NHL Round 2 Preview: Western Conference Preview

By Kim Dunning

The Western Conference Semi-Finals begin on Wednesday Night. Four teams that vaulted their way into the series all in different ways.

Two teams swept their first round opponents. The other two pulled what some experts believe to be major upsets.

So without further ado, here is the Western Conference Round 2 Preview.

Western Conference

Blues vs Predators

The St. Louis Blues defeated the Minnesota Wild to seal their second round bid. Goal tender Jake Allan was on fire during the series.

The Nashville Predators pulled off the sweep of the favorite Chicago Blackhawks. They Predators held Chicago to three goals in four games.

Goaltending is definitely going to be the way of this series. Both Allan and Predators goalie, Pekka Rinne was lights out against the Hawks. The Hawks have a high powered offense.

This series will be low scoring and full of defensive battles. Actually, it will be a typical Western Conference playoff game. Expect lots of hitting, little scoring and goaltending to boot.

Should both these goaltenders play the way they did in Round 1, this will be a defensive battle. The nod should go to the Preds as they did knock off the favorite.

Ducks vs Oilers

The Aniheim Ducks swept the Calgary Flames to advance to the second round. The Oilers defeated the defending Western Conference Champion, San Jose Sharks, to advance.

Edmonton has a young but good team. They also have this kid named Conor McDavid who is something special. If you don’t watch this series for anything else watch it for him and admire the youth movement in the NHL.

The Ducks have experience and have been resting for longer than the Oilers. Sometimes rest can be bad for a team, but for the Ducks it gives their star player Cam Fowler time to heal.

If Edmonton can come out and play the Ducks like they did the Sharks, this could be a 7-game series. Otherwise, look for the Ducks to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

Playoff hockey is the best time of year. If you aren’t watching you should be! Anything can happen, as we saw in the first round. Enjoy the second round and good luck to your club.

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NHL Round One Breakdown

By Kim Dunning

The National Hockey League finished up the regular season on Sunday.  There are 16 teams that are vying for the most coveted professional sports trophy: the Stanley Cup.

The fun thing about the NHL playoffs is that no matter who gets into the playoffs, you can pretty much guarantee, the winner of the Stanley Cup is usually the least likely suspect, unless it is the Chicago Blackhawks.

Last year, no Canadian team made it into the playoffs.  This is only the second time that has happened.  This year, all Canadian teams except two made it in.  These young Canadian teams are dangerous now but with the young talent they have, they will become even more dangerous as the years continue.

The first round starts on Wednesday night and airs on NBCSN and USA networks.   Let’s take a look at the teams who have made the playoffs, this year.

The Eastern Conference

The Eastern Conference boasted one of the most dominate divisions this year in the Metropolitan Division.  Four teams in the Metro had over 100 points.  Sadly, because of a flawed playoff system, at least one 100+ point’s team will have a first round exit.

The Washington Capitals once again took the President’s Trophy for having the most points in the NHL, they had this last year and were considered the favorite for the Stanley Cup.  This year, the Capitals will square off on Thursday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs.  The Leafs are very lucky to have a playoff berth this year.  They clinched the final playoff spot with 1 game left to go in the season.  While most feel that the Caps will dominate the Leafs, there is a chance that these young kids like Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner will step up big and pull an upset.  The thing about Toronto is they are a very young and unpredictable team.  If the Leafs pull an upset, it will be nothing unusual for Washington to have an early post-season exit after a dominating regular season.

One of the more intriguing matchups of the first round is the Pittsburgh Penguins versus the Columbus Blue Jackets.  The Pens finished second, slightly ahead of the Jackets.  The Penguins are also the defending Stanley Cup Champions looking for a repeat for the first time since Detroit did it back in 1997/1998.  The Jackets are a very physical young team with a veteran coach in John Tortorella.   The Penguins are based upon speed, power plays and offense.  They have a young net minder in Matt Murray who has struggled at times during the playoffs.   This series could go either way.  Pittsburgh may have a slight edge with having home ice advantage, but Columbus isn’t a team to be taken lightly.  Columbus has playoff inexperience and Pittsburgh is the veteran team coming into this.  This game could quite possibly go to 7-games.

The fourth and final Metropolitan team to start their first round is the New York Rangers.  The Rangers surprisingly have struggled at home and have become the “road warriors” of the NHL playoffs.  They will face the Atlantic Division winners, Montreal Canadians.   This match-up has two great goaltenders in Cary Price (for Montreal) and Henrik Lundqvist (for New York).  Both goalies can step it up and carry their team if need be.  The Canadians made a mid-season coaching change and that seems to have complimented their team more.  The Rangers have been bit in key positions with injuries.  Montreal can be hot and cold and with them having home ice, the nudge should go to the Rangers in this series.

