Having been the first team to complete a sweep of their series in the first round of the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs, accompanied by Boston and Detroit, the Vancouver Canucks have been rewarded with a lengthy break between rounds, as well as a mystery round 2 opponent. Having ended the series with the St. Louis Blues in just four games — a feat the Canucks have never accomplished as a franchise before — the Canucks are placed in a position that could be debated as working for or against them: does the break between rounds allow the Canucks to rest up and prepare for round 2, or does it destroy their momentum and remove them from the rhythm of the game?
However, the bigger question on most people’s minds is which team the Canucks are even preparing for. The answer to that question lies in the results of two series that are still underway: the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks, and the Chicago Black Hawks and Calgary Flames. Because of the makeup of the playoff tree, points from the regular season still count towards the second round of the playoffs. This means that since Detroit, the second seed in the West, has won its series, it will face either Vancouver or Anaheim because of their respective places in the Western Conference.
Because Anaheim is currently leading the series with top seeded San Jose, Vancouver fans are hoping for them to continue their success, leaving them to play Detroit at the start of round 2, and allowing Vancouver to face the winner of the Calgary/Chicago series. Although the placing of teams in the standings does not always reflect the would-be success of either team (one need only look at San Jose’s performance against the eigth placed Anaheim Ducks), theorhetically it would be more favorable to the Canucks to be playing either the Flames or Black Hawks. However, at this point all the Canucks can do is prepare for their next round and wait for the outcome of these last few round 1 games.
Tag: Chicago Black Hawks
Canucks’ round 2 opponent still up in the air
Having been the first team to complete a sweep of their series in the first round of the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs, accompanied by Boston and Detroit, the Vancouver Canucks have been rewarded with a lengthy break between rounds, as well as a mystery round 2 opponent. Having ended the series with the St. Louis Blues in just four games — a feat the Canucks have never accomplished as a franchise before — the Canucks are placed in a position that could be debated as working for or against them: does the break between rounds allow the Canucks to rest up and prepare for round 2, or does it destroy their momentum and remove them from the rhythm of the game?
However, the bigger question on most people’s minds is which team the Canucks are even preparing for. The answer to that question lies in the results of two series that are still underway: the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks, and the Chicago Black Hawks and Calgary Flames. Because of the makeup of the playoff tree, points from the regular season still count towards the second round of the playoffs. This means that since Detroit, the second seed in the West, has won its series, it will face either Vancouver or Anaheim because of their respective places in the Western Conference.
Because Anaheim is currently leading the series with top seeded San Jose, Vancouver fans are hoping for them to continue their success, leaving them to play Detroit at the start of round 2, and allowing Vancouver to face the winner of the Calgary/Chicago series. Although the placing of teams in the standings does not always reflect the would-be success of either team (one need only look at San Jose’s performance against the eigth placed Anaheim Ducks), theorhetically it would be more favorable to the Canucks to be playing either the Flames or Black Hawks. However, at this point all the Canucks can do is prepare for their next round and wait for the outcome of these last few round 1 games.
Flames re-ignite their playoff hopes
The Calgary Flames opened their 2009 first-round playoff series with the Chicago Blackhawks rather poorly, failing to impress in the first two games, leading to a 2-0 series deficit. Their lack of aggressive play and the inability to harness their veteran supremacy over the young Chicago team quickly dampened the Flames’ fire, a situation they hoped would reverse when they returned to home-ice in games three and four.
The Flames did just that, pleasing their fans in the Pengrowth Saddledome with a 4-2 win over the Blackhawks, cutting their series lead to 2-1, and reinvigorating the downtrodden Calgary team. All it took was the “C” of Red’s display of support, and the understanding that the team has to play more physical in order to win the puck, and eventually the game. Their drive for the puck is reflected in the physicality of their game, having made 30 hits in game 4 (two times as many as Chicago) and giving up only four penalties, the Flames proved to be a hard-hitting and disciplined veteran team.
Although they gave up three unanswered goals in the second period after going ahead 4-1, the Flames rallied their efforts and took back the lead halfway through the third off a goal from Eric Nystrom, and an empty-netter by Jarome Iginla with 11 seconds left in the game. This win brings with it a lot of momentum for the Flames as they head back to the “Windy City” for game 5 in the hopes to steal the series lead.
Game 5 will be played on Saturday at 7:00 PM PST.
Flames can't defy regular season record with Blackhawks
Although they were matched in overall wins in the regular season, the Blackhwaks are the one team that the Calgary Flames would have wanted to avoid in the post-season. Chicago dominated Calgary in the regular season series, posting a record of 4-0-0 and outscoring the Flames 19 to 7. With statistics like these, fans were expecting a much different performance by the Blackhawks than they displayed last night in game one at the United Center in Chicago.
From the moment the puck dropped, Calgary played a physical game to establish their presence and stir up the inexperienced Blackhawks — only ten of their players have playoff experience, and their lack of confidence showed early on in the game. However, Calgary’s level of play was matched by Chicago later in the second; after tying the game at one in the middle frame, then again falling behind in the third, Chicago’s stand-out player of the night, Martin Havlat, evened the game with 5:33 to go in the game after scoring off his own rebound.
With the game unsettled after 60 minutes, the two teams went into overtime expecting a hard-hitting battle for the win that, if the previous periods had shown, would be a long and even-matched series of periods. However, once again Havlat shined for the Blackhawks and scored only 12 seconds into the extra period on a controversial goal that saw Chicago’s Andrew Ladd accidentally-on-purpose interfere with Mikka Kiprusoff. Havlat’s performance landed him the first star of the night. When these two teams meet again on Saturday, Calgary will no doubt up their already high level of play to return the favor to the Blackhawks, aiming to tie the series at one a piece.
Flames can’t defy regular season record with Blackhawks
Although they were matched in overall wins in the regular season, the Blackhwaks are the one team that the Calgary Flames would have wanted to avoid in the post-season. Chicago dominated Calgary in the regular season series, posting a record of 4-0-0 and outscoring the Flames 19 to 7. With statistics like these, fans were expecting a much different performance by the Blackhawks than they displayed last night in game one at the United Center in Chicago.
From the moment the puck dropped, Calgary played a physical game to establish their presence and stir up the inexperienced Blackhawks — only ten of their players have playoff experience, and their lack of confidence showed early on in the game. However, Calgary’s level of play was matched by Chicago later in the second; after tying the game at one in the middle frame, then again falling behind in the third, Chicago’s stand-out player of the night, Martin Havlat, evened the game with 5:33 to go in the game after scoring off his own rebound.
With the game unsettled after 60 minutes, the two teams went into overtime expecting a hard-hitting battle for the win that, if the previous periods had shown, would be a long and even-matched series of periods. However, once again Havlat shined for the Blackhawks and scored only 12 seconds into the extra period on a controversial goal that saw Chicago’s Andrew Ladd accidentally-on-purpose interfere with Mikka Kiprusoff. Havlat’s performance landed him the first star of the night. When these two teams meet again on Saturday, Calgary will no doubt up their already high level of play to return the favor to the Blackhawks, aiming to tie the series at one a piece.