2011 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs

Some people predict that the Stanley Cup winner will come from the west this year. With contenders such as the Canucks, who have a far more superior team than last year, the Red Wings and the Sharks the chances that the cup will end up in the west are quite high. The following is a preview of the upcoming western series with predictions of who the winners will be. For the Eastern conference, please consult the part 1.

These two teams know each other very well. They met in the last two years and Chicago managed to advance both years. But this year, things are different. The Sedin brothers have a wonderful chemistry together and most of the core of Chicago that led them to the Stanley Cup last year is gone.

Offense

The Canucks offense has a lot of depth. Starting with the Sedin brothers, who complete each other perfectly and can create a lot of problems to the other team. If the Blackhawks try to stop these two, then Ryan Kesler will step up with Burrows. The only missing players is Manny Malhotra and it's a big loss in my opinion because he has good vision of the game and he can distribute the puck with great efficiency. The Blackhawks also have good forwards with Kane, Sharp, Toews and Marian Hossa being part of the first two trios.

Defense

The Canucks have much depth in defense as well. Most of their players got injured during the season but they are back now. Christian Ehrhoff finished the season with 50 points. The other men are Alexander Edler, Kevin Bieksa and Keith Ballard. If these players are 100 % fit, it will be hard for Chicago to put pucks past Luongo.

Goalies

Roberto Luongo had a decent season. He finished the season with 38 wins and a goals-against-average of 2.11. He will be in nets hoping to end the postseason losses against Chicago. Corey Crawford will be the goaltender for Chicago. Marty Turco is the other one but Chicago should rely on Crawford for the playoffs.

My prediction: Canucks will win in 5 games

This is the first time the Sharks and Kings will play against each other. The Kings team is missing some key players with superstar Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams. On the other side, the Sharks offense has a lot of depth with 9 players who have at least 19 goals.

Offense

The Sharks top three forwards Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley have had a great season this year. Besides them, the Sharks can rely on rookie Logan Couture, who emerged as a top key player with a career high of 32 goals. Joe Pavelski, Devin Setoguchi and Ryan Clowe are all players to be watched by the Kings. The Kings are short staff in the offense. They are missing key players like Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams. Dustin Brown, Dustin Penner and Ryan Smith will have to step up their gameplay if they want don't want to drown in a water infested with Sharks.

Defense

San Jose has a decent defense. Dan Boyle is their key player on defense and he should be shouldered by Doug Murray. The other duos should be consisted of Jason Demers with Vlasic and Ian White with Niclas Wallin. The Kings have a strong defense and one hopes it will compensate for the losses of Kopitar. Drew Doughty leads the defense with 51 points and he will probably be teamed up with Jack Johnson (not the singer!). The other players are Rob Scuderi, Matt Greene, Willie Mitchell and Alec Martinez.

Goalies

Antti Niemi started the season at a slow pace, letting the Sharks fans wonder if it was a good move to let Evgeni nabokov leave. But he managed to sort himself up and play like he did for Chicago last year. Ending the season with an impressive record of 35 wins with a save percentage of .920, Niemi should be the trusted goaltender over Niyttymaki. The Kings should place their bets on Jonathan Quick. But if he fails to prevail, they have a backup plan with Jonathan Bernier who proves himself worthy of being between the posts this season with a 2.48 goals-against-average.

My prediction: Sharks will win in 5 games

Every hockey fan remembers last year's playoffs when these two met. Going on a 7th suspenseful match to decide of the winner, these teams gave us one of the best series last year. But we wonder if this year will be the same since Detroit is missing Henrik Zetterberg.

Offense

The Red Wings have a reputation of always having one of the best forwards every year. This year though, they are missing key player Henrik Zetterberg. Will they be able to perform like they can without him? Of course they also have Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen but the loss of Henrik might hurt them down the road. They also have Dan Cleary who can deliver and Thomas Holmstrom. The Coyotes don't have players as strong as the Red Wings. They will have to rely on veteran Shane Doan to deliver the goods. He will have the help of veteran Ray Whitney as well as Radim Vrbata and Lee Stempniak.

Defense

Veteran superstar Nicklas Lidstrom is now 41 years old but don't that can slow him down. He managed to pick up 62 points this season. Not bad for a 41 year old player eh? Veteran players Brian Rafalski, Niklas Kronwall and Brad Stuart should be able to give plenty of problems to the Coyotes offense. Keith Yandle is one of the best defenseman in the league with 59 points this year and he should complicate the Wings plans. Adrian Aucoin and Derek Morris should also be able to keep the pucks from going in the wrong net.

Goalies

Jimmy Howard is a contender for the Vezina this year with a season of 37 wins and a save percentage of 0.908. Veteran goaltender Chris Osgood is there if there was to be any problem with him and he also proved us he can very well guard the nets. But he has recently been injured with a groin injury. Coyotes Ilya Bryzgalov will be guarding the fort with his 36 wins this year.

My prediction: Phoenix will win in 7 games

These two teams both have superstars in their ranks but they have very different teams. While Anaheim has top scorers, Nashville has a top goaltender in Pekka Rinne.Whether or not this will be part of the final equation is for us to see in the coming weeks.

Offense

The Ducks will have to rely on their forwards in hope of getting past the Predators. Corey Perry finished the season with 50 goals allowing him to grab the Rocket trophy for most goals. What's even more impressive in his case is that he can move the puck with confidence and provide his teammates with goals. Veteran Bobby Ryan and Ryan Getzlaf should be the two forwards forming the first line. Finnish players Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu should be in the second line. Nashville doesn't have a good offense. They will have to rely on Sergei Kostitsyn and Mike Fisher to produce goals. Besides them, Martin Erat, David Legwand and Steve Sullivan will have to push things up for Nashville.

Defense

The Ducks weakness might perhaps reside on their defense. Lubomir Visnovsky, along with Toni Lydman, who had a decent season with a plus/minus rating of 32, will have the reigns of the Ducks defense. The defense of Nashville is better than their opposite. They can rely on Shea Weber who is a top defender and Ryan Suter who is also improving his gameplay. But will it be enough to contain the strong players like Perry, Getzlaf and Selanne?

Goalies

Jonas Hiller will be guarding the nest for the Ducks and at the other end of the ice will be Vezina contender Pekka Rinne. He finished this season with 32 wins in 64 games and an impressive save percentage of 0.930.

My prediction: Ducks will win in 6 games

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