Handicapping the 2014 NHL Playoff rivalries

The NHL playoffs start on April 15thish. Here is a quick primer for your hockey sports fans on playoff series to watch, why, and chances of it happening which is a complete rehash/update from my same review last year.

The NHL is about to begin its 97th Stanley Cup campaign. It’s 2.5 months of heightened intensity and do-or-die attitudes and for many men it will be their only chance to have their name etched forever on hockey’s holy grail. It’s a dream many have had since they first laced up a pair of skates and have worked on all their lives. It takes 16 games to win the Stanley Cup but only 4 games lost to have that dream crushed. As with all great sporting leagues, there are a few rivalries that all marketing men and homer fans hope for as teams with a history of going head to head in the playoffs bring some of the most exciting hockey that will be witnessed this lock-out shortened year.

Thanks to re-alignment and the creation of a 'wild-card' system that frankly sucks as much as Mark Messier, the best thing to do is just wait until the end of the season at which time TSN will tell you who's in and who's out. Basically the top 3 teams of each new 'divison' make the playoffs but with no idea who they will be playing until the last 4 spaces are decided among the other 16 teams that still have a shot due to the convoluted points system that has been in place since the advent of the OTL point. The only thing we know for sure this year is that if you are cheering for a Canadian team, you won't have to worry about vocal chord damage.

Thanks to the internet and proliferation of free televised sporting events sites, new and old fans from overseas have more opportunity than ever before to watch some of the greatest, high-intensity hockey you will see this year in an ever-evolving game for better or worse.

Here are 6 of the biggest rivalries in the NHL and the chances of us seeing them on the ice this year…

6. Pittsburgh Penguins Vs Philadelphia Flyers AKA The Battle of Penn State.

Philly has some of the most vocal, passionate fans in the league, Pittsburgh is one of the most talented. There are a number of current and future hall-of-famers on this year’s Penguins while the best one can say is that this year’s Philly team has a number of future ex-NHL’rs on theirs.

Yet, when the two teams meet up it makes for some of the most passionate and exciting hockey in the league. They have met 6 times in the playoffs, playing 35 games with the Flyers having the edge 19-16 in wins.

Two years ago, the teams combined for 45 goals and 309 penalty minutes in a spirited 6 game series; that’s an average of just over 7 goals and 50 penalty minutes a game which is 1980′s numbers. Last year, the underdog Flyers surprised the league’s best team 4 games to 2 in the first round of the playoffs. If you want goals, hits, controversy and fans being spit on, Pittsburgh and Philly are an Eastern Conference dream match-up that will be hard to beat.

Chances Of It Happening In 2014 – 25%

Pittsburgh should make short work of the Columbus Blue Jackets who look to continue their streak of never getting past the first round in their existence. Philadelphia has to somehow beat a resurgent Alain Vigneault NY Ranger team that has learned how to have fun again, has a confident sexy goaltender and able back-up in net and a cease-and-desist order against Mark Messier entering the dressing room to remind everyone what he did 20 years ago. Philly will have to rely on Steve Mason in net, who is part of the reason why Columbus has never been in the 2nd round.

Pittsburgh in five, Rangers in six.

5. Montreal Canadiens Vs Boston Bruins

These teams have met a record total of 170 times in the post season, with Montreal having the huge edge in games won, 102-68 and series wins 24-9. Their first match up was in 1929, the last one in 2011. There was a period of 18 straight times the Canadiens beat the Bruins in the playoffs, a total spanning 45 years which was finally broken in 1988. Since then the teams have been on much more equal footing play-wise but Boston is considered the more dominant
physical team while Montreal the much more hospitalized team.

For example, to keep things interesting for the doctors, there was this famous donnybrook, then this straight-to-the-hospital hit by the world’s tallest player, Zdeno Chara, and then this incident last year.

And in a classic “I’m screwing your ex-girlfriend’ move, in 2012 the Boston Bruins drafted the younger brother of Montreal Canadiens star defencemen P.K. Subban in the NHL entry league draft, making for future family gatherings at the Subban household somewhat uncomfortable I am sure.

Chances Of It Happening In 2013- 90%

With Montreal and Boston both in the upper half of the current standings, a renewal of the league’s longest rivalry is within possibility and if it happens will be played up more than the next Avengers movie. Both teams do have to beat their first round opponents and survive the inevitable Montreal riot that will follow each series victory (or defeat).

Boston is a Las Vegas favourite, won the President's Trophy this year and are playing for Iggy, which as the playoffs go on will take on Ray Bourque like status, having realized his mistake last year when he signed with the Penguins and not the eventual Stanley Cup runner-ups. Mistake corrected in the off season. Boston still has to get by Detroit, which has a nasty tendency of always being around in April (23rd season in a row).  However, I don't think they will be able to stop the Bruins Fists first, goals second philosophy.

