By Joel Smart (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: April 4, 2012
With the Canucks guaranteed either first or second place in the Western Conference, eyes have turned toward the frantic cluster of teams vying for the seventh and eighth spots. It has come down to five teams that could wind up as the Canucks first round opponents: the Los Angeles Kings, the Phoenix Coyotes, the San Jose Sharks, the Dallas Stars and the Colorado Avalanche. It will be a desperate push, largely out of the hands of the Canucks; yet with so much on the line, who can help but look at the possible matchups?
One thing that the Canucks have to take into account is the distance between Vancouver and the city of the team they face. As we saw in the first round against the Chicago Blackhawks last season, the amount of travel can lead to fatigue later on in a Cup run. Teams that can get out of the first round without a lot of travel will be much better positioned moving forward. On that front, the San Jose Sharks represent the best possible option – not only are they the shortest distance away from Vancouver, they are also in the same time zone. Getting a bit further away, Los Angeles would still arguably be the second best option geographically – especially since they are also in the same time zone. The Avalanche are still not a horrible option, despite being in a different time zone. Phoenix and Dallas represent the two least desirable options geographically – with the Stars being far and away the worst option in terms of travel.
Of course, the best way to minimize travel is to reduce the number of games it takes to win the series. If the Canucks can finish a series in four or five games, they won’t have to make an additional flight. In their season series against the Sharks this year, the Canucks won three games and lost once in overtime (3-0-1). Against the Kings, they won two games, lost once, and lost another in overtime (2-1-1). In their matchup with the Avs, they won all six games (6-0-0). Against the Coyotes, they won and lost once in regulation, and won and lost once in a shootout (2-1-1). Finally, in the season series with the Stars, the Canucks won twice, and then lost once in regulation and once in overtime (2-1-1).
Through this analysis, it seems as though San Jose and Colorado make the best possible matchups, followed by Los Angeles, Dallas, and then the Coyotes. As it stands, however, the Avalanche seem the least likely to make it into the postseason.
With every team in the league having just two or three games remaining, and so much still up in the air with only until Saturday for every spot to be determined – we are in for a very interesting finish.
In fact, it is still possible for the Canucks to win the President’s trophy; if they were able to, it would mark the first time since the lockout that a team managed to win it back-to-back – an especially difficult task with the parity that the salary cap has brought to the league.
Besides the Canucks games on Thursday at 6 p.m. against the Flames, and on Saturday at 7 p.m. against the Oilers, you might also want to keep an eye on the Detroit/St. Louis game at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the Rangers/Penguins game at 4 p.m. on Thursday, and the St. Louis/Phoenix game on at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. However, it seems quite likely that it will all be decided—Saturday the final day of the regular season—when all 30 teams play.
