2011 Stanley Cup Finals

The Boston Bruins play the Vancouver Canucks for the Stanley Cup!

I did not expect the Canucks to make the finals, but Roberto Luongo finally started to play some good games in goal, and here they are. In my Stanley Cup preview, I thought that either the Bruins or the Lightning would be the Eastern Conference's representatives, so I got that right.

The schedule starts off kind of odd this year. Game 1 is on Wednesday, June 1 and Game two is not until Saturday. Those games are in Vancouver. I don't understand the extra day off, but it is probably to keep NBC happy. The teams then fly to Boston for Games 3 and 4. The series will settle down to the normal "every other day" schedule that makes the NHL playoffs much more watchable than the NBA playoffs. All games start at 8pm eastern, even those in Vancouver.

If the series goes to six or seven games, I will be on the road and will acutally be on a flight back to Detroit during Game 7. If it comes to that, I will have to figure out some way to watch the game from the plane.

I expect a close series. There is really not too much that separates the two teams. Vancouver has more offensive weapons. The defenses are pretty even. I give the Bruins the edge on goal, simply because I trust Tim Thomas more than I trust Roberto Luongo in goal.

I am looking forward to another fine series!

2011 Stanley Cup Preview

I have been a hockey fan for as long as I can remember. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are my favorite time of the year.

Each year, I look at the playoff teams and see which are cup contenders, and which have little or no chance to sip from the cup. The bottom line is that goaltending and depth win cups. One line teams that have suspect goaltending make early playoff exits.

Let’s look at the conferences starting with the East.

The Capitals are the #1 seed from the East. They have played better defensively this year, but I do not expect their goaltending to hold up. I don’t see them winning the cup.

The Flyers will go as far as their goaltending and Chris Pronger will take them. They are stumbling in to the playoffs. I don’t see them winning the cup.

The Bruins are as complete a team as there is in the East. Tim Thomas has had a remarkable regular season, and I expect him to keep it up in the playoffs. The Bruins could make a long playoff run.

The Penguins have played better than anyone expected them to. I know that Gary Bettman would love to see the Penguins make a long playoff run, but this team is not deep enough and does not have the goaltending to play for the cup.

The Lightning have played better than any of us expected. Roloson has proven playoff experience. The Lightning could make a long playoff run.

The Canadians are not a deep team. They will go as far as Cary Price carries them, but I don’t expect that to be very far.

The Sabres will not last long. Ryan Miller could stand on his head, but I don’t expect him to carry them very far.

The Rangers could win one round, if Lundquist stands on his head, but I also do not expect him to be able to take this team to the cup finals.

So, I think that either the Bruins or the Lightning will come out of the East. At this point, I think that the Bruins are more likely to do so.

Let’s look at the Western Conference.

The Canucks still have not proven that they can win in the playoffs. They have had a wonderful regular season, but, that is no guarantee of playoff success. I do not expect the Canucks to play for the cup.

The San Jose Sharks are in the same boat as the Canucks. They have better goaltending than they have had in previous years, but I do not see it being good enough to carry them to the cup.

The Red Wings have not played well enough defensively to play for the cup. They are stumbling their way into the playoffs. There is some feeling that they will magically “turn it on” for the playoffs, but I don’t see how they can end all of the bad habits that they have shown over the last month. I don’t see them making it out of the first round. That will depend on the matchup. I do not expect them to play for the cup.

The Ducks will go as far as Hiller can carry them. They might go a round or two, but I do not expect them to play for the cup.

The Predators are a team that could make a long playoff run. They have great goaltending and are a balanced team.

The Coyotes may make it out of the first round. They took the Red Wings to a seventh game in their series last year, and this Red Wings team is not as good as last year. I don’t see the Coyotes being deep enough and having the goaltending to play for the cup.

The Kings might win the first round, but I don’t expect them to play for the cup.

The Blackhawks could upset the Canucks in their first round matchup, but I don’t see the Hawks going much farther.

I’m not sold on any team from the west this year. The Predators could be the sleeper team from the west to play for the cup. The Canucks and the Sharks have yet to prove that they can win in the playoffs.

Red Wings Playoff Prospects

The Red Wings lost another home game last night. Badly.

They lost to the St. Louis Blues. The final score was 10-3. I saw some of the first period. I played hockey last night, so I missed most of the debacle.

This team is not very good. They remind me of the teams from several years ago that won a lot of regular season games, but suffered early playoff exits.

Their defense is horrible, and the goaltending is questionable. That's not the sort of team that does well in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

They seem to think that they will wake up one day in the playoffs and will magically be able to "switch on" and eliminate all of their bad habits and tendencies and have a long run in the playoffs. I fear that they will run into a team that is playing well, has been playing "playoff hockey" for the last month or so just to make the playoffs, has a hot goaltender, and the Wings will lose in five or six games.

Time will tell.