[FFS]

Originally Posted by Mike F

So have they been saving him all season for the playoffs? Because in the Canucks games I've watched, he didn't look like a guy I'd want getting 20 minutes of ice time against another team's top line if he were a Flame.

The level of subjectivity around here is staggering at times.

Dorsett was highly effective for the Rangers last season in the playoffs, but he only recorded a single assist, and was a minus-2. What made him effective was that he hit everything that moved, crashed the net, mixed it up, and provided a spark. Ask anyone, that kind of player is an important piece of any playoff team. He will be effective because he brings a tenacity that the Euronucks so often lack in the playoffs.

That does not mean to say that Vancouver is locked and loaded this year and ready for playoff hockey, but they aren't going to be an easy team to play against.

Originally Posted by ReinhartonD

I like this matchup.

Goal - If both teams are playing backups, Hiller wins with .932 lifetime playoff percentage--what's Lack's playoff record? He doesn't have one. Plus their media and fan base turn on their goalies in a heartbeat.

Hiller is a very up and down goaltender. There's a reason that a contender like Anaheim let him go in favor of unproven youngsters.

Originally Posted by ReinhartonD

Forwards? Their top line features two guys who've proven to be playoff vanishing acts, and Burrows who can be counted on to do something stupid at inopportune moments. Flames definitely have the speed advantage up front. These two teams played all their games early--I'd argue Gaudreau and Monahan are better now than when the Canucks last saw them.

While many have said that the Sedins have never had that extra gear for the post-season, but in recent years their play and production hasn't dipped too much at all from their regular season numbers. When the Canucks started to become a dominant team in the league back in 2008-09 the Sedins have been 0.9 ppg producers in the playoffs (Henrik 0.89 ppg, Daniel 0.92 ppg).

Just to put it in perspective for you take a look at Jonathan Toews, a guy that is widely considered to be one of the best leaders and playoff performers out there. His playoff production over that same span of time is 0.86 ppg. Not that the Sedins are the same player as Toews, but they haven't ever had the supporting cast that he has either.

And I don't think we need to see the actual numbers again that tell us how badly the Sedins have feasted on Calgary over the years.

Originally Posted by ReinhartonD

This series will be the changing of the guard--we've had the diving cartorchers shoved down our throats when they were winning their president's trophies (and then choking when things got real) by all the Canadian media. They're older, slower and soon to be less relevant. This should be fun.

It's always intriguing to watch sports fans, of any team, when they discuss a hated rival. My original statement about subjectivity applies again. I was there on the red mile when the party started in 2004, and it only got bigger. The entire league was subject to the rantings of fans, and media analysts, alike, calling the Flames Cup favorites despite the fact that they had merely accomplished a glass slipper run to the final. Edmonton did it the next season. The Flames never finished higher than 7th overall after that, and didn't get beyond the first round. There was no car torching, but everyone had to hear about the team from our city for a few years, despite the fact that they didn't actually win anything at all. It's always uncomfortable when the shoe is on the other foot.