The final Eastern conference matchup features the Boston Bruins and the Ottawa Senators.  The Bruins are back in the playoffs after a brief hiatus and the Senators are the home ice favorites in this one.  The Bruins have the talent to keep up with Ottawa and it wouldn’t be surprising to see them take the series in less than 7-games.   The Senators swept the Bruins in the regular season, but the Bruins have talented veterans in David Backes, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand that can step it up when the playoffs call for.  This matchup seems kind of on the drab side, however this could be more exciting than the average hockey fan imagines.

The Western Conference

While the Western Conference during the regular season seemed to just coast along, there is a bigger difference than the Eastern Conference.  The Western conference did not have as many ties as the top teams in the East did.  The Western Conference road to the Stanley Cup is never boring nor is it ever disappointing.

The Chicago Blackhawks won the Central division and will play the Nashville Predators.  Every NHL fan that isn’t a Blackhawks fan wants this upset.  Chicago is a team that will coast through the regular season and turn it on hot when it comes to the post season.  With Chicago getting bounced out in the first round last year, they will be looking for redemption on their way to the Cup that you can almost feel sorry for the Preds.  The Predators aren’t a push-over team but they’ve been hot and cold all regular season.  They are also looking to get further after their second round out courtesy of the San Jose Sharks.

The Minnesota Wild will start their first round quest against the St. Louis Blues.  The Blues were the team that everyone thought would go to the Stanley Cup final last year after they knocked off Chicago.  Both the Blues and Wild are looking to advance further than last year.  The history between Minnesota teams and the Blues is still ingrained in the minds of the Wild and Blue fans and these teams do not like each other.  Minnesota boast one of the top defenses in the league and the Blues came on strong after their fired their head coach.  Mike Yeo, the interim coach for the Blues, has ties to Minnesota as well.  So this series isn’t just for the advancement but maybe for bragging rights.  Minnesota should be able to handle the Blues but this is one of those series you shouldn’t bet money on.

The Pacific Division winner Anaheim Ducks will face the Calgary Flames.  When these two teams met in their regular season finale, fireworks were everywhere.   Flames defenseman Mark Giodano’s knee-on-knee hit sidelined the Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler.  This may have a carry-over into the playoffs as each team will be running high on emotions.  The Flames have a younger group of guys that their veteran goaltender in Brian Elliott may have to pick up the slack for a game or two.  They also have the very dangerous rookie, Johnny Gaudreau, that when he gets the puck you never know what’s going to happen.   The Flames have struggled at the Honda Center, so with the Ducks having home ice advantage in this could spell a one and done for the Flames.

The final first round match-up is the defending Western Conference Champion, San Jose Sharks against the very young Edmonton Oilers.   This series is a must watch because Conor McDavid is really that exciting.  McDavid at only 20-years old won the Art Ross Trophy (for most points by a player in the entire NHL).  This series is the young versus the old.  San Jose is stacked with veterans who are hungry to go back and win the Cup that the Penguins stopped them from winning last year.  Edmonton is looking to get back to the “glory days” when Wayne Gretzky played for them and took them too many championships.   During the season, the Oilers owned the Sharks 3-1-1, and this again does not translate to the playoffs.  The Sharks are not only older but they have a few key injuries in Joe Thorton and Logan Couture.  This series may go to six or seven games but with the health and age of the Sharks, Edmonton could move on to the second round and once again have a very young, unpredictable team to watch.

The NHL playoffs are set for the first round.  This is the most exciting time in the NHL as they are presented on the bigger stage with NBC and their affiliates covering the entire playoffs.  Hockey playoffs are always non-stop action and so much can and will happen.  Happy Playoff Hockey and Good luck if your team happens to be one of the 16.

Why Blues? Why?

 

As a die-hard Blues fan July 1^st was a rough day for me and many other Blues fans. July 1^st started free agency in the NHL. The Blues already traded Brian Elliott to the Flames. Him complaining about sharing time with Jake Allen might have played a part in that trade. There were key players that the Blues needed to keep making another playoff run.

Their two top veteran players Backes and Brouwer were both free agents. Both of them played a big role in Blues success in the playoffs. Backes hit the game winning goal against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 7. We needed one of them if not both of them back. Well, that didn’t happen Backes signed a five-year, $30 million contract with Boston. Then Brouwer signed a four-year, $18 million contract with Calgary. The Blues also lost Steve Ott, which he signed a one-year deal with Detroit. I am trying to understand the Blues way of thinking on this, letting both of them go. Is it because both of them are in their 30’s? Or are they just being cheap?

