NHL Conference Finals Futures
The National Hockey League is down to its Final Four, with Boston facing Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference Finals and San Jose playing Vancouver in the Western Conference Finals.Not surprisingly, the two teams with home ice advantage are the two favorites, with Boston -135 to win the best-of-7 series against the Lightning and the Canucks-150 to defeat the Sharks.
Eastern Conference Finals
The story in the East so far has been goaltending and Dyane Roloson and Tim Thomas have been the two best in the playoffs so far. Bolstered by Tampa Bay's 1-3-1 trap, Roloson has been outstanding with a .941 save percentage and a 2.01 GAA, while Thomas has been stellar also, possessing a .937 save percentage a 2.03 goals against average.One reason for Roloson's lofty numbers are playing seven games against the Penguins, who were missing both Sidney Crosby and Evengi Malkin, but he also came up big against the Washington Capitals, while the Bruins defeated Philadelphia and Montreal to reach this stage.
Tampa Bay has been led offensively by Martin St. Louis and Vinny Lecavalier, who has done a nice job after a disappointing regular season. The Bruins will be without leading playoff scorer Patrice Bergeron at least part of the series due to a mild concussion.
Bergeron also helps out defensively, so his loss will be felt, but the Bruins have a deep team.
Boston won three of the four regular season meetings between the two and have the better defense, which should prove to be the difference in the series. As much as I hate playing favorites, I will likely be on the Bruins here.
Western Conference Finals
Both teams took a big step towards shedding the choker label that they've had around their respective necks the past few years, but it wasn't easy. Vancouver had to win a Game 7 against Chicago in the first round after watching a 3-1 lead slip away, while San Jose saw Detroit come back from three games down to tie its series before winning by a goal on Thursday night.The Canucks won three of the four meetings during the regular season, with two of those wins being by one goal, including March 10's 5-4 victory, which was one of the top games of the season, with three goals the last 2:13, as the Sharks knotted the score with 21 seconds remaining, only to lose to Vancouver in a shootout.
The Sedin brothers have been relatively quiet throughout the playoffs, but Ryan Kesler had a big series against Nashville to get the Canucks where they are now.
Roberto Loungo has been solid between the pipes, even though Chicago roughed him up a bit.
The Sharks have some big name players of their own and it will be interesting to see how they come out of the gate. It would be natural to have a bit of a letdown after winning a difficult series against the Red Wings, something that usually spells trouble in a short series.
Antti Niemi has been average during the playoffs, but he is battle tested, as last year's Stanley Cup Finals show.
I'll side with the underdog in this one, but will certainly be looking to hedge if the Sharks can get a split in Vancouver.
