West Semifinal Preview

Western Conference Semifinal
(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (5) San Jose Sharks

FRESH FACES: At the trading deadline, San Jose acquired D Craig Rivet from Montreal and RW Bill Guerin from St. Louis while Detroit added RW Todd Bertuzzi from Florida and LW Kyle Calder from Philadelphia in a three-way trade including Chicago.

FOR WILSON, A RETURN HOME: Sharks head coach Ron Wilson has deep ties to the Detroit area. Wilson was born across the Detroit River, in Windsor, Ontario. His father Larry and uncle Johnny both played for and coached the Red Wings. Wilson has faced the Red Wings twice in the playoffs as head coach, with Anaheim in a 1997 Western Conference Semifinal and with Washington in the 1998 Stanley Cup Final. Each best-of-seven series was swept by Detroit.

BACK TO THE MOTOR CITY: For the Sharks, this marks their third playoff series against the Red Wings, equaling the most against any NHL club (Colorado, St. Louis). They shocked the Red Wings in their Stanley Cup playoff debut in 1994, eliminating their highly-favored opponent in a seven-game Western Conference Quarterfinal. The Red Wings turned the tables the following year, sweeping the Sharks in a second-round series.

HART TO HART: This series matches a pair of Hart Trophy winners as NHL MVP, San Jose C Joe Thornton and Detroit G Dominik Hasek. Thornton has no goals and nine assists in 18 career games against Hasek, including a four-assist effort in their most recent encounter, a 9-4 San Jose win Jan. 4.

CHELI KEEPS ON GOING: 45-year-old Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios has appeared in 234 career playoff games, two shy of tying Mark Messier for second place all-time and the most among non-goaltenders. Patrick Roy ranks first overall with 247 appearances.

Most Career Playoff Games:

1. Patrick Roy Montreal, Colorado 247
2. Mark Messier Edmonton, NY Rangers 236
3. Chris Chelios Montreal, Chicago, Detroit 234

CHELIOS, LIDSTROM AMONG TOP-SCORING 'D': The Red Wings' Chris Chelios and Nicklas Lidstrom rank seventh and eighth, respectively, on the all-time playoff scoring list for defensemen. Chelios has 140 points (39 goals, 101 assists), Lidstrom has 126 (37 goals, 89 assists). The only blueliners ahead of the Red Wings duo are Paul Coffey (196), Ray Bourque (180), Denis Potvin (164), Al MacInnis (160), Larry Murphy (152) and Larry Robinson (144).

RED WINGS-SHARKS SEASON RECAP: The Sharks won three of four games in the 2006-07 season series, including a record-setting performance in the final encounter, a 9-4 victory at San Jose Jan. 4. The Sharks trailed 3-0 but rallied with a team-record six power-play goals, also the most the Red Wings have surrendered in one game. Red Wings goaltender Dominik Hasek allowed eight goals, marking the first time he had allowed more than five in one game since March, 2000. Sharks captain Patrick Marleau passed Owen Nolan as the Sharks' all-time scoring leader during the game.

Western Conference Semifinal
(2) Anaheim Ducks vs. (3) Vancouver Canucks

THE NIEDERMAYERS' CONNECTION TO B.C.: The Ducks' Scott and Rob Niedermayer will return to their native province to compete in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time. Their British Columbia roots run deep, beginning with their hometown of Cranbrook (population 21,000), where they teamed up on the local pee-wee team that won a provincial championship in 1987. Their NHL jerseys are on display in the local arena; they are ownership partners in the local junior team, the Kootenay Ice; Scott brought the Stanley Cup to Cranbrook following each of his three wins with the Devils, including in 2003, when forest fires ravaged the local area and the Cup served as a morale booster for local firefighters as well as the community.

THE NIEDERMAYERS vs. THE SEDINS: The Anaheim-Vancouver match-up pits Scott and Rob Niedermayer against Henrik and Daniel Sedin of the Canucks. The last time a pair of brothers on one team faced a pair of brothers on another team in an NHL playoff series was in 1986, when Quebec’s Anton and Peter Stastny opposed Hartford’s Dave and Wayne Babych in an opening-round series won by the Whalers in a three-game sweep. There were two such matchups in 1985: Flyers (Rich and Ron Sutter) vs. Rangers (James and Steve Patrick), and Flyers (Rich and Ron Sutter) vs. Nordiques (Anton and Peter Stastny; Marian Stastny did not play).

WHO WILL ORNSKOLDSVIK BE CHEERING FOR?: The town of Ornskoldsvik, Sweden (area population of 55,000), located about 550 kilometers north of Stockholm, has produced 10 NHL players all-time (including Peter Forsberg), four of whom will be competing in this series: Canucks forwards Markus Naslund and Daniel and Henrik Sedin, and Ducks forward Sami Pahlsson. The Sedins and Pahlsson, who were childhood friends, helped Sweden win a gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics (Naslund was injured). Pahlsson and the Sedins also played together with Swedish club MoDo, with Pahlsson and Henrik Sedin tying for second in club scoring in 1998-99.

