IN DEFENCE OF STANLEY
We break down the NHL’s opening round, and look at the teams trying to get rid of Sid,
The theme of the year: Fire the coach and make the playoffs.
Only four teams with coaches tenured longer than two seasons made the playoffs: Chicago, the New York Rangers, Washington and Nashville.
Blame the Pittsburgh Penguins. They fired their coach mid-season last year, bringing in Mike Sullivan, and won the Stanley Cup. Even San Jose, after years of disappointing playoff results, made it to the Cup final under first-year coach Pete DeBoer.
This being a copycat league, midseason firings in Montreal (Michel Therrien was replaced by Claude Julien), Boston (Julien was replaced by Bruce Cassidy) and St. Louis (Ken Hitchcock was replaced by Mike Yeo) spurred those teams out of their doldrums.
Toronto, Ottawa, Columbus, Edmonton and Calgary are in the playoffs after missing last year and, in some cases, much longer. Mike Babcock, Guy Boucher and Todd McLellan have been around two full seasons. John Tortorella has been with Columbus for a little less than two seasons while Glen Gulutzan has run the Flames for just one season.
Playoff regulars Minnesota (which brought in Bruce Boudreau) and Anaheim (which replaced Boudreau with Randy Carlyle) switched coaches over the summer after disappointing playoffs.
Still, the playoffs are on the players. Here’s a look at how the series shape up:
MONTREAL VS. N.Y. RANGERS
Records: Montreal, 47-26-9, first in Atlantic; New York: 48-28-26, first wild card.
Season series: Canadiens, 3-0-0.
The Canadiens: Montreal lives and dies with Carey Price, the all-world goalie. He might not win the Vezina this year, but his 37 wins, 2.23 goalsagainst average and .923 save percentage have him in the top 10 in those categories ... Shea Weber’s physicality will be important on the blue line. He’s nursing a lower body injury ... Coach Claude Julien is trying everything to get Alex Galchenyuk out of his struggles. He has two goals since March 2 ... The Habs went 16-7-1 under Julien. A 52.54 possession rate bodes well.
The Rangers: New York used to be all about Henrik Lundqvist but he has been rather pedestrian this year (3119-4, 2.74, .910,). The Bell Centre has not been kind to him historically (49-2, 3.87, .877) ... Offence has carried New York this year. The Rangers’ 253 goals were fourth best in the league, led by Chris Kreider (28), one of 10 players in double digits in goals ... Captain Ryan McDonagh missed the last four games an undisclosed injury, but has been practising and declared himself ready for the start of the playoffs.
Canadiens in seven
OTTAWA VS. BOSTON
Records: Ottawa, 44-28-10, second in Atlantic; Boston: 44-31-7, third in Atlantic.
Season series: Senators, 4-0-0.
The Senators: Erik Karlsson, the Norris-worthy blueliner, drives the team with 71 points. He’s been battling health issues (foot) and that has to be a big concern. Defenceman Marc Methot (finger) is gone too ... Craig Andersen is solid in net, with Mike Condon a terrific backup ... The Senators are solid down the middle with Kyle Turris (55 points) and a battle-tested Derick Brassard (39 points) ... Ottawa’s 48.44 possession rate is 22nd in the league ... The Senators blocked 1,352 shots, third most in the NHL, led by Mark Borowiecki (364).
The Bruins: Brad Marchand’s career year lifted the Bruins when they needed it most. He’s a pest, maybe the best in the game, but also an elite scorer ... Tuukka Rask struggled down the stretch, but tends to get things done in the playoffs ... Zdeno Chara may not be ageless, but he sometimes plays that way ... The Bruins are the best faceoff team in the East (53.2 per cent), led by Patrice Bergeron (60.1 per cent with a league-high 1,089 faceoff wins).
