Stanley Cup Western Conference predictions

Stanley Cup Western Conference predictions

Much like the Eastern Conference I have also made Western Conference predictions, based on my bracket on the NHL.com website. My predictions are below;

St Louis Blues v Minnesota Wild

The Minnesota Wild are a dark horse team who I think could go far if they continue to receive great goaltending from a rejuvenated Devan Dubnyk. Mike Yeo was under pressure this season to get results and they stepped up to the plate with a 100 point season to earn the first Wild Card spot. The Wild were the 6th winningest team in the West and have had an increase in scoring this year compared to last with 231 goals for against 207 last year. Most of this came from Parise who finished with 62 points for his best season since his 2011-12 season with the Devils.

The St.Louis Blues are one of the best teams to be eliminated early in the past few years in my opinion, this is due to them being paired with possibly the worst teams they could. Chicago in 2014 and Los Angeles in 2013. In both instances the opponent went to the Western Conference Final. The Blues made some trades at the deadline and didn't look back finishing 2nd in the Western Conference. St.Louis big strength is their strength in offense, if they can get all lines to chip in they could be deadly.

Prediction: St Louis 4-2 Minnesota Wild

Nashville Predators v Chicago Blackhawks

The Predators are a surprise package this season under a new coach, Laviolette. They made a big move trading for James Neal in the summer and have had a renewed look. Forsberg has also had a great season and as ever, Rinne is holding fort.

The Chicago Blackhawks are built for the play-offs and will have been given a great boost with Patrick Kane being cleared to play in the first round match. They will be looking to go better than the Western Conference Final defeat last year. With  Los Angeles not making it they are by far the favourite to come out of the West. 

Prediction: Nashville 3-4 Chicago

Anaheim Ducks v Winnipeg Jets

The Anaheim Ducks have won the Pacific division and been given a tough assignment to the Jets. Bruce Boudreau has been a great coach for the Ducks and they made some interesting trades that have improved their team, the additions of Jiri Sekac and Simon Despres giving them some extra depth. Ryan Kesler joined last summer and will looking to go far to prove the move was the right one. The Ducks are the fifth best home team in the play-offs, they'll be hard to beat there.

The Jets have qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1996 and the MTS Center will be rocking. They will be hard to beat as they play a physical game with a lot of determination and belief. Pavelec has come on strong recently with a good shut out streak and I think many would say they didn't expect them to make it this season. The fact they have is testament to their talent and determination to prove people wrong and show the NHL that they were wrong to remove the team from Winnipeg in the past. Their inexperience may be their downfall but they will be happy just to be here. 

Prediction: Anaheim 4-2 Winnipeg

Vancouver Canucks v Calgary Flames

The Vancouver Canucks have had a great season being led by the Sedin brothers once again proving that their age is not slowing them down. Vrabata was a superb off-season addition having a career year at the age of 33. The Canucks have had some goalie controversies in previous years but Lack and Miller have a clear understanding of where they are and that will remove some of the issues that affected the team in the past. A good run by the Canucks wouldn't surprise me.

The Calgary Flames were not expected to make the playoffs even less so when Mark Giordano was ruled out for the season. Their young team has defied expectations being led by Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau who are part of the most dominant line in the season (Gaudreau-Monahan-Hudler) which combined for 202 points this season. The Flames don't have as much depth as the other teams and I think that could cost them but the experience will be invaluable.

Prediction: Vancouver 4-2 Calgary