Starting in the East, the Boston Bruins are clear favourites to make the finals once again. I was sceptical during the summer when so many of their players left. Nathan Horton, Tyler Seguin & Rich Peverley etc. Not to mention the deadline day signing of Jaromir Jagr who was a great addition during the run in to the Eastern Conference Championship last year. Jarome Iginla who failed miserably at Pittsburgh has slotted into Horton's old position as top line RW alongside David Krejci and Milan Lucic and looks at home there. The second line is lead by the much under-rated Patrice Bergeron, who for me has to be the best second line center in the league. His regular LW from previous years, the odious Brad Marchand is having a productive season, while Reilly Smith has been a useful addition on the right since arriving as part of the Seguin/Peverley trade with Dallas. Another player that was a part of that trade was Loui Eriksson who has formed a great understanding with fellow Swede, Carl Soderberg and Chris Kelly. Boston have been one of the few teams this season to keep with regular starting lines, the fourth is dubbed the 'Merlot line' led by Gregory Campbell, Daniel Paille and resident goon Shawn Thornton, who served a lengthy ban earlier in the season, having viciously attacked Pittsburgh's Brooks Orpik. Ryan Spooner, Matt Fraser and Jordan Caron have been able to step up this season to fill the gaps when required. If Boston's offense is a strong part of their game, then perhaps their only weakness is defense, with players being lost to injury this season it was thought they needed more depth there, but only Andrej Meszaros arrived from Philadelphia on trade deadline. Zdeno Chara has been able to lead the blueline once again this season, but amazingly Torey Krug has more points than him. Johnny Boychuk, Matt Bartkowski and Dougie Hamilton have all been regulars too this season, with Dennis Seidenberg also getting ice time. Tuukka Rask has been strong between the pipes once again and holds a 2.10 GAA. It would take a very strong team to eliminate the Bruins from a return to the finals.
Pittsburgh should be the Bruins closest challengers in the East but given their injury crisis, that isn't going to be a realistic possibility. Losing Pascal Dupuis has been the biggest loss and it came as a surprise that no major signings were made at the trade deadline (unlike last season). It has meant Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz have had a different line mate each game and hasn't helped with the chemistry between them. James Neal has missed a lot of games this season with various injuries, and has only just returned from a concussion. Pittsburgh need a fit Neal to succeed, especially given that Evgeni Malkin performs much better having him on his line. Jussi Jokinen makes up the trio and is one of the most versatile players in the league. The third line has been decimated though, with Matt Cooke (Minnesota) and Tyler Kennedy (San Jose), both leaving over the summer, meaning Brandon Sutter has struggled this season without any regular line mates. Much is expected of Beau Bennett and Jayson Megna but both have had injury problems this season and the addition of Taylor Pyatt has hardly set the pulses racing. Given the injury crises it has meant usual fourth-liners Joe Vitale, Tanner Glass and Craig Adams have been utilised, higher up the depth chart to plug the gaps. Lee Stempniak arrived from Calgary and should play on the Crosby line while Marcel Goc (Florida) has given an extra option on the fourth line, although it is widely felt the Pens could have done with 2-3 more offensive players to help out. Given the amount of salary cap space being saved due to the top earners spending time on the IR list it is more than a little surprising. As opposed to the Bruins, Pittsburgh's strength actually lies in their defense with several players finding regular ice-time at one stage or another this season. Kris Letang has been in and out of the line up this season due to one injury after another, but his latest one, nearly took his life. Suffering a stroke, could have signalled the end of his hockey career, but thankfully he has started skating in practice once again. Brooks Orpik has spent time injured too, not least when Bruins thug, Thornton knocked him unconscious with a sucker punch. Paul Martin and Rob Scuderi were also injured around the same time, and with their top-4 D-men all missing Bylsma turned to some other guys to step up. Matt Niskanen leads all Pens defensemen in scoring while Robert Bortuzzo has also been solid when called upon, and Derek Engelland has even been forced to ice as a forward, such has been the shortage of players available, this season. The stand out performer though has been 19 year-old Finn Olli Maatta who has been the find of the season. Scoring 28 points and helping his country, Finland, to Bronze at the winter Olympics in Sochi last month. Further down the roster Simon Despres, Brian Dumoulin and Philip Samuelsson (son of Ulf) have all seen action. That would lead one to feel confident, however a distinct lack of fire-power from Malkin this season, and without much in the way of a support cast, means expectations will not be that high in Pittsburgh this post season. There is also the enigma that is goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. Solid throughout the regular season once again, he has a 2.34 GAA, but has fallen to pieces in each of the last four post seasons (think Peyton Manning), which is more than a concern. The Pens can't even rely on usual back-up Tomas Vokoun who has also been recovering from a life-threatening injury this season.
