Anaheim Calling - All Posts

2013 Ducks Report Cards: Devante Smith-Pelly

2013-05-22T21:00:08Z

Player Name/position: Devante Smith-Pelly, RW

Overall Grade: D, for a guy who played more than half the season with the big club last year, you have to expect more than just a cup of coffee.

Contract Status: signed through 2013-14 $870,000 Cap Hit; $690,000 Salary (per Capgeek, of course)

2013 Stats: 7 Games Played; 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 points, minus-4, 8:59 TOI/G

2013 AHL: 65 GP, 14-18-32, minus-20,

Playoff Stats: N/A

Offense: Despite the lockout, the simple fact that he played 42 fewer games this season in the NHL than last would seem to indicate that he did not meet expectations. However, as one might expect his numbers in the AHL this season on a per game basis (.49 P/G, .21 G/G) were significantly better than his NHL numbers last year (.27 P/G, .14 G/G). Of course that is comparing apples and oranges when quality of competition is taken into account, so it's hard to tell what he would have been able to do with more consistent opportunities at the top level.

Defense: As dicey as it may be to look solely at plus/minus, there is no disputing that minus-20 is not a good sign, particularly for a player like Smith-Pelly who has the size and skill to be a force on both sides of the puck. If you're interested, his Corsi On 5-on-5 was -26.31 (per behindthenet.ca) ahead of only Brad Staubitz and Rikard Rakell for the Ducks this season, but a sample size of seven games isn't going to tell you much statistically or anecdotally.

Highlight of the Season: DSP broke out with 12 points in the month of March (5-7-12) nearly doubling his numbers for the rest of the season combined, to that point (6-10-16). In fairness, he only played four games in January, thanks to being called up for training camp and the start of the NHL season.

Expectations for Next Year: I, personally, still have high hopes for DSP. Based on what I read coming out of our Norfolk correspondents, Shawn and Scott, this season he seemed to have a very strong end of the year after struggling early on. Of course, that still raises concerns about how he adjusted to the heightened level of play in the AHL while the lockout was in effect. I'd still love to see him with a chance to get those child bearing hips in front of NHL goalies and evolve into our version of a Tomas Holmstrom or Johan Franzen, which has been sorely missed since the departure of Dustin Penner.

Your Friendly Wednesday Links Roundup:The Francois Beauchemin Has Had Successful Surgery Edition

2013-05-22T19:00:07Z

DUCKS NEWS

Francois Beauchemin has had ACL surgery, the Ducks reported on Monday. [Yahoo! Sports]
You've already seen this on our banner, but the Ducks have signed William Karlsson, who is currently a top rookie in his native Sweden. [NHL.com]
The Hockey Writers analyze Corey Perry's invisible performance against Detroit. [The Hockey Writers]
Fort Wayne Komets goalie Nick Boucher had decided to end his career. [Indiana's NewsCenter]
Paul Kariya is Throwback Attack's Random Pro of the Week. [Throwback Attack]
The Ducks are still crushed by their early playoff elimination. [wavy.com]
The Fort Wayne Komets shocked everyone with their 1993 Turner Cup title. [News-Sentinel.com]
A throwback George Parros jersey foul. [Puck Daddy]
Former Ducks "Great" Andy Sutton's 15 year career has officially come to an end [Puck Daddy]

AROUND THE NHL

Justin Bourne discusses the Patrick Roy to the Avalanche rumors, and discusses the positive and negative aspects of big name players coaching teams. [Backhand Shelf]
Elliotte Friedman from CBC weighs in on the Roy situation as well. [CBC]
Should the Capitals re-sign Mike Ribeiro? [Washington Post]
New York Rangers defenseman was hurt in the team's Game 3 loss to the Boston Bruins. [NHL.com]

2013 Ducks Report Cards: Jordan Hendry

2013-05-22T15:00:07Z

Player Name/position: Jordan Hendry, Defenseman

Overall Grade: B+, No complaints but nothing stands out; just how it should be for a defensive defenseman with a caveat that we didn't get to see him tested at the NHL level.

