I dont recall anyone saying that, what it is saying is the top teams in the West are better than the top teams in the East. Just look at the Pens who are the cream of the crop in the East and had real trouble with the Islanders and could have easily went to game 7 due to their suspect D and goaltending. Now look at the Hawks in the West that took care of buisness in 5 games and could have easily swept if not for an OT fluke type play for a loss in game 3, oh and doing that without Bolland and Emery AND without the 1st line really producing at all in that 1st round. Anything can happen in the playoffs but I dont see the Pens getting past the Sens if Anderson plays the way he did this round. And here is hoping the Wings and Hawks get one final playoffs matchup
- HawksGuySince85

again you sound overconfident, you win one series and you are ready yo anoint your team the winner of the cup

Some overly sensitive/defensive people in this blog.

Obviously part of the discussion hinges on how Chicago handled the 8 seed a lot easier than the Pens did, and how the Pens have a goalie issue. And how the Sharks swept. And how last year's cup winner is in the west. etc.

Anyway, looking forward to the Ottawa-Pitt series...here's to hoping Neil Cooke's a few Penguins.

Some overly sensitive/defensive people in this blog.

Obviously part of the discussion hinges on how Chicago handled the 8 seed a lot easier than the Pens did, and how the Pens have a goalie issue. And how the Sharks swept. And how last year's cup winner is in the west. etc.

Anyway, looking forward to the Ottawa-Pitt series...here's to hoping Neil Cooke's a few Penguins.
- wolfhounds

just hoping for the pens sake that a test in the first round makes them stronger but we will see... hoping cooke neils a few senators

again you sound overconfident, you win one series and you are ready yo anoint your team the winner of the cup
- gravyboy33

Dude,

First, anyone who reads my blog with regularity knows I am not a Corey Crawford fan. And i do agree with Filonious that the hawks have a fair bit of business to take care of before we start predicting they win the Finals. As such, I am REALLY interested to see who wins ANA/DET tonight (tomorrow morning) because if it's Detroit, then I think the Hawks have a pretty clear path to the Finals. They are 7-0-2 over the last two years vs. Detroit. LA and San Jose will beat the crap out of eachother and the Hawks likely take a close-ish WCF against one of two teams that can't really skate with them.

The pronouncement about Crawford and Emery is kind of silly though. Look at their stats. Why are they so good? Not because either is a great goalie, but because the Hawk defense is THAT good. Not just the blueline, which is outstanding and deep, but the forwards play such great defense up and down the ice.

You talk about it like it's a matchup of Geno/Sid versus Crawford and Toews/Kane vs. Fleury. But it's not. It's about matching four lines and three pairs of defense. All I'll say is, as I've said about either second round opponent the Hawks face, is this:

If they do the work necessary to play their game, which is glove tight, backchecking and positional defense over 200 feet of ice, and lots of speed on all four lines going the other way, they will be hard for anyone to beat. And their average goaltending will not matter.

That is IF they do that.

So this is where it has come to....

How screwed up the nhl ( no longer capitalized) is....

3 Hart candidates --- never mind 1 missed 1/3 of the season, never mind another took 1/3rd of the season off and never mind the third only barely scraped into the top 8 --- all from the east....

And now there is no Eastern contender?

That's a fine howdy-dooo.

How much more is Kane, how much more did he lead to his team to success, how much more can Chicago take these eastern teams, put a dress on them, call them Shirley and take them out to a nice light meal followed by wine and then play some 'high sticking'?

The NHL has a special quality of stupid this year.
- Beatle_john

my finalists would have been crosby, kane and getz

my finalists would have been crosby, Toews and getz
- homiedclown

Fixed

Dude,

First, anyone who reads my blog with regularity knows I am not a Corey Crawford fan. And i do agree with Filonious that the hawks have a fair bit of business to take care of before we start predicting they win the Finals. As such, I am REALLY interested to see who wins ANA/DET tonight (tomorrow morning) because if it's Detroit, then I think the Hawks have a pretty clear path to the Finals. They are 7-0-2 over the last two years vs. Detroit. LA and San Jose will beat the crap out of eachother and the Hawks likely take a close-ish WCF against one of two teams that can't really skate with them.

The pronouncement about Crawford and Emery is kind of silly though. Look at their stats. Why are they so good? Not because either is a great goalie, but because the Hawk defense is THAT good. Not just the blueline, which is outstanding and deep, but the forwards play such great defense up and down the ice.

You talk about it like it's a matchup of Geno/Sid versus Crawford and Toews/Kane vs. Fleury. But it's not. It's about matching four lines and three pairs of defense. All I'll say is, as I've said about either second round opponent the Hawks face, is this:

If they do the work necessary to play their game, which is glove tight, backchecking and positional defense over 200 feet of ice, and lots of speed on all four lines going the other way, they will be hard for anyone to beat. And their average goaltending will not matter.

That is IF they do that.
- John Jaeckel

Vesa Toskala could come out of retirement and look like a damn good goalie on that hawk team.

Their D is that good

Fixed
- John Jaeckel

I flipped a coin

Eklund: Can ANY Team in East Win the Cup (Yes, That Includes Pittsburgh)?
- Eklund

Obviously...

Flyers.

I seem to remember Eklund asking in 2009 if the Vancouver Canucks were the only team that could beat the Capitals in a 7 game series. How'd that turn out? Oh, yeah right. Never mind.

Dude,

First, anyone who reads my blog with regularity knows I am not a Corey Crawford fan. And i do agree with Filonious that the hawks have a fair bit of business to take care of before we start predicting they win the Finals. As such, I am REALLY interested to see who wins ANA/DET tonight (tomorrow morning) because if it's Detroit, then I think the Hawks have a pretty clear path to the Finals. They are 7-0-2 over the last two years vs. Detroit. LA and San Jose will beat the crap out of eachother and the Hawks likely take a close-ish WCF against one of two teams that can't really skate with them.