Montreal has a much easier task when they take on the minor league affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning do have the world's tallest goaltender in net and Stephen Stamkos shooting the puck every chance he gets but with the sudden drama in the dressing room thanks to Ryan Malone, their will be too much going on behind the scenes to stop the Habs faithful from singing that Ole Ole song every time the Habs grab a lead. It's going to take a Luongo-like collapse of Olympic gold winner Carey Price to stop this train of destiny to Beantown.

Boston in seven
Montreal in four

4. Edmonton Oilers Vs Calgary Flames AKA The Battle of Alberta

During the later eighties, the victor of this series was all but guaranteed to go on and win the Stanley Cup, 7 times in 8 years. Geographically Edmonton and Calgary are a short (for Canada) 4 hour freeway ride from each other which made for plenty of beer-drinking fans making the trek either way to show their support. The Oilers, the undisputed (except by Calgary) team of the eighties were packed with hall of fame talent that were setting records at an amazing pace, the Flames were like the little brother tired of big brother getting all the attention. The Flames only managed to beat the Oilers once in the playoffs back in 1986, thanks to a fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on which team you were rooting for) bounce that thanks to the internet and Flames fans, will never be forgotten.

They met a total of 30 times, with the Oilers coming out on top 19 of those. They haven’t met each other in the playoffs since 1991, when the Oilers once again eliminated the Flames from Stanley Cup contention. The Flames finally returned to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2004 putting the city into such an uproar that their fans created the now legendary Red Mile, a zone of post-game partying of New Orleans Mardi-Gras proportions. They went on to lose to an upstart Southern US expansion team. The following year the Oilers were quick to repeat the same feat, losing to another Southern US expansion team but in the more important category, named their party zone the Blue Mile showing that even in letting down all of Canada, the two still love a good competition.

Chances Of It Happening In 2013 - 0%

Unless there's a tragic double-booking at a golf course in Red Deer, situated as it is right between the two Titanic-esque franchises, the Titanic has a better chance of rising from the ocean floor filled with Water Zombies (has that genre been created yet?) than the league has of seeing these 2 compete, not just this year but even on draft day. Edmonton has a host of young stars with the right chemistry and trade appeal and their greatest moment of the season was either when Ben Scrivens tied a team record for saves in a game or saying goodbye to their veteran leadership.

Calgary has a new poprcorn maker in their dressing room to go with last year's juice blender so they have that going for them. All team members have an open invitation to come back to the Saddledome and watch their team’s all-time leading scorer participate in the playoffs in an effort to instill some motivation over the off season. It also gives Brian Burke a chance to see who he can trade on draft day.

3. New York Rangers Vs New York Islanders Vs New Jersey Devils AKA The Battle Of New York AKA The Hudson River Rivalry

In this strange hockey love triangle in the heart of the world’s biggest market, these three teams are literally spitting distance from each other yet due to the years of inept performance mostly on the Islanders part, they have never met the Devils in the playoffs. The Rangers have no problem stepping out on their long-time state rivals to make some sweet hockey love with cross-river rivals the New Jersey Devils when it comes time for the playoffs.

The Rangers and the Devils have renewed shenanigans 6 times in the playoffs, with the Rangers coming out on top 16 of the 34 times they have faced off against each other, winning 4 series out of six.

The most memorable moment came in 1994 when NY captain Mark Messier, with his team facing elimination, took time out from apparently dating Madonna to ‘guarantee a victory’ in the upcoming game, which usually means ‘guarantee a loss’. Messier scored all 3 goals that night to defeat the Devils 3-2 and guaranteed himself a place in New York sporting history along the lines of Babe Ruth’s calling-his-shot baseball legend. The Rangers went on to win the series and their first Stanley Cup in 44 years, defeating the Vancouver Canucks in one of the closest Stanley Cup series ever played in modern times, 4 games to 3.

While the last 20 years the focus has been on the much more likely Devils/Rangers match-up the possibility of an Islanders/Rangers playoff match would have NY hockey fans salivating and an ‘all bets are off’ mentality in backing a winner, due to the bragging rights that come with each cross-town victory. Back in the day when the Islanders were considered a powerhouse team, the teams faced off in the playoffs 8 times with the Islanders having a slight edge in wins 20-19.

Another great byproduct of this series would be the re-introduction of some of the most spirited crowd taunts in league history; Ranger fans have their favourite; “Potvin sucks“, a reference to the all-star Islander defenceman Denis Potvin who retired decades ago yet apparently is still popular while Islanders fan have adopted a rendition of ‘The Rangers suck’ to accompany the Chicken Dance Polka. Yes, it sounds lame but one has to admit is pretty funny when you hear it.

