(2) Detroit vs Chicago (4)
The fact that the Wings only narrowly got by Anaheim might be of concern to some people, given that Chicago is probably a better team than the Ducks.
On the other hand, the Wings-Ducks series was only really close results wise. I'm not suggesting that the Ducks are a weak team or that they played poorly -- that's not my position. Nonetheless, it was clear to me -- both from watching that series and from looking at the underlying numbers -- that one team was easily better than the other. And the fact that the series went seven games and was decided by a mere goal doesn't change that fact.
In the other Western semi-final, it seemed that the Blackhawks were the slightly better team. While the Canucks had the better special teams, Chicago was better at controlling the play at even strength. Prior to the series, some appeared to pick Vancouver on the basis of the Luongo factor. Although it was reasonable to expect Vancouver to have some advantage in goaltending going into the series, that advantage never really materialized. Perhaps that was the difference.
There isn't really too much that can be said about this series. Chicago is a strong team that can probably compete -- at least broadly speaking -- with the Red Wings at even strength. However, I think that the Wings powerplay might be the difference maker here, and if the Hawks fail to play disciplined, this series might be over quickly.
Wings in 6.
I'll do the Pens-Canes series tomorrow.
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2 comments:
Even though Luongo sucked against Chicago, Khabibulin also sucked against Vancouver. If you were to tweak the results such that the SV%'s of both goalies were closer to their career averages, I think you'd still find that Chicago would have been expected to win. From where I was watching I certainly thought Vancouver was overmatched.
I agree with your assessment of the Wings. What a team - I thought they dominated 6 of the 7 games against Anaheim, and, while they're not my home team, I would have been disappointed if Anaheim had won, because the Wings are just so fun to watch.
"Even though Luongo sucked against Chicago, Khabibulin also sucked against Vancouver. If you were to tweak the results such that the SV%'s of both goalies were closer to their career averages, I think you'd still find that Chicago would have been expected to win. From where I was watching I certainly thought Vancouver was overmatched."Yeah, I agree that the better team won. My point was that goaltending wasn't really a huge factor in relation to the series outcome, which, if I've read you correctly, seems to be what you're saying as well.
"I agree with your assessment of the Wings. What a team - I thought they dominated 6 of the 7 games against Anaheim, and, while they're not my home team, I would have been disappointed if Anaheim had won, because the Wings are just so fun to watch."I agree that an Anaheim victory would have been disappointing, if only because Detroit clearly deserved to win. Plus, a Chicago-Detroit series has much more appeal than Chicago-Anaheim (at least to me).
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