A revived Marty St Louis will help the New York Rangers and along with former Canucks head coach, Alain Vigneault, they may just be a dark horse for the SC. Montreal, Toronto and Tampa should all join them while Philadelphia will bully their way into the post season. Detroit face the realistic prospect of missing the post season for the first time since 1990 when Jacques Demers was in charge. It is an incredible run that stretches back so far that I actually have hockey friends who were not even born the last time they missed out. I do feel for former Whitley Warrior, Mike Babcock though, as he has had the worst injury crisis to deal with, that I think I can remember. Henrik Zetterberg has been in-and-out all season along with Pavel Datsyuk, who has been playing much of the season with a terrible knee inury. Columbus, The Crapitals and New Jersey are all waiting to pounce should Detroit not make it. Although don't rule them out, with two games to go last season Detroit looked like they might miss out, but somehow managed to make it. While Ottawa and Carolina are not completely out of it, they do have a lot of ground to make up on the teams ahead of them. Only Florida, Buffalo and the Fishsticks are out of the running.
Over in the West, the power has shifted from one team to the next. While not exactly dominating like they did last season, Chicago were strong starters once again, with their top line of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa looking a formidable force to deal with. When Kris Versteeg returned in November from Florida, he joined leading-scorer Patrick Kane and veteran center Michal Handzus on the second line. The third line has a youthful look to it with Brandon Saad (20) and Andrew Shaw (22) complimenting the 'veteran' Bryan Bickell (27). The fourth line has also been strong with Marcus Kruger, Ben Smith and Brandon Bollig, rounding out what has been a rarely changed line-up. Like at Boston, those same 12 players have generally always lined up like this. That may well end up being the Hawks main problem in that some of the veteran players like Handzus might not have much gas left in the tank when the playoffs begin. Throw in the fact they allowed the useful Brandon Pirri to leave for Florida and it seems there is a distinct lack of options open to them. Jeremy Morin and Joakim Nordstrom saw ice time before Versteeg's arrival while Peter Regin seems to be the 13th forward these days or even using defenseman Sheldon Brookbank there. The top defensive duo of Duncan Keith (53) and Brent Seabrook (44) have certainly helped with points this season, and form a formidable line up at the back. Behind them are Swedish pair Niklas Hjalmarsson and Johnny Oduya who also have a great understanding. Nick Leddy and either Brookbank or Michal Rozsival line up as the third pairing. Corey Crawford has been amongst the top goaltenders again this season with a 2.26 GAA. Antti Raanta and Nikolai Khabibulin will be his back-ups. So with the nagging feeling there is a distinct lack of depth, it would surprise me if the Hawks were the first team since Detroit in 1998 to retain the SC.
