Blackhawks-Sharks Battle for Western Conference Title
Written by Nolan Thomas, Thursday May 13 2010
Even early in the season, it almost seemed destined that the Chicago Blackhawks and the San Jose Sharks would be on the ice together battling it out for the right to play for hockey's ultimate prize, the Stanley Cup.
As they wait for the NHL to announce the date of Game 1 of the Western Conference finals at HP Pavilion in
The Blackhawks and the Sharks were the elite teams of the Western Conference, fighting all season long to see who would finish as the No. 1 seed. The Sharks with 113 points to the Blackhawks 112 held off the Hawks by one point to claim the top seed and home-ice advantage in the playoffs.
During the first two rounds of the postseason, both the Sharks and the Blackhawks methodically went about their business and now are set for the showdown with the winner advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Sharks dispatched the Colorado Avalanche and the Detroit Red Wings in the first two rounds, while the Blackhawks eliminated the Nashville Predators and the Vancouver Canucks.
The Sharks boast a top line of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley and have the depth to back it up with a group of talented forwards, a strong defense led by Dan Boyle and a top goaltender in Evgeni Nabokov.
"They have probably the top two lines in the league," Blackhawks Patrick Kane said "If you look at our team we have a lot of depth, but their two lines up there are pretty special and (Joe) Pavelski's on fire too."
The Blackhawks boast a top line of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Marian Hossa, although all of their lines have produced big plays all season and throughout the playoffs. They have a strong defense led by Brian Campbell, and goaltender Antti Niemi has been a spectacular playoff surprise so far.
In the four regular season meetings against each other, the Blackhawks won three out of the four games. This is the first postseason series between the teams.
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