NHL Western Conference Playoffs Predictions: '09 Style

Second batch. YOU PSYCHED???

WESTERN CONFERENCE
#1 San Jose Sharks vs. #8 Anaheim Ducks

The Ducks barely snuck in, but that doesn't mean this will be easy for the Sharks. Anaheim is a big, physical team, and if they can get steady goaltending from either Jonas Hiller or Jean-Sebastien Giguere, they just might have a chance.

My wording there is important. The Sharks were the league's best team in the regular season, and have stars at nearly every position, whether its center Joe Thornton, defenseman Dan Boyle, or goalie Evgeni Nabokov. However, for the past few years, they have failed epically in the playoffs. Fortunately for them, this year looks to be different. New coach Todd McLellan seems like he's the right guy to help them make a deep run: the team was a machine right out of the gate, and the addition of several cup winners such as Rob Blake and Claude Lemieux bodes well. Sharks in 6.

#2 Detroit Red Wings vs. #7 Columbus Blue Jackets

Columbus's first trip to the playoffs, and they draw the league's defending champions. One step at a time, I guess. Still, Rick Nash leads an offensive group low on firepower against Detroit's absurdly deep offense (Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom, Marian Hossa, Johan Franzen, Jiri Hudler, and more) backed by some quality offensive defensemen (Nicklas Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski, Niklas Kronwall).

If you want to hand Columbus an advantage, look between the posts. Chris Osgood will probably lose his starting job to backup Ty Conklin if he falters early, just as Osgood replaced starter Dominic Hasek in the playoffs last year. Meanwhile, Columbus has young goaltender Steve Mason, arguably the biggest reason they made it past 82 games this year. If anything sticks out, though, it's the 10 shutouts: he'll likely have to steal a game or two for Columbus. Detroit in 5.

#3 Vancouver Canucks vs. #6 St. Louis Blues

Let me preface this by saying that the fact that the Blues even made it here is a massive achievement. Nobody expected them to make the playoffs. Then, players like Paul Kariya, Andy McDonald, Erik Johnson, and Eric Brewer go down with injuries. Young guns T.J. Oshie, Patrik Berglund, and David Perron took control of the offense, and Chris Mason made everybody forget about Manny Legace. Some legacy, huh? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

While Mats Sundin's numbers may seem sub-par, he's drawn plenty of attention from other teams, making more room players like Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Alex Burrows, and Ryan Kesler to work their magic. The awesome Willie Mitchell leads an experienced group of defenseman, and Roberto Luongo seems fully recovered from his injury and ready to go. Canucks in 5.

#4 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #5 Calgary Flames

If I'm the Flames, I'm panicking. Chicago swept the season series, 4-0. Calgary has been ravaged by injuries, and the team has actually been forced to skate fewer players than their opponents because of salary cap constraints. Throw in the fact that Olli Jokinen's arrival marked the start of a long and steady slide for this team, along with Miikka Kiprusoff's poor impersonation of an NHL goaltender, and things do not look good for the Flames.

Are the Blackhawks inexperienced? Yes. Will it matter? It would appear not, considering the Flames look like sitting ducks at the moment. Don't get me wrong, Calgary is a physical team fully capable of competing. However, given Chicago's success and the team's untimely slump, the series seems to be sitting in Chicago's lap. Chicago in 4.

Siiick.