The pronouncement about Crawford and Emery is kind of silly though. Look at their stats. Why are they so good? Not because either is a great goalie, but because the Hawk defense is THAT good. Not just the blueline, which is outstanding and deep, but the forwards play such great defense up and down the ice.

You talk about it like it's a matchup of Geno/Sid versus Crawford and Toews/Kane vs. Fleury. But it's not. It's about matching four lines and three pairs of defense. All I'll say is, as I've said about either second round opponent the Hawks face, is this:

If they do the work necessary to play their game, which is glove tight, backchecking and positional defense over 200 feet of ice, and lots of speed on all four lines going the other way, they will be hard for anyone to beat. And their average goaltending will not matter.

That is IF they do that.
- John Jaeckel

This year's finals will be SOOOO interesting since there was no inter conference play, no matter who makes it. While I think the west as a whole obviously has a stronger field, there's no telling how things will go when the finals roll around. So much rides on who is healthy and who is not...

Man, I hate the (frank)ing Penguins...

Some overly sensitive/defensive people in this blog.

Obviously part of the discussion hinges on how Chicago handled the 8 seed a lot easier than the Pens did, and how the Pens have a goalie issue. And how the Sharks swept. And how last year's cup winner is in the west. etc.

Anyway, looking forward to the Ottawa-Pitt series...here's to hoping Neil Cooke's a few Penguins.
- wolfhounds

Not too fair of a comparison. The Wild aren't the Isle, plus they lost their #1 goalie and had an injured #2,

The Isles and Leafs match up well against the Pens.

And the East hasn't seen the West and vice-versa so judging that is not close to valid.

Man, I hate the (frank)ing Penguins...
- Flyfreaky

Do you hate the Meercats too? Or is it ALL Madagaskar characters?

Do you hate Dugongs as well?
- Doogs

I love all things fat...

I love all things fat...
- Flyfreaky

Changed do to my sons advice.

Changed do to my sons advice.
- Doogs

Not a big fan of animals...

Some overly sensitive/defensive people in this blog.

Obviously part of the discussion hinges on how Chicago handled the 8 seed a lot easier than the Pens did, and how the Pens have a goalie issue. And how the Sharks swept. And how last year's cup winner is in the west. etc.

Anyway, looking forward to the Ottawa-Pitt series...here's to hoping Neil Cooke's a few Penguins.
- wolfhounds

In 2009 the Penguins went 7 games in all their rounds to win the cup. I think the 2nd round will tell if their game for a long run.

For years the western conference has been vasly superior to the East.

It isnt even close.

The east has some big stars and some great players but team for team the west is far stronger.

Pitsburg and Boston are the only teams over the last few years that can go toe to toe with any of the western conference.

Last years playoffs were a perfect example of how feeble the east can be.

NJ had no right being in the stanley cup final and were embarrassed by the Kings who are really only an above avereage western conference team.

Average team like New York, Washington, and Philly have been feasting on some traditionaly extremly terrible teams like Florida, Toronto, TB, and Winnipeg.

In the west the only only consistantly extremly terrible team is the blue jackets...with Edmonton and Colorodo being only terrible most nights.

Basicaly there is more Parity in the West. The east i think is slowly getting better in this area and because of that it really shows how mediocre a lot of the eastern teams really are. And teams like Boston and Pitsburg are not as good as they appear on paper.

This year should be a cake walk again if any eastern team other than Pits or Bruins go to the cup. With the a slight advantage to pretty much any western conderence team.

No matter which WC team makes it, the WC team will win it unless they hit a huge cold streak. All the remaining WC teams are much better than the remaining EC teams

No matter which WC team makes it, the WC team will win it unless they hit a huge cold streak. All the remaining WC teams are much better than the remaining EC teams
- corvusmd

So the east should just give up then come on !!This west is soo much better is crap really

For years the western conference has been vasly superior to the East.

It isnt even close.

The east has some big stars and some great players but team for team the west is far stronger.

Pitsburg and Boston are the only teams over the last few years that can go toe to toe with any of the western conference.

Last years playoffs were a perfect example of how feeble the east can be.

NJ had no right being in the stanley cup final and were embarrassed by the Kings who are really only an above avereage western conference team.

Average team like New York, Washington, and Philly have been feasting on some traditionaly extremly terrible teams like Florida, Toronto, TB, and Winnipeg.

In the west the only only consistantly extremly terrible team is the blue jackets...with Edmonton and Colorodo being only terrible most nights.

Basicaly there is more Parity in the West. The east i think is slowly getting better in this area and because of that it really shows how mediocre a lot of the eastern teams really are. And teams like Boston and Pitsburg are not as good as they appear on paper.

This year should be a cake walk again if any eastern team other than Pits or Bruins go to the cup. With the a slight advantage to pretty much any western conderence team.
- Aerchon

You are nuts

just hoping for the pens sake that a test in the first round makes them stronger but we will see... hoping cooke neils a few senators
- gravyboy33

Not too fair of a comparison. The Wild aren't the Isle, plus they lost their #1 goalie and had an injured #2,

The Isles and Leafs match up well against the Pens.

And the East hasn't seen the West and vice-versa so judging that is not close to valid.
- Doogs

For some reason I think the Sens are going to play the Pens a lot like the Flyers did last post-season and it's going to be a rough series.

And I agree, the Wild limped into the playoffs, and no matter who makes it from the East, it will be a good and competitive Stanley Cup Finals.