Chicago's 'favorites' tag passed to Anaheim around the Christmas holiday period, but with an opposing philosophy to the Hawks, the Anaheim Sucks like to rotate their forward players. The one line that looked nailed in place was their top one of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Dustin Penner. That was until the latter was surprisingly traded to Washington just 24 hours before the trade deadline. Penner had only returned to Anaheim from Los Angeles during the summer in a clever move that re-united the trio from their Stanley Cup winning season of 2006-07. The understanding between the three looked great as they lead the race for the President's Trophy before the Olympic break, which makes the deal look all the more bizarre. In his place will be Kyle Palmieri, who has been moved up from his spot on the fourth line to form a physical, some might say dirty front three. The third line is the only other one to remain much the same this season, with Saku Koivu leading from center, along with Daniel Winnik and Andrew Cogliano. The linemates have been very productive this season, scoring some important goals along with their shut-down roles. Teemu Selanne, despite his advancing years has still looked a class act on this team, and despite having to miss a few games to rest, will usually line up on the second line with Mathieu Perrault and Patrick Maroon. That leaves Nick Bonino on the fourth line with Matt Beleskey and Jakob Silfverberg. Emerson Etem seems to have fallen out of favor lately, as does Devante Smith-Pelly, so Tim Jackman has provided cover. Cam Fowler leads the scoring on his team for defenseman and he usually lines up alongside former Penguins player Ben Lovejoy. Hampus Lindholm is paired with Francois Beauchemin, while Sami Vatanen is paired with Bryan Allen. Mark Fistric and Luca Sbisa provide the cover, along with the surprise signing of veteran Stephane Robidas from Dallas who arrived on trade deadline day still recovering from a broken leg. Jonas Hiller will start between the pipes and has a 2.38 GAA. Having carried the baton on from Chicago over the last few months, it appears the sucks may well have dropped it, by allowing Penner to leave.
The hottest team everyone is talking about right now, are the St Louis Blues. Ken Hitchcock has fashioned a really exciting team in Missouri, and they are lead by David Backes, Olympic-Penalty shot expert T.J. Oshie and Alexander Steen who has hit 30 goals in a season for the first time in his career. Jaden Schwartz has seen time on the top unit when Hitchcock has tinkered with his lines, but recently he has returned to his usual spot anchoring the second line with Patrik Berglund and 21 year-old Russian sensation Vladimir Tarasenko. With the arrival of Steve Ott from Buffalo, Chris Stewart was allowed to head in the opposite direction, and it now means St Louis can ice an entire third-line of former Dallas players. Derek Roy and Brenden Morrow were still playing for the Stars just over a year ago, and of course Morrow is a player coach Hitchcock knows very well from his time in charge of the franchise. The fourth line usually sees Chris Porter or Magnus Paajarvi on the left wing with center Maxim Lapierre and either Ryan Reeves or Adam Cracknell on the right wing. With Tarasenko currently out injured Vladimir Sobotka has taken his place on the team and young Russian Dimitrij Jaskin has featured of late too. Its not surprising people are talking about the Blues, they have the best offensive, defense pairing in the league with Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester. Kevin Shattenkirk is no slouch either and has Barret Jackman alongside him, to form the best four-man defensive unit in the NHL. Ian Cole and Roman Polak line up as the third pairing with Jordan Leopold and Carlo Colaiacovo providing cover. Ryan Miller arrived in the same trade with Steve Ott, that also saw Jaroslav Halak very briefly join Buffalo. Brian Elliott is a more than capable back-up and combined with a Stanley Cup winning coach, St Louis seem to have every tool available to them to land their very first championship.
