Hockeywiztalks Hockey Blog

The Western Conference Playoffs picture has changed since my podcast was earlier released on Friday. Here are the updated Western Conference Matchups: Colorado Avalanche vs Nashville Predators Key Players: COL: N.MacKinnon, M.Rantanen, G.Landeskog, N.Kadri, A.Burakovsky, A.Lehkonen, V.Nichushkin, C.Makar, D.Toews, S.Girard, J.Manson NSH: F.Forsberg, M.Duchene, R.Johansen, M.Granlund, L.Kunin, C.Sissons, T.Trenin, R.Josi, M.Ekholm, D.Fabbro, A.Carrier X-Factors: COL-A.Newhook, NSH-P.Tomasino Goalie Matchup: D.Kuemper vs D.Rittich The Colorado Avalanche faced the Nashville Predators 4 times in the regular season, but they only managed to win 1 game against the Predators. It's a good thing that Colorado has home-ice advantage because the Avs have allowed an average of 5 goals against on the road in the season series with Nashville. Colorado faced Nashville 6 times in the playoffs, but they have lost 4 times to them in the postseason. Even though Colorado is going to be heavily fav...

This is an extension of podcast 113-2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Semi-Finals Preview. The Result of the Vegas/Minnesota series is still unknown, so I will do a preview with both of the teams included. West Division Semi-Finals Colorado Avalanche vs Vegas Golden Knights/Minnesota Wild Key Players:  COL-F: N.MacKinnon, M.Rantanen, G.Landeskog, Alex Newhook, A.Burakovsky, J.Donskoi, Tyson Jost, Valeri Nischuskin | D: C.Makar, S.Girard, D.Toews, R.Graves VGK-F: M.Stone, J.Marchessault, W.Karlsson, R.Smith, A.Tuch, C.Stephenson, Cody Glass, Mattias Janmark | D: S.Theodore, A.Pietrangelo, A.Martinez, B.McNabb, Z.Whitecloud MIN-F: K.Kaprizov, M.Zuccarello, K.Fiala, J.Eriksson Ek, J.Greenway, M.Foligno, V.Rask, N.Bjugstad, R.Hartman | D: J.Spurgeon, R.Suter, M.Dumba, J.Brodin X-Factor: JT Compher (COL), Nicholas Roy (VGK)/Z.Parise (MIN) Goalies: P.Grubauer (COL) vs M-A.Fleury (VGK)/ C.Talbot (MIN) If you are the Colorado Avalanche right now, I think they would rather face the Vegas Golden Kn...

This is an extension of Podcast 112: What teams need to do to advance in the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs; Here are my thoughts on what needs to be done for North Division teams to advance. Toronto Maple Leafs vs Montreal Canadiens The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens have a historic rivalry in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and they look to renew it in the 1st round of the 2021 playoffs. Contrary to popular belief, I don't think this will be a cakewalk for the Toronto Maple Leafs, because the Montreal Canadiens are a tough team to play against. Toronto should be aware that Montreal in the playoffs is a completely different team than Montreal in the regular season. Toronto is obviously the better team on paper, but Montreal is not as bad as most people think. The Maple Leafs are top 6 heavy, while Montreal has tremendous depth and role 4 lines and 3 D pairs. It has been said before that the teams that do well in the postseason have better role players, if that is the case then Mo...

This is Honda West Playoff Preview.   Colorado Avalanche vs St.Louis Blues Key Players:  COL-F: N.MacKinnon, M.Rantanen, G.Landeskog, N.Kadri, Alex Newhook, A.Burakovsky, J.Donskoi | D: C.Makar, S.Girard, D.Toews, R.Graves STL-F: R.O'Reilly, V.Tarasenko, J.Schwartz, B.Schenn, D.Perron, R.Thomas, M.Hoffman | D: T.Krug, J.Faulk, C.Parayko, V.Dunn X-Factor: Tyson Jost (COL), Jordan Kyrou (STL) Goalies: P.Grubauer (COL) vs J.Binnington (STL) The Colorado Avalanche have owned the season series against the St.Louis Blues, winning 5 out of the 8 games. St.Louis certainly knows what it takes to win the Stanley Cup but Colorado is not a good first-round matchup for them. The Colorado Avalanche is led by Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog and Cale Makar, and have a great supporting cast which includes players such as Nazem Kadri, Alex Newhook, Joonas Donskoi, Sam Girard, Devon Toews, and Andre Burakovsky. Philipp Grubauer has had a tremendous regular season and is a pot...