Who will Detroit face in Round #1?
The NHL playoffs are quickly approaching whether you like it or not. For some, the playoffs are a time of nervous anticipation (that’d be me). For others, it’s a time to panic and think the worst will happen. And then there’s those optimists who get excited at the thought of postseason play.
The Wings only have four games left in the regular season. I cannot believe how quickly this season has blown by. I feel like it was just yesterday when I started my first day as a Wings PR intern in late August. And now I’m a seasoned intern gearing up for the playoffs. Just crazy.
Anyways with just four games left and the number one seed almost locked up, it’s time to start thinking about who the Wings will face in the first round of the playoffs. Once the playoffs are set, I will definitely throw up some posts previewing the first round opponent as well as my predictions for the Western Conference playoffs.
The Options
Vancouver Canucks [79 GP, 88pts] - This is the team Detroit would play if the playoffs started this afternoon. Can’t say I like this matchup too much. If Roberto Luongo wasn’t on the team, I don’t think I would have too much of a problem with Vancouver. But the Wings always seem to get Western Canada first round matches and between the crappy travel and the possibility of Luongo to get hot, I’d rather pass on this one. How many times have you seen Detroit head into Western Canada, take 45 shots on a hot goaltender, and then lose? Too often for my liking.
Nashville Predators [79 GP, 87pts] - The Preds currently sit one spot out of the playoffs as of this afternoon, but just one point behind Vancouver and three points behind Calgary. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the team you want to see the Wings face. Sure goaltender Dan Ellis has been playing strong of late, but he’s not Luongo or Mikka Kiprusoff. Is that not a good enough reason for you? Nashville is approximately 533 miles from Detroit according to Mapquest.com.
Calgary - 1879.21 miles
Vancouver - 2481.48 miles
Colorado - 1269.84 miles
Edmonton - 1919.12 miles
Yep, Nashville is looking real nice in terms of travel. Not only that, but think of it for the purely selfish reasons as a fan. If the game is in Nashville, away games will start at 8 or 8:30pm. In the three Western Canada games, push that back to 9pm at the earliest but more like 10 or 10:30pm. That’s rough.
Edmonton Oilers [80 GP, 86pts] - Best thing about the playoffs? No shootouts. The Oilers are the best team when it comes to the shootout and a fair share of their victories have come in that format. In fact, the Wings were 2-0-2 to the Oilers this season. Those two losses came in the shootout. While thinking of the Oilers and the punch in the face that resulted in a first round loss (and Steve Yzerman’s last game) has still left a bitter taste in my mouth toward that team, they wouldn’t be the worst team to play in the first round. Sure the traveling would suck, but I think we would do okay with this matchup plus we’d get to enjoy the rantings of the lovely Oilgosphere, which may be the best NHL team blogosphere period. The Oilers currently sit two spots out of the playoffs and three points behind Vancouver.
Calgary Flames [79 GP, 90pts] - Despite beating the Flames last year in the first round and winning the season series (3-1-0), I’d really prefer not to play this team. Between Kiprusoff, the travel, and physicality of the team, it’s not something Wings fans should hope to have to face in the first round. We are likely going to have to face San Jose or Anaheim on the road to the SCF. Those will be physical series, we want to limit the grinding the first round will take on our players’ bodies as much as possible. As the Flames sit in the seventh slot, they are in control and if they can just keep winning, we won’t have to see them in round one.
Colorado Avalanche [80 GP, 91pts] - The Avs are currently in the sixth seed, but if they lose a couple games while the others win, we could certainly see the Avs out of a playoff spot or resting in the eighth seed. Behind Nashville, the Avs would be my top pick for the first round. We won the season series, 4-0-0, and only allowed two goals in the four games between the two teams. Plus, the odds that Ryan Smyth or Peter Forsberg would go out with an injury seem pretty likely so that’s always nice. Additionally, Jose Theodore would probably be the best goaltender to face in the first round (only Marty Turco would be better, but it seems unlikely that we’ll face Dallas in the first round).
In summary, these would be my preferences for the first round out of the likely possibilities:
1) Nashville
2) Colorado
3) Edmonton
4) Vancouver
5) Calgary
Who do I think we will play? I want to say Nashville, but I really have no idea because the Western Conference playoff race is so close and one loss or one can make or break those bubble teams. I guess we’ll find out in a week or so.
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2 Responses to “Who will Detroit face in Round #1?”
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April 1st, 2008 at 10:17 am
Thanks for the link to my post at Abel to Yzerman. Hope you enjoyed the article!
April 1st, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Anytime Doomsberry- you know I love your stuff!