Contract Status: UFA, $600,000 Salary/Cap Hit in 2013 (per Capgeek, of course)

2013 Stats: 2 Games Played, 0 goals, 0 assists 0 points 17:35 average TOI per game

2013 AHL Stats: 62 GP, 2-9-11, 63 PIM, minus-9 with Norfolk.

Playoff Stats: N/A

Offense: Well, he sure as Hell wasn't expected to provide any offense with the big club, so I guess he met expectations there. His best offensive season in the NHL was with the 2010 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks, where he put up eight points (2-6-8) in 43 games and he clearly didn't have that kind of opportunity this season.

However, his .17 points per game is right on track with his previous three prolonged stints in the AHL (.16 in '09, .15 in '08 and .20 in '07). Most impressively he got 101 shots on goal (1.6 per game) as an Admiral this season, eclipsing his previous best of 97 (1.2 per game) in 2007.

Defense: His minus-9 rating (for what it's worth) was the worst and only the second negative rating of his AHL career (minus-3 in '08). I'd love to see his average time on ice to get an idea of how Norfolk coach Trent Yawney was using him, but even the AHL's game sheets don't keep track of that. Honestly, it's very difficult to tell how he lived up to expectations, having only seen him play in two games this season. Trust me, the analysis will get much better as we work our way up the depth chart in this series.

Highlight of the Season: Two multi-point games (2/17 vs. Bridgeport, and 3/9 vs. Hershey) and a stretch of four points in five games from Dec. 1-14. During that hot streak the Ads went 3-1-1 and Hendry scored both of his goals for the season, including the game winner over the Binghamton Sens.

Expectations for Next Year: None. He's a 29-year-old free agent who spent most of 2011-12 with Lugano of the Swiss league. I'd say this year he was eighth on the defensive depth chart, behind Sami Vatanen and slightly ahead of a concussed 18-year-old first round draft pick in Hampus Lindholm. So, if he is re-signed he's not likely to crack the Ducks' lineup barring several simultaneous injuries to blueliners.

Having said that I would have no problem signing him up for another year of stay-at-home defending in Norfolk, unless our resident Admirals fans have something else to say about it.

Your Friendly Monday Links Roundup: The John Gibson Wins Bronze At Worlds Edition

2013-05-20T16:11:14Z

Bruce Boudreau sees big things ahead for the Ducks. [NHL.com]
The Hockey Writers discuss Emerson Etem and Viktor Fasth. [The Hockey Writers]
Bruce Boudreau has been nominated for the Jack Adams, but does he deserve to win? [Puck Daddy]
Emerson Etem on this past season, and what's ahead. [Anaheim Ducks]
Old, but still relevant: post-Game 7 comments from Teemu Selanne. [Mayor's Manor]
The Ducks will learn from a disappointing end to a promising season. [Los Angeles Times]
The Getzlaf Golf Shootout will be held this fall. [Dana Point Times]
The top five goal scorers who didn't show up in the playoffs. (Guess which Duck is on that list!) [NESN.com]
John Gibson and Montreal Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk helped the US win the Bronze Medal in a shootout at the World Championships, besting Finland. [NHL.com]
Corey Perry joins Choker's Anonymous. (The cartoonist is a Sharks fan - aka someone who is not to be taken seriously). [Backhand Shelf]
Also old, and also relevant: Teemu Selanne's exit interview video. [NHL.com]

Boudreau Nominated for Jack Adams

2013-05-18T17:00:06Z

On Friday the NHL announced the finalists for the Jack Adams trophy, awarded to "the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success." Joel Quinneville of the Chicago Blackhawks, Paul MacLean of the Ottawa Senators and our very own Bruce Boudreau are the three nominees that will be up for the award whenever/wherever they decide to hold the ceremony this year (since it won't be in Vegas as usual due to the lockout).

Boudreau's inclusion isn't really a big surprise. He's a prototypical candidate in that he made a team that was expected by most to miss the playoffs into a division champion. When he came on as the Ducks' Head Coach mid-season in 2011-12, he was only able to muster a 13th place finish, but in his first "full" season behind the Anaheim bench the team rose all the way up to second in the West.

Boudreau is no stranger to that trajectory as he won the award in 2008 after replacing Glen Hanlon as the coach of the Washington Capitals and brought them to a Souteast Division title and their first playoff appearance since 2003.

