WESTERN QUARTER-FINALS
GAME DAY PREVIEWS
GAME 1:
#1 ST. LOUIS BLUES vs #8 SAN JOSE SHARKS
Series tied 0-0
Game time: Wednesday April 12th, 2000 7:30pm at St. Louis
The St. Louis Blues hope their amazing regular season can contiue into the playoffs as they host the San Jose Sharks Wednesday night in Game One of the Western Conference quarterfinals.
St. Louis is coming off the best season in its 33-year history, establishing team records for wins (51), road wins (27) and points (114). They boast two of the league's premier defensemen in 1999 Norris Trophy winner Al MacInnis and 2000 favorite Chris Pronger.
Goaltender Roman Turek led the league with seven shutouts and was second with a 1.95 goals-against average and 42 wins. St. Louis became the first team in 44 years to allow fewer than two goals per game.
But the Blues are not without concerns as they try to become the second straight Presidents' Trophy winner to capture the Stanley Cup. All-Star Pavol Demitra, the team's leading scorer with 75 points, is out indefinitely due to a concussion. Fellow right wing Scott Young is doubtful with a separated shoulder.
Joel Quenneville is a favorite for the Adams Award as the NHL's top coach precisely because he has been able to get contributions from so many different players. Twelve Blues scored at least 10 goals and 13 had at least 15 assists.
While the Blues like to spread the wealth up front, the defensive responsibilities rest largely with MacInnis and Pronger. MacInnis possesses the NHL's hardest slap shot, using it to send two goalies to hospitals during the season. It also helped the Blues tie for sixth in the league on the power play. Pronger routinely sees more than 30 minutes of ice time a night and led the NHL with a plus-52.
St. Louis' postseason history is murky. While the Blues' streak of 21 consecutive playoff appearances is the longest in the NHL, they won only six series in the 1990s and have not advanced past the second round since 1986.
San Jose won seven of its first nine games for the best start in team history but went more than three months without consecutive wins and struggled to secure a third straight postseason spot.
The Sharks needed only a tie in Sunday's season finale against Vancouver to avoid the Blues in the first round. But they looked awful in a 5-2 loss and now faces the team against which it was 0-4-1 during the season.
San Jose has not won a playoff series since 1995 but have a history of first-round upsets, stunning Detroit in 1994 and surprising Calgary a year later. Coach Darryl Sutter will need contributions from his entire roster if San Jose hopes to add the Blues to that list.
Owen Nolan had a rebirth this season, finishing second to Pavel Bure with 44 goals, including a league-leading 18 on the power play. Veteran Vincent Damphousse had 70 points for his best campaign in three years, but he suffered through a prolonged goal-scoring slump. Jeff Friesen is an imposing force on the left side and led the team with seven game-winning goals.
Damphousse and gritty center Mike Ricci are two of only four Sharks who have won a Stanley Cup. Defenseman Gary Suter and left wing Stephane Matteau are the others.
Steve Shields was a workhorse in the nets for San Jose, playing all but five games after Mike Vernon was traded to Florida at the end of December. Despite a losing record (27-30-8), he had an impressive .911 save percentage.
#2 DALLAS STARS vs #7 EDMONTON OILERS
Series tied 0-0
Game time: Wednesday April 12th, 2000 7pm at Dallas
The Dallas Stars begin defense of their Stanley Cup tonight when they host the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Quarterfinals.
Dallas has opened its last three playoff seasons against Edmonton and, for the fourth straight time, it will have home-ice advantage. The Stars have won the last two matchups after the Oilers took the 1997 first-round series in seven games.
Last season, Dallas won four straight one-goal decisions in the Western Conference quarterfinals on their way to the Stanley Cup championship, including the 12th longest playoff game in NHL history ended by Joe Nieuwendyk's tally at 17:34 of the third overtime in a 3-2 victory.
Dallas also has owned the regular-season series. Since moving from Minnesota following the 1992-93 season, the Stars are 22-3-3 against Edmonton, including a 12-1-1 mark in Dallas and a 6-0-2 run over the last two seasons.
