Rokhed Hockey News

Rokhed Hockey News - June 7th
By: Walter McLaughlin

Round 1 Preview

Some familiar faces and a few new ones hit the ice for what promises to be several weeks of hard-hitting, fast-paced playoff fun in this year�s post-season battle for supremacy. In the end, will the defending champion Capitals capitalize on their opportunities once again? How about a Boston tea party? Will Minnesota go Wild or will Detroit �Wing� it this year? The notion of Los Angeles �pimping� their way sends the stomach acids boiling up in revulsion, so we won�t go there. The following is a preview of the various first-round series, along with a general sense of the chances of each club landing in the Cup finals. As always, objects in mirror may be closer than they appear, so take these for entertainment value only.

61-9-7-5 134 points

33-30-15-4, 85 points

On paper, this is like the U.S. invading Grenada, as the Bruins amassed 49 more points and marched inexorably to their first President�s Trophy. However, the Isles accomplished a couple of noteworthy things: 1) they were able to win despite having a top line of (pop in a Tum�s before you read this) Jochen Hecht, Jim Dowd and Jonas Hoglund, 2) they were able to begin the massive rebuilding this team desperately needed while still making the playoffs, and 3) they went through a management change during the season without missing a beat. Boston is led by studs Tony Amonte (36-41-77), Rod Brind�Amour (27-41-68) and Teemu Selanne (27-34-61 in just 57 games), along with an all star defensive corps anchored by Niklas Lidstrom. In net, they have their own Rock of Gibralter in J.S. Giguere (51-11-6, 2.00, .923). New York doesn�t have the weapons to compete, as its top remaining scorers after some roster purging were Hecht (12-21-33), Alexander Korolyuk (14-17-31) and Chris Herpsberger (10-14-24), with Scott LaChance and Radek Martinek as their best defensemen and veteran Mike Dunham (19-29-11, 2.34, .921) between the pipes.

Series prediction: A mismatch, though NYI GM Keith Meade has won some very key games since taking the helm. However, winning a couple of games would be a huge moral victory for the depleted Islanders. BOS in five.
Odds in reaching the finals: Boston: 4-1. New York: Infinity-1.

47-18-13-4, 111 points

39-33-7-3, 88 points

Could this be a repeat of Detroit vs. Edmonton from last season? GM Alex McFee drifted in and out of league consciousness for much of the season, then re-dedicated himself and turned on the jets, winning the 8th seed in a thrilling race to the finish with Vancouver and Dallas. Minnesota will have its hands full for certain. Speaking of the Wild, they won their own battle of sorts with Detroit and Los Angeles, barely outlasting the Wings and running away from the slumping Kings to take the top seed in the West. Both the Wild and the Blues play solid defense and opportunistic offense, so connections permitting, this should be a hell of a series. Minnesota doesn�t have the number of names that some clubs do, but has a mighty fine offense nonetheless, led by Paul Kariya (46-54-100), Donald Audette (42-38-80) and Radek Dvorak (29-37-66). Radek Bonk was a late-season acquisition to bolster the second line as well. The defense isn�t as sexy (according to Craig, who judges things like this) as some other clubs, either, but played ably, with Ben Clymer, Richard Smehlik and Eric Weinrich doing the job. In net, Ron Tugnutt (38-19-12, 2.36, .916) just gets older and older � as well as better and better. I hear Tampa Bay may be interested in him. St. Louis had some problems on offense this year, as their top scorers were Pavel Demitra (28-28-56) and Stu Barnes (25-31-56), who would have ranked tied for fifth on the Wild. Where was Peter Bondra (16-31-47) all season? Defensively, the Blues feature Mattias Ohlund, Richard Matvichuk, Sean Hill and Yannick Tremblay, with Calder candidate Jussi Markkenen (21-16-2, 2.14, .913) splitting time with Martin Biron.

Series prediction: Tough to go against the Wild in this one, but let�s not forget that St. Louis was in the finals just one season ago, so there�s plenty of experience there. That experience, coupled with a solid defense, should net them a couple of wins, but there�s too much offense on Minnesota with all those 60+ point guys. MIN in six.
Odds in reaching the finals: Minnesota: 4-1. St. Louis: 11-1.

