NHL on TSN host James Duthie discussed the four second-round playoff matchups with Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie during Molson That's Hockey on Wednesday. Here are McKenzie's thoughts about the Conference Semifinals.
(3) VANCOUVER - (4) CHICAGO
Duthie: This is already a pretty good rivalry, there's a lot of nastiness on both sides. Will it come down to who is "best in pests"?
McKenzie: I don't think there's any question about that. I think there's going to be a short fuse in this series, and it's not going to take very much to get it lit. That's because the "I.Q." quotient is so high - that is, the "irritant" quotient. When you look at the fourth line of the Blackhawks, Ben Eager, Troy Brouwer, and Adam Burish, they really did a good job of unsettling things with the Calgary Flames on and off the ice. Burish was a strong factor out there agitating, and he also had a lot to say both on and off the ice...and the Calgary Flames and their fans came to know and "love" him very much, and I'm sure the Vancouver Canucks will feel the same way. There is no shortage of guys on the Canucks who will say "bring that kind of game on, come to papa,” whether it's Alexandre Burrows, Ryan Kesler, Steve Bernier, Kevin Bieksa - the Canucks have a whole bunch of guys who like to play "in your face", with the extra jab, the extra comment, and I think this series will be off the scale for all that nastiness.
Another key factor in this series: how are the Sedins going to respond in the second level of the playoffs? They played tremendously in the first round, and if they can continue that, it will be interesting to see. You've got to imagine that Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook are going to match-up every chance they can against the Sedins. The Sedins play a real cycling game through with possession, and it will be their job to try and wear down Keith and Seabrook, who logged big minutes against the best players on the Flames.
(2) DETROIT - (8) ANAHEIM
Duthie: What's the key for the Ducks against the defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings?
McKenzie: In a word, discipline - it always is with the Ducks. I don't know how many times Randy Carlyle gets frustrated with his team taking penalties, but they do take them. And against the Red Wings, the power play that was firing on all cylinders in the series against Columbus - that could well be the showdown for this series. There's no question that the Ducks are a physical hockey team. They like to play it on the edge, play it extreme, and make sure your goaltender and your penalty killing bail you out...and if you commit fouls all over the place, that's okay because you've got good penalty killing and you've got good goaltending. But the Detroit Red Wings' power play is something special. Remember too, Anaheim actually won the special teams battle two years ago when they won this series. Scott Niedermayer ended up scoring the decisive goal in Game 6 when Anaheim was on the power play.
Duthie: How do you size up the battle between Anaheim's good defencemen and Detroit's deep forward lines?
McKenzie: The Ducks may actually be deeper on defence now than they were in the year that they won the Cup. You've got Pronger, Niedermayer and Beauchemin playing at the level they've been playing at - which is equal to what they did a couple of years ago - but now you add in Ryan Whitney and James Wisniewski. Wisniewski is the sleeper guy here. He quarterbacks the power play at times and logs a lot of minutes. Those two extra guys give them a different dimension on the back end that they didn't have maybe have two years ago, and they were pretty special then.
(2) WASHINGTON - (4) PITTSBURGH
Duthie: Everyone is talking about Crosby vs. Ovechkin, but I'm not even sure that's the greatest individual rivalry in this series...you can run through a few of them, can't you?
McKenzie: You've got Sidney Crosby - proclaimed a couple of years ago as the best player in the game, against the "new" best player in the game, Alexander Ovechkin, so that's pretty good. You've got Evgeni Malkin, who some people think is the most underrated best player in the game, against Ovechkin, the best player in the game. And then you've got Alexander Semin, the darkhorse who makes disparaging remarks and says "Crosby's nothing special.”
So go down the marquee and all those are terrific, but push them all aside because I expect all four of those players to light it up and be terrific. But the difference-makers in this series are going to be a couple of guys who didn't have the best first round. For the Penguins it's Jordan Staal, who only had one assist and was minus-1, and if Pittsburgh is going to be a force, they need more than Malkin's line, more than Crosby's line - they've got to get Staal going. On the flip side of that for the Capitals, Mike Green has got to play much better than he did in the first round against the Rangers. I understand that he was sick for a good part of that, but he didn't look dynamic or special, and he's going to have to be a difference-maker if Washington is going to win this series.
Duthie: How do you rate the head coaches in this series?
McKenzie: I like this coaching match-up. They're a couple of unlikely guys. Danny Bylsma looks like the professor out there, and Bruce Boudreau looks like your favourite uncle who comes to Thanksgiving. Terrific for a couple of guys who did most of their work in the minor leagues to get on to the big stage.
(1) BOSTON - (6) CAROLINA
Duthie: The "Cardiac Canes" appear to have their work cut out for them. Boston was the best team in the East during the season, they dominated and swept the Canadiens, and they dominated the Hurricanes themselves in the regular season. So it appears all Bruins, right?
McKenzie: On paper it looks like a mismatch, and I don't know that we can call these the "Big Bad Bruins", but my goodness, they were pretty big and pretty bad over the course of the season. They're four lines deep, they can bring the physical game, Milan Lucic can stomp on you if he so desires, they have a potential Vezina Trophy winner in Tim Thomas, they have a potential Norris Trophy winner in Zdeno Chara. In terms of individual match-ups, you look at Chara up against Eric Staal, the big man for the Hurricanes. Staal is going to need a lot of help around him, because when you get that one-on-one matchup against the most dominant, punishing, physical defenceman in the NHL in Chara, it can be a tough way to go.
But you know what? The "Cardiac Canes" have got a little mojo, they really do. I don't know that Jussi Jokinen ever figured to be a playoff hero, but he is. The Hurricanes have a way of deceiving you - just ask the New Jersey Devils.
Duthie: What's your impression of the head coaches in this series?
McKenzie: These two guys have been booted around pretty well in the NHL: Claude Julien, fired by the Canadiens, unceremoniously dismissed by the Devils, and now he's with the Bruins. And as for Paul Maurice, we didn't even think he would be back coaching in the NHL this season, and he gets "part deux" with the Hurricanes and he's in the second round so good for him.