Edge: Bruins in seven
PITTSBURGH VS. COLUMBUS
Records: Pittsburgh, 50-21-11, second in Metropolitan; Columbus: 5024-8, third in Metropolitan. Season series: Blue Jackets, 2-1-1.
The Blue Jackets: Had an incredible 16-game winning streak mid-season to make a name for themselves, but were uneven after that . . . Sergei Bobrovsky (41-17-5, 2.06 GAA, .931) is a candidate for the Vezina Trophy . . . Their 193 goals against were second fewest in the league . . . Zach Werenski was the best rookie defenceman, but was injured last week. The Jackets’ blue line is built around him and Seth Jones . . . Their possession numbers are middle-of-the-pack at 50.3 per cent . . . Special teams are both ninth — the power play at 82.5 per cent, and penalty killing at 31.0 per cent . . . Goals leader Cam Atkinson (35) struggled so badly down the stretch he was benched, but he did score in the last game.
The Penguins: The Penguins lost key personnel for long stretches, including defenceman Kris Letang, who is out for the year. Trevor Daley (knee) has returned, Evgeni Malkin (shoulder) should be ready to play, while Carl Hagelin (lower body) just started skating . . . Sidney Crosby knows how to win, and has added the Rocket Richard Trophy to his personal collection of awards . . . Matt Murray is ready to go in net and if he stumbles, Marc-Andre Fleury is probably the best backup in the game . . . The Penguins’ 278 goals for was tops in the league.
Edge: Penguins in six
WASHINGTON VS. TORONTO
Records: Washington, 55-19-8, first in Metropolitan; Toronto: 40-27-15, fourth in Atlantic. Season series: Capitals, 2-1-0. The Capitals: They’re built to win now, but have this nasty habit of shooting themselves in the foot come playoff time . . . Nicklas Backstrom had a Hart Trophy-worthy season, leading Washington with 86 points . . . Alex Ovechkin had 33 goals, a bit low for him but he’s on a mission . . . Braden Holtby won the Jennings Trophy after the Capitals allowed a league-low 182 goals . . . The Caps have the third-best power play (23.3 per cent) and sixth-best penalty kill (84.1 per cent) . . . Their 51.68 possession rate is fourth in the league.
The Maple Leafs: They’re entering the playoffs with a certain sense of accomplishment after making the playoffs with seven rookies only a year after they finished dead last . . . The Leafs are tricky, taking the puck away from opponents 732 times, second-best this season . . . The Leafs’ reliance on rookies (goal leader Auston Matthews, assist leader Mitch Marner) could be a concern early in the series . . . Veterans Brian Boyle and James van Riemsdyk have proven track records in the playoffs.
Edge: Capitals in six
ANAHEIM VS. CALGARY
Records: Anaheim, 46-23-13, first in Pacific; Calgary: 45-33-4, fourth in Pacific.
Season series: Ducks, 4-1-0. The Ducks: They finished the season 10-0-3, winning the Pacific Division for the fifth year in a row . . . Goaltending is iffy, but John Gibson should get the start over former Leaf Jonathan Bernier . . . Rickard Rakell’s 33 goals and Ryan Getzlaf’s 55 assists lead the offence . . . A ght knee injury might keep defenceman Cam Fowler — Anaheim’s minutes leader — out for the first round . . . The Ducks play a heavy hitting game under Randy Carlyle, registering 2,146 hits, second most in the league.
The Flames: They overcame a 5-10-1 start with scoring and decent goaltending. Brian Elliott has some pedestrian numbers, but backup Chad Johnson kept the team afloat until Elliott found his form . . . The 3M line — team MVP Mikael Backlund with rookie Matthew Tkachuk and unsung hero Michael Frolik — is as good a line as there is in hockey . . . T.J. Brodie’s 57 takeaways were fourth most in the league . . . The last time the Flames won a game in Anaheim was April 25, 2006.
Ducks in seven
CHICAGO VS. NASHVILLE
Records: Chicago, 50-23-9, first in Central; Nashville: 41-29-12, fourth in Central.
