Top Seeds Battle for the West

CHICAGO, Ill. – What a Stanley Cup Playoffs this has been. In the East the bottom two seeded teams will face each while the top two in the West will battle it out as the favorite to win the Stanley Cup. One thing we do know for sure is that the winner will have home-ice advantage in the Finals.
 
After defeating the Vancouver Canucks in the sixth game in the semifinals for the second year in a row, the Chicago Blackhawks stayed west and traveled down to San Jose to await the decision on when their playoff series with the Sharks would begin. That decision arrived a few days later as they will have the matinee game on Sunday.
 
One worry is that the length of time the teams had between series. San Jose had seven days of no games since dispatching the Detroit Red Wings four games to one, while Chicago had four days and are relatively fresh. Will being in game shape affect either team?
 
During the regular season the teams are so close on paper. The Blackhawks were only one point behind in the standings with the Sharks that it went all to way to the last day to decide who would be the top seed.
 
As in the playoff the same goes again as every statistic can go either way with these two teams. During the regular season, the Blackhawks won the three out of the four games played with the Sharks. Chicago won both games in San Jose while splitting in each at the United Center. Two went into overtime and the Sharks only win was by one goal. The fourth was a blowout by the Blackhawks by the score of 7-2.
 
Evgeni Nabokov played in all four games for the Sharks and stood on his head making 45 save in their only win. As for ‘Hawks the story is going to be a bit different unlike the regular season where Cristobal Huet started, Antti Niemi will be the started.
 
At forward look for the advantage to go to Chicago for their depth. Scoring can come from anywhere up and down the line for this team. There is good goal distribution up and down the lineup. The series against the Canucks served as a wakeup call for ‘Hawks to turn into a tougher team than the one that showed up against Nashville. They became more physical up in the net that led to many scoring opportunities.
 
As for the Sharks, their top two lines are consistently potent with Joe Thorton, Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatly leading as the number one line but Joe Pavelski has been the solid leader scoring nine goals in the playoffs.
 
Defense has always been the strength of the Blackhawks with the number one matchup of Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. Keith has been dominating all season long and Seabrook has started to up his game at the right time in the playoffs. Expect Brian Campbell to hear the boos coming from the crowd in San Jose after deciding not to return to the team and signing with Chicago. Dan Boyle for the Sharks has always been the steady stalwart in the league. Add the veteran experience of Rob Blake and you have a teaching clinic on the ice for San Jose.
 
One advantage that the San Jose Sharks have is the number of former Blackhawk players on the hockey operations side of the house. Doug Wilson is the team’s General Manager. He played 14 of his 16 NHL years and is considered one of the Blackhawks all-time best defensemen. In his years as a player and coach, Trent Yawney was one of the best when it came to tutoring the young players in term with the team’s AHL affiliate. Duncan Keith was one of his charges when he was in the organization. Dirk Graham, now a scout for the Sharks, was with the ‘Hawks for eight season and was the team captain seven years.
 
Who can we choose between these two evenly matched teams? Niemi has proven himself as a legitimate goaltender in these playoffs, but you also have the veteran experience of Nabokov. Scoring might not be the problem in this series but will the defense come in support of their team and goaltenders. Every game in every series for these two teams told a different story. Neither played the same type of game as they played in the last. The home team loses the first game, then you have the away team win three; one day you win by one and the next you lose by six. You never know how these two teams will match up. All we can say is look for another chapter to be written in a very eventful 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
 
Western Conference Finals
 
W1 San Jose Sharks vs. W2 Chicago Blackhawks
Series N
 
Sunday, May 16 Chicago Blackhawks at San Jose Sharks, 2:00pm
Tuesday, May 18 Chicago Blackhawks at San Jose Sharks, 9:00pm
Friday, May 21 San Jose Sharks at Chicago Blackhawks, 7:00pm
Sunday, May 23 San Jose Sharks at Chicago Blackhawks, 2:00pm
*Tuesday, May 25 Chicago Blackhawks at San Jose Sharks, 8:00pm
*Thursday, May 27 San Jose Sharks at Chicago Blackhawks, 7:00pm
*Saturday, May 29 Chicago Blackhawks at San Jose Sharks, 7:00pm
 
*if necessary, All times Central Daylight Time
 
Contact the author at matt.chin@prohockeynews.com