Do the Avalanche repeat, or do the Rangers finally win it all?
It's game on for the Avalanche and Rangers as the WCHL Cup finals start tonight.
For the past 10 WCHL seasons, a new team has been crowned as champion. Only the San Jose Sharks have ever claimed more than one WCHL Cup, and the Sharks are also the only team to do it in back-to-back years, winning it all in Season 2 and 3.
With four more wins, the Colorado Avalanche could move into those ranks as well, as the defending WCHL Cup champions have returned to the WCHL finals the year after winning the cup, the first team to do so since the Sharks.
The New York Rangers meanwhile are seeking to finally claim their first elusive WCHL Cup. Three years ago, the Rangers and Calgary Flames met up in the finals, pitting two teams that had begun extensive rebuilds at the same time against one another. In that series the Rangers dropped four straight games, but to many, they expected the Rangers to return next year.
The Rangers would love to capture a bit of the Moose's magic to try and bring the cup back to New York for the first time in 18 years.
Three years later, the Rangers have returned, albeit after a very narrow escape in round one from the Philadelphia Flyers, who pushed the Rangers to overtime in game seven before falling. Both teams have been tested and bent these playoffs, but neither broke and is now four hard-fought wins away from a WCHL crown.
(4 in West) Colorado Avalanche vs. (3 in East) New York Rangers- The Avalanche have shown great resiliency in these playoffs, much more than would be expected from a team which is fresh off a Cup title. The Avalanche fell behind 1-0 in their first round series and 2-0 in the third round against the high-powered Calgary Flames. In both cases, they replied with four straight wins to move on. In round two they didn't even let the Anaheim Ducks get started, sweeping the youthful and talented Ducks in four straight games. After posting 111 points in the regular season, Colorado is a very impressive 12-3 so far this post season, 12-2 in their last 14 games.
For the Rangers, they are also on a great roll lately. After watching the Flyers battle back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the series at 3-3, the Rangers have gone 9-2 since then, losing just a pair of games to the upstart Buffalo Sabres in the third round. This follows an underrated regular season in which the Rangers coasted behind the high-powered Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference much of the season and still managed to pick up 116 points. The Rangers have shown some stutters in the playoffs, and have lost back-to-back games twice in the post-season. Needless to say a similar mistake in the finals could cost them everything.
While the matchup pits two of the game's best netminders against one another in Colorado's Ilya Bryzgalov versus the Rangers Henrik Lundqvist, the Rangers offense has been outstanding this post-season, led by the duo of Tomas Fleischmann and Johan Franzen, who have scored 24 goals so far between them, 15 of which are on the powerplay. For the Avalanche meanwhile, this cup finals just took on an entirely new demeanor, as all-world defenseman Niklas Lidstrom just announced yesterday he will be retiring after the finals, ending a sure-fire Hall of Fame career. The blueliner is going out with a bang, as he is currently leading all playoff defensemen in scoring with 16 points in 15 games, including one of only four shorthanded goals scored in the playoffs, while sitting second in shot blocks with 31.
This series could come down to Lidtsrom himself. The blueliner will most likely be matched up against his former teammate Franzen and if he can limit Franzen's offense, it could be what swings this series in favor of the Avalanche. If not, and the Rangers can get a few past Bryzgalov, it could be tough for the Avalanche to comeback considering they have a line up filled with good, solid, but not star level forwards who would need to trump Lundqvist. Prediction: New York Rangers in seven games.
ACHL Finals
(1 in West) Abbotsford Heat vs. (6 in East) Norfolk Admirals- Abbotsford in six games.
