Shallow Frozen Water

A Rangers-Canucks Final?

Hey, no one would have said that on Tuesday but it sure looks plausible today. Virtuoso performances by the two top goalies to own in fantasy hockey have turned their teams into serious contenders after two games in round 1.

Washington vs New York

Henrik Lundqvist is playing the hockey of his life right now, but a big part of his success is coming from the great team defense in front of him. John Tortorella has to be one of the best playoff coaches in the game, but right now Rangers fans should all be sending “thank-you” cards to Tom Renney. The Rangers are taking everything they learned from Renney’s defensive systems and funneling it through the intensity that Torts demands, and its proving to be a frustrating combination for the Capitals to break.

Of course, if penalties in this series were called like they have been in some of the other match-ups, then maybe things would be different. Just sayin’.

Probably the biggest surprise for me in this series is the intensity that Scott Gomez has been bringing. The other guy that has been impressive is Brandon Dubinsky. This guy  was a hot fantasy asset back in October but reminded us down the stretch that he is still a very young player. He’s a bit of a sleeper for me going into next year because many managers will only remember the disappearing act he pulled on their teams.

If the Capitals want to get back into this series, they need to play better team defense. The whole team just seems to be very jumpy, and in their own zone they’re running around way too much. The defense also needs to do a better job with their gap control and focus on protecting the blueline. Nicklas Backstrom has shown surprising maturity on the defensive side of the puck and in the faceoff circlue and continues his quiet evolution into one of the best centers in the game.

Where is Alex Semin?

Vancouver vs St. Louis

It was surprising to me to see how many people were calling for a Blues upset in this series. I made some joking comments myself about recent history in 3-6 matchups (the 6th seed has won five of the last eight) but when you see Luongo on top of his game like he has been, I think it will be very, very difficult to beat him. The Canucks have built their back-end like a fortress, and defense wins championships.

The Blues are putting up a great fight, but as good as Oshie, Perron, McDonald, and crew have been, I think beating Luongo 3 times a game will just be too tall an order.

Gosh, I hate those damn Nucks.

Detroit vs Columbus

Let me first say that I don’t think a team’s record down the stretch means a damn thing when it comes to the playoffs. But when the Jackets lost their spot as the 6th seed to the Blues, that may have been a huge mistake. I loved them against the Flames or the Canucks, but asking them to nullify the skilled Red Wings might be a little much.

Pavel Datsyuk has been a wrecking ball, Valtteri Filppula has been dynamite in all areas of the ice, and Chris Osgood has been surprisingly tough to beat. But probably the biggest reason why the Wings have been able to solve the fantastic goaltending of Steve Mason comes down to a subtle coaching tactic.  Mike Babcock knows that he has some of the smartest shooters in the game in Lidstrom and Rafalski and two of the best crease presences in Holmstrom and Franzen. He has used those tools to exploit Mason’s preferred butterfly technique and is directing the Wings pointmen to send all their shots high.

Here’s a fantasy surprise: Jonathan Ericsson. All I had ever read about this 6′5 converted forward was that he was a one dimensional defensive presence and took a backseat in the offensive department to current and former Wings prospects Jacub Kindl and Kyle Quincey.

But when I see Ericsson handle the puck and rush up the ice, he makes me think of Brent Burns and Nik Lidstrom. It’s a longshot, but I think that if you see him ever given a bigger offensive role he could put up more points in the NHL than he ever has in the minors or back in Sweden.

Chicago vs Calgary

Alright, I’m a Flames fan and once the playoffs begin I drop any presumption of being unbiased, so I won’t say much about this series… other than the Flamers should have won that first game and how wasn’t that goalie interference??? ARGHUGHGUHAHDLKJFFLK!

Come on Mike Cammalleri. Seriously, you’re lucky the discipline in this league has a double standard or you’d be suspended. Take a page out of Marty Havlat’s playbook and put yourself on highlight reels for the right reasons, not the Carcillo ones.

I never would have thought that Rene Bourque could have been so effective in his first game back. He’s a top liner next year and should make a serious run at 30-35 goals.