Yes, the Blackhawks are this good.  The Wings have had their hands full with this team the last 2 years.  If they win the series, Vancouver has nobody to blame but Patrick Kane & company.

Franzen is a machine because, as Steve Yzerman discovered on the ice, he is as strong and stubborn as a mule.  Then suddenly last year he started to shoot the puck.  The rest is history.

Posted by w2j2 on 05/11/09 at 03:45 PM ET

Why is Detroit Red Wings Johan Franzen such a scoring machine? Did you Wing fans out there expect this of him?

As Randy Carlyle pointed out in his post-game press conference yesterday, Franzen’s home planet was bombarded with radiation when he as a boy, which means he hasn’t ever stopped growing. By next year, he’ll be 6’8”, 280 with a 58” vertical leap. He’ll be able to dunk a basketball on Jupiter.

He’s also got a toenail on the end of his crank.

Posted by Mandingo from The Garage on 05/11/09 at 03:54 PM ET

The Cancuks were 3 mins away from taking a 3-1 lead into Vancouver and blew it.  For whatever reason Vigneault decided to play 5 guys back and not force anything on the Hawks.  Shifts in the 3rd were 15-20 seconds long.  That game turned the series around.  Canucks and their fans can blame AV on this one. 

I also think that the Blackhawks depth has been the difference.  Vancouver’s not getting a lot of scoring while each game a new line for the Hawks steps up.

I definitely expect Mule to score like this if Hank and Datsyuk are getting the bulk of the attention of the other team.

Posted by DetCapC19 from Vancouver, BC on 05/11/09 at 03:55 PM ET

- Are the Chicago Blackhawks really this good or will the Vancouver Canucks come back and win the series? Why?

The Blackhawks are good- though the top three teams in the West will have eliminated 2/3rds of each other by the time the Wings-Ducks series has finished tomorrow (with the third best team having been sent home by the Ducks in round 1).

—Has Jonas Hiller’s (Anaheim Ducks) performance in the playoffs sealed his fate as the club’s No.1 goalie next season?

Hard to say.  Depends what people are willing to offer for he or Giguere.  The ducks need defenseman and secondary depth.

- Why is Detroit Red Wings Johan Franzen such a scoring machine? Did you Wing fans out there expect this of him?

He’s quick, big, strong, confident, can’t be separated from the puck easily, has multiple tools, is on the ice in all situations because he’s defensively great and has the “I can score whenever I want” goal-scorer’s ego.  He is a “multiple tool” scorer, unlike a pure sniper or puckhandler sort.

- If the Vancouver Canucks get knocked out of the postseason, who is to blame?

They just aren’t good enough yet.  They’ve got a few people banged up and not enough depth unless Lungo is super human and he’s merely been very good.

Will Washington Capitals netminder Simeon Varlamov be the team’s starting goalie next season?

Yes.  You can’t go back to Theodore after abandoning him this year.

- Who are some of your candidates for the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP during the postseason?

Franzen would’ve been the winner last year had he not missed the entire WCF with the inexplicable head injury.  He seems to want to get his hands on it this year to make up for it.  Others still in the running (assuming Anaheim loses one of the next two):  Ozzy, Zetterberg, Toews, Havlat, Jokinen, Ward, Crosby, OV.

Posted by shanetx on 05/11/09 at 03:59 PM ET

- Are the Chicago Blackhawks really this good or will the Vancouver Canucks come back and win the series? Why?

I think the Blackhawks are quite good and I think Vancouver is struggling a bit.  They are not playing discipline hockey and they are not getting production out of their top guys.  That’s a recipe for disaster.  While Luongo is certainly capable of stealing a game or two entirely on his own, the Blackhawks showed an ability to put a team down when needed in the first round.

- Has Jonas Hiller’s (Anaheim Ducks) performance in the playoffs sealed his fate as the club’s No.1 goalie next season?

Yes.  Absolutely.  He wasn’t quite as sharp in Game 4, but he was stellar in Game 5.  Despite the loss, I thought that was his best game of the series and had the rest of the Ducks actually decided to play yesterday, they could have been returning to Anaheim up in the series, instead of down.

- Why is Detroit Red Wings Johan Franzen such a scoring machine? Did you Wing fans out there expect this of him?

