Image courtesy of thesportsquotient.com
Well, that went quick. We’re
all the way through the action-packed, 48-game season and the playoff picture
is just as crazy as one would have expected. The Montreal Canadians captured
the Northeast Division title just a year after finishing 15th in the
Eastern Conference. The Florida Panthers finished dead last in points in the
entire league after winning the Southeast Division in 2012. The Nashville
Predators finished 14th after qualifying for the playoffs in all but
one of the past eight seasons.
The shortness of the season
(and training camp) is likely to blame for the extra-weird results of this
season. However the lockout’s wrath was not limited to the standings; the short
season has caused award races to be as strange and unclear as they’ve been in
years. Could Sidney Crosby win the Hart despite missing a quarter of the
season? Could Alex Ovechkin win after only playing well for 20 games? When did
Martin St. Louis come out of retirement? Sergei Bobrovsky doesn’t play for um…who
did he play for again?
Needless to say, there was
nothing easy about picking these recipients.
Hart- Alex
Ovechkin
I feel strange calling Ovie the
league’s most valuable playing considering he played like hot garbage for the
first half of the season. But his play in the second half was nothing short of
incredible. He scored 23 goals in the final 23 games as he led the Capitals
from 15th to 3rd in the Eastern Conference. Don’t get me
wrong, a lot of factors out of Ovechkin’s control had to go right for him to
even be considered. First, if Tampa Bay had any kind of consistent goaltending,
Stamkos and St. Louis would be better candidates than Ovechkin. Secondly, if
Crosby doesn’t get hurt, he runs away with the award. He was having one of the
best seasons we’ve seen anyone have in a long time. If he plays two-three more
games, this award is his. Hell, he could still win it. He finished third in
points and second in assists and MISSED A QUARTER OF THE SEASON. But I digress;
Alex Ovechkin will be the Hart Trophy winner. Even if it’s less convincing than
Jose Theodore’s win once upon a time.
Vezina:
Sergei
Bobrovsky
Yeah, I’m
as surprised as you are.
I know the
Blue Jackets didn’t make the playoffs but Bobrovsky’s performance was too
remarkable to ignore. He carried a team that featured Vinny Prospal, Mark Letestu
and Artem Ansimov as it’s top scoring threats to within a game of the playoffs.
The Jackets went 18-3-5 down the stretch and Bobrovsky allowed only 41 goals on
nearly 800 shots during that period. In a normal season Bob probably would have
fizzled out and we wouldn’t be discussing this issue. But the shortened season
is the perfect time to recognize the incredible stretch Bobrovsky had.
Rookie
of the Year: Nail Yakupov
The Edmonton
rookie lived up to the hype as he led all first-year players in points (31) and
goals (17). He did this with roughly 10 days of training camp after a six-month
lockout. Yakupov appears to have a nice future ahead of him.
Playoffs:
No matter how much thought you
put into them or how well you research them, chances are your NHL playoff picks
will look silly just days after they are made. That’s just the nature of the
league. Keep that in mind next week when I miraculously pick all eight series
wrong. To avoid looking too far ahead we’ll focus on the first round for now
and I’ll keep it brief.
Chicago
over Minnesota in five
This is a totally different
Minnesota team than the one that totally collapsed last season. This team can score
and doesn’t lay down for anyone. But this Blackhawks squad is too good,
defensively strong, fast, tough, creative potent and has too much chemistry to
overcome. There are no weaknesses in this team. They have two excellent
goalies, a ton of scoring talent and a solid defensive corps.
Vancouver
over San Jose in seven
Here we have a matchup of two
teams who perennially disappoint in the postseason. The good news: one of them
has to win. Both have talented top lines and excellent goaltending. I’ll give
the slight edge to Vancouver here because I trust Corey Schneider slightly more
than Annti Niemi.
Anaheim
over Detroit in six
The Ducks seem to be finally
taking advantage of the immense talent on their roster as they’ve had quite the
turnaround. Detroit, on the other hand, had to scrap to the end to get to their
22nd consecutive postseason. The Ducks are as playoff experienced as
the Wings but their veterans (Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan, Selanne) have plenty of
game left. Barring a weird goaltender controversy, Anaheim looks poised to make
a run.
Los
Angeles over St. Louis in seven
Both teams played much better
down the stretch than they did for most of the season. Obviously the second
half the season is more emblematic of the teams’ abilities. Conn Smythe winner
Jon Quick had a rough start to the season as did the Blues committee of
goalies. But Quick stabilized down the stretch while Brian Elliot earned the
starting role and played more like he did last year. Both teams are big and
physical but a slight edge goes to the Kings because they’re more capable of
scoring.
Pittsburgh
over New York Islanders in five
This one’s pretty simple. There’s
just too much of a talent gap between the two teams whether or not Crosby
plays.
Ottawa
over Montreal in seven
This would be the upset of the
playoffs, correct? Well maybe not. While Montreal had seven more points and an
11 point better goal differential (neither of which are a significant margin),
Ottawa was without two of its most important players for most of the season.
Now that Erik Karlsson and Craig Anderson have rejoined the team, they’re just
as capable of winning this series as Montreal. And they will.
New
York Rangers over Washington in six
Although this is technically an
upset pick, the Rangers finished with only one point less than the Capitals.
Both teams finished the season well but the Rangers appear to be better suited
for the playoffs. They have an excellent goalie, very good D and some
recently-acquired secondary scoring (oh, hello Derek Stepan). Meanwhile, the
Caps almost routinely disappoint in the first round.
Boston
over Toronto in six
With all due respect to the
first Toronto team to qualify for the postseason in nine years, I’d be mildly
shocked if Boston didn’t win this series. The Bruins are two years removed from
a Cup win, they’re tough and they’re more talented than Toronto. Boston has
trouble scoring at times but has the rock-solid D and excellent goaltending to
make up for it. Also, there has to be at least a slight “happy to be here” attitude
for the Leafs.
That’s it for now , hockey fans. Enjoy round one and stay
hungry, my friends.
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