Two are left standing in the Western Conference, and the battle between Anaheim and Chicago has the feel of being an absolutely epic seven-game series with speed to burn on both sides. The winner, of course, goes through to the Stanley Cup Final, and will be just four wins away from hoisting one of the most recognisable trophies in all of sport.
At least in terms of how these two teams enter this series, the Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks are polar opposites. The Ducks advanced by defeating Winnipeg and Calgary, two teams who basically had to fight, scratch and claw right up to the very end of the regular season to claim a playoff spot.
On the other hand, Chicago beat a very good Nashville squad rather convincingly in the end, and swept a Minnesota Wild squad who had surprised many in beating the highly-fancied St Louis Blues. Yes, the ‘Hawks swept the Wild, but it was a closer series than it looked on paper. The same can’t truly be said for the Ducks win over the Flames.
The one thing that always sticks in my mind is Anaheim’s penchant for being great in the regular season and not delivering when it comes to the business end of things. Their coach Bruce Boudreau knows a lot about this: he led a bunch of very good Washington squads from regular season glory into the playoffs and, more often than not, it ended in disaster, with first- and second-round exits the norm.
This is Boudreau’s first Western Conference Final. Yes, the Ducks have a good core of young players, but they rely heavily on the scoring talents of Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, two guys who are survivors from Anaheim’s maiden Stanley Cup championship in 2007. They were key cogs in that team, but there wasn't as much of a reliance on them back then as there is today. With the likes of Teemu Selanne and Scott Neidermayer on that squad, it was far more balanced than this current crop of Ducks.
In contrast, Chicago are as battle-tested as any squad in the West, and they are finding ominous form at the right time. The return of Patrick Kane has been a catalyst, and if there is a better guy for scoring clutch goals right when his team needs them the most, please let me know who it is. In many ways, Kane was the difference in Chicago’s four-game series win over the Wild.
Winners of two Stanley Cup championships since 2010, the ‘Hawks know what they are doing, and have managed to keep the core of the team that also lifted Lord Stanley in 2012 together. That’s a massive tip of the cap not just to the front office of the Blackhawks, who managed to even turn Patrick Kane’s clavicle injury into a good thing – he went onto injured reserve, freeing up money to bring in veteran guys like Kimmo Timonen and Antoine Vermette – as it is to the culture that coach Joel Quenneville has built over the years.
Looking down Chicago’s roster, it’s hard to pinpoint a major weakness. On the back end, you have experienced, talented defenceman like Duncan Keith and Brett Seabrook (as good a defensive pairing as there is remaining in the West) with Niklas Hjalmarsson not far behind, and a Stanley Cup-winning goalie in Corey Crawford (, who seems to have left his shaky play behind in the first round, and a tonne of offensive talent up front.
Chicago media likes to paint Kane and forward partner Jonathan Toews as polar opposites off the ice – and there’s no doubt that they are – but when it comes to that innate sense of where the other might be at any given time, the two most recognisable players on the Blackhawks roster are fully and completely on the same page.
If Toews and Kane don’t get you, it’s likely that Marian Hossa will. Or maybe Patrick Sharp, maligned in Chicago during the season, but a proven playoff performer. The other thing that’s always impressed me about the Blackhawks is the ability to get scoring from their bottom two lines when the top guys have a quiet night. Andrew Shaw, a noted agitator, has netted some pretty big ones over the years.
The real challenge for a mostly-young Ducks squad who mostly don’t have the same amount of big-game experience. There are guys on the Blackhawks team who’ve seen all that the NHL has to throw at them, and even Olympic overtime play. Anaheim’s defencemen are going to have to have the series’ of their lives, particularly when Kane is on the ice. He’s shown time and time again these playoffs that he barely needs any room to make something special happen. They can’t give him an inch.
Anaheim are also going to need to have secondary scoring because Chicago’s defence will almost certainly lock down – or try to – on Perry and Getzlaf. Ryan Kesler, a veteran who saw plenty of playoff action with Vancouver, looms as being a huge figure in this series. Not only can he score, but he has a knack for getting in under the skin of opponents, and the Ducks power play can capitalise. Kesler has nine points in as many games these playoffs, and he knows what he’s doing at this end of the year.
Frederik Andersen has looked good in net for the Ducks – 1.96 goals allowed average and a .925 save percentage – but an argument can be made that he hasn’t truly been tested, like Crawford has. Anaheim’s defence has allowed more than thirty shots on Andersen’s goal just once so far in the playoffs. Whether they can keep that up against Chicago’s offensive firepower is another question. The Ducks do have 2007 Stanley Cup winner Francois Beauchemin, a steadying influence on the youngster, Hampus Lindholm. Maturing guys like Cam Fowler are going to be seriously tested. As is Andersen.
Prediction: This is going to be an absolute war, and I’ve a feeling we’ll see seven games and a few with at least one overtime session. Despite the Ducks having home-ice advantage, I’ve got a feeling that Chicago’s big-game experience will – just – get them across the line. Whatever happens, it promises to be a thrilling series.
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