The Western Conference Quarter-Finals were a mixed bag as the Detroit Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks secured series sweeps of the Columbus Blue Jackets and St. Louis Blues
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Round one produced some uneven contests in the West, but both of the semi-finals are likely to be hotly contested as Vancouver takes on Chicago and Detroit faces Anaheim.

The Western Conference Quarter-Finals were a mixed bag as the Detroit Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks secured series sweeps of the Columbus Blue Jackets and St. Louis Blues respectively. The Chicago Blackhawks proved that youth is no obstacle when they defeated the Calgary Flames in six games and the Anaheim Ducks caused the upset of the first round when they ousted Presidentӳ Trophy winners San Jose also in six.

Detroit Red Wings (2) v Anaheim Ducks (8) The 2008 champion meets the 2007 champion in this re-match of the Western Conference Final of 2007 where Anaheim physically controlled Detroit to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. This Red Wings team is arguably even better than the team that won the cup last year and they set about proving it in the first round when they ruthlessly dispatched Columbus in four games with 11 of their 18 skaters contributing 3+ points. An outstanding performance from young goaltender Jonas Hiller led the Ducks to a first round upset of the Sharks, he and a defense featuring Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger suffocated San Joseӳ high-powered offense to defeat them in six games.

This series could almost come down to the story of two goaltenders, the veteran Chris Osgood against the young upstart Hiller. In spite of winning three Stanley Cups Osgood still faces a lot of critics and after an up and down season, many suggested that he could be the thorn in the Red Wings side, however a strong first round series suggests that Osgood can more than still hold his own. Hiller supplanted Jean-Sebastien Giguere as Anaheimӳ #1 and produced a dominant display against San Jose in the first round, can he repeat that performance in Round 2?

X-Factors: Teemu Selanne- Selanne is no longer a dominant scorer in the NHL or even the leading scorer on his team, but if the Ducks are to progress theyӬl need him to help spark some secondary scoring behind the Perry-Getzlaf-Ryan line.

Johan Franzen- Franzen followed up a strong showing in the 2008 playoffs with a good 08/09 season and has been rewarded with a long-term contract, the Red Wings will need him to continue his strong play matched up against Anaheimӳ dominant defense.

Verdict: Arguably the deepest and best forward group in the NHL against arguably the deepest and best defensive corps, the only thing thatӳ certain is that this series is going to be very tough. As long as Osgood holds up the Red Wings should secure a series victory but if he doesnӴ or Hiller steps up his game once again, then everything changes. Detroit Red Wings to win in 6.

Vancouver Canucks (3) v Chicago Blackhawks (4) After only just avoiding each other in the first round, Vancouver and Chicago meet in a second round contest that has the makings of an intriguing contest. The Blackhawks showed that youth is a good thing as they knocked out the Calgary Flames in six games. Roberto Luongo played inspired hockey for the Canucks to lead them to a series sweep of the St. Louis Blues, but this team has also proven in the second half of the season that it is more than just a superb goaltender. This is very much a contest between two teams that play the game at very different paces and it will be decided by which team can best dictate the pace as the series is played out.

Chicago loves to play an up-tempo game and has an impressive array of scoring including the likes of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Martin Havlat and Kris Versteeg, this is not necessarily a concern for a Vancouver team that plays defensively responsible but there is no one line that you can defend against. The same cannot be said for the Canucks who while boasting more scoring balance than in past seasons still rely on the Sedin line for the bulk of their offense. Their matchup against the D-pairing of Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith will be key, both Keith and Seabrook average over 25 minutes of ice time per game against Calgary and did an effective job of shutting down the Iginla line.

X-Factors Sami Pahlsson- Pahlsson is another player who will likely see the majority of his time against the Sedin twins, his experience of winning the cup with Anaheim in 2007 will be more and more crucial in guiding this young Blackhawks team the further they go.

Mats Sundin/Pavol Demitra- Vancouver needs secondary scoring and these two veterans remain the most likely outlet, the Canucks will look to win this series by conceding less than Chicago but they still need to score their fair share of goals.

Verdict: This Blackhawks team is very entertaining and very exciting; they have balanced offense combined with a pretty solid defense and also boast a Stanley Cup winning goaltender in Nikolai Khabibulin. However, Vancouverӳ defense and Roberto Luongo will be able to do just enough in this series to take advantage of Chicagoӳ inexperience. Vancouver Canucks to win in 5.
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