Historically, late-season momentum hasn’t meant a hill of beans when it comes to how teams do in the playoffs. But if I’m one of the top-feeders in either the Eastern or Western Conference, there are two teams I don’t want to meet in the first round and they just happen to be the two hottest teams in the Ligue National de Hockey at the moment.

One of them is the Anaheim Ducks, the primary means of sustinence for the proprietor of this website and perhaps the greatest defenseman to ever lace on skates. (Hey, wait a minute Pronger. You said you wouldn’t change my stuff.)

All kidding aside, why would anyone want to go into the first round against a team that looks as though it has found its game, has a championship pedigree and plays better on the road than it does at home?

The Ducks, in all likelihood, will finish the regular season in seventh place in the Western Conference, will all but guarantees them a first-round series against the Detroit Red Wings. And while the Ducks won just one of four games against the Red Wings this season, the defending champions are vulnerable.

One thing is for sure, the Red Wings would not have the advantage of having a better power play than the Ducks since both of them are in the top five in the league. Whether or not they would have a true advantage would be up to the Ducks and, to a lesser extent, the on-ice officials. The Ducks are the second-most penalized team in the league this season and the Red Wings are the second-least, so that swing of 26 certainly doesn’t favor the Ducks.

So they must use it to their advantage. It’s easier to kill off “good” penalties, so the Ducks must avoid the stupid ones. But if they put their enormous physical advantage to good use and try to stay on the right side of the rulebook, a few extra penalties shouldn’t hurt them too much.

After failing to string together three straight wins in four months, the Ducks have put together winning streaks of five and four games recently and if they can beat bottom feeders Dallas and Phoenix in their last two games of the regular season, the could enter the playoffs as the hottest team in the league.

The Ducks should also have an advantage in goal, even with their spotty performance between the irons lately, but that’s not saying much. Chris Osgood has the Stanley Cup rings, but has been abysmal this season and Ty Conklin has all of six minutes of playoff experience. If either Jean-Sebastien Giguere or Jonas Hiller can raise his game, the Ducks should have the advantage in the nets.

Another team I wouldn’t want to face is the Carolina Hurricanes, who have been revived from near death by Paul Maurice and have been winners in their past eight games. The reacquisition of Erik Cole at the trade deadline – why did they even trade this guy? Anyone? Anyone? – has brought out the best in Eric Staal and stabilized the Hurricanes top three lines, all of which have become very dangerous.

There’s a good chance the Hurricanes will meet up with the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round, either as the fourth or fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and does anyone really expect the burned-out Flyers to accomplish anything with a goaltending tandem of Martin Biron and Antero Niittymaki?

Cam Ward is looking like the Conn Smythe winner he shouldn’t have been in 2006 – Pronger should have won it in a losing cause with the Edmonton Oilers – and Rod Brind’Amour is rounding into form at just the right time. And, as weird as it sounds, the RBC Center in Raleigh when the crowd is jacked up is one of the most imposing places in the league to play.

So there you have it. Your two surprise picks for the first round of the playoffs. Don’t know how they’ll do after that, but watch out for Duck season and Hurricane warnings in the first round.

-30-

Like Murph, I’m far from a distinguished author, I’m a radio guy who also writes a for a popular NHL website called hockeybuzz.com.

So you know, I’m not a rumor guy, I like to track stories. Gathering information and distributing it in a timely fashion is the idea here.

I’ve been covering the league for nearly a decade now and get paid to watch hockey.

You won’t hear me complaining.

The same can’t be said for fans of the St. Louis Blues though, they do have something to complain about.

It didn’t take long for things to get real interesting with the Blues.

Camp hasn’t even started and we are already talking about injuries.

We always hear about how the Chicago Cubs are cursed and the one that used to exist in Boston. I had a hockey fan e-mail me today asking if the Blues are cursed?

It’s a fair question.

This came after the news that former first overall selection Erik Johnson had suffered a knee injury as a result of a golf cart mishap.  Johnson told me that his right foot got caught under the brake pedal while his left leg was hanging outside of the cart. He was pulling up to his golf ball when he felt the pain in his right knee.

Johnson will likely seek more than one opinion before the Blues really know the severity of the injury.

This is no doubt a PR nightmare for the Blues as the news comes on the eve of the first day of training camp.  To be honest I felt bad for John Davidson when I spoke to him earlier today.

It’s one thing to lose a player on the ice. Injuries happen all the time in hockey and will always play a part in the sport, but when you lose arguably your most popular player to an incident that takes place on a golf course, Ouch!

It’s fitting I write this commentary on Chris Pronger’s website as the Blues are hoping Johnson will eventually fill the void Pronger left behind following his trade more than three seasons ago. Chances are if Pronger was never traded Erik Johnson would be playing hockey for a different club.

For a team lacking tremendous star power Johnson gets his share of attention. He not only plays a major role in the Blues advertising campaign but also brings a skills set to the ice unmatched by any other D-man the club has. At 20 years old he’s arguably the Blues best all around Defenseman.

What’s up with Blues players who are drafted first overall anyway?

Several years ago the late Doug Wickenheiser fell off the back of a slowly moving truck and tore up his knee in the process. This also took place during a team function.

Wickenheiser wasn’t drafted by the Blues, but he was playing in St. Louis when this took place so I hope you get my point here.  

Look I’m a realist, if the Blues are without Johnson for a long period of time it won’t make or break their season but it undoubtedly hurts. Besides how it affects the team on the ice, this is a big year for EJ to develop as a player.

Last season the Blues virtually had zero transition game and got almost no offensive production from the entire group of defensemen.  Johnson tallied five goals a year ago, no other D-man had more than two.

Coming into this season the Blues planned on handing Johnson a lot more responsibility. He’s the guy that would quarterback the PP and lug consistent minutes in the mid 20:00’s which in today’s game is an awful lot no matter how long you’ve been in the league.

If Johnson is forced to miss significant time where will they turn to help improve the PP?

Will this open up a spot for Alex Pietrangelo who was drafted by the Blues with the fourth overall pick this past June? The Blues will desperately need to find a player who can carry the puck, see the ice, make a quality first pass, and push the offense.

The Blues were hoping not to rush Pietrangelo and still may opt to send him back to the OHL . They want him to play in the World Junior tournament for the first time and get a taste of international play. It’s an incredible experience for kids who get a chance to play on that stage.

The NHL isn’t too shabby either.

The Blues may have as many as three D spots open up for competition. Obviously Eric Brewer, Jay McKee, Barret Jackman have roster spots. Smooth skating Steve Wagner, who likely will be a player the Blues look at to run the power play in the absence of Johnson, will make the team along with Jeff Woywitka who the Blues will once again offer up an opportunity. This is the final season for Woywitka to prove he can be a NHL regular before he becomes a UFA.

Rookie Jonas Junland, who I think can be a real sleeper heading into camp, along with Mike Weaver, Roman Polak, and Andy Wozniewski will compete for the final couple of roster spots.

So many of the Blues problems offensively last season were a result of the Blues struggles defensively. The Blues were banking on a more mature, experienced, Erik Johnson to help improve a few of these issues.

Whether or not he’ll be available is the question.

More to come,

Andy Strickland

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