LCS Game of the Week

Playoff Prognosticatin': Round Three
By Brian Wishnow, Prognosticator Guy

The second round of the playoffs was not as successful as the first for your prognosticator. Again, the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers have survived your prognosticator's predicted doom. Then again, who could have predicted the strange behavior and complete absence of Buffalo's Dominik Hasek in the second round? The Cinderella pick of Edmonton didn't quite have it to upset Colorado; however, Scotty Bowman's Detroit Red Wings pulled through. Postseason record: 7-5
Series Prognosticator Said Actual Result (5) N.Y. Rangers at (1) New Jersey New Jersey, 4-2 N.Y. Rangers, 4-1 (3) Philadelphia at (2) Buffalo Buffalo, 4-3 Philadelphia, 4-1 (7) Edmonton at (1) Colorado Edmonton, 4-3 Colorado, 4-1 (4) Anaheim at (3) Detroit Detroit, 4-1 Detroit, 4-0
Eastern Conference

(5) New York Rangers at (3) Philadelphia Flyers
Regular season results: 11/13/96 - Flyers 2, RANGERS 1; 12/4/96 - RANGERS 1, Flyers 1; 2/1/97 - Rangers 4, FLYERS 2; 2/23/97 - FLYERS 2, Rangers 1; 4/7/97 - RANGERS 3, Flyers 2; 4/10/97 - Rangers 6, FLYERS 3. Edge: N.Y. Rangers (3-2-1)
Playoff Results N.Y. Rangers Philadelphia 1st Round Def. (4) Florida, 4-1 Def. (6) Pittsburgh, 4-1 2nd Round Def. (1) New Jersey, 4-1 Def. (2) Buffalo, 4-1 The Rangers have lost the first game in each of their first two series, only to come back and reel off four straight victories. Philadelphia has stormed off to 3-0 leads in their matchups, only to lose game four, then win game five. Edge: Push
The last time these two teams met in the playoffs was during the second round in 1995. Philadelphia swept the Rangers 4-0 in that encounter. Philadelphia has home-ice advantage; however, the road team won three of the six games during the regular season. Edge: Philadelphia
In goal, the Rangers will start Mike Richter against either Garth Snow or Ron Hextall. Richter won the World Cup with Team USA in September, and has been playing unbelievable so far in the playoffs. Snow had played all of the Flyers' playoff games until the final contest of the second round, in which he was benched in favor of Ron Hextall. No matter who Terry Murray sticks in goal, Pennsylvania native Mike Richter compares favorably. Edge: N.Y. Rangers
Injury wise, the Flyers lost Vaclav Prospal before the second round. The Rangers are down three players: Alexei Kovalev, Bill Berg, and Niklas Sundstrom. Edge: Philadelphia
The Flyers have by far the younger team, which is naturally accompanied by inexperience. The Rangers are far more experienced, albeit far older. Much of the core of the 1980's Edmonton dynasty, namely Gretzky, Messier, and Tikkanen are putting that experience to work for New York. Combined with all of the Rangers who took home the Cup in 1994, and Ulf Samuelsson's two with the Penguins earlier this decade, the Rangers know what it takes to dig deep and come up big this far into the playoffs. Edge: N.Y. Rangers
Series Prediction - Prognosticator says: N.Y. Rangers 4, Philadelphia 3

Western Conference

(3) Detroit at (1) Colorado
Regular season results: 11/13/96 - Avalanche 4, RED WINGS 1; 12/17/96 - AVALANCHE 4, Red Wings 3; 3/16/97 - Avalanche 4, RED WINGS 2; 3/26/97 - RED WINGS 6, Avalanche 5 (OT). Edge: Colorado (3-1-0)
Playoff Results Detroit Colorado 1st Round Def. (6) St. Louis, 4-2 Def. (8) Chicago, 4-2 2nd Round Def. (4) Anaheim, 4-0 Def. (7) Edmonton, 4-1
Detroit's two defeats by St. Louis demonstrated their susceptibility to be shut down by a hot goaltender. Their sweep of Anaheim also showed their ability to pull thorough in close games: one overtime, one double overtime, and one triple overtime. Colorado's two straight losses in the Chicago series showed they are vulnerable to quick turn-arounds, especially away from McNichols Arena. Edge: Push
Offensively, Colorado boasts one of the best attacks in recent memory. While Detroit has toned it down offensively, Scotty Bowman has done it for a purpose: bigger forwards (Brendan Shanahan) that will get it done when it counts in the playoffs, not just in the regular season. As for strength up the middle, the Avalanche have Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, and Mike Ricci. While this may be the best threesome in the league, Detroit boasts the second best, and every bit as good, threesome in the league: Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, and Igor Larionov. Edge: Colorado
On defense, Colorado has Adam Foote and the offensively-minded Sandis Ozolinsh; however, they sorely miss the presence of the towering Uwe Krupp. Detroit throws out Slava Fetisov, Norris-Trophy nominee Vladimir Konstantinov, and offensive-but-not-defensive liabilities (for a definition of defensive liability, see Sandis Ozolinsh or Paul Coffey) Nicklas Lidstrom and Larry Murphy. The master of Colorado's defensive scheming last season, Joel Quenneville, left in mid-season to coach the St. Louis Blues. Meanwhile, Scotty Bowman's defensive director, Barry Smith, is still on board. Edge: Detroit
In goal, Detroit pits Mike Vernon against Colorado's Patrick Roy. Although people think Roy is the only guy out there to have won in the playoffs (three Stanley Cups), they forget Mike Vernon led Calgary to the promised land in 1989. Vernon has a bit more on the line as well. Seeing how his contract was only going to be for two years, he asked that he be given another should the Red Wings win the Stanley Cup before it ended. Thus, if he leads the Red Wings to Stanley Cup victory, he gets a contract extension in Detroit, and may keep his house, his kids in the same schools, and earn a second Stanley Cup ring. Edge: Push
Detroit, unlike they have been for the past several playoff seasons, is completely healthy. The same cannot be said for Colorado. The Avalanche are missing three key players: Stephane Yelle, Keith Jones, and Uwe Krupp. It cannot be underestimated how much the absence of these three players will affect the Avalanche. Edge: Detroit
As for intangibles, Detroit has less expectations to live up to this year, while Colorado has all of them. The Avalanche are the defending Stanley Cup champions, and finished first overall. Detroit, for a change, finally didn't finish first overall, and finally are the underdogs. On March 26, Detroit finally enacted revenge for Claude Lemieux's cheap shot to top all cheap shots, the face-bone-dental-rearranging of Kris Draper's face along the boards of Denver's McNichols arena. While players on both teams downplay the threat of violence, a distaste for each other and a tremendous rivalry has developed between these two clubs. Edge: Detroit
Behind the coaching bench, Marc Crawford matches up against Scotty Bowman. Although Crawford defeated Bowman last year, Bowman has much more experience. Scotty wouldn't let the same dog beat him twice. Besides, with Patrick Roy questioning his coaching abilities, and Crawford chiding him about the metal plate in his head, Scotty is going to show everybody who the real coaching genius is. Edge: Detroit
Series Prediction - Prognosticator says: Detroit 4, Colorado 2