An interesting start to the conference finals, Chicago wins a tough one at the Shark Tank and Philadelphia wins a big one on home ice, continuing the momentum of their stirring 0-3 comeback win over Boston. Game two in each series is tonight, then the series go to a more split format, as each series begin staggering their play days so we'll have playoff hockey daily!
The difference maker so far in the Western Conference Finals is big Dustin Byfuglien. The Blackhawks winger has planted himself in front of the net, clogging up sight patterns for goalies throughout the playoffs since his return from playing D in the ‘Hawks first round series with Nashville. San Jose had no answer for the big guy and they will need to figure this out quick or Chicago will have an easy run into the Stanley Cup finals.
The Eastern Finals are just plain strange… I know the Flyers have some depth, but losing Jeff Carter, Ian Laperrier, Simon Gagne, Brian Boucher among others would kill a team at this point in the season. Philly has just continued to roll on with a journeyman goaltender and a ton of heart… now the rumblings are beginning for a return of Carter and Laperriere, that is only good news for Philly. Montreal, on the other hand, has to figure out how to deal with Philly’s size, especially on the blueline. In prior Flyer incarnations, you could out-speed them, however, that may not be as sound a strategy this year. Parking players in front of Halak was a main reason for their four goals against him, the Habs have to clear the crease. Montreal is not out of things by a long shot, but dealing with the Flyers size will continue to be a problem as neither of their first two playoff opponents sported a top four blueline like Philly.
The adult beverages are iced down, I’m ready for a great double header tonight.
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Big win from the Windsor Spitfires in the Memorial Cup last night, led by potential number one pick Taylor Hall’s two goals. The Spitfires feature the Predators number one draft pick from last year, Ryan Ellis. Windsor earns a trip to the Memorial cup final with the win, giving them a chance to repeat as Memorial Cup champs, the first opportunity for a repeat since Kamloops did it in 1995. The championship game is Sunday night at 6pm CDT on NHL Network.
We’ll go in-depth on the Memorial Cup with Joe Birch of the OHL on SlapShot Radio tomorrow night.
Wed. 5/19 – Our playoff reports continue as we talk live with Philadelphia Flyers forward and former Nashville Predator, Scott Hartnell, we’ll talk Western Conference finals with Troy Murray, radio analyst for the Chicago Blackhawks and we’ll get the lowdown on the Memorial Cup tournament from OHL Director of Recruitment, Joe Birch… SlapShot Radio, Live every Wednesday at 6pm on SportsRadio 560 WNSR and online at www.slapshotradio.com.
Also... be on the lookout for the SlapShot Radio Stanley Cup watch party... we're planning a get together to watch a game of the finals and raise money to help restore the inline hockey rinks that have been destroyed by the recent floods. Stay tuned as we will be announcing details soon!
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