Typically the Jack Adams is awarded to the coach who is seen to have made the most out of the least. This year that applies to two of the three candidates, Boudreau and former Ducks Assistant Coach Paul MacLean. In his second year as Ottawa's coach MacLean had to deal with a litany of injuries including losing his best forward (Jason Spezza) staring goalie (Craig Anderson) and number one defenseman/best player overall (Erik Karlsson) for extended periods of time. Somehow the Sens came through it and made the playoffs as the seventh seed. They are currently having their asses handed to them by Pittsburgh, but this is a regular season award.

The one coach that doesn't fit the usual model this season is Quinneville. It's a common complaint that coaches with talented teams don't get the credit they deserve because it's so much easier to tell the impact of a good coach with a less talented roster. For example Mike Babcock has never won a Jack Adams, despite being widely considered one of the best coaches in the game today, and certainly one of the most successful. This season Quineville is representing the coaches that take a good team and make it a great team.

Of course the Hawks have received plenty of recognition for their wire to wire domination of the regular season (except against the Ducks) but Coach Q's contribution, bringing together a roster of super stars and depth players to be "The Franchise That Brought Hockey Back" (according to a bullshit Sports Illustrated headline) isn't to be overlooked.

To me, it seems like MacLean's award to lose. The fact that he was nominated last year combined with the adversity his team faced creates quite the narrative, while the quality of the Blackhawks lineup will probably hurt Quinneville's chances and Michel Therrien has almost the exact same qualifications as Boudreau.

Ducks Stat-urday: Valuing Bobby Ryan

2013-05-18T14:41:22Z

There’s been an awful lot of speculation around these parts for some time that Bobby Ryan will not be a Duck long-term. While he’s been subject to trade speculation a few times in his career, the big money deals recently signed by his linemates means that Anaheim will have to get creative if they’re going to keep him long-term.

With this in mind, I thought it might be an interesting exercise to get a more complete picture of Bobby Ryan, the player, by finding other players he’s similar to. The value of this exercise is to try to remove the bias we have about Bobby either way. If we can find a few players that can serve as analogs for Bobby, we might be able to have a more frank discussion about what the Ducks could either expect in a trade, or a future contract.

If you’ve never checked it out before, Hockey Reference has this awesome feature called similarity scores. You can read the background here, but essentially, it’s a tool they created to "find players whose careers were similar in terms of quality and shape." This seems like a good enough starting point for me. Here are the active players that Hockey Reference has calculated to be most similar to Bobby Ryan (ranked in order of similarity). I’ve added in their 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 salaries (and cap hits) for the sake of discussion:

Player (Age)	2012-2013 Salary (Cap Hit)	2013-2014 Salary (Cap Hit)
Loui Eriksson (27)	$4.6 M ($4.25 M)	$4.6 M ($4.25 M)
Jonathan Toews (25)	$6 M ($6.3 M)	$6.5 M ($6.3 M)
Alexandre Burrows (32)	$2 M ($2 M)	$6 M ($4.5 M)
Phil Kessel (25)	$5.1 M ($5.4 M)	$5.4 M ($5.4 M)
David Krejci (27)	$5.25 M ($5.25 M)	$5.25 M ($5.25 M)
Patrick Kane (24)	$6 M ($6.3 M)	$6.5M ($6.3 M)
Nicklas Backstrom (25)	$6 M ($6.7 M)	$6 M ($6.7 M)

Before we dive into those players, a quick reminder about Bobby’s current contract status: He just turned 26 and is currently signed through the 2014-2015 season at a value of $5,562,500 per season and a cap hit of $5,100,000. So if the Ducks do nothing, they owe Bobby $11 M over the next two years for his age 26 and 27 seasons. Anyone trading for Ryan is getting two years of what are likely discounted pricing for a player of his track record.

As for the players, that’s a pretty stout list of talent. The Toews, Krejci, and Backstrom comps aren’t as clean since they’re centers, but you get the point. Bobby’s contemporaries are very good to great players, and I think most people around the league would probably agree that he belongs on a list like this. In terms of salary, Bobby’s pretty much right in the middle of the pack, and his next contract will likely start at no fewer than $6.5M per year.