 “We’re different,” Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. “I think time will tell. I think you look at it as windows. What we’ve always talked about is as one window closes, we want to have this window propped up. I think with (Vladimir) Tarasenko and (Jaden) Schwartz and (Robby) Fabbri and (Colton) Parayko and (Alex Pietrangelo), we have a lot of good younger players and it was time to move in that direction. We’re a younger team. We’re a different team and we’re going to be putting a lot of responsibility on the younger players. The leadership is changing and now it’s going to be interesting to see how these younger guys evolve into leaders.” These moves either will make Doug Armstrong look amazing at the end of the year or a complete idiot. Well will see in the next hockey season.

On a positive side, they resign Allen to a four-year extension. They also brought back David Perron to the team. He signed a two-year $7.5 contact. As well they signed a backup to Allen yesterday as well. They brought in Carter Hutton, who signed a two-year contract.

As a fan I am not mad at Backes or Brouwer. It’s a business they went where the money was. I am just sad that they left. I wanted them around for many more years. I loved watching them on the ice. Backes did tweet out an heart felt message to the Blues fans yesterday .

 

Thank you Backes , Brouwer and Elliott for everything you all have done with the Blues.

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It Was a Good Run.

By LaDonna Williams

May 25, 2016

It’s game 6 of the western conference finals. The Blues are playing the Sharks in San Jose. When the Blues they came out it seemed like things have changed for them they had Upshall back from injury and Elliott was named starter for game 6. This game was win or go home for the Blues. The Sharks Pavelski scored in the first, and Ward scored twice during the game. Donskoi scored the fourth goal for the Sharks. Wingels for the Sharks scored on the fifth goal.

The Blues almost seemed like they caught momentum in the second period but still didn’t score. The man who has been missing for the Blues for the past five games Tarasenko decided to finally show up in the third period and score two goals. The Blues defense died a good chunk of this series and today’s game was no different. Poor Elliott is trying his best to stop all the goals but he needs help. We played great defense against Chicago and Dallas, it must have stayed there in Dallas because this was sad. The Blues didn’t play up to their full potential they could play. This series showed some of the Blues weaknesses and this needs to be fixed next season. The Blues have a record for the most NHL playoff appearances but no trophies to show for it.

Congrats to the San Jose Sharks for their victory and good luck in the finals but, most of all thank you Blues for the great season.

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Blues vs Sharks Game 4 Recap

Blues vs Sharks Game 4 Recap

 

May 21, 2016

The Blues faceoff with the Sharks in San Jose for game 4 of the Western Conference finals. The first biggest change in the Blues lineup was that Elliott didn’t start at the goalie position. Instead they had Jake Allen starting at goalie. The Blues also changed their style of play. Everything seemed to pay off since they did score finally in the first period. This was the first score since game 1. The Blues set the tempo every early in this game and kept it under their control. Jori Lehtera and Brouwer both were able to score in the first period.

In the second period the momentum was still with the Blues.  Kyle Brodziak scored was able to twice in the second period. By the end of the second period the Blues were up 4-0. Sharks goalie Martin Jones who just had back to back shutouts against the Blues was pulled in the second period after the fourth goal was scored. James Reimer came in to replace him.

The Sharks were able to get some momentum back in the third period. They were able to score three shots against the Blues. They even out shot the Blues 16-5 in the third period but it wasn’t enough to win. Blues Brouwer and Pietrangelo both were able to score in the third period. The Blues win game 4, 6-3.  Tying the series up 2-2. Game 5 will be Monday in St. Louis at 7:00 pm central.

We Can’t Score!

By LaDonna Williams

​It’s game 3 of the western conference, it’s the San Jose Sharks vs St. Louis Blues in San Jose. Before game 3 started Coach Ken Hitchcock made some lineup changes. He felt that the Blues needed more speed and size. In the first period it looked like the changes were helping. The Blues came attacking the puck, they had control of the puck majority of the time. Well that was until they had ONE turnover and Sharks Hertl scores 1-0.

As a Blues fan I am starting to get worried because the Blues haven’t score since game 1 in St. Louis. They had to step their game up. The biggest thing that hurt the Blues was turnovers. The Blues would look good but then would the puck over. With that being said the Sharks scored again by Donskoi making the score 2-0.
​Did I mention turnovers? I think I did but again this hurt the Blues so badly. The Blues coach yanked Elliott from the game in the third and they put in Jake Allen in. Why? Elliott could only do so much back there. How many times in this series is he going to look great but the offense decided to go to sleep? The Blues looked very sluggish and tired. The Blues have to change everything for game four or we will be done. This was by far the worst game the Blues have played in the post season.

