NHL Playoff Preview

By Scott Antoszewski

The Olympics and the trade deadline have come and gone and it’s time to look forward to the next milestone in the 2010 NHL season: The playoffs! There are some potential surprises as we approach playoff time.

We’ll start in the Western Conference:

The Colorado Avalanche keep winning, and if the season ended today they would be the sixth seed out west. Colorado is only two points out of first in their division, so it’s not out of the question that they could have home ice advantage. The play of goalie Craig Anderson and rookie phenom Matt Duchene are a big reason for the ‘lanche’s success.

The Phoenix Coyotes put the rest of the West on notice at the trade deadline. The acquisitions they made will help bolster their lineup, and if the goalie play and scoring can keep it up, they will make their first playoff appearance since 2002.

The Los Angeles Kings should not be a surprise to the other teams out west. The Kings have a young, up and coming lineup. Players like Anze Kopitar, Jonathan Quick, and Canadian Olympian Drew Doughty will make L.A. a tough place to visit come April and May.

The race for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference is incredibly tight. Currently the last playoff spot is held my Montreal (68 points). The Rangers and Thrashers are tied for ninth in the East with 66 points, and the Lightning and Panthers are still in the mix with 65 and 62 points, respectively.

I would be surprised if Atlanta stays in the race considering that they are now without their leading scorer in Ilya Kovalchuk. The Rangers hopes rest squarely on how quickly they can get Marian Gaborik back from injury. Henrik Lundqvist can only steal you so many 2-1 games. The Lightning have new ownership and a strong young core in Vinny Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Steven Stamkos, and Victor Hedman. It will be interesting to see if the Lightning’s young guns and veteran leadership can get them back in the playoffs.

There are lots of games with playoff ramifications this week, Tampa plays at Montreal hoping to gain ground on eighth in the east. Vancouver visits Colorado to try and pad their lead and the Panthers take on the Avalanche. Watch former Panther goalie Craig Andersen show Florida that he should have been the number one in Miami.