BRIAN BURKE & DAVID NONIS, FRIENDLY RIVALS: Anaheim GM Brian Burke and Vancouver GM David Nonis have had a long-time working relationship and friendship. From 1990-1992, both worked with the Canucks' organization -- Burke as Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations while Nonis held a variety of administrative functions in the front office. They hooked up again in the NHL's front office, where they would direct the League's Hockey Operations Department together from 1994-95 through 1997-98. From 1998-2004, the pair directed the fortunes of the Canucks. Following are what each has said about the other to reporters in recent years:

Burke on Nonis in September, 2005: "He's my best friend and a wonderful guy, but whenever we go head-to-head, I'd like to beat him so badly he's embarrassed -- just like he'd like to beat me."

Burke on Nonis in October, 2005: "He's very bright and a methodical guy. You need a blueprint to win and I think he understands that. And he's done everything you can do in hockey. In my opinion when still Canucks GM he was the top No. 2 guy in the league."

Burke on his relationship with Vancouver in September, 2005: "I'm walking a tightrope between talking about how much I love my new job and how much I love Vancouver. I'm not minimizing that relationship. You're talking about a love affair between the general manager and the city."

Nonis on Burke in June, 2005: "People who work for him would tell you that there's no better boss. That goes from people who work right below him to the guy in the mail room. What comes out in public is the no-nonsense, gruff hockey man, and he is that, but he's also an honest, hard-working, caring guy. You couldn't find a better person to help jump-start a franchise. That's what I think Brian's legacy will be here, and if it works out in Anaheim, it will be there. If Burkey is steering the ship, I wouldn't be too concerned about things getting built up again. It's not a matter of if, but when."

Nonis upon being hired as Canucks GM in 2004: "I'd like to thank Brian Burke for the opportunity he gave me and the friendship he showed me. Without that I wouldn't be here today."

'D' = BIG MINUTES: Ducks defensemen Chris Pronger (3rd, 28:27), Scott Niedermayer (6th, 27:32) and Francois Beauchemin (7th, 27:31) along with Canucks defensemen Mattias Ohlund (4th, 27:57) and Willie Mitchell (5th, 27:47) rank among the League leaders in terms of ice-time for defensemen through the first round of the playoffs. Dallas' Sergei Zubov (1st, 30:50) and Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom (2nd, 29:09) complete the top seven.

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?: The Ducks-Canucks matchup in the Conference Semifinals marks their first-ever playoff meeting. The matchup between the two West Coast clubs also will be the first all-Pacific time zone series since 1993, when Los Angeles defeated Vancouver 4-2 in a second-round series.

EARLIER: The Ducks defeated the Canucks 6-0 on Nov. 9 to set an NHL record with points in each of their first 16 games of the season (12-0-4).


* * * * *


Conference Semifinals Facts And Figures

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Vancouver Canucks led only 45 minutes, 55 seconds (9%) of the total 512:15 played in their seven-game elimination of the Dallas Stars. No team led less. . . . The first-round lead-time figures for the other Conference Semifinalists (by percentage of total playing time): New York Rangers 166:00, 69.2%; Ottawa Senators 179:09, 59.7%; Buffalo Sabres 171:54, 57.3%; Anaheim Ducks 153:18, 51.1%; New Jersey Devils 173:55, 46.6%; San Jose Sharks 147:46, 45.0%; Detroit Red Wings 154:39, 40.2% . . . The Rangers trailed only 7:11 (or 3%) of the 240 minutes in their first-round sweep of the Atlanta Thrashers. No team spent less time playing from behind . . . The first-round trail-time figures for the other Conference Semifinalists (by percentage of total playing time): Anaheim 20:28, 6.8%; Detroit 62:56, 16.4%; Ottawa 50:55, 17%; Buffalo 55:21, 18.5%; San Jose 75:44, 23.1%; Vancouver 147:20, 28.8% . . . Of the 32 game-winning goals in the first round, 16 were scored on power plays, including three each by Buffalo, Ottawa and Detroit . . . All five of Anaheim's power-play goals provided the lead in their five-game conquest of Minnesota . . . The San Jose Sharks scored only two power-play goals in their series against Nashville, but one provided the lead and the other wiped out a one-goal deficit . . . The Canucks withstood 36 of the 40 Dallas power plays in the first round. Of the four power-play goals they did permit, one wiped out a lead and the other three put them behind . . . The Canucks are the only survivor of the five teams who qualified for the 2007 playoffs after missing last season's tournament. The others were Atlanta, Minnesota, the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh . . . None of the remaining coaches has coached his team to a Stanley Cup, although Buffalo's Lindy Ruff (1999), Detroit's Mike Babcock (with Anaheim in 2003) and San Jose's Ron Wilson (with Washington in 1998) has coached in a Stanley Cup Final . . . With the retirement of Scott Mellanby, Vancouver's Trevor Linden (1,323 regular-season games) becomes the tenured player still in quest of his first Cup. Anaheim's Teemu Selanne (1,041 regular-season games) is next . . . Each Western Conference Semifinal features a Conn Smythe Trophy winner: Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom won in 2002, Anaheim's J.S. Giguere won in 2003 . . . Each Eastern Conference Semifinal features a player who has scored a Cup-winning goal: the Rangers' Brendan Shanahan scored his for Detroit in 2002, the New Jersey Devils' Mike Rupp scored his in 2003 . . . Three of the Eastern Conference Semifinalists have European-born captains: Jaromir Jagr, Rangers; Patrik Elias, Devils; Daniel Alfredsson, Senators. The other Eastern Semifinalist, Buffalo, has co-captains: Chris Drury and Daniel Briere.

Photo: Dominik Hasek from Detroit Red Wings © Michail Boncea (HV)