Prior to the end of last year?  No.  Not at all.  He was a 3rd line grinder/checking forward.  He started to gain a lot of confidence in his scoring ability when Holmstrom went down last year.  He hasn’t lost it since then.  He’s got an incredible shot, great eye-hand coordination, is strong on the puck and can be surprisingly elusive for a big man. 

- If the Vancouver Canucks get knocked out of the postseason, who is to blame?

Hard to say.  The Sedins and Sundin will take quite a bit of blame for not showing up offensively.  I would also have to say that the head coach will take some heat for not keeping his team’s composure and for sitting on the lead in whatever game that was they lost 2-1 in OT.

- Will Washington Capitals netminder Simeon Varlamov be the team’s starting goalie next season?

Yes.  Jose Theodore stinks.

- Who are some of your candidates for the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP during the postseason?

Way too early to say, but so far:  Crosby, Malkin, Varlamov, Ovechkin, Marc Savard, Eric Staal, Cam Ward, Luongo, not sure about Chicago Kanes/Toewes, Franzen, Lidstrom.

I think that covers all bases.

Posted by Ajax19 on 05/11/09 at 04:02 PM ET

“Are the Chicago Blackhawks really this good or will the Vancouver Canucks come back and win the series? Why? “

The Blackhawks are good and deserve a lot of credit (duhhhh…Kane , Toews, Sharp, Campbell) but don’t count out the Canucks already.  They swept the hottest team going into the playoffs and they’ve won in Chicago before.  Funny how many people jumped on the Canucks band wagon when they beat St. Louis but now they’re down 1 game all the wagon jumpers are running away.  I hope they win the next two just to watch the those losers jump back on again saying"I knew they’d make it”.

“Has Jonas Hiller’s (Anaheim Ducks) performance in the playoffs sealed his fate as the club’s No.1 goalie next season?”

I think so.  I have the feeling that the Ducks will want to shave a little salary next season and well, why pay big money on Giggy when Hiller is the man right now!

” Why is Detroit Red Wings Johan Franzen such a scoring machine? Did you Wing fans out there expect this of him? “

They guy is a scoring machine.  I mean, he hasn’t just started scoring this post season.  He did it at the end of last season, in the playoffs last year and this season.  Another great scouted player by the best team of scouts in the NHL!

“If the Vancouver Canucks get knocked out of the postseason, who is to blame? “

Come on!  Why are we asking this question?  We did not ask this question when Montreal went out, not San Jose and we’re not asking it about Washington!  Sounds like this writer has the Canucks written off already!  I know he said if, but the fact this question didn’t come up for Washington or Anahiem shows me he’s made his decision (aren’t you suppose to be unbias?).

“Will Washington Capitals netminder Simeon Varlamov be the team’s starting goalie next season? “

It would be tough for this team to go back to Jose.  I think they’ll get wat they can get for him or let him ride the pine.

“Who are some of your candidates for the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP during the postseason? “”

Franson, Ovechkin, Crosby, Luongo and Getzlaf (although Eric Staal is getting better!)

Posted by Buffaddydarren from Saskatoon on 05/11/09 at 04:57 PM ET

- Are the Chicago Blackhawks really this good or will the Vancouver Canucks come back and win the series? Why?

Demitra injured, Salo out and when in he is playing hurt, players not stepping their game up like Burrows, Bernier, Raymond, even the twins have been average imo.
Not to take anything away from Chicago, they have a good core of players and Byfuglien has been great for them, as well as guys like Bolland, Kane, Sharp…. even Toews has played well although he has not put up numbers to show that.
But the Canucks will win tonight, because they have a better goaltender and its a must win, a situation they have not been in yet in these playoffs…they also dominated Chicago in game 3, in Chicago, and if they go back to playing a smart game with more emphasis on offense, and some guys play like we know they
can, we will see a game 7.

- If the Vancouver Canucks get knocked out of the postseason, who is to blame?

Alain Vigneault… the team went back to a trap type game after injury to Salo and this style sucks… they need to never sit back, even if they had a 3 goal lead… think offense the whole game..

- Will Washington Capitals netminder Simeon Varlamov be the team’s starting goalie next season?

Neuvirth is close but a year or two away yet, so probably.

