Buffalo - Ottawa
Matches will be held on 10, 12, 14, 16 and (if necessary) on May 19, 21, 23.
A wave of violence is ready to sweep the East Coast, get off the coast and wash off all the tactical puzzles that the rivals have prepared. Too well, these teams know one another. Too much blood has been shed and teeth broken in their endless battles. Chained by one chain, they go to the goal and are not going to stand at the price.
In the last two seasons alone, the Buffalo and Ottawa tracks crossed 21 times! And therefore - down with diplomatic decency, drafts barely, and into battle! “We lost a bit to the Islanders.” Lost a couple of Rangers matches. However, in this series, neither I nor my teammates want to lose a duel. We hate the Ottawa, - said recently the forward of “blades” Thomas Vanek.
On February 22, as part of the championship, the rivals stretched their bones, collecting 136 minutes of penalty for two. Socapitan "Buffalo" Chris Drury still remembers the boorish hitting of his namesake Neil, after which he still has a sore head and marks of two dozen seams on his forehead. Ottawa head coach Brian Murray did not forget how his colleague from the opposite camp, Lindy Ruff, issued a brigade of notorious security officials against the strike link of the “senators”. Even the Canadian goalkeeper Ray Emery had to stand up for the team, first calling Martin Biron to the ice ring, and then competing with thoroughbred tough guy Andrew Peters. Nobody is forgotten and nothing is forgotten!
As for the sports results of the championship, here the advantage is on the side of Ottawa. Wards of Brian Murray won in five of eight matches, including three Victoria in their native walls. The implementation of the majority, which the “senators” noted in duels with a competitor in the North-East Division, is also impressive.
Why is Ottawa strong? First of all, the productive game of Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spetsstsa and Dani Heatley. The first three Senators not only found their full complement in the top five playoff scorers, but also scored an impressive 39 points in meetings with Sabers during the regular season. Will the best pair of Buffalo defenders Tony Ludman and Henrik Tallinder cope with them? And on the other hand: will the Canadian "personalists" Anton Volchenkov and Chris Phillips be able to adequately confront Drury, Dainius Zubrus and Jochen Hecht? Buffalo guard Ryan Miller's rating is noticeably higher than his counterpart from Ottawa Ray Emery. However, this is again in theory. In practice, the black goalkeeper has 9 wins in 11 games against the “blades”.
The forecast "Sport today" is 4-2.
Detroit - Anaheim
Matches will be held on 11, 13, 15, 17 and (if necessary) on May 20, 22, 24.
The last time these teams met in the playoffs in the spring of 2003. Then the “ducks” without any problems dared from the road the plenipotentiary of the Stanley Cup and laid the foundation for the end of the great champion dynasty of the City of Motors.
Since then, a lot of water has flowed. Ex-Anaheim coach Mike Babcock is now leading the Michigan club into battle. And his former team did not spare money for the construction of the Double Tower - Chris Pronger joined Scott Niedermeier on the defensive - and is reaping the rich benefits of this cooperation. Pronger solves problems, actively using excellent anthropometric data. Niedermeier Sr. is distinguished by fantastic skating and a grandmaster analysis of situations. For a couple, they scored 16 points on the “goal + pass” system. Given that in each match there are only five to six minutes, when neither one nor the other is visible on the ice, an extremely difficult mission is assigned to the forwards of Detroit.
Last fall, few doubted that the California club, seething with young blood in the attack and led into battle by the experienced Teemu Selanne, would get to the “final four”. At the same time, only the most devoted fans of Detroit believed in the success of their favorites. Without Steve Aizerman. Without Brendan Shenahan. With trying to enter the same river three times Dominic Hasek - too old to win. And Chris Chelios, already a grandfather, old-fashioned refusing to retire.
But the "red wings" did not work out in a steep peak, but, as in the best years, proudly soar in the North American horizon. Even without Matthew Schneider, who broke his left hand, the Michigan put on the shoulder blades of San Jose, another glorious representative of California. Defender Niklas Lidstrom plows for two, practicing almost half an hour of playing time over the evening. Chelios for the series with "sharks" raised the bar from 15 to 26 minutes per game. And this is at the age of 45! The playmaker Pavel Datsyuk forgot about the past cup adversity and, together with Thomas Holmstrom and Henrik Zetterberg, represents a terrible force both in equal compositions and in the majority.
For ten playoff matches Anaheim played in the minority 53 times, and the fact that the ducks conceded just three goals was little consolation for coach Randy Carlisle. It remains to rely on the dizzy round dances around Hasek and hard forechecking, traditional for Californians. And at the same time - on the reliability of the MVP playoffs of 2003 by Jean-Sebastian Giger. Due to the serious illness of his newly born son, the main goalkeeper of Anaheim for some time lost his post to Ilya Bryzgalov. But now Giger is back where he should be. And with the most serious intentions. He misses less than four years ago - only 1.28 goals per game, and reflects more shots - 95.2 percent. What prevents to encroach on another title of the most useful?
Forecast "Sport today" - 3-4.
Vladimir BYCHEK