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2014 NHL Western Conference Final Los Angeles Kings versus Chicago Blackhawks
THE SCHEDULE
Sunday, May 18 3 p.m. Los Angeles at Chicago NBC, TSN, RDS Wednesday, May 21 8 p.m. Los Angeles at Chicago NBCSN, TSN, RDS Saturday, May 24 8 p.m. Chicago at Los Angeles NBC, CBC, RDS Monday, May 26 9 p.m. Chicago at Los Angeles NBCSN, TSN, RDS *Wed, May 28 8 p.m. Los Angeles at Chicago NBCSN, CBC, RDS *Friday, May 30 9 p.m. Chicago at Los Angeles NBCSN, CBC, RDS *Sunday, June 1 8 p.m. Los Angeles at Chicago NBCSN, CBC, RDS
* Games 5, 6 and 7, if necessary
THE BREAKDOWN
There are lots of things to point to that say this year's matchup between the Hawks and the Kings will play out differently than the one that the Hawks took in five games last spring.
The rosters of both teams are slightly different. It's just a different year.
Both teams appear to have peaked at the right time. The Kings clearly improved with the trade deadline acquisition of Slovakian speedster Marion Gaborik. Gaborik and center Anze Kopitar form a potent top line threat for the Kings and somewhat upgrade the Kings speed overall.
Both teams are good enough that a key injury either way, such as that taken by Kings center Mike Richards last year, could impact the series, if not shift it one way or the other.
But all that said, the Kings were 0-3 versus the Hawks this season after dropping the WCF in 5 games last year. They just do not match up well with the Hawks' speed and depth.
The Kings like to possess the puck, as do the Hawks. But against Chicago, the Kings always seem to end up chasing and chasing. And where the Kings will also struggle, as all teams have against the Hawks, is in simultaneously maintaining a strong forecheck and defending agains the Hawks' transition—which is the best in the game. The two are almost at cross-purposes, and typically it is the undoing of the Hawks' opponents in playoff series.
Both clubs are stacked at forward without question. But where I think the Hawks have the clear edge is on the blueline, where their depth has posed problems for every team they've faced in the playoffs the last two seasons.
If Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith aren't the best overall pair in the game, they're close. But the second pair of Niklas Hjalmarsson and Johnny Oduya is good enough that Hawk coach Joel Quenneville can send them out to shut down opponent's top lines any time he chooses. Hjalmarsson, especially, proved his worth when, subbing for a suspended Keith last Spring, he led the Hawks to a key victory against the Kings.
The Hawks wiil definitely miss C/W Andrew Shaw in what will likely be a rough, physical series if he can't play.
By reputation, the Kings and Jonathan Quick get the edge in goal, but not so fast. It was Quick who withered under the (albeit more potent) Chicago attack last Spring. And Chicago netminder Corey Crawford has been dialed in all along in these playoffs, carrying the Hawks at times in a challenging second round series versus Minnesota. Crawford, it seems, has laid the demons of his 2012 playoff failures to rest, and now seems supremely confident and ready to step up if the defense in front of him falters.
So all things considered, and as I have called the last two series (to the game), I see the Hawks taking this one in 6.
Your thoughts?
JJ