Let’s take a different tack to generate a list of comparable players. Here’s a list of all wingers that have tallied at least 100 goals and 200 points in the last four years (sorted by GP):

Player (Age)

2012-2013 Salary (Cap Hit)

2013-2014 Salary (Cap Hit)

Matt Moulson (29)

$3 M ($3.133 M)

$3.9 M ($3.133 M)

Jarome Iginla (35)

$7 M ($7 M)

UFA

Martin St. Louis (37)

$5.5 M ($5.625 M)

$6.5 M ($5.625 M)

Corey Perry (28)

$4.875 M ($5.325 M)

$7 M ($8.625 M)

Patrick Kane (24)

$6 M ($6.3 M)

$6.5M ($6.3 M)

Dany Heatley (32)

$6 M ($7.5 M)

$5 M ($7.5 M)

Rick Nash (28)

$7.6 M ($7.8M)

$7.8 M ($7.8M)

James Neal (25)

$5 M ($5 M)

Alex Ovechkin (27)

$9 M ($9.538 M)

Ilya Kovalchuk (30)

$11 M ($6.67 M)

$11.3 M ($6.67 M)

Marian Gaborik (31)

$7.5 M ($7.5 M)

Thomas Vanek (29)

$6.4 M ($7.14 M)

Daniel Sedin (32)

$6.1 M ($6.1 M)

Alexander Semin (29)

$7 M ($7 M)

If I’m Bobby’s agent, this is the list I’m taking with me whenever it’s time to talk a new contract. The man is going to get paid with comps like this. What’s interesting is that Bobby is younger than everyone on this list except Kane and Neal.

All of this means that Bobby’s value should be pretty damn high. He’s young, is under contract for two more seasons, and is one of only 15 wingers in the last four years to rack up 100 goals and 200 points. I’ve seen some of the trade proposals that people have started throwing around here, and I think they’re selling way too low on a player in Bobby’s situation.

My personal thinking is that if he’s traded, it’s got to be a 3-to-1 sort of deal plus picks, with at least two of those players being starting caliber players. The Ducks don’t have to trade Bobby right now, and I’d be pretty disappointed in any deal from Murray that sells low on him.

Group Therapy: One More For The Road

2013-05-18T06:25:03Z

Is the wound still too fresh? When does "too soon" end? I know it lasts longer than the handshake line, cause I was clearly not over it then (site previous post) and I can’t even pretend I’m over it now. But, we must go on.

So, here it is, my last rant before I ride off into the sunset with my golf clubs in hand - never to return. I hope that Jen will invite me back from time to time to participate in the snarky post editions as I would love to participate and give my "who the hell are you?" two cents. It’s just too bad I’m only retiring from blogging and not my real job.

WHAT. THE. H-E-double hockey sticks…?:

Corey Perry, please, I hope you tell ONE person that you’re glad you signed an $8+million dollar extension before the post season began. Oh, you’re "money" alright.

Jonas Hiller…hey….buddy………how……..are…….you…….? Everything………..ok……..? Moving……..a…….bit…….slow……out…..there……….Oops, and just like that another puck slips by!

Bobby Ryan, I always found the love/hate relationship with you to be exhausting, now I just find you to be exhausting. I’m sure you’ll light up the Honda Center next season…I just think it will be AGAINST Anaheim.

Bryan Allen, congratulations on not being my least favorite defenseman at the end of the season. That honor went to Sheldon Souray, who proved to be just as worthless as everyone said he would be. Apparently holding the blue-line isn’t for everyone.

Anaheim, if only you hadn’t used up all of that luck and "we had no business winning that game" good fortune from the beginning of the season, we might be having a different conversation right now. It’s a real shame too, cause, early on in this season, when you were impressive, you would have massacred that Detroit Red Wings team. Hell, you could have, but apparently someone, or many someones, turned off the switch. Next season, right?

…and finally a few thanks:

Ryan Getzlaf, for impressing the hell out of me…for a change! I feel like you were a solid player who showed us what you’re made of. I just wish it didn’t take a five year span to witness what you’re truly made of. And to think, I know you could have given us a lot more.

Viktor Fasth, for relieving those of us not on Team Hiller. I really wish you were given a chance in the post season, but I look forward to next season.

