The Los Angeles Kings defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 7 of the Western Conference Championship last night, and as a result will face the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup Finals. For the NHL this a dream, two of the biggest markets, East Coast - West Coast, LA - NYC. Let’s just hope that the Final is half as entertaining as the Western Conference Championships.
Thinking out loud
Both the Kings and Rangers have players on their team that will end the season with both an Olympic Gold Medal and a Stanley Cup Championship. Players don’t play their whole lives for Gold Medals, they play their whole lives for the chance to lift Lord Stanley high above their head. For Henrik Lundqvist, the disappointment of a Silver Medal will instantly be erased if he can lead the Rangers to victory over the Kings.
The Kings are the first team in NHL history to face three Game 7’s (21 games) en route to the Stanley Cup Finals. The fatigue factor would be a storyline except for one thing, the Rangers have played 20 games in these Playoffs. Both teams have had to fight through the impossible to get here. The Rangers climbed back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Penguins in round two, but the Kings erased a 3-0 series deficit against the Sharks in round one. The resilience of these teams has been on display throughout these Playoffs, and neither team can be counted out when their down.
What a difference a change in scenery can make. Alain Vigneault was fired as Head Coach of the Vancouver Canucks last summer, the Canucks subsequently brought in fired Rangers coach John Tortorella. Here we are 10 months later and Alain Vigneault has lead the New York Rangers to the Stanley Cup Finals, and John Tortorella was recently fired by those same Vancouver Canucks. Tortorella was never able to get the Rangers over the hump in the Playoffs, but Vigneault has brought a different approach and different attitude. The Rangers have embraced Vigneault and as a result they are closer to the Cup then they have been since 1994.
Anze Kopitar (24 points), Jeff Carter (22 points), Marian Gaborik (12 goals, 19 points) and Justin Williams (18 points) are four of the top five scorers in this year’s Playoffs. The highest scoring Ranger? Martin St. Louis with 13 points sits 16th on the League Leaders list. The Rangers are not being carried offensively by any one player, they score by committee. The strength of their team is on the backend and in net. If there is one guy that can be nominated for the Conn Smythe from New York it has to be Henrik Lundqvist. Without his save percentage of 92.8% the Rangers would be nowhere near these Finals.
The Kings have a variety of Players who can be nominated for the Conn Smythe but Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter are the front runners. Doughty has averaged 27:50 minutes per game in these Playoffs while recording 16 points, a +5 rating, and a CF% of 53.9%, all this while playing against the best opponents on the opposing team. That stands out as the leading candidate from this perspective. He has been outstanding and shown that he is one of the top 3 defenseman in the entire NHL. He is an incredible puck-mover, has great vision, is an incredible skater, and elevates his game when the pressure ramps up.
Kopitar and Carter are both having impressive campaigns as well, and both would make fine Conn Smythe winners, but without Doughty the Kings nowhere near these Stanley Cup Finals.
Nobody seems to be giving the Rangers a chance in these finals. The Kings are bigger, stronger, deeper and more experienced then the Rangers. But the Rangers haven’t had to fight through the Blackhawks, Sharks, and Ducks in all out battles on the way to these Finals. The Rangers should have the advantage in terms of health and fatigue simply because the Western Conference is more physical and the teams are bigger overall. The Rangers will need to be ready for their most physical series yet, but if they can use their speed and force the Kings to take penalties then they have a shot in these finals. The biggest wild card is in net, Quick has shown flashes of brilliance, but also shown flashes of normalcy. Meanwhile Lundqvist has been consistently outstanding throughout (other than the single game against Montreal of course). The advantage in net is in the Rangers favor, but if the Rangers skaters can’t handle the grinding, cycling, big bodied Kings then it won’t matter how good Lundqvist plays.
When the Kings won the Cup in 2012, it was against the New Jersey Devils. The Rangers will be hoping they can have a better performance than the Devils did. The Devils were simply outclassed and out worked against the Kings. They weren’t able to handle the physicality and outstanding play from Quick. The Rangers have the advantage of a goaltender in his prime (as opposed to Brodeur who was on hole 18 of an outstanding career…one that should have ended following that loss to the Kings) and a much deeper and more impressive defense led by Ryan McDonagh. If the Kings win this time, it will be on the big stage of New York and Madison Square Garden.
The Playoffs thus far have been incredible, upsets, comebacks, and great storylines have run throughout. Hopefully both teams leave it all on the ice and cap these Playoffs off with the best series yet.
East Coast vs. West Coast. Get it on.
**stats within courtesy of nhl.com and extraskater.com**