Western Conference Predictions - Round Two

(1) San Jose Sharks vs. (5) Detroit Red Wings

The first round saw the Sharks able to jump their first obstacle (a person by the name of Craig Anderson) on the path to playoff redemption, and their reward is a date with the two-time defending Western Conference Champs - a team that just demolished one of the league's stingiest defensive teams 6-1 in a Game Seven to advance into the second round. But things are far from peachy for Todd McLellan's club. See, when your top three forwards (Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Dany Heatley) combine for as many goals as Dwight Helminen, odds are your team may be in trouble. Joe Thornton's first round was so bad it almost offended me as a hockey fan. He'll need to sack up if San Jose has any shot of taking home rings this spring, let alone get past Detroit. Ryane Clowe, Devin Setoguchi, and especially Joe Pavelski - who has developed into San Jose's most clutch player by a wide margin - were phenomenal against Colorado. For Detroit, it's the same old, same old. Their leaders - Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Brian Rafalski - were excellent in their first round victory over the upstart Coyotes, while Jimmy Howard battled a few tough stretches to help bring the Wings into round two. The Wings will need to continue to get production from their top players, and will need Tomas Holmstrom and Dan Cleary to cause mayhem in front of San Jose's net. San Jose must get their top players going, get a stellar performance in net from Evgeni Nabokov, and do their best to limit Datsyuk and Zetterberg.

Prediction: Datsyuk and Zetterberg continue to dazzle at both ends of the ice, while Johan Franzen piles pucks behind Nabokov. Thornton does little to aid his abysmal playoff repertoire, and the Sharks have trouble finding ways to score.

Outcome: Detroit in five.

(2) Chicago Blackhawks vs. (3) Vancouver Canucks

Nothing fuels a good, old fashioned hockey hatred like a long hard-fought playoff series. If last year's spring and this year's regular season matchups between these two clubs are a sign of things to come, this series should be rough, tough, and downright dirty. Both Chicago and Vancouver overcame formidable opponents in the first round, and as such, both will be 100% ready for the grueling series this is bound to be. For Chicago, expect big performances from their leaders - Jonathon Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, and Duncan Keith. If they receive a few big performances from some of their secondary sources (Roberto Luongo's enemy in the paint, Dustin Byfuglien, comes to mind), a solid performance from Antti Niemi in net, and are able to contain Daniel and Henrik Sedin they will undoubtedly be successful. Vancouver will require big performances outside of the Sedins, who I expect to have a solid series. Mikael Samuelsson was an absolute beast against Los Angeles, and Pavol Demitra improved mightily after a slow start. You know Ryan Kesler will bring his "A-Game," but Alex Burrows - injured, or not - will need to be better offensively for the Canucks to bring their "A-Game" to the table. Luongo needs to find a level of consistency that he simply did not have against Los Angeles.

Prediction: There will be scrums at every whistle, momentum swings left and right, and up-and-down performances from both Niemi and Luongo. At the end of the day, the Hawks superior depth on defense prevails.

Outcome: Chicago in seven.