Waiting to be named the next favorite is another team looking to win a first SC, the San Jose Sharks. No team has made more conference finals appearances, without having won a SC than the Sharks, and there is every hope this year could be their year. Joe Pavelski leads team-scoring with 34 goals and 32 assists for 66 points, he has been nothing short of incredible this season and carried that form to Sochi for team USA. Alongside Pavelski is Joe Thornton, who was unlucky not to join his line mate at the Olympics, certainly alongside Patrick Marleau, Thornton deserves to win a Stanley Cup before they both retire. Converted defenseman Brent Burns plays on the Pavelski/Thornton line. Joining Marleau on the second line is Logan Couture, freshly returned from injury, with either Tommy Wingels or Matthew Nieto complete the unit. Nieto usually starts on the third line however, with Martin Havlat and James Sheppard, while former Stanley Cup winner at Pittsburgh, Tyler Kennedy, can only find room on the fourth line with Andrew Desjardins and Adam Burish. Raffi Torres has missed most of the season through injury and despite a brief return is currently out again, but with him to return and offer further options to the fourth line, it shows just how strong the Sharks are. It's scary to think Czech-rookie Tomas Hertl is also to return at some stage, and just who ends up getting left out is a nice problem for coach Todd McLellan to have. Mike Brown, Bracken Kearns, John McCarthy, Eriah Hayes and Freddie Hamilton are all further options to supplement the fourth line. Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Jason Demers lead the blue line with second pairing Dan Boyle and Matt Irwin providing further cover. The third pairing sees Brad Stuart and Justin Braun together with Scott Hannan also in the mix. Antti Niemi has been excellent in goal this season with a 2.33 GAA. I would personally love to see the Sharks win a Stanley Cup, and this particular team is instantly likeable. Surely they must have the best chance of landing their first championship this season.
Other teams likely to challenge from the west are the Los Angeles Kings, Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild. The Kings have a knack of flying under the radar allowing other teams to grab the headlines while they spring to life in the post season and surprise everyone. Anze Kopitar is still the leader of the team and his line mates Jeff Carter and Dwight King form a potent top trio. With an already strong second line, the signing of Marian Gaborik makes the Kings even stronger. Gaborik is likely to be teamed up with Mike Richards and Justin Williams, while further depth sees Jarret Stoll and Tyler Toffoli on the third line with either Dustin Brown or Tanner Pearson. The fourth line sees Kyle Clifford, Trevor Lewis and Jordan Nolan together. Linden Vey provides the cover. The defense sees Willie Mitchell and Drew Doughty as the top pairing with Slava Voynov and Robyn Regehr on the second and Matt Greene with Alec Martinez on the third. Jake Muzzin is also another consideration. US goalie Jonathan Quick is in fine form with a 2.10 GAA. The Kings have the best defense right now and will be expecting a third successive conference finals appearance.
Colorado have improved massively since Patrick Roy took over coaching duties during the summer and look set to make the playoffs for the first time in years. The top line of Gabriel Landeskog, Paul Stastny and rookie Nathan Mackinnon, work well and have combined for 157 points together. The second line has the rocket speed of Matt Duchene, with Ryan O'Reilly and Jamie McGinn. Max Talbot, John Mitchell and Cody Mcleod make up the third line while Patrick Bordeleau, Brad Molone and Marc-Andre Cliche, line up on the fourth. P.A. Parenteau is usually found on either of the top two lines when fit. Alex Tanguay is another option. Jan Hejda and Erik Johnson are the top defensive pairing, followed by Tyson Barrie and Andre Benoit. Nick Holden and Nate Guenin are the third pairing, while Cory Sarich and Ryan Wilson provide further options. Goaltending has been strong as you might expect from a team coached by Roy. Semyon Varlamov is the undisputed number one with the experienced Jean-Sebastien Gigure an able back-up.
