Preview: Canucks vs Blackhawks 2009

Records

Vancouver (3): 45-27-10 (100 pts) Home: 24-12-5 Away: 21-15-5
Chicago (4): 46-24-12 (104 pts) Home: 24-9-8 Away: 22-15-4

How They Got Here

Vancouver swept St. Louis and Chicago knocked off Calgary in 6 games.

Head-to-Head

Oct 19, 2008 - VAN 2 CHI 4
Dec 20, 2008 - VAN 1 CHI 3
Feb 7, 2009 - VAN 7 CHI 3
Mar 29, 2009 - VAN 4 CHI 0
Season series was tied 2-2.

Fights

Oct 19, 2008 - Shane O'Brien vs Adam Burish
Oct 19, 2008 - Mike Brown vs Ben Eager
Mar 29, 2009 - Kevin Bieksa vs Ben Eager
Mar 29, 2009 - Alexandre Burrows vs Duncan Keith (kinda, no majors)

Lineup

Goaltending: EDGE Vancouver
Scoring: EDGE Chicago
Defense: DRAW
Coaching: DRAW
Grit: EDGE Chicago

Schedule

Thursday, April 30 at Vancouver, 9:00 p.m. CBC, VERSUS
Saturday, May 2 at Vancouver, 9:00 p.m. CBC, VERSUS
Tuesday, May 5 at Chicago, 8:00 p.m. CBC, VERSUS
Thursday, May 7 at Chicago, 8:00 p.m. CBC, VERSUS
*Saturday, May 9 at Vancouver, 10:30 p.m CBC, VERSUS
*Monday, May 11 at Chicago, 9:00 p.m. CBC, VERSUS
*Thursday, May 14 at Vancouver, TBD CBC, VERSUS

Prediction

After the first round, the Canucks are a confident bunch. The god-like play of Roberto Luongo led to a seemingly easy first round win and made their offense look fairly competent. But there's a problem with their next opponent...Chicago has a great goalie too! Sure, Nikolai Khabibulin's no Luongo but he's pretty damn good and, combined with a guy like Sami Pahlsson, could make that competent offense look a little more like the '07 Canucks team. For Vancouver to win, they need to completely shut down the Blackhawk kids and hope that they can get a few softies through Khabibulin. I don't see it happening. Hawks in 6.

John's Pick

I picked against the Canucks and Blackhawks in the first round and both teams surprised me. I don't expect any surprises in this one though. As good as Chicago is, Vancouver is that much better. This young Hawks team has a load of scoring depth, but it isn't going to make much of a difference if they can't figure out Roberto Luongo, who should dazzle in this series. The Blackhawks could make things interesting early, but the Canucks should come out of this series victorious. Canucks in 6.

David's Pick

This is a good matchup, two teams that can definitely skate. There's been a lot of talk about this being a rough series thanks to the last game the two played. The first game will probably see a lot of crash and bang, but it will probably settle down after that. If I'm wrong, good. The Blackhawks have deeper scoring, and that's the key here: Hawks O vs Luongo. Khabibulin knows what a Cup run & win feels like and is up for the challenge. Jonathan Toews & co. can light it up, and will just enough to get the extra W. Hawks in 7.