The What If's Of Round One

For teams like the Calgary Flames and New Jersey Devils, it's another year of disappointing first round exits. For the Sharks and Flyers, it was a step back in their movement towards a Stanley Cup when considering their playoff success last year. Then you have teams such as the Columbus Blue Jackets and the St. Louis Blues it was a step in the right direction, as their years of development and trips in last place are seeming to pay off as they found themselves in the playoffs. However, for the losers, they can't help but ask "What if...?"

Eastern Conference

David Putty may be on the New Jersey Devils side, but for the second year in a row, Marty and company were sent packing in the 1st round. What if right winger Jamie Langenbrunner didn't miss 3 crucial games of the series with a lower body injury? The Captain posted 3 points in 4 games, despite the Devils only winning 1 of the 4 games he played in. What if the Devils powerplay played up to their potential and did better than the pathetic 3-25 they ended with?

The Philadelphia Flyers may believe they have the "toughest fans in hockey" (they even make t-shirt's that say it) but it couldn't stop them from losing their series to the Pittsburgh Penguins on home ice in 6 games. The biggest what if for the Flyers has to be what if leading goal scorer Jeff Carter actually showed up? Carter had just 1 goal with a -1 in the 6 game series, compare that to his 46 goals in the regular season. What if Captain Mike Richards wasn't playing through 2 injured shoulders? Despite his injury, the 24 year old Richards put up 5 points, making us wonder what he could have done if he were at 100%.

John Tortorella was the driving force behind the re-emergence of the New York Rangers, but one bottle throwing incident later the Rangers were sent home on a disgusting Sergei Federov wrist-shot. As Ranger fans pack up their rally towels into their closet along with their Mark Messier jersey, they have a few questions they should ponder. What if Henrik Lundqivst played less than 70 games during the regular season, would he have been better? That argument could be easily shut down as he's played over 70 games in 3 straight Regardless of Henrik, what if John Tortorella didn't throw the bottle at the crowd that was heckling him? The Rangers coach was suspended for Game 6 at Madison Square Garden, a game they could have arguably won had they had their head coach behind the bench. The fact that Sean Avery showed everyone else on the Rangers roster up with his high level of intensity in his play after being benched is a knock to the entire Rangers rosters heart.

What a 100th year celebration for the Montreal Canadiens, in case you didn't know, it was their 100th season. It was rarely talked about (note the sarcasm.). In fact, it was actually their 99th season for those who are curious, but that's a discussion for another day. What if the Montreal Canadiens had a healthy Andrei Markov? In my opinion, that still wouldn't have mattered. The Bruins went 4-0-1 against Montreal with Markov in the line-up. The biggest what if in my opinion was, what if Carey Price was as good as everyone billed him as? The simple answer is, he's just not that good. He's looking a lot more like the next Andrew Raycroft rather than the next Ken Dryden or Patrick Roy with his head-case like attitude and inconsistency.

Western Conference

Yet another year where the San Jose Sharks come into the NHL Playoffs as favorites in the West, and yet another year of disappointment. The team added Anaheim Ducks forward Travis Moen, who went pointless in the 6 game series with a -4 as he got ousted by his former team. What if Joe Thornton decided to show up for more than just Game 5? Excluding Game 5, Jumbo Joe had 0 goals and just 2 assists in the other 5 games, continuing to gain his reputation of being a playoff choke artist. Also, what if the Anaheim Ducks had gone with J.S Giguere as their goaltender? Jonas Hiller absolutely stole the series, the 27 year old Swiss goaltender went 4-1-1 with a 1.65 GAA and 2 shut-outs in the 1st round.

How is Mike Keenan still the coach of the Calgary Flames? The team sputtered in Game 6 against Nikolai Khabibulin and the Chicago Blackhawks and found themselves out in the 1st round for the 4th year in a row. Rumor has it that Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff has a bit of a "problem", whether that's drugs or alcohol isn't really talked about, but at the same time, you can't blame his struggles on a drug rumor. However, what if Kipper didn't play in 76 of the Flames games this season? I don't care if you're Patrick freakin' Roy, that's an absurd amount of games to play and still be effective in the playoffs. It was clear that Miikka was spent, his play spoke for itself as he finished the series with a 3.52 GAA. Also, what if the Flames didn't trade for Olli Jokinen? Jokinen played well in the series, but it's a very possible theory that the Flames lost more depth than they gained when they traded for Olli.

Despite losing half of their salary cap to injuries, the St. Louis Blues salvaged their way into the 6th seed in the Western Conference led by head-coach Andy Murray. The biggest what if of course is, what if the St. Louis Blues were a healthy team? They were without top defensemen Erik Johnson before the season even began and lost LW Paul Kariya in the 1st month of the regular season. Another question Blues fan could ask was, what if the Blues stayed in the 8th seed and faced San Jose? Roberto Luongo proved to be impossible to beat for the Canucks, but if the Blues had drawn San Jose in the 1st round, one could make the argument that the Blues could have pushed the Sharks to 6 or 7 games, and win.

Perhaps there was no team happier to be in the playoffs than the Columbus Blue Jackets. Despite their spectacular season anchored by rookie goaltender Steve Mason, the Jackets fell in 4 games to the defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings. Nobody really expected them to take the series, but their lack of a hard-fought 6-7 game series was somewhat of a letdown. However, what if Rick Nash scored more than 1 goal in the 4 game sweep? Nash's only goal came in Game 4's 6-5 loss, certainly a disappointing series for the Columbus Captain. Despite their loss, all is not lost for the Blue Jackets. Steve Mason is a Vezina finalist at just 20 years old and the future is definitely bright for the Columbus Blue Jackets.