One Heck Of A Series Set To Go

All season long the Blackhawks and the Sharks battled it out for the top spot in the West. Ultimately it went to San Jose on the final day of the season as the Hawks needed to beat Detroit but came up short in overtime. But now here they are again and this next series will decide who truly is tops in the West and who will be moving on to the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Hawks and the Sharks on paper seem to be mirror images of each other. Both have real fire power and both possess both speed and strength.  San Jose has two incredible top lines led by Oympian centers Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. The Hawks probably have more depth in their four lines and that could make the difference in this series. And speaking of Olympians there are (count them) fourteen players who played in Vancouver from these two teams.

Both teams are well rested maybe even too much so. The Hawks will have had five days in between games while the Sharks will have an astounding eight. Usually that means that one or both squads could be a bit rusty at the beginning of game one but it shouldn't last long.

The Hawks have been incredible on the road in the post season having won five of their six games in enemy territory but San Jose has won five straight in the very loud HP Pavillion, better known as the "Shark Tank".

We all know about the incredible talent that both teams have but I think it will come down to the secondary or role players that make the difference in this series. Guys like Dave Bolland, Troy Brouwer and Adam Burrish have their specialities on the ice and if they come through I see the hawks winning this series in six games.

I'm out here in San Jose and I'll have live reports on the radio and a multitude of blogs here on the website.