An Early Peek At The Stanley Cup Playoffs (Part Two)

CALIFORNIA -- As this season winds down, the Gray Leopard Cove will review the 2011-12 NHL season.

We'll tell you which teams will be moving on and which teams will be going fishing as Charles Barkley would state.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs will begin April 11 on the TSN , NBC Sports Network, or your local Comcast and Verizon cable networks.

Today, we'll take a look at the Western Conference.

It will be a very interesting ending to this season in the West with five teams via for last three spots in the playoffs. In one night the leader of the Pacific Division could end-up in 9th place with a loss, but that's the way it's been in the West all season long.

The biggest disappointment in this conference could be the San Jose Sharks who are fighting for their playoff lives. In the middle of the season they traded their heart and soul to Minnesota for a tougher player -- Martin Havlat. Devin Setoguchi and Dany Heatley drove the Sharks into the playoffs last year however, they may miss a playoff spot in 2012.

Starting goalie Antti Niemi has been a complete flop in net with his inconsistent play, letting in too many soft goals. Thomas Griess should be starting in net if the Sharks make a run for the Stanley Cup. Bay Area fans have also questioned the heart and soul of the Sharks after last year's collapse. This team is lucky to be in the weak Western Conference and getting a chance to be in the playoffs.

The Sharks will play the Los Angeles Kings in a home and home series at the end of the regular season and that could be the deciding factor for both teams. If the San Jose Sharks don't make the playoffs this year it might be time to clean house by releasing General Manager Doug Wilson and head coach Todd McLellan.

The St. Louis Blues are the most surprising team out West with the help of the two headed monster in net. Jaroslav

Halak and Brian Elliott are making St. Louis fans sing the happy Blues. Goal Brother Chris Stewart has helped the offense in the Arch City along with Andy McDonald.

The Blues are fighting the New York Rangers for home ice advantage throughout the playoffs and the Presidents Cup. They west plays a wide open offense and the Blues have changed their team structure to play in this conference.

The Vancouver Canucks will win the Northwest Division but will not be challenged the rest of the season and they have played that way the past three weeks. It will be very difficult to re-start the engine once the playoffs start. Goalie Roberto Luongo has been hot and cold in net all season long.

Cory Schneider has backed up Luongo without skipping a beat. The Sedin Twins (Daniel and Henrik) have not been the scoring machines of years past. Center Ryan Kesler could be called the spark plug for this northwest team. Like the Sharks if this team does not bring home the Stanley Cup, Vancouver could also be blown up.

Goal Brother Trevor Daley and The Dallas Stars are not only trying to win the Pacific Division but to stay in the playoff picture. Four weeks ago they were in third place in the division (eighth overall) and looking like they would not even compete in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Kari Lehtinen can be called the Unknown Soldier in goal for the Stars. Mike Ribeiro is the set up man while Michael Rider is the scorer - a great combination. Loui Eriksson is the iron man of this team and the Stars will go as far as Eriksson will take them.

Pekka Rinne has the Nashville Predators in the right spot with outstanding net minding keeping his team in the race for the Cup. The Preds are another one of the new surprising teams in the West. Honorary Goal Brothers Jordin Tootoo and Brandon Yip are helping the team drive to the first round and home ice advantage.

Tootoo is trying to get back into the lineup after a slight injury last weekend to the upper body. Mike Fisher leads this team is goals while Martin Erat knows how to share the puck and get it to a sniper to score. Ryan Suter solidifies the Predator defense with over 100 blocked shots.

The Red Army (Oh, I mean the Detroit Red Wings) are on the march again to another the playoffs their 21st time. Detroit veterans know the routine and are training the younger Wings. At mid-season, they went through a 24-game home winning streak so you don't want to play them at The Joe Louis Arena.

The old guard should keep this team in the playoffs at least for two rounds. Veterans like Todd Bertuzzi, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Pavel Datsyuk know the drill and should be ready. The Wings also have The Three Degrees in goal with Jimmy Howard, Joey MacDonald, and Ty Conklin.

They all should be well rested for the beginning of the playoffs. The management could be waiting to see which netminder gets hot before the start of the playoffs. The Wings will ride the hot hand to the Western Conference finals.

The Chicago Blackhawks are another one of these disappointing teams. A team that has underachieved with their erratic goal scoring by their top stars. Chicago's right wing side are a potential scoring powerhouse with Patrick Sharp, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, and Goal Brother Jamal Mayers. They solidified their defense with the acquisition of Goal Brother Johnny Oduya late in the season.

The Hawks also have not made a decision who will be in net. It's either Goal Brother Ray Emery a longtime netminder from the Ottawa Senators or Cory Crawford. While Crawford has been inconsistent the past two months, Emery went on a five game winning streak two weeks ago pulling the Hawks back into the playoff race. If they can get their scoring shoes back on they will go far in the playoffs.

There are four teams currently fighting for the last playoff spot in the west. The Phoenix Coyotes, Los Angeles Kings, Colorado Avalanche, and San Jose Sharks are one point apart from each other with the Calgary Flames just three points behind them.

It will be a fight to the finish.