The Final Four

So, the final four is set and none of the top seeds survived in the East. Only the Red Wings, of the top 3 seeds, advanced. I believe this is because of the parody in the league right now. Every team is so close during the regular season and then deadline moves closes the gap between the haves and have-nots.

So, let’s rewind to the trade deadline, and see if the deadline worked for the final four. The Red Wings made their big move in the off season acquiring Marian Hossa from the Penguins. All Hossa went on to do was finish third in the team in scoring (71 points), and lead the team in goals (40), and play solid two way hockey for this already stacked team. The other semi-finalist, the Chicago Blackhawks, made some great moves to solidify the checking line and experience by acquiring Stanley Cup winner Samuel Pahlsson, even though they had to give up solid defenseman prospect James Wisniewski. Another solid move just to fill a role for an already offensively stacked team, Pahlsson has averaged 3:00 of penalty kill time in the playoffs, most of Blackhawks forwards.

The teams in the East benefited more from deadline moves. The Carolina Hurricanes were in 9th place the day of the NHL trade deadline, then made the move to bring back hard nose winger Erik Cole from the Edmonton Oilers for often injured Justin Williams. Cole had 13 points in 17 games for the Canes, and reunited with power forward Eric Staal to form a dominant combination. Staal benefited the most scoring 12 goals in the last 17 games as the Canes vaulted up the standings to clinch a playoff berth. The Penguins were the biggest winners of these four at the deadline; they acquired much needed scoring for the Sidney Crosby line. Like the Canes, the Pens were only the 7th seed at the deadline, and were missing the secondary scoring past Malkin and Crosby, in step Chris Kunitz from the Ducks, and Bill Guerin from the Islanders. Kunitz finished with 18 points in 20 games, and Guerin 12 points in 17 games even better Crosby had 30 points in the last 20 games. Where would this team be without these two players? Probably out in the first round.