- Who are some of your candidates for the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP during the postseason?

Canucks - Luongo
Hawks - Byfuglien
Wings - Franzen
Ducks - Getzlaf
Canes - Staal
Bruins - Thomas ( big hill to climb but he is one goalie I believe could, but hope Canes win this series)
Caps - OV
Penguins - Fleury

Posted by PuckHound61 from Speckville USA on 05/11/09 at 04:59 PM ET

I was watching ESPN the past couple of days ya’know surfing the sports channels(NHL Network,ESPN, ESPNNews…) and twice I seen the stuttering Bob Ryan asked specific questions about the NHL playoffs ,he ignored the question both times and started knocking hockey because they are on Versus. He’s just a ESPN ass kisser. Here’s a guy who never covered the sport in 30 years,and because he’s got a sports column he thinks he knows all sports,NOT!!! This is what kills me about these guys(you know the kind, him ,Skippy Bayless and so many more on ESPN). Hockey gets interesting on a given day for whatever reason (great series between Sid & OV this time )and so ESPN has to cover it . So when these dopes get asked serious and good questions they just go on the attack, because they’re clueless about hockey. It’s the samething all the time with them, fighting and bad rating .ESPN should make them cover the sport or ask people on who do. It’s really sickning these are great times for the NHL and hockey in general.

Posted by lindas1st on 05/11/09 at 05:14 PM ET

Puckhound61, Fleury? you’ve got to be kidding Sid’s been the best and most consistent Penguin in these playoffs so far.

Posted by lindas1st on 05/11/09 at 05:18 PM ET

I’m sorry I can’t get by the ESPN remark. The Mickey Mouse networks had their chance to showcase hockey, and they blew it. Yeah ESPN is in more homes, but when the network broadcasted NHL games the talking heads at the supposed worldwide leader ridiculed the League, They still do.

A few months ago I had the unfortunate experience of viewing ESPN’s SportsCenter for 45 minutes. Not one NHL highlight. NOT ONE! The night before seven games were played and not one highlight the next day.
Another day I watched SportsCenter, and there was only one highlight. Three games the day before, and only one highlight the next day.
Another day Steve Levy said this, “Only in the NHL is Detroit in the West.”
Were there any snide comments made toward ANY other sport? None that I heard.
Another day, or maybe the same one, ESPN showed David Letterman’s Top Ten List featuring baseball players at the World Baseball Classic. Number 1: “What else are you going to watch? Hockey?”
ESPN is bad for the NHL any way you slice it.
People who think ESPN is objective are delusional. People who think that things would change if the League went back to the four-letter network are delusional. It won’t happen because the Disney networks don’t want the NHL. They had a chance to get the League back immediately following the lockout, but didn’t. Nothing I’ve seen has changed.
Versus will get in more homes, and its coverage of the games has been fine. The partnership with Versus and the NHL is working, and it will get better.

Posted by auxlepli on 05/11/09 at 05:47 PM ET

Puckhound61, Fleury? you’ve got to be kidding Sid’s been the best and most consistent Penguin in these playoffs so far.

Fleury has played some strong games…. Crosby has been great, no doubt, but Fleury has matured over his play of last year and he seems at the stage of his career a SC run isnt out of the question again.

For god sakes, if he takes his team to 2 Stanley Cups back to back, whats so hard to comprehend about that?  Thats Conn Smythe worthy in my world, backing up a great playoffs with another one… very impressive.

Posted by PuckHound61 from Speckville USA on 05/11/09 at 06:18 PM ET

The C.S. is for THIS years playoffs not last year and this year,so what happened last year has nothing to do with it. To me Crosby’s been the Pens’ MVP so far. that’s just my opinion.

Posted by Lindas1st on 05/11/09 at 06:57 PM ET

I’d say the Conn Smythe goes to Eric Staal, Crosby or Ovechkin.  For goaltenders, Hiller, Varlamov and Ward.  Depending on who actually makes it to the Finals of course.

If the Nucks get knocked out, it’s the offense’ fault.  Plus, maybe a little bit of the drive, passion and energy the hawks brought to the series brought Vancouver to their knees.

Posted by Matt Fry from Winnipeg on 05/11/09 at 07:12 PM ET