FTR Roundtable: Playoff Positioning, Chris Chelios, & More

by Mike Chen on Mar 16, 2010 10:43 AM CDT in FTR Roundtable Comment 0 comments

Every week, the FTR crew will review the biggest hockey news from the prior week.

(Note: This was written before the Ovechkin suspension went down. That'll be in next week's Roundtable.)

-The playoff races are tightening up. Which potential lower seed do you see as a dark horse in each conference?

Mike: I think everyone recognizes that Detroit's experience is a potential factor -- that sort of winner's mentality is created through hard-earned experience. With a healthy lineup, it doesn't matter how inconsistent Detroit's been during the season; the playoffs are a whole different beast. Outside of Detroit specifically, I consider the west to be wide open. I see ways each team could get hot and make a strong push.

Bob: I like Detroit and Calgary to both make it in the West and either Colorado or Nashville to slip. The East's eighth spot is wide open and just depends upon who gets hot. With Savard out, conventional wisdom would say the Rangers should top the Bruins.

Cory Lavalette: Detroit is a huge threat, as always. I don't think there are many surprises to be had in the East. Boston will miss Savard, and the Rangers and Habs are both pretenders from where I sit.

Joe F: Not to give the obviously answer but I think that the Rangers will be a threat if they can get their act together quickly. They have the talent now all they need is the heart, and maybe some chemistry too. As for the West I have to go with Detroit.

-On the other hand, which supposed Cup contender is due for a flameout?

Mike: San Jose, Washington, and Chicago all have their vulnerabilities. It's kind of taking the easy way out, but I wouldn't be surprised if any of those teams get upset in the first round. However, I consider the west to be a stronger top-to-bottom group, and I think it'd be harder for the eighth seed in the east to knock off Washington compared to the west.

Bob: It would not surprise me to see any of the top teams get knocked out.

Joe F: I still think that of all the teams at the "top" Washington has the biggest vulnerability with their defense and goaltending problems.

Cory Lavalette: I really don't think the Capitalshave the goaltending to advance deep. Only Philadelphia and Ottawa have more questionable goaltending, in my opinion, in the East. The Blackhawksare immensely talented, but same thing: the goaltending is the question mark.

-Last year, Steve Mason led the Columbus Blue Jackets to the playoffs before they got swept out in the first round. Will Jonathan Quick fare better in his first trip to the post-season with a young team?

Mike: As well as Quick has played, the playoffs are completely different. Mason learned that the hard way last year, and remember that it took both Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosbya few playoff games to make a dent in their first trip to the dance. Quick has played an amazing amount of games considering his age and experience, and I expect him to have combination of burnout and new-playoff shellshock affect him.

Bob: I agree with Mike. Not only is Quick young, the entire Kings team is inexperienced and I doubt they will be favorites in round one.

Cory Lavalette: One thing L.A. has going for it is some very good veterans who know how to play in the postseason in Ryan Smyth and Justin Williams. But I agree — this team will be hard-pressed to get out of Round 1 if they face a team with some playoff experience.

Joe F: I understand everyone talking about experience here, but sometime inexperienced goalies are too "stupid" to understand what they are into. Look at Cam Ward when the Hurricanesmade it all the way or Varlamov last year against the Rangers. A goalie can get hot pretty quick, and I don't care what the name on the back of their jersey says a hot goalie is tough to beat.

-Will the new blindside hit rule actually do anything or is it just a cursory attempt at fixing the situation?

Mike: There's this little rule called "intent to injure" which could be applied to many blindside hits. Why it makes a difference having "official" terminology, I don't know, but the bottom line is that we've seen strange justifications and complete inconsistency in this matter for the past few seasons. I don't see it the big picture changing much.

Bob: All I see is the league making the referee's job even more difficult than it already is, which will open them up to even more criticism and scrutiny. But of course we can still trust the league office and Colin Campbell, as final decision makers, to be as consistent as ever. Right?

Cory Lavalette: Hopefully it takes those hits out of the game. I'm all for a big hit, but hitting someone from the side is bus league. Either way, this isn't going to solve the concussion problems around the league. There will always be big collisions that are gray enough that the league can't legislate them out without removing hitting all together.

Joe F: The NHL has to do more than this if they want to make seirous changes, personally I don't see how this rule helps aside from (as Bob said) making the game have even more elements for the "human mist ake factor."

-Chris Chelios: freak of nature or overstaying his welcome?

Mike: Mock him all you want, I don't think there will be too many of us capable of skating an ECHL shift at 48, let alone a season in the AHL and a game in the NHL. If a team finds him to bring some value to the table, more power to him.

Bob: Definitely a freak of nature. But I do think Don Waddell is a bit desperate.

Cory Lavalette: Having watched Glen Wesley play to nearly 40 without losing much steam the past couple years, I know how important positioning and smarts is to the stay-at-home defenseman. Not to knock Wesley, but Chelios is a superior talent and I don't see why this won't work for Atlanta. He's not going to log 18 minutes a night and he might get beat on a puck chipped past him up the boards, but Chelios still know where he is on the ice and is wily enough to outsmart most opponents. And I'm sure the team's young defenders are going to benefit from playing with him.

Joe F: Actually I watched him play against the Rangers a few days ago and I was surprise because he was actually pretty effective. He wont be "punching in" 20 minutes a game anymore (or ever) but he still has the skills to be out there and play, so good for him.

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