The Western Conference
(1) Dallas Stars vs. (8) Edmonton Oilers
The Western champs are hardly infallible. Top forwards Bill Guerin and Pierre Turgeon are injured and goaltender Marty Turco has never played a playoff game. Edmonton enters the playoffs on a roll, perhaps looking to take the Stars by surprise. But the Oilers are terribly mistake prone and the goaltending is suspect. The Stars take grim delight in burying such teams. Besides, it's hard to imagine the Edmonton forwards penetrating the hulking Dallas blueline.
Stars win in five games.
EV (Entertainment Value) Rating: There's plenty of history here, and the Oilers always go down swinging. Even a short series should be a wild one.
(2) Detroit Red Wings vs. (7) Anaheim Mighty Ducks
Although Oates and Kariya get all the headlines, Anaheim wins with defense. They play a lot of one-goal games, take few penalties and kill the ones they do take. The Red Wings are vulnerable to disciplined teams that hang in there, so Anaheim can steal a game or two. But Detroit is back in Stanley Cup form, scoring tons of goals and losing just a handful of games in the last two months. Does this Detroit team have enough defense to repeat? Hard to say, but they have enough to beat Anaheim.
Red Wings win in six games.
EV Rating: Plenty of skating and tape-to-tape passing. But the blowout potential is high.
(3) Colorado Avalanche vs. (6) Minnesota Wild
The real Avalanche finally showed up around mid-January, but are they a true contender? Joe Sakic has been quiet lately, so any team that limits the Peter Forsberg line can skate with Colorado. A tall order, but Jacques Lemaire's stifling defense specializes in such challenges (this is the coach who won a Stanley Cup in New Jersey by essentially boring opponents to death). Minnesota finished near the top in team defense. So if the goaltenders are on their game, the Wild have a chance.
Wild win in seven games.
EV Rating: If Minnesota can even come close to fulfilling this prediction, it should be fascinating to watch.
(4) Vancouver Canucks vs. (5) St. Louis Blues
Vancouver stumbled home, going winless in their last three to blow the division title. But they have more pressing issues: Can Dan Cloutier win a playoff series? Can anyone besides Naslund and Bertuzzi score? St. Louis is a deeper team, especially at forward. But the Blues' goaltending is a mess. The Canucks might have peaked too early in the season, but they can still feast on lousy goaltending. It looks like another early exit for one of the NHL's highest paid teams.
Canucks win in six games.
EV Rating: Could be the best series of the opening round.
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