The NHL Western Conference playoffs took on further clarity, as the Chicago Blackhawks and Calgary Flames moved on to the second round, joining the Anaheim Ducks. Three of the four positions in the Division Finals are now taken and the fourth could be filled by early evening if the Minnesota Wild can beat the St. Louis Blues in Game 6 (3 PM ET, NBC). Here’s a look at how Chicago and Calgary won their respective first-round series:
One year ago the San Jose Sharks made the Western Conference finals as the #2 seed. This year the Sharks are back in the 2-7 draw in the NHL’s playoff bracket, only in the underdog role. Sitting in the two-hole is the St. Louis Blues, off a great regular season and hoping to deliver their city it’s second professional sports championship in a period of eight months later in June. TheSportsNotebook previews the coming San Jose-St. Louis series…
The Phoenix Coyotes were the survivor of a wild four-team race in the Pacific Division and earned the #3 seed in the Western Conference. The Chicago Blackhawks are seeded 6th. Like their 6-seed counterpart in the East, the New Jersey Devils, Chicago enters this series with a better record than Phoenix and is in the favorite’s role. TheSportsNotebook previews the Chicago-Phoenix series…
The Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators have been on a collision course for the 4-5 spot in the NHL’s Western Conference playoff bracket for several weeks now, and the matchup has now officially materialized. To the casual fan, it looks like one of the game’s great franchises against an unknown who’s never made a splash. But between the boards, it’s a dead-even matchup and Nashville is the team that angled out home-ice advantage by winning 12 of its last 20, while Detroit only won seven in that same timeframe. TheSportsNotebook previews the Red Wings-Predators first-round battle…
The Vancouver Canucks came within one game of winning the Stanley Cup last season. Just as they did in 2011, the Canucks have posted the best overall record in the NHL, been honored with the President’s Trophy and will have home-ice advantage throughout the postseason. Will that translate into a Stanley Cup or will this be another year of angry riots replete with a couple making out in the midst of the chaos? The opponent in the first round will be the 8th-seeded Los Angeles Kings. TheSportsNotebook previews the series…
The Detroit Red Wings are the toast of the NHL with their league record 23-game win streak*. They’ve opened up a cushion in the tough Central Division, holding a five-point lead on St. Louis, while Nashville and Chicago have slipped back into the pack. The Wings are plus-2 points on Vancouver for the top seed in the conference. Will this win streak be just a nice little footnote on the season, or is it the sign that this proud franchise is going to successfully navigate the snakepit that the NHL playoffs often are for favorites? TheSportsNotebook takes a look at the team overall and then at what we can learn from their most important games over the past two months.