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ROUND 3:
2010 CONFERENCE FINALS

Battle of the Best as Elites Set for West Clash
by Charles Smith
HOCKEYTALK.BIZ

FRIDAY, MAY 14, 2010 -- The cream has risen to the top of the Western Conference, and the top two regular season teams will now vie for the right to play in the Stanley Cup final. 

Joe Thornton Sharks	Patrick Kane Blackhawks

The historically underachieving San Jose Sharks seem to be finally playing up to their playoff potential, and are on the cusp of their first ever finals appearance.

The Chicago Blackhawks, who fell agonizingly short last season after being eliminated in the Conference final by the Detroit Red Wings, again have a shot at making their first Cup final since a youngster named Jeremy Roenick brought them to the edge of glory in 1992.

Those Roenick-led, Mike Keenan-coached Hawks would become but a footnote in the storied history of Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins, who swept them in four straight games to capture their second straight championship.

The Sharks first began to make serious noise in the 2003-04 season, when a young Patrick Marleau, who anchored the top line with Teemu Selanne to his right and Marco Sturm to his left, helped lead the franchise all the way to the Conference final before bowing out to the Calgary Flames in 6 games.

It seemed just a matter of time before San Jose would become a major player in the annual springtime hockey festival that is the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The team had increased in regular season points for five straight seasons but after the greed-induced 2004-05 work stoppage, the Sharks endured an extremely difficult 2005-06 season, until a trade deadline miracle was pulled off by GM Doug Wilson, and the man they call "Jumbo", Joe Thornton joined the lineup. A late season surge would carry the Sharks to the playoffs, but the equally upstart Edmonton Oilers took them down in the Conference semifinal. The Oilers would then go on to the Cup final.

NOTABLE QUOTABLE: "It's a battle of nutrition" -- Former Devil Ken Daneyko , in reference to the grueling nature of the Stanley Cup playoffs (NHL Live, May 12th, 2010)

The arrival of Thornton, coupled when the fast development of incredible young talent including Joe Pavelski, Devin Setoguchi and Ryan Clowe up front, also Marc-Eduord Vlasic and the now-departed Christian Ehrhoff on defense, transformed the Sharks into a regular season juggernaut. Problem was, they still could not get past the second round of the playoffs. Last year, the Sharks won the President's Cup, but followed that up with a first round playoff loss to the Anaheim Ducks.

Feeling that a piece was still missing, Wilson went out and acquired disgruntled superstar Dany Heatley from Ottawa for a bargain price, ridding the team of faded former 50 goal scorer Jonathan Cheechoo and Milan Michalek, a more valuable player but well worth trading for Heatley.  Michalek went on to score 22 goals with the Senators. From the start, the Sharks benefited greatly from the trade as Heatley and Marleau flanked Thornton to form arguably the most feared first line trio in the entire league, and the Sharks finished this regular season atop the Western Conference.

Prior to the 2008-09 season, the Chicago Blackhawks had qualified for the postseason only once in the previous 10 seasons, while only winning one playoff game. The magical transformation began to take place when young guns Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Dustin Byfuglien seemed to come out of nowhere and develop as quickly as Pavelski, Setogutchi and Clowe had for San Jose. The once-shaky defense now features Brent Seabrook, Brian Campbell and Norris trophy-hopeful Duncan Keith as part of what is now widely considered the best blueline corps in the league.

Goaltending was considered their Achilles’ heel, as shaky Cristobal Huet and his $5million-plus salary continue to ride the bench while unproven 26-year-old goalie Antii Niemi leads them through the playoffs. Last season it was reborn veteran Nikolai Khabibulin who picked up the slack when Huet went into the tank in the latter stages, this year it is a young Niemi filling in nicely while Huet made his annual late season migration to the bench to sit quietly and sip Gatorade. Without Niemi, it is doubtful the Hawks would have made it this far.

This years' playoffs have also been a real coming out party for the big bruising Byfuglien, who at 6'4 and 257 lbs with speed and good hands, is the living embodiment of the horrifying monsters which exist in the nightmares of every NHL defensemen.

The fans in Cup-starved Chicago are now looking at a bright future, as Kane, Toews, and Byfuglien are ages 21, 22, and 25 respectively. Toews and Kane team with Patrick Sharp to form the top line, while Byfuglien teams with two-time Cup champion John Madden and Bryan Bickell on the third line. Superstar Marian Hossa normally teams with youngsters Dave Bolland and Kris Versteeg on the second line. On the power play, Byfuglien will make Evgeni Nabokov’s life miserable by planting his large frame directly in the crease and refusing to budge.

This Conference final is an absolute dream matchup. It promises everything from dazzling, unbelievable offensive displays, to bone-jarring hits, and splendid tending of goal.

San Jose finished a single point ahead of Chicago in the regular season standings, which is good enough to give them home-ice in this series, but Chicago did win three of four regular season meetings between the two clubs.  Three of those games were decided by one goal, the only blowout a 7-2 Chicago victory in November. The lone Sharks' victory was a curious 3-2 win in December, a game in which the Blackhawks finished the game with a 47-14 advantage in total shots on goal.

Between these two squads, there are numerous players with All-star credentials. Sharks' captain Rob Blake has won a Norris Trophy, a Stanley Cup, and is a future Hall of famer. The only thing left for his teammates Thornton, Marleau and Heatley to prove they too have the heart of a champion. Unheralded Dan Boyle may be the Sharks' best defenseman, while 6'3", 240 lb Douglas Murray provides that nasty toughness on the blue line that no team should be without. Goalie Nabokov seems to have finally silenced the critics who were questioning his postseason netminding mettle.

Marian Hossa has recently lead a rather nomadic NHL life. A late-season acquisition by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2008, he tasted the bitterness of defeat in a six-game Cup final vs. Detroit. Hossa then jumped to the Red Wings that summer, only to come up short again in a seven game final, ironically, this time against the same Penguins he had deserted. Still unsatisfied, Hossa then signed a multiyear deal with the Blackhawks in the Summer of 2009, in hopes of helping the storied franchise win bring home the Cup for the first time since 1961 when Bobby Hull was still ripping 120 mph slapshots with impunity, Stan Mikita was bending his stick to angles never before seen, and the late Keith Magnuson was still 8 years away from joining the team and spending the 1970's dropping the gloves like there was no tomorrow.

This series should come down to the narrowest of margins in courage, speed and intangibles. On paper, it is a toss-up. Chicago scored 271 regular season goals, which is seven more goals than the previous season. San Jose had 264 goals, which is exactly seven more than they had the previous season.

Niemi has a 2.57 goals against average and .909 save percentage thus far in the postseason, while Nabokov has a 2.57 GAA and a .907 save percentage.

Both teams overcame tough first round challenges from seemingly inferior opponents, before dispatching with relative ease, seemingly much tougher second round opponents.

Chicago's power play is clicking at 21.6%, compared to 19.3% for San Jose, but Joe Pavelski leads not only the Sharks, but all playoff scorers with five shorthanded goals, which means Chicago should be aware of the whereabouts of "The Big Pavelski" when they find themselves with an advantage in manpower.

The slight edge in this series goes to Chicago. They should be able to get more big bodies in front of Nabokov than San Jose can in front of Niemi. With both goalies playing so well, traffic in front of the net will probably be the biggest deciding factor. Whichever team screens the other goaltender more efficiently and gets the most deflections will win the series. Fortunately enough for all, both teams are also healthy.

I like Chicago in seven.

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