Blue And White Beat: Random thoughts and Final prediction
May 29, 2010 by RobDM
Filed under Blogs, Blue And White Beat
Random thoughts and Final prediction
Earlier this week the Leafs signed defenceman Korbinian Holzer, their 4th round pick in the 2006 Entry Draft. Holzer, 22, has represented his native Germany internationally on numerous occasions, including the most recent Olympics in Vancouver. Born in Munich, Holzer joins a fellow German-born teammate on the Leafs current roster. Who is he? (answer is provided below).
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Here’s my report card for the third round, based on my predictions from two weeks ago (in brackets)
Western Confernce:
Chicago over San Jose in 4 games (Chicago in 7)
Eastern Conference:
Philadelphia over Montreal in 5 games (Philadelphia in 6)
The Conference Finals brought me to .500 overall (7-for-14). So if you choose to go with my Cup winner pick, hey you have a 50% chance of being right!
This year’s Stanley Cup Final provides no shortage of superstars, led by captains Jonathan Toews of Chicago and Mike Richards of Philadelphia, who were linemates on Canada’s gold medal winning team at the Vancouver Olympics. The bluelines of both teams also boast world-class talent in Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook on the Blackhawks’ side and future Hall-of-Famer Chris Pronger for the Flyers. The matchup guarantees that no fewer than two names will be added to the short list of players who have won a Stanley Cup and an Olympic gold medal in the same year (Ken Morrow 1980, Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan 2002).
Ultimately the series will be decided by Chicago’s phenomenal speed overmatching Philadelphia’s defence. Pronger, Matt Carle, Braydon Coburn and Kimmo Timonen have provided ample containment over the first three rounds, however they have yet to face an opponent with the Blackhawks’ skill set led by Toews, Patrick Kane, David Bolland and the quick Brian Campbell. Fatigue and conditioning will be factor as Philly’s top four defencemen have carried the bulk of the workload, with Ryan Parent and Lucas Krajicek being utilized as mere spare parts. The forecast is that the ice time will catch up to them.
Prediction
Chicago over Philadelphia in 6 games. Jonathan Toews will be the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoffs MVP.
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TMLfans.ca congratulates former Team Canada women’s captain Cassie Campbell-Pascall and her husband Brad Pascall on the announcement that they are about to become parents. In November, Campbell-Pascall is scheduled to join her three-time Olympic teammates Becky Kellar and Cheryl Pounder in the ‘moms’ club.
Congratulations also go out to Steve Yzerman in his new appointment as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Coincidentally, six years ago Vincent Lecavalier was an injury replacement for Yzerman for Team Canada’s entry at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Who knew that Stevie Y. would one day be placed in a position of potentially having to trade away the Lightning superstar?
Trivia answer: Mikhail Grabovski was born in Potsdam, East Germany – moving to Belarus at age 3.
Rob Del Mundo is the author of Blue And White Beat, and is a regular columnist at TMLfans.ca
Follow TMLfans.ca on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tmlfansrob
