The road to the Stanley Cup will not get any easier for the top-seeded Vancouver Canucks, but they enter the second round of the NHL playoffs hoping it cannot get any tougher.After opening the postseason with a stomach-churning series against the defending Stanley Cup champion
Chicago Blackhawks that went the distance, Vancouver and their tortured supporters have had little time to calm frayed nerves as they kickoff the second round on Thursday against the Nashville Predators.
The other Western Conference semi-final has the well-rested Detroit Red Wings, the only team to sweep their first-round series by brushing aside the Phoenix Coyotes 4-0, take on a San Jose Sharks team that needed three overtime wins to put away the Los Angeles Kings 4-2.
In the East, the top-seeded Washington Capitals avenged their surprising first-round loss last year with a 4-1 series win over the New York Rangers and will play the Philadelphia Flyers, who needed seven games and three different goalies to eliminate the Buffalo Sabres.
The other East matchup will feature two teams that survived best-of-seven marathons. The Tampa Bay Lightning stormed back from 3-1 down in their series to shock the Pittsburgh Penguins, while the Boston Bruins needed a Game Seven overtime win to tame the Montreal Canadiens.
During the first round, the NHL sold its U.S. television rights to NBC in a lucrative deal reported to be worth $2 billion, and the league delivered with a playoff curtain raiser packed with drama, spectacular goals and controversial hits.
Certainly an opening round that saw four of the eight series stretched to seven games and every series, except the Red Wings and Coyotes, featuring at least one overtime game, will be tough to top for pure entertainment.
A little less drama, however, would suit the Canucks and their fans just fine.
RUTHLESS REVENGE
The Canucks looked every inch the Stanley Cup favourites they had been tipped to be as they raced to a 3-0 series lead on Chicago, poised to exact ruthless revenge on the team that knocked them out of the playoffs the previous two seasons.
But the Blackhawks would not go down without a fight and forced the series to seven games, where Alexandre Burrows ended the suspense with his Game Seven overtime winner.
Much of the blame for the Canucks' near fatal collapse was laid at the feet of netminder Roberto Luongo.
A year earlier on the same ice, Luongo backstopped Canada to an Olympic gold medal and his stellar work during the NHL's regular season earned him a nod as a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goalie.
But with the Canucks on the brink of finishing off the Blackhawks, cracks in Luongo's confidence began to appear.
As Chicago's rally picked up speed, Luongo's confidence failed him, pulled from two games and benched for Game Six.
Saying he had never felt more pressure, Luongo was back in net for Game Seven and delivered the solid goaltending his team needed holding on for a gut-wrenching 2-1 win.
"This one might be better than the Olympics," Luongo told reporters. "You always say in tough times that's when you see the true character of somebody."
Luongo and the rest of the Canucks now face a Predators team that is entering uncharted territory having never before advanced out of the first round.
Experience, however, may be one of the few areas where the Predators are lacking.
Pekka Rinne is a Vezina trophy finalist while Shea Webber is a nominee for the Norris trophy as top defenceman and Barry Trotz's name is expected to be included among the Jack Adams finalist for coach of the year.
The playoffs are nothing new for the Red Wings who are back in the postseason for the 20th consecutive year and looking for revenge against the Sharks, who swept them out of the second round in five games a year ago.
Chicago Blackhawks that went the distance, Vancouver and their tortured supporters have had little time to calm frayed nerves as they kickoff the second round on Thursday against the Nashville Predators.
The other Western Conference semi-final has the well-rested Detroit Red Wings, the only team to sweep their first-round series by brushing aside the Phoenix Coyotes 4-0, take on a San Jose Sharks team that needed three overtime wins to put away the Los Angeles Kings 4-2.
In the East, the top-seeded Washington Capitals avenged their surprising first-round loss last year with a 4-1 series win over the New York Rangers and will play the Philadelphia Flyers, who needed seven games and three different goalies to eliminate the Buffalo Sabres.
The other East matchup will feature two teams that survived best-of-seven marathons. The Tampa Bay Lightning stormed back from 3-1 down in their series to shock the Pittsburgh Penguins, while the Boston Bruins needed a Game Seven overtime win to tame the Montreal Canadiens.
During the first round, the NHL sold its U.S. television rights to NBC in a lucrative deal reported to be worth $2 billion, and the league delivered with a playoff curtain raiser packed with drama, spectacular goals and controversial hits.
Certainly an opening round that saw four of the eight series stretched to seven games and every series, except the Red Wings and Coyotes, featuring at least one overtime game, will be tough to top for pure entertainment.
A little less drama, however, would suit the Canucks and their fans just fine.
RUTHLESS REVENGE
The Canucks looked every inch the Stanley Cup favourites they had been tipped to be as they raced to a 3-0 series lead on Chicago, poised to exact ruthless revenge on the team that knocked them out of the playoffs the previous two seasons.
But the Blackhawks would not go down without a fight and forced the series to seven games, where Alexandre Burrows ended the suspense with his Game Seven overtime winner.
Much of the blame for the Canucks' near fatal collapse was laid at the feet of netminder Roberto Luongo.
A year earlier on the same ice, Luongo backstopped Canada to an Olympic gold medal and his stellar work during the NHL's regular season earned him a nod as a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goalie.
But with the Canucks on the brink of finishing off the Blackhawks, cracks in Luongo's confidence began to appear.
As Chicago's rally picked up speed, Luongo's confidence failed him, pulled from two games and benched for Game Six.
Saying he had never felt more pressure, Luongo was back in net for Game Seven and delivered the solid goaltending his team needed holding on for a gut-wrenching 2-1 win.
"This one might be better than the Olympics," Luongo told reporters. "You always say in tough times that's when you see the true character of somebody."
Luongo and the rest of the Canucks now face a Predators team that is entering uncharted territory having never before advanced out of the first round.
Experience, however, may be one of the few areas where the Predators are lacking.
Pekka Rinne is a Vezina trophy finalist while Shea Webber is a nominee for the Norris trophy as top defenceman and Barry Trotz's name is expected to be included among the Jack Adams finalist for coach of the year.
The playoffs are nothing new for the Red Wings who are back in the postseason for the 20th consecutive year and looking for revenge against the Sharks, who swept them out of the second round in five games a year ago.
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