TFHL 16 Playoff Preview

TFHL 16 Playoff Preview

The 16th TFHL Regular Season wrapped up on Wednesday with the Flames winning the President's Trophy. The defending TFHL Champion Achaeans will try to repeat with a 1st round matchup against the Blades - who are hoping to rebound from the last few season's in which the failed to make the playoffs. After repeated appearances in the playoffs in the West Conference, the Ice and Blackhawks are left out of the highly competitive West Conference. Two-time TFHL Champs, the Pain, easily finished first in the league for Goals For while also boasting 4th best for least Goals Allowed this season - the Pain once again are one of the favourites for the West Conference Championship. In the East, the Saints and Bobcats finish the season 1st and 2nd overall - both teams' personal best seasons - are in a league all of their own (as of stats) with the 3rd place Misconducts, who claimed the Hitman Division Title finished 12 pts back from the 2nd place Bobcats. The Flames had a similar cushion in the West which puts these three teams in what can only be called likely Cup contenders.
Likely Cup Contenders: Flames, Bobcats, Saints, Pain
Just as likely's: Sioux, Achaeans, Hurricanes
Dark Horses: Rednexs, Aces, Owls

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Round 1 Preview of Matchups

Eastern Conference

by Geoffrey Young

Saints z* (1)
Rednexs (8)

The Saints and Rednexs face-off in the 1st round. Rednex's first line of Lindstrom, Bertuzzi and Kovalev is, without a doubt, the strongest offensive trio in the TFHL and has been for the last few seasons. The #1 centre for Rednexs, Joakim Lindstrom (87 pts), and Christopher Higgins (94 pts), the #1 centre for the Saints, are two of the most talented young players in the league. Offensively, the Rednexs had far fewer goals for in the Regular Season but the top line is enough to win any series if they keep the pressure on the Saints. Rob Blake for the Saints will have to lead the way with his past experience and shut down the Rednexs' top line. The Saints' leading goal scorer this year was Pierre Marc-Bouchard with 44 goals in 86 games who tied for second best in the league in that department. Bouchard and Sjostrom (38 goals in 72 games) both play on the 2nd and third lines respectively. Goaltending is quite even so we'll see who can outscore who. Red is the colour of martyrs and saints but pilsner is the favourite of rednexs - both are loved by Saskatonians so this series should be a beauty!

Prediction: Saints in 6 games.

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Bobcats (2)
Aces (7)

The Bobcats have tremendous depth and with the acquistion of Biron, they have positioned themselves for perhaps their first ever TFHL Championship. But first they must face the equally talented and young Aces. Veteran GM Dave Walter has won championships before and with Brust in net, the Aces may be the dark horse of the East Conference. Last year they surprised their opposition and they could do the same again. This series will be a goaltender duo between two of the best goalies in the league - Biron and Brust. Although Samsonov was terrific for the Bobcats this year, the Aces may have trouble finding any leadership on their offence with a relatively hesitant leader in Kovalchuk. Roenick is the only veteran player on the roster and after an injured ridden season, we'll see if he has the experience and wisdom to lead a young club to upset a stacked Bobcats roster. In Bobcat Blackjack, the Ace's are looking for a hit, but they might just Brust.

Prediction: Bobcats in 5 games.

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Misconducts y* (3)

Owls (6)

On a roster with Forsberg and Langkow, its quite surprising to see Jan Hrdina as the lone 80+ pts scorer for the Misconducts. With some solid goaltending, the MIsconducts have had a great season and could quite possibly be a possible finalist in the East Conference Championship. But there are some questions, particularly with their defence. But even Brodeur, who is a solid #1 goaltender, has always been a flop in the playoffs which makes many wonder whether this is finally the year for Brodeur? Probably not, for even in the season, Vokoun overshadowed Brodeur which raises questions whether the Misconducts have what it takes in net to make a playoff run. The Owls on the otherhand, with superstar Joe Thornton (100 pts), is quite stronger offensively and with the championship winning Pronger heading up the Owls defence, they look like they could very well upset their Division rival Misconducts in the 1st round - keep in mind only 7 pts seperated these two clubs in the Regular Season. But the Owls probably have the most bizarre goaltending situation in the league with Auld and Hedberg (both glorified backups) as the likely candidates for starting tomorrow with a total of five total goalies who have played this year. This certainly will not be a series to watch the goaltending! Will it be lights out and good night for the Owls or will the Czech Hrdina be enough for a Misconduct.

Prediction: Owls in 7 games.