Despite injuries to regulars such as Nieuwendyk, Mike Modano, Jere Lehtinen and captain Derian Hatcher, the Stars recovered from an early slump to capture their fourth straight divisional championship. However, Dallas has stumbled into the playoffs with a five-game winless streak (0-3-2).
Doubtful for tonight's contest is defenseman and power-play quarterback Sergei Zubov, who most likely will miss at least the first two games of the series as he tries to recover from a sprained knee ligament suffered during the stretch run.
Modano had another stellar season with 38 goals and 43 assists, while Brett Hull remains a threat from anywhere on the ice after scoring 24 goals to tie his Hall of Fame dad on the all-time list. Rookie Brendan Morrow saw time with the top line due to the injuries and finished with 14 goals and 19 assists in 64 games.
Defense remains a Stars' strength and goaltender Ed Belfour last year proved to skeptics he can win a Stanley Cup. A midseason assault arrest obscured the fact that Belfour put together another strong season with 32 wins, a 2.10 goals-against average and a league-leading .919 save percentage.
Edmonton gave Colorado a run for its money in the Northwest Division race, before fading in the final month of the campaign.
Much of it could be attested to the fine play of Tommy Salo, who was fourth in the league in minutes played while recording a 27-28-13 record with a 2.33 GAA and .914 save percentage.
Offensively, the Oilers had a trio of 20-goal scorers in Ryan Smyth (28), Alexander Selivanov (27) and Bill Guerin (24).
#3 COLORADO AVALANCHE vs #6 PHOENIX COYOTES
Series tied 0-0
Game time: Thursday April 13th, 2000 10pm at Colorado
The Phoenix Coyotes hope to end a long playoff drought as they visit the Colorado Avalance on Thursday night in Game 1 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series. The Coyotes' postseason failures are well-documented. The franchise has not won a playoff series since 1987, losing eight straight since the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Calgary Flames in six games in the Smythe Division semifinals.
But fate finally may be on the Coyotes' side. They begin the the series against a Colorado team that likely will be without center Peter Forsberg, the world's best two-way player. Forsberg is sidelined "indefinitely" after suffering a separated right shoulder in Friday's victory at Calgary.
The Avalanche know how to play without Forsberg, who missed 33 games during the regular season following surgery on his other shoulder and a concussion.
Forsberg's loss steals some of the momentum from Colorado, which ended the season with eight straight wins. The Avalanche caught fire after acquiring future Hall of Famer Ray Bourque from Boston, going 12-2-1 after March 4.
The play of Sakic was one of the reasons for the torrid finish. Colorado's longtime captain picked up points in 17 of the last 18 games, totaling 17 goals and 16 assists during that stretch.
Milan Hejduk is one of the players who will have to step up if the Avalanche hope to avoid losing in the first round for the second time in three years. The super sophomore led the team with 36 goals, including nine game-winners.
Coach Bob Hartley also needs the kind of effort he got from Chris Drury in last year's playoffs. As a rookie, Drury scored six goals, including four-game winners, in 19 games. Wingers Adam Deadmarsh and Dave Andreychuk, who came over from Boston with Bourque, also need to contribute.
Bourque's presence solidified a suspect defense that plays in front of Patrick Roy, the winningest goaltender in playoff history. Roy is coming off his fourth straight 30-win season and was among the league leaders with a .914 save percentage.
Although he is 6-4-2 lifetime against Phoenix, Roy twice was beaten badly by the Coyotes during the season. He surrendered 11 goals on 60 shots and watched from the bench as rookie Marc Denis beat Phoenix in the final two regular-season meetings.
The Coyotes nearly missed the playoffs for the first time since 1995 but closed with a 4-2-1 kick to secure the sixth seed in the West.
Phoenix will rise or fall with goaltender Sean Burke, who has not won a playoff series in 12 years and has played in only two since.