Emerson Etem, for shocking the hell out of me. I was worried you wouldn’t make it in the NHL. I honestly didn’t expect you to be more than a funny skater who was lucky enough to represent southern California. I’m thrilled to see you’re so much more than that. I really hope you continue to grow and blossom in Anaheim.

The kids, you all stepped up this season when we all worried so much about the forward depth of this team.

Francois Beauchemin, I’m sorry for the unfortunate lack of media attention dedicated to the West and for those who completely blanked when it came to Norris trophy nominations. You are an obvious leader on this team, and I hope you’re rewarded with more next season.

Teemu Selanne, for allowing me the opportunity to see a true legend in my lifetime. I’ve said it before, but this time I think this is right: It’s time for you to hang them up.

Nick Bonino, I thought they were crazy giving you a new number this season. HA! I’m so happy you proved me wrong.

Cam Fowler, while yes, you still have a long way to go, I feel these playoffs showed a lot of people that you are on your way to being an incredible offensive defenseman. I’ll remove you from my favorite player list, as I fear that put clearly put a jinx on your back and placed a dark cloud over your season. My apologies.

Jen, who really gave me an amazing opportunity to be a part of this blossoming giant here at Anaheim Calling. The freedom to express myself about hockey has been incredible and I wish Jen and the entire staff at AC the best of luck!

Now and forever, GO DUCKS!!!

Anaheim Calling Staff Playoff Preview - Conference Semifinals

2013-05-16T19:41:14Z

[Ed. Note: Apologies for the delay, you might have noticed the site was a little wonky yesterday, and it took a little while to compile all of this. But rest assured, all picks were made prior to any of the series starting. -CK]

Well the Ducks couldn't quite pull it off, but that doesn't mean we here at Anaheim Calling aren't going to keep chugging along with our Playoff Predictions game. With one round complete let's see how we scored the first time out. Scoring: 5 points for getting the winner correct, 5 extra points for getting the number of games right, none for getting the games right but the winner wrong.

Eastern Conference

	Jen	SK	Robby	Daniel	Jer	Derek	Kristen	Chris	Kyle
(1)PIT vs. (8)NYI	10	5	10	5	5	5	10	5	10
(2)MTL vs. (7)OTT	10	0	5	0	0	5	0	5	0
(3)WSH vs. (6)NYR	5	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
(4)BOS vs. (5)TOR	5	0	5	5	5	0	0	5	5
East Totals	30	10	20	10	10	10	10	15	15

Western Conference

	Jen	SK	Robby	Daniel	Jer	Derek	Kristen	Chris	Kyle
(1)CHI vs. (8)MIN	10	5	10	10	10	5	5	5	5
(2)ANA vs. (7)DET	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
(3)VAN vs. (6)SJ	0	0	0	0	5	0	5	5	0
(4)STL vs. (5)LA	5	10	5	10	10	0	10	5	10
West Totals	15	15	15	20	25	5	20	20	15

Round Totals

	Jen	SK	Robby	Daniel	Jer	Derek	Kristen	Chris	Kyle
East Total	30	10	20	10	10	10	10	15	15
West Total	15	15	15	20	25	5	20	20	15
Grand Total	45	25	35	30	35	15	30	35	30

Yep that means your current leader is none other than Jen herself, trailed closely by Chris, Robby, and Jer.

1	Jen	45
2	Robby	35
	Jer	35
	Chris	35
5	Daniel	30
	Kristen	30
	Kyle	30
8	SK	25
9	Derek	15

So now for our look at the second round:

Eastern Conference	Jen	SK	Robby	Daniel	Jer	Derek	Kristen	Chris	Kyle
(1)PIT vs. (7)OTT	OTT in 6	OTT in 6	OTT in 6	OTT in 6	OTT in 6	PIT in 7	PIT in 5	PIT in 7	PIT in 6
(4)BOS vs. (6)NYR	NY in 5	NY in 7	BOS in 4	NY in 6	NY in 7	NY in 6	NY in 6	BOS in 7	BOS in 5

(1)Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (7)Ottawa Senators

A lot has been made of this series since the gruesome incident this year in which Matt Cook severed Erik Karlsson's Achilles' Tendon with the blade of his skate. Whether or not it was on purpose is now completely irrelevant however, as miraculously Karlsson returned to the Senators' lineup just ten short weeks later and has already made a significant impact. Easily one of the best scoring defensemen in the NHL, Karlsson played a huge part as the Senators more or less wiped the floor with the Montreal Canadiens. The Penguins on the other hand looked extremely suspect in their first round matchup with the New York Islanders. On paper that series should have been over in four games. However, despite their offense scoring four or more goals in every game that series, their defense looked extremely porous and their goaltending was borderline laughable. Ottawa is a much better team than the Isles were and if Pittsburgh doesn't correct some serious issues, the trade deadline's big-spenders could be in for a very disappointing exit.

