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 Friday, December 13, 2002
Playoffs begin with wide open fields
By John Davidson
Special to ABC Sports Online
As the playoffs start this week, each conference has its own storyline.
In the East, Toronto and Boston were playing the best down the stretch. But goaltending is the big story. Everyone counts on Martin Brodeur to be really sharp, but who else?
|  | | Jose Theodore, who led the league in save percentage, is the key to Montreal's hopes against Boston. |
Will Jose Theodore handle the playoffs? Will Patrick Lalime carry Ottawa? Will Roman Cechmanek find his game?
In the West, these are all potential seven-game series. The standings changed every day down the stretch. Everybody can beat everybody, except for the one team at the top -- Detroit. The Wings were the cream, but how quickly can Detroit find its game?
Here’s a breakdown of the eight first-round series.
Montreal-Boston
Montreal wants to win a low-scoring series, relying on the play of goaltender Theodore and the experience of Doug Gilmour.
Boston’s advantage is size. If it becomes a longer series, that will become a key for the Bruins. The forwards are big, and other than Don Sweeney, the Bruins are big on the blue line. Hal Gill, Kyle McLaren, Nick Boynton and Sean O’Donnell are all big guys. They have to take advantage of that.
The biggest key is whether or not Joe Thornton’s shoulder will hold up. But now is the Bruins’ chance to prove that they are No. 1.
Ottawa-Philadelphia
Philadelphia has to be settled in goal. That is the biggest issue. The Flyers want Cechmanek to be their guy. When he’s on the very top of his game, he’s very good. But can he get to the very top of his game right out of the chute? If he does, it will settle down the franchise. It’s a good team, but it’s the old Forrest Gump box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.
Ottawa has a playoff history of not scoring goals. Their main scoring guys have to score goals -- Radek Bonk, Marian Hossa, Shawn McEachern and even Daniel Alfredsson. And they need to be able to withstand the grit that Philadelphia can throw at them, while playing on their toes and not on their heels.
New Jersey-Carolina
It’s going to be a tougher series than most people realize. Carolina learned a lot last year in the playoffs. It’s a tough system to score against. It’s going to be a low-scoring series.
The Hurricanes made sure they rested Ron Francis, Sami Kapanen and Jeff O’Neill down the stretch. And they didn’t play Arturs Irbe as much this season.
New Jersey has to compensate for not having Scott Gomez. But the Devils have Brodeur. One of the keys will be Marty’s puck-handling ability to allow the older New Jersey defensemen not get punished. It makes a big difference. He’s been playing great since the Olympics. He’ll be tough to beat.
Islanders-Toronto
This has a chance to be a war. It’s going to be a good one. If people think that Toronto is going to just knock off the Islanders, they are wrong. The Islanders are going to really battle. They are fast and can score.
It’s been a number of years since the franchise made the playoffs, but the people they added in the offseason have been here. But Alexei Yashin’s groin injury is a major key. The Islanders need that 1-2 punch down the middle. They have an emotional on-ice leader in Michael Peca and need a healthy Yashin. Chris Osgood seems to have found his game down the stretch. A huge bonus for the Islanders is that Oleg Kvasha, whose a very talented player, has become a total hockey player. He used to play soft, and is now finding the scoring touch.
Toronto is tough. Gary Roberts and Dmitry Yushkevich, if they get healthy, will make a big difference. The Leafs have players who can play with a lot of grit -- Darcy Tucker, Shayne Corson, Mats Sundin, Bryan McCabe, Yushkevich, Roberts -- and then they have a good deal of finesse with Alexander Mogilny.
Cujo is a question, but I think he’ll be fine.
Vancouver-Detroit
Some people may think sweep. I don’t.
|  | | Nicklas Lidstrom and the Wings are hoping they can return to the greatness they displayed in winning the President's Trophy. |
Vancouver lost just nine games since Christmas, and the Canucks may have the best line in the game -- Markus Naslund, Andrew Cassels and Todd Bertuzzi. Bertuzzi may have been the league’s best forward in the second half of the season. He was really good.
Vancouver’s Dan Cloutier is going to have to be really good to go up against Dominik Hasek.
But can Detroit flip the switch? Can the Red Wings get their game where they want it to be for the playoffs. They rested a lot of players down the stretch. If Steve Yzerman’s legs are healthy, they will be tough. But Vancouver will play them tough. The Canucks were swept in the first round by Colorado, but every game was a great game, and each one could have gone the other way. This series will probably be the same way, and some games could go the other way.
Detroit hasn’t played the way it wanted to for more than a month. The Wings thought they were getting sloppy defensively a month ago. They are fabulous. It’s like a big, beautiful engine. Is it going to take a while to fire the engine up, or is it going to come out of the chute blazing on all cylinders? Going in, it’s a good time for Vancouver to catch them. The longer it goes, the better Detroit is going to get.
Los Angeles-Colorado
Good series. It was a good series last season that went seven games, and home ice for Colorado was the deciding factor.
Jason Allison, now in L.A., has the chance to be the deciding factor. Last year the Kings were an upstart and a surprisingly good team. This year they are more of a battle-hardened team.
Colorado is a far better defensive team than they have been getting credit for. With the injuries they had this season and with a number of their top players not scoring, the Avs turned to defense. And Patrick Roy may have been the MVP from start to finish.
This Colorado team can get you with low scoring or get you with offense. Darius Kasparaitis has been playing with more discipline. He could be an aggravating player to a player on the other team. It also gives the Avs more depth if something ever happened to Adan Foote or Rob Blake.
Phoenix-San Jose
The Sharks are pretty good. Whether or not Phoenix can win on the road is going to be the big question. Phoenix cut its payroll and still made the playoffs in the toughest conference. Bobby Francis did the best coaching job in the league. It was remarkable what the Coyotes did.
The Coyotes got bigger during the season with the additions of Drake Berehowsky and Denis Pederson. It gives them more checking, which helped them win more on the road. With Sean Burke, they will never get blown out. They need to win their home games -- where they are tough to beat -- and try to sneak one on the road.
The absence of the injured Danny Markov is really going to show. Missing a top defenseman will hurt them.
San Jose’s season turned around when Teemu Selanne started to get going. Everyone settled in, and knew their roles. The addition of Adam Graves for playoff experience is going to really help them.
Chicago-St. Louis
It was a terrific year for Chicago, but the Blackhawks did not have a strong closing month. They didn’t trade Tony Amonte strictly for the playoffs. It gives them a chance to show their stuff, which is why they kept him. Brian Sutter will have his players ready and playing hard. The goaltending could be a big question. Jocelyn Thibault had a lot of rest down the stretch, and that should help. Eric Daze is a great goalscorer, Alex Zhamnov had a good year and Jon Klemm is an underrated defenseman.
The Blues are starting to find their game, and cranked it up near the end. Keith Tkachuk is starting to score, Chris Pronger is starting to go and the goaltending is not a question. They were good down the stretch and won some big games. Doug Weight is close to being ready, and if he can get his game, that will be a big addition.
It should be a good series and it’s an old rivalry.
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