58-16-6-2, 124 points

42-30-2-8, 94 points

If not for the Bruins� rampage through the season, the buzz would be about the Capitals as the odds-on favorite to pull a three-peat and win the Cup once again. Well, don�t count out this wily, veteran team by any stretch of the imagination, as GM Will Bedinger is clearly the most successful postseason GM in the league by a long shot. On the other side of this playoff coin, GM Gregg Perrone pulled off a remarkable turnaround from last season�s self-imposed train wreck when he shipped every skilled veteran player on his team away for youth and then gleefully watched them emerge this season as forces to be reckoned with. Even though he didn�t win his division, he was in the hunt until the very end and is a deserving playoff participant. Washington trots out the same dangerous serial killer-like faces each year: Jason Allison (36-45-81), Sergei Samsonov (54-27-81) and Owen Nolan (29-48-77), to name just a few. And these aren�t your mother�s Caps, either (assuming your mother is a fan of the real-life NHL squad), as they can play defense: Bryan McCabe, Dmitry Yushkevitch and Wayne Redden patrol the blue line, to name just a few. Nickolai Khabibulin (49-14-5, 1.83, .932) kicks most of �em aside. New York relies on Chris Drury (24-26-70) and Ilya Kovalchuk (29-24-53) as their two main offensive threats, with some big names on defense in Brian Rafalski, Scott Stevens and Alexei Zhitnik. In net, Jose Theodore (38-34-2, 2.48, .907) will need to step it up to give the Rangers a chance at the upset.

Series prediction: Do roads get tougher than this for first-time playoff participants? Heck, all Gregg has to do is down the two-time defending champs. Will cannot overlook this club, however, in his quest to win the Cup again, but the Caps are just too solid in too many areas to not be heavily favored. WAS in six.
Odds in reaching the finals: Washington: 3-1. New York: 12-1.

49-21-8-4, 110 points

38-31-9-4, 89 points

The Wings are chomping at the bit to exorcize the demons of an Edmonton sweep one season ago, so they will be racing up and down the ice like a bat out of hell against the Preds in this series. Detroit thinks offense first, so an opportunistic Predator squad could weather the storm and find itself with a few odd-man chances on the other end if it plays its cards right. Nashville likes to play near the net and flip the puck home from in close, but this club has a number of weapons to give the Red Wings fits. If you have ever wondered how the Newfoundland/Florida connection was, you�re going to find out soon enough in this series. Detroit is always loaded for bear offensively and this year is no different, with Todd Bertuzzi (46-40-86), Sergei Fedorov (34-59-93) and Marion Hossa (35-36-71) the top three guns. Shut down the top line and you have a chance, but Glen Murray and company on line two may still make you pay in the end. The defense boasts some names as well in Sandis Ozolinsh, Sergei Zubov, Brian Leetch, Paul Mara and Brunette-killer Brendan Witt. When is Brent Johnson (38-18-7, 2.08, .926) going to stop being a stud in this league? Nashville has one huge star in Bill Guerin (42-28-70) and then some nice complementary parts in Vincent Damphousse (23-33-56), Harold Druken (20-31-51) and Mariusz Czerkawski (19-32-51). On defense, look for Al MacInnis, Derek Morris, Calle Johannson and Michal Rozsival to form a nearly impenetrable shield around the world�s best goaltender in Patrick Roy (35-30-9, 1.93, .925.)

Series prediction: All those Russians firing all those shots on Patrick Roy, and even the greatest goalie in the history of the universe can�t stop everything. Nashville really does have a very solid defense, but the Russian Wings have are exhausting in their speedy assault upon other teams. DET in five.
Odds in reaching the finals: Detroit: 4-1, Nashville: 12-1.

