TSN is reporting that they have confirmed the city that will host the next NHL Winter Classic. The Detroit Red Wings will play the Chicago Blackhawks at either Wrigley Field or Soldier Field. While the exact spot hasn’t been announced, Blackhawks president John McDonough has close ties to the Cubs, so I would expect it to take place at Wrigley Field.
Four teams will continue their season after a relatively short semifinal round. In the West, Detroit completed a seemingly easy sweep of Colorado, giving them much needed (or unwanted depending on who you talk to) rest. They will take on Dallas, who won the 8th longest game in NHL history against the San Jose Sharks on Sunday night to complete their six game series. As mentioned in the alliterative title, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia will meet for the first time ever in the Eastern Conference Finals, assuring Pennsylvania as a host of the Stanley Cup Finals. Pittsburgh, thanks mostly to stellar goaltending and deep offense, made quick work of the New York Rangers in five games. Philadelphia gained their ticket by upsetting the top seeded Montreal Canadiens, and preventing the Stanley Cup from coming to Canada for the 14th straight year.
While the Avalanche were able to battle back from a 3 goal deficit in game 1 to lose 4-3, Johan Franzen and the Wings absolutely destroyed the Avalanche in game 2 with a 5-1 tally. Peter Budaj played in relief of Theodore in both of the games and played beautifully, allowing only one goal in the 20 shots he’s faced so far. Theodore is blaming is almost abrupt turnaround in performance on the flu and has assured the media he will be ready for game 3. But, what will Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville decide?
The semifinals has given us some interesting matchups to chew on for the next couple of weeks. Colorado and Detroit have a chance to renew a sorely missed rivalry that has produced some of the baddest blood in sports. Pittsburgh is up against a seasoned New York team, leaving us to wonder if experience will once again be the Penguins’ downfall. Can Montreal keep up with the dominating physical presence of Philadelphia? Who will win the battle of the goaltenders between Dallas and San Jose. Below is my analysis and picks for the next round. I’m also including Fred Beery and Alan Shields’ picks to give you some perspective from other hockey fans.
However, teams like Detroit and Pittsburgh have shown little ill effect from their numerous injuries to marquee players. The Penguins’ success rate without Crosby is actually a novel stat that shows how their team can deal with such a big loss. While watching from the press box, Sid has seen his team skate to a 12-6-4 record. Detroit, besides that anomaly of a losing streak in February, haven’t really missed their injured players, skating to an eighth straight 100 point season.
