The Stanley Cup Playoff Preview! Part 1

By Matt Ingram
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Spring is here, the temperature is heating up and so are the Stanley Cup Playoffs! The next two month of dramatic hockey will determine who will skate around the ice with the Cup raised above his head. This is one of the most evenly matched playoffs that I can remember, every team had at least 91 points to end the year. Here is a breakdown of the 16 teams who have earned the chance to bring home a championship.


Western Conference


#1 Seed - San Jose Sharks
The Sharks amassed the most points in the NHL (117) during the regular season claiming home ice advantage throughout the playoffs. Led by their two offensive stars, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, can San Jose finally break through the past years of playoff disappointment? With that in mind GM Doug Wilson brought in three former Cup-winning defensemen to sure up the blue line; Dan Boyle, Rob Blake and Brad Lukowich. Goalie Evgeni Nabokov will have to drastically improve his sub-par 30-27 lifetime postseason record to help his team to a cup.

#2 Seed - Detroit Red Wings
Detroit, Central (Norris) Division champs, were the last team to win back-to-back Cups, 1997 and 1998, will be trying to duplicate that feat. The remarkable thing is five of the players who competed for both of those '97 and '98 championship teams are on the Red Wings' active roster in 2009 (Kris Draper, Tomas Holmstrom, Nicklas Lidstrom, Kirk Maltby and Chris Osgood). Detroit kept its nucleus together from the 2008 Cup team and didn't make any big acquisitions in the off-season. Goaltending will be an issue, Chris Osgood and Ty Conklin split time during the season. In the playoffs, a team needs stability in net, so who will it be Osgood or Conklin? I'd go with the experienced Osgood.

#3 Seed - Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks beat out the Flames for the Northwest Division Title. The Sedin boys led the way each accumulating 82 points, what do you expect from a set of twins. The key for them to win is defense, they have big blue liners and a great goalie in Robert Luongo that's a recipe for a nice playoff run.

#4 Seed - Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks are led by 3 former 1st round picks; Martin Havlat, Patrick Kane, and Jonathan Toews. Their defense in decent backed by Brian Campbell and Brian Keith. Nikolai Khabibulin, goalie, had one great posteseason with the Lightning winning a Stanley Cup. This year he's been splitting time with Cristobal Huet, another journeyman goalie. The Blackhawks will need to score five goals a game in hopes of getting past the first round. They're in luck, they'll be playing the Flames!

#5 Seed - Calgary Flames
The Flames have 2 great players in Jarome Iginla and Mike Cammalleri, and nobody else worth mentioning. Their goalie, Mikka Kiprusoff had one great run in the playoffs 5 years ago and has done nothing since.

#6 Seed - St. Louis Blues
The Blues are a young gritty team with hopes of an upset over the Canucks in the opening round. They probably should have traded away Keith Tkachuk at the trade deadline to better themselves for the future. Besides Tkachuk, their top 5 players, led by former Bruin, Brad Boyes, are 26 years old and younger. Look for St. Louis to be deep in the playoff a year from now, if they can acquire or develop a goalie.

#7 Seed - Columbus Blue Jackets
This the 1st playoff appearance for the Blue Jackets since they came into the league in 2000. The only way they can stay in the playoffs longer than one series is if their rookie goalie, 20 year old Steve Mason, continues the phenomenal run he's had this season. Mason's my pick for rookie of the year. In 61 games this season he has a 2.29 goals against average and a .916 save percentage. I see Mason shocking the Red Wings.

#8 Seed - Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks have the hardest task of all the teams in the Playoffs, going up against the top ranked Sharks. Anaheim has the talent to actually compete with San Jose but the roster isn't set right. Their talent is very young and very old with nobody decent in their prime. Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, and Bobby Ryan all future stars are 23 or younger. Scott and Rob Niedermayer, Teemu Selanne, and Chris Pronger all 34 or older. Not a good mix .


Eastern Conference preview coming soon...