44-28-6-4, 98 points

41-25-12-4, 98 points

If there were ever a series that smelled like a seven-game war, this one is it. The Devils, under new GM Tom Phillips, outlasted the Rangers in the battle for the Atlantic division, something that wasn�t decided until the final few games of the season. Meanwhile, the old folks� homes in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area are brimming with deliriously happy denizens, as the similarly-elderly Lightning qualified for their first Rokhed playoffs, garnering 98 points in the process. Both GMs are tough-as-nails on the ice and play a stifling defensive style of hockey. New Jersey is led by hammer/sticks Shane Doan (29-37-66) and Jason Arnott (22-31-53), but relies more on its dominant defensive corps of Rob Blake, Ed Jovanovski, Phil Housley and Mike Rathje. Vezina-candidate Jocelyn Thibault (34-15-6, 1.64, .932) is a brick wall in net. Tampa Bay defies conventional wisdom by seemingly getting older each year and is headlined by Brett Hull (42-28-70), Mark Parrish (28-27-55) and Benoit Hogue (19-39-58). On defense, rumors are that Chris Chelios really died several years ago and is a marionette on strings, but he�s easily the best the Lightning have on paper as the rest of the corps is unproven. Acquired from Philadelphia near the trade deadline, Tommy Salo (23-40-13, 2.53, .912) was brought in to stabilize the goaltending. Naturally, he�s old, too.

Series prediction: I�ll bet my life savings that this series goes seven games. Ok, so I only have four dollars, but it�s on the line. I think the 3-6 matchup, in general, is ripe for an upset and it�s boring and pedantic to just predict higher seeds, so I�ll not do so here (sorry, Tom, nothing personal � Erik eliminated me from the Pond playoffs last year): Tampa Bay in seven.
Odds in reaching the finals: New Jersey: 11-1. Tampa Bay: 10:1.

43-25-11-3, 100 points

41-24-12-5, 99 points

As predicted, these two clubs battled to the wire for bragging rights in the Pacific. Anaheim went up early, Los Angeles claimed the lead and built it up to nine points during the season, but then hung on as they slumped while Anaheim streaked at the end. Los Angeles was hit fairly hard with injuries late, as Andrew Brunette lost literally the entire season and Peter Sykora, Hal Gill and Pascal Trepanier also went down in the last few weeks. Anaheim seemed to get hot when L.A. was cold and vice-versa, and these two clubs had some barn-burners against one another in the regular season. As I said, the 3-6 matchup is replete with upset potential, and we�ve got it here as well. Los Angeles was paced by Jaromir Jagr (37-38-75), Keith Tkachuk (32-28-60) and Steve Sullivan (20-44-64), with Adam Deadmarsh, Peter Sykora, Mike Sillinger and � a shocker � Andrew Brunette also as threats, as his season-long injury has been magically healed (well, he�s a band aid) by the EA playoff gods. The defense is blue collar but effective, led by Derian Hatcher, Bret Hedican, Ruslan Salei and Hal Gill. Felix Potvin (41-26-11, 2.18, .922) started strong but let in a bit too many softies during the season-ending slump. Anaheim has a big two of Eric Lindros (29-39-68) and Brendan Shanahan (32-24-66), but snipers Miroslav Satan (23-27-50) and Viktor Kozlov (22-29-51) lurk around the perimeter as well, making life miserable on opposing goaltenders. The offense isn�t the strength of this team, statistically � it�s the defense, led by Oleg Tverdovsky, Vtaly Vishnevski and Marek Malik. The Ducks are one of those teams that employ a two-goalie rotation, with erstwhile real-life King backup Jamie Storr (21-13-3, 1.81, .933) slightly superior to erstwhile real-life Avs backup David Aebischer.

Series prediction: There are all sorts of reasons to pick against myself in this series. Anaheim streaked to the finish while L.A. struggled, the 3-6 matchup factor, a few band-aided players on L.A. versus just one on Anaheim and the fact that by doing so I might actually jinx the Ducks. However, the head-to-head battles favored Los Angeles this season and they�ve got the home ice advantage in this series. This one really could go either way, but it�s almost certain to go seven games no matter what. Los Angeles in seven.
Odds in reaching the finals: The same for both teams. They play the same style and have about an equal chance in all regards. Los Angeles: 6-1. Anaheim: 6-1.

