More of this Feature • Part 2: Dark horses in the East

Join the Discussion "Blues in six. Avalanche in six." The Pinnacle

Related Resources • The best and worst of the opening round • Six keys to survival in the playoffs

Dateline: May 1/02 -

The second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs is even harder to call than the first, but for very different reasons in each conference.

In the West, the regular season strongmen proved their mettle in the opening round. The four top-seeded teams all advanced, with only Colorado needing the full seven games to put down their pesky opponents. All four are Stanley Cup contenders.

In the East, the Bruins, Flyers and Devil have been sent packing. The Toronto Maple Leafs are the only perceived favourite to survive the first round, beaten and bruised after a seven-game campaign against the Islanders. The Eastern half of this year's Stanley Cup final will have a new look. Carolina and Ottawa have never played in a final, Montreal hasn't been there since 1993 and the Leafs are working on a 35 year drought.

Sizing up the West:

(1) Detroit Red Wings versus (4) St. Louis Blues

After a slow start, the Red Wings made a very good Vancouver team look ordinary. St. Louis took only five games to deal with Chicago, relying on stingy defence and three shutouts by goaltender Brent Johnson.

All of the Blues top forwards recorded points against Chicago, which is good. But the team managed only 13 goals in a five game series, which is not so good. They will have to score more to beat Detroit.

The Wings appear to be cruising after their dominating comeback against Vancouver. But Hasek is not the same goalie he was a couple of years ago. His teammates have to either keep the shots against down or fill the St. Louis net. On a good night they can do both. We are about to find out whether this Brent Johnson guy is for real.

Detroit wins if... Hasek regains top form for three or four games.

St. Louis wins if... their forwards can dominate on consecutive shifts.

Prediction: Red Wings in six.

(2) Colorado Avalanche versus (3) San Jose Sharks

San Jose displayed an impressive all-around game against Phoenix. Scoring was a problem: the power play was dismal and Owen Nolan and Teemu Selanne were shut out. But the Sharks were in control the entire series. Their defence is deep, mean and mobile. Other goaltenders made all the headlines, but Evgeni Nabokov was probably as good as any of them.

The Avalanche can still turn on an explosive attack, but they rely on defence to win. That defence had problems containing Los Angeles, which is one reason the series went seven games. Chris Drury, Alex Tanguay and Steven Reinprecht all scored in the final game against L.A., a long-awaited sign of badly needed scoring depth. Peter Forsberg and Milan Hejduk are not fully healthy. Patrick Roy has ranged from average to very good.

I thought the Kings would knock off Colorado. But although the champs staggered a little, they came through. I still think they can be had. San Jose is a much deeper team than Los Angeles. It will be a major disappointment if this series doesn't last six or seven games.

San Jose wins if... they don't have to rely on two or three top skaters to provide all the scoring.

Colorado wins if... Adam Foote and the defence corps set the table, giving the forwards full confidence to rev up the attack.

Prediction: Sharks in seven.

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