So with the conference semi-finals already in the books, and the conference finals in the books too, I realize that it's almost a bit late to go through predictions and ratings, and all that jazz.
So what I will do is go with a gut feeling on what I feel had to happen from the beginning, and what happened in the end.
First of all, the Vancouver Canucks are beginning to prove that winning the President's trophy isn't a curse -- it is in fact a statement of intent to the rest of the league that they need to be taken seriously throughout the playoffs. Their barn is loud, too. Kesler has been a dominant force and can be seriously considered for the Conn Smythe up until today at least. Luongo has been decent, and in the last few games really shut down the Sharks.
The Sharks had problems from the get-go, trying to overcome the emotion of their win over Detroit. Just think about where we'd be today had the Sharks overcome the Wings in five, or six? If they hadn't let that energy-sapping series go on for so long, they would have had a few more days to relax and gain perspective ahead of what could have been the most important series in their club's history. Big changes could be ahead. If I'm Doug Wilson, I have to look at the forwards I'm paying and wonder where I'd be if Dany Heatley had shown up for the playoffs in consecutive games, or even for a whole series at a time. I wonder what's the deal with Joe Thornton's health, as it would appear that he's either injured or unsure of what to do when crunch time rolls around.
San Jose has also been through several veteran defensement and is now stuck with only Dan Boyle in the 'high quality' category, as they've seen the backs of Rivet, Blake et al through the last couple of seasons. Niemi has also played a lot of hockey in the last calendar year, especially for a guy who was really in his first big season of hockey last year, culminating in the big deal and move to Northern California.
In the end, the better team won. Not only that, they're getting healthier. Kesler may have taken a knock but Malhotra coming back is a fearsome prospect for the Sharks, especially with his face off prowess. It'll be interesting to see the contest between Bergeron and Malhotra, should it ever come to that.
That, of course, is my segue into the Boston Bruins winning the Eastern Conference. I'll be honest, I did pick them to go all the way once I knew that they'd be playing the Lightning. I didn't expect that series to go to 7 games, but with Roloson playing the way he does in the playoffs, and with St. Louis and Lecavalier as senior, proven playoff performers in the team, you couldn't bet against them in the end.
Boston proved to be very difficult to play against, but there are several interesting story lines going into this final series.
First of all, Tim Thomas. He allowed far more goals in this series than I expected. I didn't think he'd stop everything, get four shutouts and then move on to the second round: the Lightning offense is far too good to allow that to happen. I did expect him to keep them to less than 2 goals per game, or to keep a 2.00-2.15 GAA over the course of a seven game series. Look at the record this series:
Game 1 -- allowed 5 goals.
Game 2 -- allowed 5 goals.
Game 3 -- shutout.
Game 4 -- Allowed 5 goals.
Game 5 -- Allowed 1 goal.
Game 6 -- Allowed 5 goals.
Game 7 -- shutout.
Sorry, but just because you get two shutouts it doesn't mean that you stood on your head. Polar opposites aren't a good thing when you're a goaltender playing at the highest level. Allowing 5 goals in 4 out of 7 games, is usually complete suicide and yet somehow, Thomas is at the top or near the top of every goaltending category there is. He is also top among all active goalies this time of the playoffs (which is only two, I know, but there were four just a few days ago).
Okay, so the winner of the Stanley Cup? Well it's easy to go with the Canucks. They will be the front runner and they will most certainly play well at home. Luongo has been good, and their defensemen have been good, and they have a deep forward corps that have been clicking lately. Their defensive forwards have been excellent, and the likes of Kesler and Burrows have been providing, with Torres hitting everyone in sight.
Then there's the Bruins. So maybe Thomas had a bad series, he's still a terrific goalie that can stop just about anything on his day. Truly, the opposite of Luongo, without a prescribed style and without the size and presence in the crease that the Canucks netminder has.
I'd have to give the goaltending advantage to the Canucks, however.
In terms of defense, Vancouver has the deepest group and that's not up for argument. Even when they've got an injury or two, the depth they have to draw from is immense and could single-handedly win the cup if it comes down to injuries.
The Bruins have the immovable object in Zdeno Chara, who will need to watch his temper and his petulant reactions because he's going to have a few pests to deal with in this series. If he allows the Canucks to get under his skin, he's going to find himself in the box and without a Stanley Cup ring, really quickly. Having said that, there is no question mark over his play at the moment, and that goes for Andrew Ference too, who assisted on the series-winning goal last night.
Kaberle? Well, that's another story. Interesting to see his statistics at the moment, with 8 assists and no goals, and a plus 7 rating. The biggest thing is, he's only averaging 12-14 minutes on the ice per night, and for someone who is supposed to be a stud defenseman, to move the puck and calmly set up your powerplay...well those aren't the type of numbers you'd expect.
So he's been a bust, up until now, and you can expect there will be a massive question mark hanging over his head all the way through until the final buzzer sounds on this series. All he can do is score a few points, take advantage of his shifts and hopefully come on the winning end of it all.
Up front, well this is where things might be a bit of a wash. Both teams boast depth at the forward positions and where the Bruins might edge it is their scoring lines. Even without the likes of Marc Savard, the Bruins are clicking on all cylinders.
Patrice Bergeron has 15 points in 16 games. David Krejci has 17 points in 18 games, Nathan Horton has identical numbers. Brad Marchand has 12 points in 18 games, and both Chris Kelly and Michael Ryder have 11 apiece. Vancouver can counter with the Sedins, Kesler and Burrows, but in the top 30 scorers in these playoffs, there are 6 Bruins and 5 Canucks. It evens out the farther down you go, but in the end the two teams with the best offense made the finals.
So here we are, on the cusp of making history. Either Vancouver will end their cup hoodoo, leaving Toronto as one of the longest, or Boston will end theirs and Bobby Orr will be in the stands. I'd love to see that, if I'm honest.
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