The Coyotes are as close to being healthy as they have been in recent months, with only center Juha Ylonen (pulled stomach muscle) missing heading into tonight's opener.
Nearly traded to Carolina during the season, left wing Keith Tkachuk missed 32 games but still managed 22 goals and, when healthy, is one of the league's premier power forwards. Center Jeremy Roenick had his best season in six years with 34 goals, including a league-leading 12 game-winners, and 44 assists.
Bobby Francis, Phoenix's third coach in four years, needs continued production from Shane Doan, who had a career-high 26 goals, along with Travis Green, Greg Adams and Dallas Drake.
Like his predecessors, Francis was unable to solve the Coyotes' problems on the power play, where they ranked next-to-last at 11.9 percent. Led by creative defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh, Colorado was fourth at 19.5 percent.
#4 DETROIT RED WINGS vs #5 LOS ANGELES
Series tied 0-0
Game time: Thursday April 13th, 2000 7:30pm at Detroit
The Detroit Red Wings hope this year's playoff run can end with their third Stanley Cup in four years when they host the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals. Detroit was second in the NHL this season with 108 points, but because it resides in the Central Division with the St. Louis Blues it had to settle for the fourth seed in the West.
So the NHL's team of the 1990s opens the postseason against Los Angeles, which has not won a playoff series since reaching the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993. In fact, the Kings are appearing in the postseason for only the second time in the last seven years.
The Kings' last trip to the playoffs was anything but memorable as they were swept in the 1998 West quarterfinals by St. Louis. Only 12 players are left from that team as general manager Dave Taylor turned over the roster and coach Andy Murray oversaw a 25-point turnaround in his first season behind the bench.
In contrast, Scotty Bowman is in his seventh season with the Red Wings, whose roster is largely unchanged from the one that captured consecutive Stanley Cups in 1997 and 1998. Captain Steve Yzerman remains Detroit's emotional leader and posted his first 30-goal season since 1995-96.
Left wing Brendan Shanahan was rewarded with a four-year contract extension after a 41-goal campaign. The other names up front for the Red Wings are familiar -- Sergei Fedorov, Vyacheslav Kozlov and Igor Larionov. Right wing Pat Verbeek proved a steal after signing as a free agent, totaling 22 goals and 26 assists while recording both his 500th NHL goal and 1,000th point.
Nowhere is Detroit's veteran presence more strongly felt than on defense, where Larry Murphy, Chris Chelios, Steve Duchesne and Todd Gill are all over 34. Nicklas Lidstrom again will receive Norris Trophy consideration after leading all NHL defensemen with 73 points.
Chris Osgood is two years removed from backstopping the Red Wings to the Stanley Cup. He battled minor injuries during the season but recorded his third straight 30-win season.
The Kings boast their own Norris Trophy candidate in Rob Blake, who had 18 goals and 39 assists in 77 games. Mattias Norstrom is among the NHL's most underrated defensemen and rookie Jere Karalahti showed flashes while totaling six goals and 10 assists in 48 games.
Taylor helped make things easier for Murray by acquiring Zigmund Palffy and Bryan Smolinski in an offseason trade with the New York Islanders. Palffy was second on the team in scoring and Smolinski had a big bounce-back season with 20 goals and 36 assists. But Palffy has been out since mid-March with a shoulder injury and Smolinski could miss this series with a sprained knee.
Luc Robitaille, Glen Murray and Jozef Stumpel are healthy for the Kings. One of the most prolific scorers in NHL history, Robitaille led the Kings with 36 goals; Murray tied a career high with 29, while Stumpel had 58 points in 57 games.
Andy Murray has tabbed Stephane Fiset to start the series opener on Thursday at Joe Louis Arena. Fiset split time with Jamie Storr, going 20-15-7 with a 2.75 goals-against average and .901 save percentage.
Los Angeles is the most penalized playoff team and that could prove fatal against Detroit, which led the NHL on the power play during the season at 20.4 percent.
The season series between the teams finished at 2-2-1 and Game 2 is here on Saturday.