This season....
Chicago won all three of the games this year, but the Kings are a completely different team and built for the playoffs.
Last Three Seasons...
Over the last three years its been a bit closer....in ten games the Kings won 4 and the Hawks 6..
Rematch of last year's Conference Final...
While the Hawks won in 5 last year, remember the Kings were decimated with injuries with Mike Richards barely able to play...and the games were all close including a dramatic 3OT thriller in game 5 that saw the Hawks winning after the Kings had tied the game in the final seconds of the third period.
Prediction...
It is hard to write anything new about these teams. They represent the last two Cup champs and are both incredibly experienced post season machines. The Kings are a much more refined and mature version of the Wild...a team that just gave these Hawks fits. The Kings have watched the tapes for sure and will be better at what the Wild did to Chicago than the Wild were....However, counting out Chicago is ALWAYS a fools bet. All I feel I know for sure is this is a six or seven game series...
My pick...LA in 6
Yours?