2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Conference Finals Preview

I know this is about two days late but here we go. The time is upon us. When the playoffs began, there were sixteen teams left. Now we are down to the final four in the National Hockey League. The Conference Finals are here and we have two highly entertaining matchups. This series means that teams are one step away from playing for hockey's ultimate prize. The Western Conference finals is somewhat expected, as most fans and analysts had this pegged as the conference finals early on in both the regular season and playoffs. With the Eastern Conference finals, nobody really had these two teams picked to still be playing here, which just goes to show how unpredictable the playoffs can be.

So without further delay, here's our preview of the conference finals!

First up we have the Eastern Conference Finals between the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers. The Rangers got here by beating the Philadelphia Flyers in the opening round, then knocked out the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round, both series going seven games. The Rangers made the conference finals back in 2012 when they lost to the Devils in six games, and the Rangers are looking to make the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since winning their last championship in 1994. As for the Canadiens, they got here by sweeping the Lighting in the opening round, then holding off the Bruins in seven games in round two. They haven't made it to the conference finals since 2010, and are looking to make their first appearance in the Cup Finals since their last title win in 1993. This is the fifteenth playoff meeting for these two Original Six teams, with each team having won seven of the fourteen previous playoff series. Their most recent meeting was in the 1996 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which the Rangers won in six games. Montreal won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.

Here are the Dates and Times for the rest of the series (minus game one which was already played):
May 19 New York Rangers 8:00 p.m. Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre
May 22 Montreal Canadiens 8:00 p.m. New York Rangers Madison Square Garden
May 25 Montreal Canadiens 8:00 p.m. New York Rangers Madison Square Garden
May 27 New York Rangers 8:00 p.m. Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre
May 29 Montreal Canadiens 8:00 p.m. New York Rangers Madison Square Garden
May 31 New York Rangers 8:00 p.m. Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre

This series has a marquee value to it, just as much as anything else in this years playoffs. Heading in, both teams were coming off seven game series in the last round. The Canadiens had some good and some bad nights against the Bruins. That series was a very physical one, having taken something out of the Canadiens tank, and you kind of saw that in game one of this series. Montreal got done in the first round early, had rest and went into a  physical series with Boston. PK Subban and Carey Price have been the two real standouts for the Habs during this years playoffs. Montreal has rolled all four lines and been able to handle the pressure against the Bruins. The special teams has been good, especially the power play, which is going to be a factor in this series. The Rangers, on the other hand, have really stared to heat up over the last few games. After dropping games two three and four to the Penguins, the Blueshirts got something to rally around. Granted it was sadly the passing of Martin St. Louis mother, it still gave them something to rally behind. The Rangers won the final three games of that series. St. Louis, Brad Richards Derek Brassard, Benoit Pulliout and Bryan Boyle have really stepped their play up over the past few games. Despite the fact the power play hasn't really clicked, the lines are rolling right along and the Rangers seemed to have caught fire.

Game one really saw things in a new light. The Rangers dominated from start to finish. Rick Nash finally found the back of the net for the first time in the playoffs, despite firing off the most shots out of anybody in the playoffs. The Rangers are on a roll and Montreal now has another problem to deal with: the injury to Carey Price. Price was hurt after getting run over by Chris Kreider in game one, by accident I might add. Price has been ruled out for the rest of this round, which means it looks like Montreal will have to use Peter Budaj the remainder of the round, possibly longer if Montreal wins this series. I don't think that's gonna happen.  Both teams are beat up, the Rangers more so because they have gone seven games in both prior rounds. That may be a factor for the Rangers. But they have the advantage. They are coming in red hot, as you really saw in the first game of the series. They have been rolling all four lines really well, while the defense and goaltending has been stellar. Montreal had to go seven games to beat Boston, but the physical toll was taken on them, which leads me to believe they may not be able to really last long in this series.

The Pick: Rangers in 7!

Now we move along to the Western Conference finals, which has the Lost Angeles Kings taking on the defending Champions, the Chicago Blackhawks. Los Angeles comes into the conference finals after having to go seven games with both the Sharks in the first round and the Ducks in the second round. This marks the 3rd year in a row the Kings have made the Conference finals, as the team looks to get back to the cup finals for the first time since winning the championship back in 2011. Chicago got here by winning six games series against the Blues in the opening round and the Wild in the second round. Chicago is playing in the conference finals for the fourth time in the last six seasons, and are looking to win their 2nd straight Stanley Cup, 3rd in five years. This is the third playoff meeting for these two franchises, with Chicago having won both of their previous playoff meetings. This is a rematch of last years Western Conference Finals, which Chicago won in five games. This is the third straight Conference Finals appearance for the Kings, while it is Chicago's fourth trip to the Conference Finals since 2009. Chicago won all three games in this year's regular season series.

Here's the Date and Times for all games in this series (minus game one which has already been played):
May 21 Los Angeles Kings 8:00 p.m. Chicago Blackhawks United Center
May 24 Chicago Blackhawks 8:00 p.m. Los Angeles Kings Staples Center
May 26 Chicago Blackhawks 9:00 p.m. Los Angeles Kings Staples Center
May 28 Los Angeles Kings 8:00 p.m. Chicago Blackhawks United Center
May 30 Chicago Blackhawks 9:00 p.m. Los Angeles Kings Staples Center
June 1 Los Angeles Kings 8:00 p.m. Chicago Blackhawks United Center

Just the fact that these same two teams are playing each other in this years conference finals says a lot. With how talent heave the West was this year, it says a lot about how good both these clubs are. Los Angeles has been playing good hockey. They overcame a 3-0 deficit to the Sharks to beat them in seven.They had to come back from down 3-2 to the Ducks, who were the 2nd best team in the West, behind Colorado, to beat them in seven games. Jonathan Quick has played very well in the playoffs, Marian Gaborik has been a scoring machine, Jeff Carter Mike Richards and Anze Kopitar have been filling in quite well. Even Dustin Brown has started to pick his game up late in the series against the Ducks. The Achilles heal here for the Kings is going to be their blue line. The LA blue line is quite banged up. Robyn Regehr and Willie Mitchell have been hurt, and its taxing on the rest of the blueline. They're not the same players they once were, but they're still important penalty killers. Matt Greene and Jeff Schultz did a admirable job filling in, but they aren't quite the same players ans Regehr and Mitchell. Without those guys, the other top flight defensemen on the Kings have been wearing down. Playing a team like the Hawks is going to take its toll with an injured defense crop.

Chicago is still mostly in tact from a season ago, and their big guns are really starting to heat up at the right time for the Champs. Kane and Toews have been playing well in the playoffs, Toews has six goals already, the exact same number he's had the last few years combined. What may possibly hurt the Hawks in this series is a slight lack of depth up front. Sure they still have a dominate top six forwards, but its the bottom six that leave you worried. Head coach Joel Quinville hasn't quite been able to roll four lines as easily as he would have liked, which could end up possibly hurting him in a series like this against a team like the Kings. Still with all things considered, I think the Hawks are healthy enough and experienced enough, to be able to pull this thing out.

The Pick: Blackhawks in 7!

So there you have it. The stage has been set the final four are ready and in two weeks we will have our Stanley Cup Finals!

(Authors Note: All predictions read in article were made BEFORE the start of the series)