Epic conference finals awaits

The last four Stanley Cup champions are the last four teams standing in this year's NHL playoffs.

The Eastern Conference Finals were set several days ago when Pittsburgh dispatched Ottawa in five games, and Boston did likewise to the New York Rangers (who subsequently fired coach John Tortorella). Now, we know the Western Conference Finals will be between the Los Angeles Kings and the Chicago Blackhawks after each team won their respective Game 7s on home ice.

The question in the east is whether Boston (Cup winners in 2011) can slow down Pittsburgh's high-octane offense. The Penguins (2009 winners) have the best offense in the playoffs with Sidney Crosby, Jarome Iginla, Evgeni Malkin and a suddenly red-hot James Neal leading the way. Ordinarily that would be too much for an opponent to stop, but we're talking about the Boston Bruins. They will scrap and claw and do just about anything to take an opponent off its game. I like Pittsburgh overall, but the Pens will need to win six tough games to move on.

Out west, Chicago (Cup winners in 2010) needed overtime in Game 7 to oust the stubborn Detroit Red Wings. Now, the Blackhawks must deal with an equally-stubborn bunch of Los Angeles Kings (defending Cup champions). This series will be won with grit and determination, not by how many goals one team can score. In a seven-game series that may very well be too close to call, I'll go out on a limb and predict the Blackhawks find their way to the finals. Granted it's not a very long limb given that Chicago had the best regular season record, but it is a longer limb that you might think.


Let the conference finals commence!