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THE NUMBERS
5-5 GOAL DIFFERENTIAL F/A
Playoffs Chicago 3rd 1.24 LA 8th 1.04 Anaheim 10th .90
Regular Anaheim 2nd 1.39 LA 3rd 1.29 Chicago 4th 1.27
Power Play
Playoffs Anaheim 6th 25.5% LA 7th 20.9% Chicago 8th 18.2%
Regular Chicago 10th 19.5% Anaheim 22nd 16.0% LA 27th 15.1%
Penalty Kill
Playoffs Chicago 1st 91.3% Anaheim 3rd 87.5% Los Angeles 8th 83.0
Los Angeles 11th 83.1 Anaheim 13th 82.2 Chicago 19th 81.4
FO%
Playoffs LA 4th 52.1 Chicago 9th 51.2 Anaheim 12th 47.1
Regular LA 3rd 52.8 Chicago 5th 52.0 Anaheim 20th 49.0
THE BREAKDOWN
I have no idea who’s going to win Game 7 of the Kings-Ducks series and face the Hawks in the Western Conference Finals. Either way, the Hawks will face an experienced, physical club that’s won a Stanley Cup in the relevantly recent past.
These are also teams the Hawks played well against in the regular season, with winning records versus both.
Each poses unique stylistic challenges. The Kings play a puck possession style and can slow the game down.
Anaheim is tough around both nets—theirs and yours. Like the Hawks, their defense is full of prolific shot-blockers. Unlike the Hawks, their defense is a bit slow afoot.
Both teams will hit you and use their size to that purpose.
It’s slightly easier to break down the Kings, as the Hawks faced them, and beat them with relative ease, in last season’s Western Conference Finals. The problem the Kings have had in facing the Hawks—also a puck possession team—has been the Hawks’ overall speed advantage. It’s hard to play a puck possession style when you never touch the puck.
That said, in adding Slovakian winger Marian Gaborik, the Kings have increased their team speed slightly. And his center, Anze Kopitar is as good (and fast) a 2-way player as there is—and that could include two guys he would be facing in Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews.
Still, if the Kings advance to face the Hawks, the Hawks speed could be the determining factor yet again over the course of the series.
With Anaheim, the Hawks’ speed could also be an advantage, especially in exposing a slower defense. Further, a number of Anaheim’s top layers are a bit long in the tooth, putting it mildly. Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne are 39 and 43 respectively, defensemen Bryan Allen and Francois Beauchemin are both 34. Outside of Hossa (35) and Patrick Sharp (32) the Hawks’ top players are all 30 (Duncan Keith) or less (Brent Seabrook, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Brandon Saad). The Kings will have played 14 games, Anaheim 13 and the Hawks 12. If fatigue and health are factors in this series, they could favor the Hawks slightly against either team.
A couple of other factors: goaltending and psychology.
In years past, you might have given the nod to the Kings and Jonathan Quick over Corey Crawford. Not anymore.
Crawford, over the course of the last two years’ playoffs has shown himself to be a money goalie. Sure, like all goalies, he’s had a stinker game here and there. But he’s won and come up big in doing so enough now that he’s clearly overcome the doubters and his own mental baggage. If the Hawks have an MVP thus far in the playoffs, it’s Crawford, without a doubt. And if the trend continues and the Hawks take their second straight Cup, Crawford’s your Conn Smythe winner. For the Ducks, 20 year old American John Gibson could be the X-factor. Gibson’s been strong thus far after taking over #1 duties in the Kings series.
As far as psychology, again, there would appear to be an advantage for the Hawks. Neither the Ducks and the Kings will roll over and die. But this Hawk team—this core—has shown that it knows how to win, in all situations, and through all kinds of adversity. And opponents know it.
And as far as who the Hawks get to face, we’ll all know tomorrow.