-"Even though Ottawa is better than expected and Pittsburgh is worse, I still want to see a Pens/Hawks Final." - Chris
-"Sens are scary good. Crosby whines-a lot. Malkin looks confused. Alfredsson gets bitch-slapped cuz he still deserves it. Fleury gets traded." - SK
-"God wants Ottawa to win. He healed Karlsson, now probably Spezza. He keeps trying to injure Sid." - Jen
-"Assuming Bylsma plays his $2 million goalie instead of his $5 million, the Pens' offensive juggernaut will be able to keep up with their defensive mediocrity." - Derek
-"Matt Cooke and Erik Karlsson shock the hockey world by doing... absolutely nothing to each other." - Kyle
-"C'mon, someone has to throw them a bone." - Jer
-"Wolverine gets his revenge, upsetting Cooke and the Pens. Down Goes Brown haz a sad." - Robby
-"I like Bryan Murray and dislike the Penguins so this was easy." - Daniel
-"All together now: Doesn't Iggy deserve it?" - Kristen

(4)Boston Bruins vs. (6)New York Rangers

Both of these teams were forced to play seven games in their previous matchups, the Rangers blowing the Washington Capitals apart at Verizon Center in D.C., and Boston with a dramatic comeback from 4-1 down to eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime. Both are arguably tired, beat up, and will immediately have to get back at it as their journey for the Cup continues. The Boston Bruins are tough, gritty, and physical, but have proven weak to speed and good puck movement. Tukka Rask has been good in net, but not spectacular. Likewise for the Rangers, they've proven they can put up some offensive numbers with superstars like Rick Nash and Brad Richards in the lineup, but they too have proven weak to aggressive defenses that give them little room with which to work in the offensive zone. Both teams seem to have an advantage over the other making this a particularly interesting series to predict. NBC doesn't care, however, as it's one of two matchups in this semi-finals that features two Original Six squads (read: their ratings darlings) going head-to-head. Expect to hear this series being discussed at the intermissions of every game in every other series this round... and perhaps the next one too.

-"No idea why I'm picking Boston here. The tiebreaker should go to Lundqvist but I guess I believe in Seguin and Marchand starting to score." - Chris
-"Lundqvist's locks are nothing compared to Selanne's, but that's ok. Seguin cries - a lot. Chara gets bitch-slapped." - SK
-"To win in the playoffs, you need a hot goalie. Hank is both hot in the hockey-sense and the not hockey-sense." - Jen
-"Boston has a fantastic D corps, but the Rangers' is better. Boston has a goalie capable of stealing games, but the Rangers' actually does steal them, rather than just show the potential to do so." - Derek
-"The words "Original Six" get thrown out so many times that NBC's broadcasts turn into another Dexter's Lab "Omlette du Fromage" scenario." - Kyle
-"Neither of these teams can get it done in less than 7, apparently." - Jer
-"Boston doesn't mess around and just obliterates the Rangers." - Robby
-"If Boston had their hands full with Toronto NY will be a bigger problem. King Henrik deserves a shot at glory." - Daniel
-"If it wasn't for a spectacular Leafs collapse, the Bruins might be golfing with us. On the other hand, the Rangers seemed to become a more cohesive hockey team as their QF series progressed." - Kristen

************************

Western Conference	Jen	SK	Robby	Daniel	Jer	Derek	Kristen	Chris	Kyle
(1)CHI vs. (7)DET	CHI in 5	CHI in 6	DET in 7	CHI in 5	CHI in 5	CHI in 7	CHI in 4	CHI in 6	CHI in 6
(5)LA vs. (6)SJ	LA in 5	SJ in 6	SJ in 5	LA in 6	LA in 6	SJ in 7	LA in 6	LA in 6	LA in 5