46-17-14-5, 111 points

45-25-11-1, 102 points

Two venerable Rokhed powers clash in the first round, one in which things could go either way depending upon goaltending, big plays and key breaks. If it weren�t for the juggernaut Bruins, Montreal would have cruised to the division title on the strength of 111 points. Ditto in the Southeast, as Atlanta�s 102 points were enough to win a couple of other divisions � just not their own where they were lapped by the Caps. This is a matchup of opposing styles, as Montreal relies upon a very stingy defense while Atlanta tends to rely upon its Forsbergian-style offense. Hey, I just created a new word. Montreal has big-time producer Mike Modano (28-39-67) leading the way, along with Markus Naslund (30-30-60). Curiously, Jarome Iginla (18-20-38) didn�t make a huge impact this season, though he was limited to just 58 games. On defense, the names are formidable: Teppo Numminen, Pavel Kubina, Kimmo Timmonen, Darryl Sydor, and Mattias Norstrom, and Tex-Mex Roberto Luongo (35-20-12, 1.76, .926) is a force in net. Atlanta has this guy named Peter Forsberg (41-41-82) hanging around the front of the net, along with Eric Daze (23-40-63) and Dany Heatley (19-26-45). The Thrasher defense features Scott Niedermayer, Jiri Slegr and Denis Gauthier. Oli the goalie (43-26-9, 2.18, .917 supplies playoff savvy in net.

Series prediction: Which wins out, the irresistible force or the immovable object? Montreal�s defense vs. Atlanta�s offense. Conventional wisdom has it that defense wins in the playoffs, although most convention doesn�t account for this big, spleen-less Swedish guy terrorizing opposing goaltenders. Nevertheless, someone�s gotta win this thing and we�ll go with defense over offense. Montreal in six.
Odds in reaching the finals: Montreal: 5-1. Atlanta: 9-1.

45-23-12-2, 104 points

47-29-4-2, 100 points

Now this is a series. Two 100-point clubs, one with more stars than the constellation Orion and the other with more hammers than a Tru-Value hardware store. This one would be fun to watch the elbow-to-head battles between guys like Grand-Pierre and Holik, just to name two. Both teams finished strong and are guided by well-traveled, playoff-seasoned GMs. I think there may be some hitting in this series. Edmonton has a veritable who�s who of names on offense, including Mario Lemieux (32-33-65), Milan Hejduk (28-39-67) and Marian Gaborik (27-28-55). Should we also mention Alexei Zhamnov, Bobby Holik, Scott Gomez and � oh yeah � Pavel Bure? Nah. The defense is similarly loaded with guys like Jay McKee, Janne �spin for a letter, Alex� Niinimaa, Adrian Aucoin, Glen Wesley and Tom Poti. Sean Burke (28-17-3, 1.96, .928) frustrates opposing defenses frequently. Columbus seems able to take just about any second-tier player and score with them, as after Ziggy Palffy (32-36-68) there are a host of relatively similar players in Jan Hrdina (26-29-55), Slava Kozlov (29-31-60), Steve Heinze (23-25-48) � heck, even Tyler Wright had 22 goals. The defense is very blue collar with Dmitri Kalinin, let�s-hyphonate-our-entire-name-Jean-Luc-Grand-Pierre, Murray Bacon and Sylvaine Lefebvre as the top four. Byron Dafoe (41-23-3, 2.18, .924) is the man betwixt the pipes.

Series prediction: I haven�t predicted an upset in the West yet, and there�s still time to do so. Actually, this is making me re-think my prediction of the L.A./Anaheim series, but I�m too lazy to go back and change it. Nevertheless, Edmonton does have just a ton of talent and Gabor, though he gets way more out of that lineup than most GMs, is overmatched in terms of rosters. Connections are always a wild card and Gabor�s pesky hit-everything-that-breathes style could wreak havoc on Joe�s game plan, but for now it looks like an Oilers triumph. Edmonton in six.
Odds in reaching the finals: Edmonton: 5-1. Columbus: 10-1.