Season series: Blackhawks, 4-1-0.
The Blackhawks: They enter the playoffs on a four-game losing streak, but no one in Chicago is concerned . . . The Hawks have seven players who racked up 19 or more goals, two of which (Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews) were named to the top 100 players of all-time in January. Defenceman Duncan Keith was also named to the top 100 . . . If things get physical, the Blackhawks might be in trouble. They were last in the league in hits.
The Predators: Nashville had three defencemen with at least 10 goals: Ryan Ellis (16), Roman Josi (12) and P.K. Subban (10). Add Mattias Ekholm to the mix and the club might hold the best back-end foursome in the NHL . . . In Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson, Nashville boasts a pair of 30-goal scorers up front . . . Coach Peter Laviolette led Carolina to a Stanley Cup title in 2006 and Philadelphia to the Stanley Cup final in 2010 . . . The Predators will rely heavily on goaltender Pekka Rinne, who has failed to live up to postseason expectations in the past.
Edge: Blackhawks in six
MINNESOTA VS. ST. LOUIS
Records: Minnesota, 49-25-8, second in Central; St. Louis: 46-29-7, third in Central.
Season series: Blues, 3-2-0. The Wild: Goaltender Devan Dubnyk was 33-11-3 with a .931 save percentage at the end of February, but tailed off. In March, he was 3-8-2 with a 2.94 GAA and an .889 save percentage . . . Minnesota was second only to Pittsburgh in goals scored with 266. Eric Staal led Minnesota in goals with 28, followed by Mikael Granlund with 26, Nino Niederreiter with 25 and Jason Zucker with 22 . . . The Wild boast the top three players in the league in plus-minus — Ryan Suter (plus-34), Zucker (plus-34) and Jared Spurgeon (plus-33).
The Blues: After the coaching change that saw Yeo take over for Hitchcock, St. Louis allowed a league-low 1.88 goals per game, had a league-best .937 save percentage, a league-best 88.8 per cent penalty kill, and a league-best plus-33 goal differential. The Blues went 22-8-2 under Yeo . . . Goaltender Jake Allen, who had the worst save percentage of any NHL starter under Hitchcock, had a league-best 1.85 goals-against average and .938 save percentage under Yeo . . . Vladimir Tarasenko tied for fourth in the NHL with 39 goals . . . Centre Paul Stastny has not played since mid-March, sidelined by a suspected broken foot.
Edge: Blues in seven
EDMONTON VS. SAN JOSE
Records: Edmonton, 47-26-9, second in Pacific; San Jose: 46-29-7, third in Pacific.
Season series: Oilers, 3-1-1. The Oilers: Connor McDavid is the franchise and an Art Ross Trophy winner with100 points. If he gets any space, he will make San Jose pay. He’s on a 14-game points streak . . . The Oilers have youth and speed on their side, but a veteran such as Milan Lucic will help . . . The defence came together with a couple of controversial additions in Adam Larsson, who was acquired from New Jersey in a deal for Taylor Hall, and Kris Russell, who signed as a free agent hours after the team traded away forward and former No. 1 pick Nail Yakupov . . . Goalie Cam Talbot (42-22-8, 2.39, .919) perhaps doesn’t get the recognition he deserves. ... The Oilers hit a lot, ranking sixth in the league in that category.
The Sharks: Long the playoff underachievers, the Sharks made it to the Cup final last year, bowing out in six games against Pittsburgh . . . Norris Trophy candidate Brent Burns and partner Marc-Edouard Vlasic will have to contain McDavid and Co. . . . Forwards Logan Couture (face) and Joe Thornton ( knee) are questionable . . . The Sharks lack bite on special teams, with the power play rated 25th (16.7 per cent) . . . The Sharks blocked 1,359 shots, most among the teams heading to the post-season and they took the puck away 658 times, best among Western teams.
Edge: Oilers in seven