(1)Chicago Blackhawks vs. (7)Detroit Red Wings

Well the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings didn't get their So-Cal rivalry matchup, but NBC got its dream pairing. The only two Original Six teams in the West (and the only two West teams they even know exist) will go at it for the final time as members of the same conference. And boy is this one built for television ratings, as it pairs the super-duos of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews from the Hawks up against Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk of the Wings. On one side, you have the most dominant squad in the entire NHL this season in Chicago, the President's Trophy winners. On the other you have the experienced and white-hot Red Wings, who may not have fared well through much of the regular season, but a dominant performance in game seven of their series with Anaheim proved they're still the same playoff-expert Wings that have been there any other year. It's a long and storied rivalry with the Red Wings leading the all-time series with a 433-355-84 record; however this season has belonged solely to the Hawks, who were 4-0 against Detroit. You get the feeling that whoever wins this series might be the one to go on to play for the Stanley Cup, as both teams have been so strong lately, the Hawks in the regular season and the Wings in the playoffs. Not that the Hawks have been poor in the playoffs either, mind you, coming off a dominant 5-game series victory over the Minnesota Wild.

-"The Hawks are the better team, but then again, so were the Ducks, right? God I hate these guys. If the refs start calling Howard's dives, this one will be over in four. But don't count on that." - Derek
-"Toews and Kane show Anaheim and Detroit what top-forward production should look like. Howard cries - a lot. Abdelkader gets bitch-slapped." - SK
-"Good(ish) triumphs over evil. Toews punts Red Wings into Eastern Conference." - Jen
-"All aboard the Blackhawk bandwagon!" - Jer
-"The Wings get cocky, and Chicago rolls all over them." - Kristen
-"I want Chicago to win, but Detroit will make the necessary adjustments to pull this one out." - Robby
-"Pierre McGuire sets a new record by mentioning Jonathan Toews on the broadcast 1,983 times before the puck even drops in Game 1." - Kyle
-"Jonathan Toews & Patrick Kane, Saviors of the Universe, protectors of all that is good and holy, must represent the West or all hope is lost." - Chris

(5)Los Angeles Kings vs. (6)San Jose Sharks

For the second time in three years the San Jose Sharks will meet the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with the previous encounter, a quarterfinal series in 2011, going the way of the Sharks. This time around it's a semi-final and both teams have been lights-out spectacular through one round. However, there are a few things to consider. On one hand, the Los Angeles Kings are 2-1-1 against their rivals from the north this year, stealing a point out of a shootout game in San Jose back in April. Both these teams are unbelievably strong at home, making this look like it might be a long and gritty series to revive the rivalry that has somewhat gone dormant over the last year or so. However, San Jose is coming off of a sweep of the Vancouver Canucks in which they were never really challenged. The second round usually favors the teams who have had to deal with some adversity through the first round to get themselves into playoff shape, and LA will be a much better team than Vancouver, so don't be surprised if San Jose gets off to a sluggish start and LA steals a game or two up north. What I can guarantee however is that this will be a goaltender's duel, with Antti Niemi and Jonathan Quick both playing unbelievably well through their first-round matchups.

-"The Kings look very dangerous again, and it's up to the Sharks to stop them from taking a run at the California Cup Count lead. For once, San Jose looks good in the playoffs. Let's hope that continues." - Derek
-"There is no "lesser evil" here. Couture chews up Quick and feeds him to Brown for dinner. Doughty cries - a lot. Penner gets bitch-slapped." - SK
-"Round 1 of SJ/Van was best of 2 chokers. Kings put Sharks out of misery - again." - Jen
-"It'll be interesting to see if the Kings spot their opponent a 2 game lead in this series, too." - Jer
-"The Sharks may have dominated Vancouver, but they've met their match in LA." - Kristen
-"Something has clicked in San Jose and I actually think they roll over the Kings pretty easily. LA doesn't have enough scoring to hang." - Robby
-"This is like picking between leukemia and AIDS. One's a cancer, the other's a disease. You pick which is which, but either way they both suck." - Kyle
-"why? Why! WHYYYYYYYYY!?!?!?" - Chris

Let the games begin! Wait... they already have? Oh... okay.