The Western Conference Semifinals

We'll have to wait a couple more days, at least, for the finish of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, but the West's picture is all set for the next round.  I thought the teams in the West were a lot closer than the teams in the East, so this comes as a surprise for me.  But then again, the playoff adage is coming to be truer and truer - just get in, as they say.  That's what Ottawa's doing, for example.  I'm going to look ahead to the two semifinal matchups and then take a minute to reflect on each losing team's future.

I went 1-3 in picking the Western Quarterfinals, with my lone correct pick (and it was correct down to number of games) being the Preds in 5 over my hometown Red Wings.

Western Conference Semifinals -

St. Louis (2-seed) vs. Los Angeles (8-seed)
I might be looking forward to this series more than any other coming up, regardless of what happens in the East.  Both play a stifling defensive game and both have hot goaltenders.  Goals will be at a premium in this series, and it's hard not to imagine at least a couple overtime thrillers.  I didn't pick either team to advance, expecting playoff inexperience to hamper St. Louis, and Los Angeles to be ousted by a heated-up Vancouver team.  We saw how that went.  Neither team is brimming with playoff experience, but that seems to be a running theme throughout this year.  I still don't buy into St. Louis entirely as a playoff team, but that logic didn't get me far in the first round.  Los Angeles, though, really impressed me with their put-down of the Canucks.  I think this series can go either way, but Los Angeles won't be facing Roberto Luongo this time, and the Blues are healthier than the Canucks were.  It's hard to see the Kings working the same magic on Halak and Elliot.
St. Louis in 7.

Phoenix (3-seed) vs. Nashville (4-seed)
People are going to bill this as a huge goalie battle, and in truth, it is.  But make no mistake - Mike Smith has been the hotter goaltender of the two, if only because Nashville's defense left nothing but scraps to the Red Wings.  Rinne rarely had to make the kind of breathtaking stops that Mike Smith did in Game 6 against the Blackhawks.  Someone can take that and say it means Smith is to be counted on more, but I see it as meaning that Nashville probably has the superior defense; Rinne will hold his own when he has to.  Both teams have reasons to be hungry -  Nashville's core could get split up this offseason, and Phoenix might see the departure of captain Shane Doan.  As good a story as Phoenix's first playoff series win as a franchise post-Winnipeg is, I don't see it happening again.  If Nashville can play Phoenix the way they played Detroit, it'll be another short series.
Nashville in 5.


The Western Conference Quarterfinals Curtain Call -


Vancouver (1-seed)
Tough one, here.  Vancouver was supposed to win; was poised to win.  Had me convinced.  But this postseason might become a blessing in disguise for a Canucks team that will be good again next year - they now know, without a shadow of a doubt, that they can't win with Roberto Luongo.  The regular season maestro and playoff choker probably coughed up his last playoff loss in Vancouver, as the team should now realize that there's no way they can let Cory Schneider leave in free agency.  In this goaltender-driven league (look around at the surviving playoff teams), someone will trade for Luongo, although Vancouver might have to give him up for pennies on the dollar.

Detroit (5-seed)
Another tough one.  Detroit set a record with 23 straight home wins this season, but didn't carry that momentum into the playoffs.  Detroit was the best team in February, but that rarely translates.  Injuries bogged them down the stretch, and they faced a team built precisely to counter what they do.  The Red Wings looked like a dinosaur on the ice, unable to adapt or offer an alternative game plan to the one Nashville was so methodically taking apart.  They say the Red Wings are too old, but that discounts the maturing young guys like Helm, Abdelkader, and Miller, as well as rising young players like Nyquist, Mursak, and Brendan Smith.  The Wings have some age, but they're well-balanced as always.  Brad Stuart is gone, making room to acquire a top blue-liner and promote some from within.  Lidstrom will stay or he won't; he looked old this postseason and if he does return, it would be reasonable to trim down his minutes in the regular season.  But the Wings have more cap room than they've ever had in the post-lockout era, so there's no reason they can't return to prominence next year.

Chicago (6-seed)
Chicago flip-flopped all season long, going through periods of surges and droughts.  At one point in December or January, they had lost 9 or 10 in a row and the talking heads were calling for Coach Q's head.  It's hard to say what went wrong against Phoenix.  Mike Smith decisively outplayed Corey Crawford, who was inconsistent all season long, and much can be hung there.  But the Hawks didn't look themselves, either, perhaps victims of inconsistent penalty calls and suspensions.  Andrew Shaw's 3-game suspension for (unintentionally, it seemed to me) running into Mike Smith was excessive and might have put the Hawks on their heels more than people realize.  It was clear to me, though, that a great deal of spirit left the team when Marian Hossa got laid out.  Hossa's a more integral part of that offense than people realize; a strong, quiet presence as important as Toews or Kane.  His absence was palpable to me in Game 6.  This is still a good team, but they're still recovering from all of the hemorrhaging they did after winning the Cup in 2010.  Their defense lacks depth and Crawford might not be the guy.  Similar futures await without some changes.

San Jose (7-seed)
Out of the two teams who got their seedings on the last day of the season, I expected San Jose's playoff experience to advance them over a much more raw Kings team.  Yet, the Sharks got soundly ejected by the Blues, whereas the Kings delivered the stunner of the quarterfinals thusfar.  I didn't see much of the Sharks series, I have to admit, but I expected more from them.  But the Sharks had been playing playoff hockey for weeks and may very well have slowed down against a Blues team ready to pounce on any mistakes made.  Obviously some work must be done for this team to be better, but I really don't see them being vastly inferior to Los Angeles, or having the problems Chicago does.  They'll be back.

But on the plus side for all four of these teams?  None of them are Pittsburgh.  Who knew we'd be saying that after the first round of the playoffs?  More on that when the Eastern Quarterfinals wrap up.