Chances Of It Happening In 2013 - 0%

With the Rangers the only one of these teams to make the playoffs this year, the reasoning seems pretty explanatory.
The Devils Martin Brodeur looks to still be going through some Tim Thomas-like retirement nerves by not outright stating he's going to retire, instead planning on testing the free agent market this summer to see who may be interested in a 20+ yr veteran in a position that is overflowing with young talent waiting for 20+ yr veterans to gracefully retire from the league instead of hogging up all the back-up goalie ice time.
Next year, if the Devils can figure out a way to not have the game go into a shoot out, they may have a chance of renewing the Hudson River Rivalry.

The Islanders...sigh...the team held such promise at the start of the year, Moulson, Tavares, Okposo, Nielson all lighting it up; Rick DiPietro finally admitted he was never coming back while Nabokov said he would.  Then the trade of Vanek for Moulson didn't pan out, Tavares was the only Olympian to get a season-ending injury and Boom...back to the bottom, New York.
However, given a decent off-season, a healthy Johnny Tavares and Bettman's odd points system, anything can happen next year.

2. Toronto Maple Leafs Vs Ottawa Senators AKA The Battle of Ontario 

Another all Canadian match-up, these two teams have met 24 times in the playoffs since the year 2000 when they faced off 4 of 5 years, with Toronto coming out on top in 16 of those games, eliminating the Ottawa Senators in every series they met.

The bitterness between the two teams has had some great moments, with Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredson going all Mark Messier and guaranteeing a win in a do-or-die game back in 2004. The Senators won the game but forgot that they still needed to win one more, bowing out in an anticlimatic 4-1 loss in game 7.

Toronto has long been considered the center of the hockey universe by Torontonians but the pecularity of the team having to play in the post-season, something that hasn’t been done in nearly a decade may be too much for their collective head to fathom as they usually reserve the Spring for watching baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays start their yearly fall from playoff contention.

Chances Of It Happening In 2013 - 0%

While it is likely both these teams might make the playoffs in the same year sometime in the future, they have to get there first. Toronto managed to make everyone forget about their historic game 7 collapse in the first round last year by having a historic season-ending collapse which anyone within range of TSN heard about all through the start of April.

And apparently Ottawa has a hockey team. 

1. Vancouver Canucks Vs Chicago Blackhawks AKA TBA

Although these teams have met relatively few times in their history it has really gathered steam in the last few seasons as most other playoff series in the Western Conference are only a prelude to this match up, much like the Battle of Alberta in the 80′s.

Ironically, Vancouver owes Chicago for it’s wildly popular ’Towel Power’ playoff theme from their first playoff series back in 1982. The scene of Head Coach Roger Nielson holding up a white towel in surrender to the game’s officials has become iconic in NHL playoff lore and Vancouver has been waving that flag ever since, without really understanding the irony. I guess because it’s Vancouver.

Chicago won hard-fought and hair-pulling (literally) series in 2009 and 2010 in 6 games. Vancouver finally beat Chicago in 2011, surviving blowing a 3 game lead to win on an overtime winner in game 7, 4 games to 3.

Adding fuel to this rivalry were some comments made by Chicago’s Dave Bolland on a local radio station a couple years ago regarding the Canucks star twin forwards, Daniel and Henrik Sedin and the city of Vancouver itself;

“[The Sedin twins will] never become ‘Hawks,” Bolland said. “I don’t think we’d let them on our team. That’d probably be one thing. We’d be sure not to let them on our team. And, yeah, they probably still would be sisters. I think they might sleep in, like, bunk beds. The older one has the bottom one, the younger one’s got the top.

“There’s a lot of weirdos [in Vancouver]. You don’t want to be out there too long.”

To be fair, Vancouver does have a lot of weirdos, having lived there myself for five years. With both teams consistently in the top 5 of league standings over the last half-decade, the passion and hatred that fuels this rivalry make it hard to beat.

Chances Of It Happening In 2013 - 0%

There's a theme going on here with the Canucks. And it's Fuck Making History and Let's Keep Making the Same Mistakes but Only Bigger.

Chicago remains a legitimate Stanley Cup contender because their front office doesn't turn to it's fan base when it comes to making team-related decisions. Chicago doesn't blame or fire their all-time winningest coach after they get knocked out of the playoffs by the eventual Stanley Cup Champions. It doesn't turn on it's #1 goaltender or offers him a stupid-long contract that was ridiculous in it's terms and it's length.

There's no reason to expect that at any time in the near future the next series these two meet up in will be anywhere near as exciting as the previous years.

Even the goal song competition is hands-down a Chicago victory as they also chose to stay with what works; Chelsea Dagger by The Fratellis whereas the Canucks went with a Black Eyed Keys song (Gold on the Ceiling) that sounds like it was recorded over a WW 2 London Bombing video by a Grade eighter;

Edit; in researching this post (ok, while grabbing the videos) I was already been subjected to the Mark Messier guarantee which starts '20 years ago I... that I forewarned would happen when discussing the Rangers.  After the mandatory 5 seconds were up and I never found out what he was pitching which should be league maximum in regards to listening to Mark Messier.