After a postseason full of gritty, physical play and utter demonstration ofheart and desire, it all comes down to one final, seven-game series to determinewho will proudly and triumphantly hoist Lord Stanley’s cup around the ice.
Beginning on Tuesday, June 4, the Western Conference champs, the Detroit RedWings will face-off against the Eastern Conference winners, the Carolina Hurricanes.The team that wins four games first gets the Cup, the other can only go homeand wait another year for another opportunity to make a title run.
For Detroit, the quest to the Finals this postseason has been very positiveand confidence-building as of late. The Red Wings clinched the Western Conferencewith a record of 51-17-10-4 and 116 points.
Initially, the Wings looked as though it would continue its playoff woes ofthe previous few years after losing its Games 1 and 2 of the first round toeight-seeded Vancouver. However, since then Detroit hasn’t looked back. It wonthe next four consecutive games and the right to play St. Louis in the secondround.
After displacing the burdensome Blues in five games, the Wings met its biggestchallenge, the defending champion Colorado Avalanche in the Conference Finals.The series was hard fought and close up until Game 5, which the defending champswon to take a 3-2 series lead.
In Games 6 and 7, however, Red Wings goalie Dominik Hasek played true to form,making a total of 45 consecutive saves for two straight shutouts and a berthto the Stanley Cup Finals.
For the Hurricanes, the path to the Finals was far more arduous. The streaky’Canes defeated the Devils in six games in the first round as well as the upset-mindedCanadiens in six games in the second round.
Like the Wings, the ‘Canes met their fiercest competitors, the Toronto MapleLeafs, in the Conference Finals. The Carolina kept the series low-scoring, astheir stingy defense eventually got the best of the Leafs. In fact, three outof Carolina’s four wins in the series came in overtime.
Arturs Irbe, the ‘Canes’ goaltender, seems to be on a hot streak on par withHasek. In the six-game series with Toronto, Irbe allowed only six goals, noneof which came when the teams were at equal strength.
The Red Wings and Hurricanes appear to be as different as can be. The formerrelies heavily on the surging offense and physical defense of its future Hallof Famers, superstars like Brendan Shanahan, Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, SergeiFedorov, Luc Robitaille, Chris Chelios, and Nicklas Lidstrom. The latter relieson a strong neutral zone defense, which keeps its opponents’ scoring to a minimum.
In goal for the Red Wings, is six-time Vezina Trophy winner and future Hallof Famer, Dominik Hasek. In addition, the team is coached by one of the all-timegreats, Scotty Bowman, who is looking for his ninth Stanley Cup ring in fourteenFinals appearances.
The ‘Canes have a hot net-minder of their own in Irbe, who has an amazing 1.41goals against average during the postseason. Also, leading scorer Ron Francisonly has 18 penalty minutes, guaranteeing that their offensive spark will beon the ice as much as possible.
In the end, the high-scoring Red Wings will need every bit of help from itssuperstars to score on the tough neutral zone Hurricane defense, which thriveson intercepting passes. The ‘Canes will have to beat the Wings to the puck andtry to contain the Detroit offense, a task easier said than done.
The power play is one of the Wings’ strong points (they rank second in theleague) and, recently, appears to be the only way for a team to score on Irbe.In five-on-five even strength, however, the match-up appears to be much lessone-sided, giving Carolina a chance. So, in order to keep the series close,the underdog ‘Canes will have to avoid ill-advised penalties.
Hasek will be at his best, as will Irbe, providing enormous potential for anexciting and competitive series.
In the end, though, I think the explosive Red Wings will be much too overpoweringfor the Hurricanes. They just have too many options. If one star-studded lineisn’t finding the back of the net, chances are good that another will be ableto pick up the slack. Also, if Irbe is bombarded with many shots on goal, noteven his hot streak will be able to help him. My Prediction: Red Wings in 5.
