Stanley Cup Finals Preview
Well this is it, after three hard fought rounds, the NHL Playoff picture has been wittlled down to two teams: representing the East are the Ottawa Senators who have largely flown under the radar this season and are not really a team nany picked to make it this far. From the West is the fighting mad and hard-working Anaheim Ducks who are making GM Brian Burke look like a genius right now, as just two seasons ago they might have struglled to even make the playoffs, never mind dominating the Western Conference.
Goaltending: The top 2 goalies this season will be featured in this series in Ray Emery and J.S. Giguere. Both goalies have been great when it counted and expect both goalies to be on their game again. Giguere perhaps has a slight edge due to slightly better numbers to this point.
Defense: The Sens defense will have a huge task of clearing the front of the net and preventing the hard-charging Ducks forward from running over Emery, something which the Red Wings, Canucks and Predators showed is not an easy task. Beauchemin and Redden will once again be matched against the Ducks most dangerous line featuring Selanne, McDonald and Pahlson. This will leave Phillips and Preising to contend with the "kid" line of Getzlaf, Perry and Moen. Meanwhile, the Ducks have two Norris Trophy candidates in Chris Pronger and Scott Neidermeyer who have separate partners, meaning one or the other will be on the ice 75% of the time. The edge is even here.
Forwards: Both teams caan roll four lines, although the Sens are likely to play their fourth line more often than the Ducks who have been apt to use only three lines most of the time. Thus far, the strategy of shortening the bench has been a good one for the Ducks. The Ducks have a lot of speed and will be a handful to contain. The Sens top line ghas spots one-through-three in the scoring race in the playoffs and thus far no one has been able to slow down the determined line that is led by Captain Alfredsson and complimented by snipers Heately and Spezza.
My Pick: Sens in 6
Goaltending: The top 2 goalies this season will be featured in this series in Ray Emery and J.S. Giguere. Both goalies have been great when it counted and expect both goalies to be on their game again. Giguere perhaps has a slight edge due to slightly better numbers to this point.
Defense: The Sens defense will have a huge task of clearing the front of the net and preventing the hard-charging Ducks forward from running over Emery, something which the Red Wings, Canucks and Predators showed is not an easy task. Beauchemin and Redden will once again be matched against the Ducks most dangerous line featuring Selanne, McDonald and Pahlson. This will leave Phillips and Preising to contend with the "kid" line of Getzlaf, Perry and Moen. Meanwhile, the Ducks have two Norris Trophy candidates in Chris Pronger and Scott Neidermeyer who have separate partners, meaning one or the other will be on the ice 75% of the time. The edge is even here.
Forwards: Both teams caan roll four lines, although the Sens are likely to play their fourth line more often than the Ducks who have been apt to use only three lines most of the time. Thus far, the strategy of shortening the bench has been a good one for the Ducks. The Ducks have a lot of speed and will be a handful to contain. The Sens top line ghas spots one-through-three in the scoring race in the playoffs and thus far no one has been able to slow down the determined line that is led by Captain Alfredsson and complimented by snipers Heately and Spezza.
My Pick: Sens in 6
posted by opinionator777 at 5:18 PM
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