach Tom Renney.
• The Minnesota Wild placed Petr Sykora on waivers and welcomed Brent Burns back to the team.  Coach Todd Richards welcomed the change with an intense practice.  ”I would have liked to have chosen to do something different today, but where we’re at, this is what we needed to do,” Richards said.
• Why are the Sedin Twins so great?  Mike Halford and Jason Brough of the Province discuss their greatness in detail.

Pacific

• The Ducks now won seven of their last eight games.  ”We knew from the beginning we had a pretty decent team,” goaltender Jonas Hiller said.
• Joe Nieuwendyk and the Stars plan on facing adversity when they make their next road trip.  ”I think you have to face adversity, and you have to overcome it,” Nieuwendyk said. “That’s just part of the business no matter who you are.”
• Rich Hammond believes last night’s 5-1 loss by the Kings will prove pivotal, despite 30 games remaining in the season.  “We have to grab a hold of these opportunities,’’ Kings coach Terry Murray said.
• Jim Gintonio of The Arizona Republic discusses exactly what the Coyotes need to do in order to make the playoffs. Long stretches on the road could prevent the team from making the playoffs for the first time in eight years.
• Torrey Mitchell took part in his first NHL fight, winning the kudos of his teammates.

Alexander Monaghan
NHLHS Editor
amonaghan@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @NHLHotStove

Central

• Chris Kuc of The Chicago Tribune discusses Patrick Kane still not engaging in an NHL fight.  Tim Sassone of The Daily Herald discusses just how good Antti Niemi performs and why coach Joel Quenneville chose him as his backup over prospect Corey Crawford.  I guess nobody in Chicago worries about the match in Ottawa tonight.
• RJ Umberger returns to Philadelphia tonight where he faces the team who traded him to Columbus.  ”I know how passionate they are there,” Umberger said smiling. “They booed Santa Claus. If they boo me it will still be fun.”
• Dana Wakiji of The Detroit News compares the Red Wings to the Capitals.  The last time the two met, the Wings left victorious.
• The Predators still face problems on home ice.  Despite defeating much better teams last week away from Tennessee, they found a way to lose to Toronto last night.  ”I don’t know what’s going on at home, but we’re going to have to change it pretty quick,” said captain Jason Arnott.
• The Blues lost for the first time in five games to the Columbus Blue Jackets.  Jeremy Rutherford of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch believes their lack of physical play deeply contributed to the problem.

Northwest

• John Down of The Calgary Herald discusses just how bad the Flames performed last night.  Just a brutal effort as the Sharks easily defeated them 9-1.
• Similarly Terry Frei with the Denver Post writes on the Avs easy win over the Oilers.  Frei mentions that just one year ago this Avalanche team mirrored the current Oiler mix of players.
• Joanne Ireland of The Edmonton Journal says the downward slide continues.
• In yet another loss for the Wild, backup Josh Harding took exception to agitator Steve Ott.  ”It stirred up some emotion and you could feel it on the bench,” coach Todd Richards said. “That’s what we need from the start of the game. We can’t wait.”
• Interesting article on Ron MacLean and Alex Burrows.  Apparently Maclean believes the phantom interference call was warranted.  ”I honestly don’t think it was,” he said. “I could see where you could call that interference.”  I disagree with pretty much everything MacLean says, for the record.

Pacific

• Curtis Zupke of The OC Register proves the Ducks success rests on their third periods.  Over the last seven games the Ducks outscored opponents 10-5 in the final stanza, leading to a winning record over that span.
• Backup Alex Auld makes a better and better case for starter after leading the team to a second consecutive win.
• The latest Kings notebook with Rich Hammond discussed coach Terry Murray‘s comments on Anze Kopitar, the injury status of Matt Greene and wearing kevlar to protect against skate blades.
• In what was expected to be a goaltenders dual, only one goalie played well as Ryan Miller and the Sabres trounced the Coyotes by the score of 7-2.  ”It was not good, right from the goaltender on out,” coach Dave Tippett said.
• Sharks GM Doug Wilson takes a look at the top Canadian prospects next week.  ”The strength of the draft, where we pick, what’s available in college and what’s available in junior as far as free agents, how the Worcester team is performing,” Wilson said.

Alexander Monaghan
NHLHS Editor
amonaghan@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @NHLHotStove