Your NHL Western Conference Preview & Tuesday Open Thread

First off, a small mea culpa. I confused my Dale Hunter incidents with my Ron Hextall incidents and assigned them to the wrong team.

Thanks to Sill for pointing that out. Guess I shouldn’t type & teach.

For those who care, there are five NBA games tonight, and none of them have dire playoff consequences. A better choice is Part 2 of the Ken Burns PBS documentary on Jackie Robinson.

Anyway, onto the West:

Western Conference – Round One

Dallas vs Minnesota (Thurs/Sat/Mon/Wed)

On paper, not really a contest. Dallas is a high scoring, physically imposing team. But thanks to its shaky goaltending, it allowed St. Louis & Chicago to stick around in the divisional race. They haven’t been in real contention since they won their ’99 Cup and had to get the stink of Brett Hull off them, but the Benn brothers make things exciting around the net. The Wild, meanwhile, play a style that seems the illegitimate child of Jacques Lemaire’s old Devils Trap, with a goalie in Devan Dubnyk whose GAA is inflated by the other team’s lack of chances. If someone can name a player on this team, the other person is obligated to follow with, “Who’s that?”

Prediction: Dallas in 5.

St. Louis vs Chicago (Wed/Fri/Sun/Tues)

This one is tough. I have a soft spot for St. Louis, as they are the oldest team to have not won a Cup, and the three Finals they’ve been to were all in their expansion years. They’ve had good regular-season teams that ran into playoff buzz saws and just got left behind. They’ve looked really good this year, but once again face an old nemesis. Chicago is built for the playoffs, much like the Oilers teams of the 80s. Not enough people are using the word “dynasty”, but if can use it for the Spurs, then it’s appropriate here. Plus, the longer they go cuts down on the chances Patrick Kane catches more off-season criminal charges. On the other hand, FUCK THE BLACKHAWKS!

Prediction: St. Louis in 6.

Anaheim vs Nashville (Fri/Sun/Tues/Thurs)

This series is going to be all goaltending. Pekka Rinne is a beast, especially during the playoffs, and Anaheim’s goaltender-by-committee structure is going to have to settle on one horse to ride through the first round, which I don’t think they’re prepared for. Points-spread doesn’t mean much in a clutch & grab series. The deciding factor will be whether Anaheim’s size can slow down Nashville’s speed. I honestly don’t see anything exciting about this series, which means it will turn out fantastic. Fun fact: Between Games 1 & 2, the Honda Center is hosting a concert by Alan Jackson (“Five O’Clock Somehwere”), who I hope comes out in a Preds jersey, meaning they’ll have to change or cover the ice. That should make for some funny bounces in Game 2, which could impact the rate of play and possibly cost the Ducks. Gonna put the big upset here.

Prediction: Nashville in 6.

Los Angeles vs San Jose (Thurs/Sat/Mon/Wed)

This has the potential to be the only seven-game series in the first round, and a good one to boot. Both teams had plenty of scoring during the regular season, and a solid playoff rivalry in the last few years. Joe Thornton is a notorious vacationer when it comes to the playoffs, but hopefully Pavelski & Hertl can keep him focused long enough to do some damage to the opposition for a change. How much trouble Milan Lucic causes/gets into will be the question mark for the Kings’ offence, as well as how much left in the tank le grand homme Lecavalier has. Goaltending comes down to a master-apprentice battle, as Jamie Quick takes on former backup Martin Jones, who watched from the bench as the Kings won it all in 2013. If they have to substitute James Reimer in early in the series, I think the stink of Leaf confirms the probable outcome a game or two sooner.

Prediction: Kings in 7.

There you have it. You are now basically informed about the opening round. Detailed Commentist team/series previews for the West will be posted tomorrow. You’ll be able to handle any general conversation in a bar.

Don’t forget – the Ken Burns special is on PBS. Can you enjoy history if you hate baseball? WATCH & FIND OUT!