Guest Playoff Analyst Dan Cloutier
NHLPA.COM
He’s faced Jagr one-on-one. He’s gone up against Sergei Berezin’s awesome wrist shot up-close. He’s had to contend with John LeClair buzzing around his crease. Dan Cloutier knows these players inside out. Now he offers up his predictions for the Eastern Conference semifinals. Who’s got what it takes to get their team to the conference finals? Cloutier’s got all the answers.
PHILADELPHIA VERSUS PITTSBURGH
"I watched Philly play in the first round and they were great defensively. I thought that series with Buffalo would be a lot closer than it was. I think Recchi, LeClair and Gagne will have a big series against Pittsburgh. LeClair has got everything an offensive player needs. He’s great in front of the net, he’s got an excellent slap shot and it’s tough to get the puck away from him. Defensively, Desjardins can do just about anything. He’s been their best defenseman the whole season, but I think Luke Richardson deserves a lot of credit for the way he’s played. Pittsburgh has so many skilled players, but it was still surprising to see them beat Washington. Jagr is the best player in the game and the only way to keep him off the scoreboard is to hit him and that’s what Philly will do. They have to do that. Pittsburgh will have to count on Tugnutt if they want to win. They also need Kovalev and Straka to come up big to take the heat off Jagr. I think this series will be more high-scoring than the Buffalo/Philly one."
DAN SAYS YOU CAN COUNT ON:"Boucher should play well again. He proved a lot of doubters wrong in the first round."
DAN IS TAKING:"I’ll go with Philly in six. Pittsburgh can put the puck in the net, but Philly has been playing great defensive hockey. If they can beat Hasek, they can win this round."
TORONTO VERSUS NEW JERSEY
"This is a series where the goaltenders will decide who wins. Joseph won the first two games against Ottawa on his own. Brodeur was outstanding, too. You are looking at two of the Top 5 goalies in the league. CuJo is used to facing more shots, but it’s tough to beat Marty. I had the opportunity to play against both of these teams and Toronto was tough. They are very patient when they play. They don’t seem to get away from their game plan. It’s good for Toronto that they can count on CuJo to handle a lot of shots and bail them out when he has to. That’s a huge confidence boost. I think my old teammate Darcy Tucker is going to have a good series. He gets in your face and will do anything to win. He did that against Ottawa. Berezin is also a great player. He has an excellent wrist shot. It was tough to try and stop him. Sundin’s another tough player. For Jersey, Lemieux, Gomez and McKay will have to come up big. Scott Stevens has been playing excellent hockey as well. The Devils love to crash the net and that’s what I expect them to do. They take a lot of shots and don’t wait for the perfect play. They have a lot of guys that can score and that’s what they will have to do against the Leafs. Lemieux should come up big again as he always does in the playoffs."
DAN SAYS YOU CAN COUNT ON:"This will be a black-and-blue, bruising series. It will be low scoring, especially with two All-Stars in net."
DAN IS TAKING:"Toronto will win this series, but it will be a long, grueling one. I’m taking the Leafs in seven."