By Eric Pytel
This would be the best thing to happen to the NHL in a long time – a recognizable star leading his team to a championship – one that we’d be reflecting on rather than waiting to start. The season, like many of the players’ names, is too long. Hello, it’s almost time for All-Star ballots!
Nonetheless, the Beachwood offers the following Stanley Cup Preview for your viewing enjoyment.
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Team: Ottawa Senators.
Conference: Eastern (formerly the Wales).
How They Got Here: Playing the best hockey of any playoff team. The Senators stunned the hockey world by knocking out Cup favorites Buffalo in five games.
Key Weapons: Their first line. Dany Heatley leads all playoff scorers with 21 points. Linemates Jason Spezza (20 points) and Daniel Alfredsson (17 points, including 10 goals) are close behind.
Goalie: Ray Emery has benefitted from solid play in front of him, but he’s more than held his own when needed most.
Fun Fact: This would be the first Stanley Cup championship in the modern history of the franchise.
Ex-Hawk Factor:1.5. Dean McAmmond and Tom Preissing, who briefly was a Hawk as part of a big (i.e., Martin Havlat-Mark Bell) three-way trade last off-season.
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Vs.
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Team: Anaheim Ducks (formerly the Mighty Ducks).
Conference: Western (formerly the Campbell).
How They Got Here: They’ve managed to play gritty hockey when it counted most. They kept their poise in a pressure cooker Game 5 on the road in Detroit, and tied a 1-0 game late in the third period with their goalie pulled. In OT, Teemu “the Finnish Flash” Selanne capitalized on a Detroit giveaway of epic proportions and made Dominik Hasek look silly with a slick wrist shot for the game-winner.
Key Weapons: Speedy center Andy McDonald and a deep set of forwards, including Selanne, Dustin Penner, Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, and Chris Kunitz (who is out with a broken hand). On the backend, Chris Pronger leads the team in playoff scoring with 14 points. Captain Scott Niedermayer has 9 points, but more importantly 2 overtime game-winning goals.
Goalie: J.S. Giguere will look to continue his solid run in the playoffs and continue his case for a second Conn Smythe trophy. Giguere has been awfully tough in OT games.
Fun Fact: Arrowhead Pond is now called the Honda Center.
Ex-Hawk Factor: 3. Kent Huskins, Travis Moen, and Shawn Thornton. (Four if you include Senior VP of Hockey Operations Bob Murray.)
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The Match-Up: These teams are pretty evenly matched. Both won 48 games in the regular season. The Ducks notched 110 points to the Senators’ 105. Going into the final round, the Senators have lost three playoff games; the Ducks four.
Keys: Nearly half the goals Ottawa has netted in the playoffs have come from their first line. In order to shut Ottawa down the Ducks must quiet that first line. This is where underrated checking center and defensive stalwart extraordinare, Samuel Palhsson, must prove he can get the job done where others, in prior rounds, have failed. Ottawa is solid on their blueline, and where they lack the big name talent the Ducks possess in Niedermayer/Pronger, they make up for in depth with Wade Redden, Chris Phillips, Tom Preissing, Joe Corvo, and Anton Volchenkov. The series could turn on the ever precarious awkward bounce of the puck or bad giveaway, but it’s an even bet that this will be a seven-game tilt, where Anaheim has the home ice advantage in its favor.
Prediction: Anaheim will defy the Ex-Hawk Factor on the strength of its blueline and Giguere shutting down Ottawa’s top line. If the Ducks can accomplish that formidable task, they will have the advantage of a deeper and more balanced team. And then they can start calling themselves Mighty again.
Posted on May 28, 2007