Sharks goalie Jones with 22 saves and a shutout. Blues Elliott saved 11 out of 14 goals. One positive there were less penalties on the Blues than past game. Sharks beat the Blues with a score 3-0. The next game will be Saturday in San Jose.

 

 

 

Game 2: Blues and Sharks Recap

By LaDonna Williams

Before I got into my rant I first would like to say congratulations to St. Louis Blues Tarasenko and his wife for their new baby that was born today. That news right there is the only good news I can provide in this blog.

It’s game 2 of the conference finals, the sharks are looking for a win after losing game 1. When the sharks lose game 1, their record for winning game two was 3-1. The sharks came out with a different game plan than they did on Sunday night. They came out looking like the Blues did on game one. It was almost like the Blues were playing themselves. Within the first two-minutes of the first period Sharks Wingels scored making the score 1-0.  The Blues had a power play but didn’t take advantage of the situation.

In the second period Blues fans are keeping the hope alive after only being down by one point. The second period was about defense from both teams. Until Sharks Burns scored on a power play making in 2-0. The Blues only attempted six shots but the Sharks attempted nine. The Sharks played so aggressive and forced so many turnovers by the Blues. The Blues looked like they couldn’t hit an open net if they had that opportunity given to them.

Finally, period three the crowd at this point has been quiet ever since the Sharks hit their second goal. Again the Blues caused another penalty and the Sharks were in the power play. I stated this in my other blog the Sharks have scored majority of their points while they were in power play situations. Well guess what, that power play wasn’t any different Sharks Burns scored his second goal for the evening. The Sharks looked great on offense and defense. The Blues need to regroup and figure out a new game plan. I am not discouraged because the Blues actually play better hockey when they are playing away.

In the conclusion, defense wins games. Sharks goalie Martin Jones had a shutout 26 saves evening. While Elliot saved 20 out of 23 goals. The Blues went 0% on power play attempts. The Sharks ended up winning 4-0. On Thursday they will be in San Jose playing game 3.

Blue and Stars ReCap

By LaDonna Williams

The heat was on for the Blues in game seven versus the Dallas Stars in Dallas.  The first thing that should be addressed is that Brian Elliott did start for Wednesday night’s game. “Elliott is 4-4-0 with a 2.14 GAA and .927 save percentage in his eight games against the Stars this season, including the playoffs, so Blues coach Ken Hitchcock has no reservations about starting him in Game 7.” We did see the Stars had a game plan against Elliott. Yes, they did their homework. That wasn’t to be a factor in game seven. What made the Blues lose game six? Well they decided not to show up until the second period, by that time the Stars had already scored all three of their points in the first.

In the first period of game seven, the Blues came out very aggressive, along with Elliott playing awesome defense. The Stars had three opportunities to score and they didn’t. The Stars had a power play but didn’t take advantage of the situation. However, the Blues did that, this is how we had a score of 1-0 by Fabbri. The Blues were able to score again but they were off sides. It didn’t matter Stastny and Berglund scored back to back goals. Besides the score, the stats for both teams were very similar. At the end of the first period 3-0 Blues. By the way the Blues are 4-2 when they have scored more than three goals in a game.

It was not a surprised that the Stars pulled their goalie and switched to Niemi at the beginning of the second period. Backes, the captain, scored his sixth goal in the playoffs. With 3:50 left in the second period Brouwer hit another goal for the Blues (5-0). The Blues defense stepped up again in the second period. I have no clue what Elliott is made of but he is the man. He stopped some unbelievable shots. I am still trying to figure out how he did it.

Finally, in the third period the Stars Eaves finally scored one making it 5-1. With 4:40 to go Tarasenko scored his seventh goal of the NHL playoffs making the score 6-1. The Stars had 32 shot attempts to the Blues 19, and Elliott was able to block all of them but one. The Stars didn’t play with the desperation; I thought they would have in the third period. The dominance of the Blues showed up in so many ways. Blues were able to hold off the Stars by winning 6-1.

Last time the Blues made it to the conference final was in 2001 versus Colorado. Unfortunately, they lost that series that year. They are still searching for their first Stanley Cup trophy. The Blues will have home-ice advantage in the next series. Will it be a different outcome this year? We shall see after tomorrow night’s game in which they play.