Round One of the WCHL Season 11 Playoffs features some intriguing matchups in the Western Conference. The WCHL defending champs are looking at an easy start while some intriguing rematches from last year's playoffs means some renewed rivalries and bad blood could be in store.

Anaheim – Edmonton

Season Series: Tied 1-1 (8-6)

Anaheim (1st – 116 points)

Leading Scorer: Rick Nash – 39-51-90

Goaltending: Steve Mason – 54-21-6, 2.26, 0.901

Special Teams: PP-20.23% (3^rd), PK-82.19% (18^th)

Edmonton (8th – 88 points)

Leading Scorer: Rod Brind’Amour – 21-39-60

Goaltending: Tomas Vokoun – 44-28-8, 2.43, 0.898

Special Teams: PP-11.63% (30^th), PK-81.60% (22^nd)

The defending champs in Anaheim have been a juggernaut this season leading the WCHL Power Rankings in 2 of the 7 editions. Few teams have the ability to match the line of Kovalchuk-Crosby-Nash or a top pairing of Weber and Keith. The Ducks can roll 4 lines and 3 D pairings without losing a step and it would be safe to say that the Oilers’s top D-man (Paul Mara) probably wouldn’t even crack this lineup. On the other side, the Oilers were one of the hottest teams after the halfway mark but struggled in their final 10 games and having to depend on a Hawks loss in the final game of the season to claim the 8^th spot. The team’s PP is last by a significant margin and it’s hard to imagine how this team will score some goals unless Rod Brindamour (who will be retiring after this playoff) carries the squad on his back.

Prediction: Unlike in the BP oil spill, the Ducks are going to survive Oil Country with ease, 4-0.

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Calgary – Los Angeles

Season Series: Calgary 2-0 (7-4)

Calgary (2^nd – 102 points)

Leading Scorer: Mike Richards – 34-52-86

Goaltending: Tim Thomas – 30-27-1, 2.59, 0.894

Special Teams: PP-16.76% (17th), PK-85.22% (6^th)

Los Angeles (7^th – 91 points)

Leading Scorer: Evgeni Malkin – 39-56-95

Goaltending: Ryan Miller – 42-33-6, 2.65, 0.892

Special Teams: PP-20.57% (2nd), PK-83.44% (12th)

In a rematch of last year’s first round, this 2-7 battle might be the most likely candidate for an upset on this side of the bracket. The Flames are stacked up front with two formidable scoring lines featuring a who’s who of top forwards in the league, However the Kings top 4 D of Pronger, Bouwmeester, Campbell and Liles might be unmatchable. The Kings also have the 2^nd best PP and the leading scoring in the league in Geno Malkin, a player capable of winning games on his own. In net, the Kings have an edge in Ryan Miller over Tim Thomas (who was brought in near the deadline). It seems this one might come down to the age-old argument of which leads to a championship: putting pucks in the net, or keeping them out.

Prediction: Ask the French - thrones burn. The Kings turn to ash in 7.

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Dallas – Vancouver

Season Series: Vancouver 3-1 (10-8)

Dallas (3^rd – 105 points)

Leading Scorer: David Krejci – 27-44-71

Goaltending: Roberto Luongo – 48-26-6, 2.16, 0.904

Special Teams: PP-14.16% (27th), PK-84.84% (7^th)

Vancouver (6^th – 95 points)

Leading Scorer: Pavel Datsyuk – 31-39-70

Goaltending: Miikka Kiprusoff – 42-29-8, 2.55, 0.893

Special Teams: PP-20.57% (2nd), PK-83.44% (12th)

Back in mid-July, Dallas and Vancouver made a deal which saw David Krejci move from the Canucks to Dallas and go on to collect 31 points in 37 games. The question is whether this deal will come back to haunt the Canucks? The Stars sat out of a playoff spot midway through the season but went on winning streaks of 10 and 7 games on route to finishing the season with 23 wins in 32 games. They’ll need Krejci to continue his hot play, but also they’ll need an unusually quiet Alex Ovechkin to step it up after a sub-par 68 point regular season. In net, Luongo has been the top goalie in the league this season and could steal a game or two on his own. The Canucks have had a bit of an identity crisis this year with many trades creating a bit of a revolving door in the roster. They’ll need very strong performances from Kipper and top line of Ponikarovsky-Datsyuk-Alfredsson or else they really have no chance, particularly with a defence that Ovechkin can turn inside-out on a bad day.

Prediction: LOUUUUUUUU and the Stars shine in 5 games

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Colorado – San Jose

Season Series: Colorado 3-0 (12-5)

Colorado (4th – 102 points)

Leading Scorer: Patrick Sharp – 35-38-73

Goaltending: Ilya Bryzgalov – 48-27-4, 2.75, 0.881

Special Teams: PP-19.25% (7th), PK-86.42% (3rd)

San Jose (5^th – 99 points)

Leading Scorer: Eric Staal – 41-43-84

Goaltending: Cam Ward – 41-26-9, 2.81, 0.880

Special Teams: PP-18.87% (9th), PK-79.34% (27th)

If “names” won games then San Jose would take this in a walk. The Avs turn back the clock with former greats like Forsberg and Jagr, but depend highly on fresh faces like Derek Roy, Patrick Sharp, Michael Cammalleri and Loui Eriksson. Lidstrom is about as close to star power as the Avs have but they’re able to role four hard working lines that weaker opponents can’t compete with. The Sharks on the other hand have some of the biggest names in the game with Staal (two of them), Heatley, Parise, Toews and a workhorse d-man in Chara that might be the league’s only match for the Avs’ Lidstrom. This is a hard matchup to predict - The Avs dominated the season series against the Sharks’ high-octane offence yet when one looks at the Avs’ season they were blown out more times than any other team of their stature.

Prediction: In an identical result as last year’s 2^nd round matchup between these two clubs, the Avalanche melt when the Sharks attack and lose in 6.