Minnesota have become stronger as the season has gone on, and look certainties to get one of the two wild card spots. That does not mean they are there to make up the numbers however. I can't imagine any team in the West are relishing the prospect of facing the Wild in the first round, and with some minor changes to their line up they look fine tuned to make the conference finals for the first time since 2003. Jason Pominville leads the team in scoring with 49 points (26+23) and usually has Zach Parise (46 points) with him on the opposite wing. At the start of the campaign, captain Mikko Koivu centered that top line but following a lengthy injury he has moved down to the second to allow Mikael Granlund to lead the show. Koivu is third in team scoring and currently has new arrival Matt Moulson and Justin Fontaine on his wings. Moulson arrived from Buffalo, having spent the bulk of his career with the Islanders. The third line has been hardly altered this season and has looked strong. Matt Cooke has formed a great understanding with Kyle Brodziak and Nino Niederreiter. That leaves Dany Heatley who has struggled to find a regular spot in the line up. He has however still shown flashes of his ability and looks good when playing alongside Charlie Coyle. Usual fourth liners Torrey Mitchell and Zenon Konopka left for Buffalo as part of the Moulson trade, so that leaves Erik Haula, Jason Zucker, Stephane Veilleux, Brett Bulmer, Mike Rupp and Cody McCormick fighting over the final spot on the team. Right now the defense sees Ryan Suter paired with Jared Spurgeon on the top unit with, Marco Scandella and Jonas Brodin on the second. Clayton Stoner and Nate Prosser line up on the third pairing, while former Phoenix Coyote, Keith Ballard and 19 year old Mathew Dumba can also step up when required. Goaltending duties have been shared by four players. Josh Harding is currently out injured so that has seen Darcy Kuemper allowed more action, along with recent signing from Edmonton, Ilya Bryzgalov. Niklas Backstrom has made 21 appearances this season, but has seemingly fallen out of favour.
With Dallas stuttering at the worst possible time, it has suddenly opened up the door for a late push from the Phoenix Coyotes. Up until December, the Yotes were challenging for top spot in the Pacific Division, but since my return to the UK, Phoenix have been so inconsistent that they slipped out of the top eight places. Beating top teams like Pittsburgh and Los Angeles is all well and good but losing twice to a team like Buffalo is not good enough if you have designs on making the post season. That aside, the fact remains Phoenix are blessed with a lot of talent. When everyone is fit, coach Dave Tippett can ice a Czech Mates line of Martin Erat (newly acquired from Washington) along with Martin Hanzal and Radim Vrbata. Over the season there have been several line combinations used, as Tippett prefers to mix his players up, so centers Antoine Vermette and Mike Ribeiro will see any combination of Mikkel Boedker, Lauri Korpikoski, Shane Doan, David Moss, Rob Klinkhammer and Tim Kennedy on their wings. The fourth line will often see Jeff Halpern with Paul Bissonnette and Kyle Chipchura, although Brandon McMillan, Jordan Szwarz and Andy Miele have been called up from the AHL at times this season, along with Chris Brown who left as part of the Erat trade. Phoenix's major strength lies with the offensive prowess from their blueline, especially on the powerplay. Keith Yandle leads the entire team in scoring with 49 points, and it remains a mystery why he was omitted from Team USA's Olympic selection. Alongside him is Derek Morris, who even at 35 is still proving a valuable member of the team despite the occasional stupid penalty. Oliver Ekman-Larsson has been described as the 'new' Niklas Lidstrom, and given his 37 points so far this season, it is hard to disagree, although he needs to be shooting more from the point on the power play rather than passing it off to a team mate. Zbynek Michalek has had his injury problems this season but has been a calming influence alongside the young Swede with his experience. Michael Stone and David Schlemko are the usual third pairing. With Rostislav Klesla and David Rundblad now gone it is left to youngster Connor Murphy to step up and provide the cover. Mike Smith has looked strong at times this season, winning points single handed for his team, but there has been occasions when he has struggled, and we are still waiting for his 2012 playoff form to return.
Winnipeg are still in contention to make the playoffs, and to a point so are Vancouver, although they are a mess right now, with half their team either injured or traded away. Calgary, Edmonton and Nashville are all out of the running.
With so many teams in contention it means it is too difficult to name an out right favourite right now. I am in a position where I have friends who are fans of Chicago, St Louis, San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles. Not to mention my own allegiance to Pittsburgh, Phoenix and Dallas. Between that lot, it means someone is bound to be celebrating a success, while the rest of us will be left smarting for at least another year. Either way I cant wait for the playoffs to begin, here is hoping for the Sharks against the Blues and a rivalry re-match between the Pens and the Bruins in the conference finals.
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