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Hurricanes (4)
Marauders (5)

When I say 'Marauders,' what player comes to mind? Well if you have no idea, than you are thinking the same thing. Now this could be an insult but it is anything but. For when we think of the Owls, we think Thornton, Rednexs - Bertuzzi/Kovalev, Hurricanes - Naslund, Pain - Giguere etc. But the fact is that the Marauders have no ONE or small core of extraordinary players but have REPEATEDLY been competitive over the past seasons. The reason for this is because they have what is called, a team. For this reason, I can't quite figure out why they are successful or even why they are in the playoffs but I think ultimately, that they have a solid, well rounded, well disciplined and incredibly AVERAGE team. The team is so average that it might just be possible that it could win the cup this year. The Hurricanes will have to be extremely careful as the underrated Marc Denis (Marauders) faces off against the equally respectable Brian Boucher (Hurricanes). Since losing Burke to retirement and especially since trading Pronger, the neo-Hurricanes have yet to regain their past glory of the early New TFHL. The Hurricanes are certainly rebuilding with a younger, quicker and perhaps even more talented squad. But perhaps this might not be the year yet they are lacking the EX and LD they lost in Pronger. This series is far too close to call but since all rationality shows that the Marauders don't have what it takes to win anything (even making the playoffs), they most likely will win this! The King of Lombardi is Jason, Hurricane Markus still rages in the East - while Erik the Red might just lead the Marauders in a Druken campaign of pillage and plunder: The King is Deadmarsh, long live the King!

Prediction: Marauders in 7

Western Conference

by Tyler Young

Action in the Western Conference was, to put it mildly, erratic. At one point eleven teams were in competition for the playoffs with only spread of at times ten to twelve points from second to eleventh. Every team except the Flames seemed to flash between long winning streaks and prolonged losing skids. In end nine teams made it interesting and eight made the cut.

If the regular season could be trusted then the Flames would be the easy favourites to carry the conference. They were solid most of the year and were substantially better than the competition. The Pain and Achaeans both had somewhat disappointing seasons, but given their experience and talent they are both contenders. The Sioux and Blades both started hot, fell hard in the latter part of the season, and then played decent after picking-up Tommy Salo and Roberto Luongo respectively. The Sioux’s adequate play down the stretch coupled with weaker showings by the Pain and Raiders allowed them to surprisingly secure second place in the conference and the Blades finished the year one of the hottest teams in the league. The Raiders, Wheat Kings, and Apocalypse are old hats at this and all can be considered dark horses – this is the west, and things get wild.

Flames (1) vs. Apocalypse (8)

The Apocalypse squeaked their way into the playoffs battling off the Blackhawks. With a well rounded roster which is a bit weak in net, the Apocalypse have an outside chance of winning a couple games, but realistically they’ve drawn a very short straw. A perusal of the Flames roster sparks a lowly GM with awe: the players are big, talented, and stars in their own right. Unlike the Patriots or Pain who are probably loaded with too much talent, the Flames are perfectly balanced and use the (my) Young Line System nearly to perfection. This may be the season for the Flames, or at least that’s the way it seems. However, the Flames have a long tradition of ‘Flaming-out’ in the playoffs, some would suggest they just lack heart. Nevertheless, the Flames are entering their prime and this may be their season. If they meet a hot team the Flames will go down like the Hindenburg, but they are nearly guaranteed to make it through this round. Flames in five.

Sioux (2) vs. Wheat Kings (7)

Of the top four teams in the league, the Sioux are perhaps the most fallible. The Sioux played most of the early season on an unwarranted hot streak before the market correction kicked in and they began to fall. A couple savvy deals by GM John MacDonald in picking-up Bill Guerin and Tommy Salo not only got the Sioux home ice, it may have also kept them in the playoffs. Jakub Hulva (who no doubt would love to stick-it to his former team) and Alexei Shkotov are the heart of the team, if the Kings can manage those two they can manage this team. The Kings, after a dismal start, went into rebuilding and resurfaced against their own wishes. They are young, which may hurt them, and they are going into the playoffs with a rookie goaltender in Jamie Howard. For the Kings this is a learning experience, but they also have good chance at prolonging the lesson. This series likely has one of two outcomes: either a very hard fought battle won by the Kings or a quick and easy victory for the Sioux. The safer bet is on Agrian Regicide: Sioux in five.

Pain (3) vs. Raiders (6)

The once mighty Pain find themselves fifth in the league as they continue their demise. However, old tigers still are lethal when prodded to a fight. Statistically the Pain are still worthy. They had more wins and a far better goal differential than the Sioux, yet finished third. They still have their loaded roster full of plenty of good players (some would say too many good players) and a very solid goalie in J-S Giguere. The Raiders fell hard in the late season and lost home ice, but they do have one slight advantage against their formidable foe: net. Evgeni Nabokov is the kind of goalie, when hot, who could take a team like the Pain down. Fortunately for the Pain Nabo is tired. Pain in six.

Blades (4) vs. Achaeans (5)

This series is perhaps the biggest toss-up. The problem is there is no way to judge the Blades. Like the Sioux they benefited from being undeservedly hot for much of the first half of the season, but then flatlined before again steaming their way into playoffs after the acquisition of Roberto Luongo. Luckily for the Achaeans Luongo has never been a playoff goalie (but you just got to know he will spite me even more by finally learning to play goal in the playoffs) and the Blades really don’t have a defence. Against the Achaean onslaught the Blades really don’t have much hope and the Achaeans defence should be enough to handle Scott Hartnell and Jason Spezza. The only Achilles’ heel for the Achaeans is in net: with Kolzig injured they are in serious trouble. This series should be Achaeans in four, but with Kolzig out the Blades have a chance. It is more tragedy than epic that a team with three players could upset the defending champion, but it is very likely. Achaeans in seven.