Two best teams set to battle out West
By Barry Melrose
Special to ESPN.com
There once was "The Big Four" in the Western Conference: Colorado, Dallas, Detroit and St. Louis. But the Avalanche easily handled the formidable Red Wings. And then the defending Stanley Cup champion Stars disposed of the team, San Jose, that upset the Blues, the league's best regular-season team.
Both the Avalanche and the Stars sent quite a message about how strong they are. So the Western Conference finals will showcase the matchup we have been waiting for -- one clearly featuring the two best teams in the West.
Three storylines to follow
Colossal matchups: From a coaching point of view, the matchups are the part of the game I like the best. With Patrick Roy and Ed Belfour, Colorado and Dallas have arguably the two best goalies of the last five years going head to head. Both teams have one dominating set of defensemen -- Adam Foote and Ray Bourque for Colorado and Derian Hatcher and Richard Matvichuk for Dallas.
How will the Dallas defense be able to handle the great Colorado forward lines? Both teams have two lines that can score. Colorado's power play will go against the Stars' penalty-killing unit, which is the league's best.
| |  | | | Bourque |
Ray of hope: Ray Bourque's health is fine now; he is skating on his injured knee and will play after missing two games and having a week off. But as one of the greatest players of all time, Bourque and his quest for a Stanley Cup continue to be an appealing storyline. This may be his last chance. He remains the sentimental favorite.
Young guns in Big D: Even though the Stars won the championship a year ago, they have added eight or nine different players who weren't there to hoist the Stanley Cup. So, it's not the same team as last year's Cup winner. It will be interesting to see how the young Dallas players like Brenden Morrow continue to perform as the Stars go deeper into the playoffs. Morrow, by the way, has been a big factor for the Stars and has really fit in well on the line with Mike Modano and Brett Hull.
Barry Melrose is a former NHL player and coach who serves as an analyst for ESPN and ABC. |
Ed Belfour talks about playing against Patrick Roy.
