PR - Misconducts

OFFENSE

Anyone who likes goals should like this series with both teams averaging over 3.25 goals a game during the regular season. The Owls offense is lead by Joe Thornton who finished second in the scoring race this season with 41 goals and 100 points. But Thornton is not the only one who can put the puck in the net for the Owls. Both Mike Modano and Petr Sykora scored over 30 goals this season and the Owls had 7 players with more than 50 points. While the Misconducts had the same number of players with more than 50 points, they didn't have anyone in the top 10 in scoring and only one player in the top 30. That player was Jan Hrdina who was one of the few players to remain with the team from start to finish. He was the stabilizing force on offense this season for Miami. However, he is not the most dangerous forward the Misconducts possess. The honor goes to Peter Forsberg. Forsberg , who by all accounts had an off year, can take over a game at point. He has the ability to lead the team into the next round of playoffs. Whether or not he will step up is some concern for the team. But this is the first time in a long time that the Misconducts scoring is not limitted to just the first line as Forsberg, Hrdina, Daymond Langkow, Kristian Huselius, Brian Rolston, Glen Murray, Sergei Federov, and Kris Beech have all made solid contributions to the offense this season.

Advantage : Owls - while both teams have a top notch forward . . only the Owls Joe Thornton has performed like one

DEFENSE

The Owls can lay claim to having one of the best defenses in the league all though you wouldn't know it by the 288 goals that they gave up during the regular season. Chris Pronger, Jay Bouwmeester, and Pavel Kubina could all be the number one defenseman on Misconducts. Through former first round pick of the Misconducts Brian Lee into the equation and the Owls just might have the solution to the first two lines of the Misconducts. Not to mention the fact that their third defensive pairing isn't bad either with the likes of Kimmo Timonen and Steve Montador. Together the top six defensemen for the Owls should give the Misconducts more problems then they can handle. The Misconducts may have the deepest group of young defensemen in the league and might have the best defense in the league in 3 or 4 seasons. Karel Rachunek is the veteran of the corp at the age of 27. Jeff Jillson and Dmitri Kalinin are 26. The rest of the defense is made up of young dmen like Shawn Belle, Teemu Laakso, and Matt Smaby. Not to mention the amount of youth they have in the minors with guys like Boris Valabik, Robby Blaze, Mark Fistric, Carlo Colaiacovo, and Brendan Mikkelson. However having a good future defense will not help the Misconducts this season. They will need players like Belle, Rachunek, Smaby, and Jillson to play above their heads if they hope to slow down the high powered Owls attack.

Advantage : Owls - ask me this question 2 season from now and I'll probably answer Misconducts . .but right now it is the Owls by a big margin

GOALTENDING

Even though the Misconducts seem to be the underdog in this series, they had more points in the regular season than the Owls. The reason for that is simple goaltending. The Misconducts have two quality goaltenders both of whom they fell very comfortable starting in the playoffs. Tomas Vokoun who was with the team to start the season, traded, and then traded for has provided not only a solid backup to Martin Brodeur. But he has even out performed Brodeur for most of the season posting a better winning percentage, a better save percentage, and a better GAA than Brodeur. However, the Misconducts have stated that they are going to go with Brodeur because he gives them the best chance to win night in and night out. It maybe the wrong choice to make but if they strugle in the first few games don't be surprised to see Vokoun make an appearance or two. The Owls on the other hand have a clear cut number one goalie in Alexander Auld. But Auld is a rookie in the league and has not played in the playoff game yet. His numbers for the season aren't bad but they aren't good either. If the Misconducts put a few pucks by him early on it could be a long series for the Owls.

Advantage : Misconducts - they have two goalies better than the starting goalie for the Owls.

PREDICTION

The Misconducts will need one of two players to step up in order to make it the second round of the playoffs. Those players are Martin Brodeur and Peter Forsberg. Brodeur was struggling when the team acquired him and he has gotten better since the season has gone on. The defense in front of him is young and the Owls offense is one of the better ones in the league. He'll have to stand on his head to keep games close. Will will see the Martin Brodeur of old ? Or will we see the guy who look average at points this season ? That will go a long towards determining the winner of this series. The other X factor for the Misconducts is Peter Forsberg. There have been times when Forsberg has looked like the best player in the league. Unfortunately there have also been times when Forsberg has looked like one of the worst players in the league. Peter has even stated that at times this season he didn't feel a hundred percent and that his age is finally starting to catch up with him. But we wants to make up for his bad season with a good post season. However it remains to be seen if he the gas in his tank left that it takes to make a post season run. If either of those two players step up for the Misconducts they will be in the 2nd round. However don't count on either one doing the job. They are both past their prime and with the lack of other talent around them this will turn out to be a very long series for Misconducts fans.

Prediction : Owls in 6