Stanley Cup Predictions 2012: Sidney Crosby & Stars Who'll Lead Teams to Finals

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are set to begin on Wednesday with 16 teams hoping to claim the ultimate prize when the journey finally ends in June. In order to win the title, teams will need to get tremendous performances from their biggest stars.

Let's take a look at three players who will lead their teams to the finals, which I expect to be a battle between the Pittsburgh Penguins from the Eastern Conference and the Vancouver Canucks of the Western Conference.

Sidney Crosby

Crosby missed a vast majority of the regular season with concussion symptoms, but returned in the middle of last month and hasn't had any setbacks. Adding him to an already potent offensive attack will make the Penguins virtually unstoppable.

He scored 37 points in the 22 games he did play, which would equal 138 points over the course of an entire season. By comparison, Evgeni Malkin led the NHL in scoring with 109 points. So it's clear Crosby is the league's best player when healthy.

The fact that he's been able to play 14 games and taken his fair share of hits without having to leave the lineup should mean he's back to 100 percent. That alone makes Pittsburgh the conference's most dangerous team.

Evgeni Malkin

As already mentioned, Malkin led the league in scoring during the regular season. He carried the Penguins on his back at times while Crosby was sidelined and deserves the MVP Award for his efforts. But his job isn't done quite yet.

It's important the Penguins' balanced scoring approach continues into the postseason. That means there will still be plenty of pressure on Malkin to provide some scoring punch, whether he's playing alongside Crosby or leading a secondary line.

He also plays a crucial role on the power play. Special teams opportunities become far more vital during the playoffs since every goal is like gold. He tallied 34 PP points during the campaign and will need maintain a similar level of production for Pittsburgh to reach the finals.

Henrik Sedin

The more creative of the Sedin twins, Henrik led the Canucks in scoring with 81 points—14 more than his brother Daniel. Most of his points came from assists (67) and he'll once again hold the key to Vancouver's offensive success throughout the playoffs.

He's able to make passes that other players can't even dream of thanks to his amazing vision. As the defensive zone becomes more clogged in the postseason, they'll need his magical passes to create scoring ample opportunities for his teammates.

The Canucks have nice depth–it's impossible to win the Presidents' Trophy without it–but their offense really starts and ends with Sedin. As long as he's able to carry his regular season form into the playoffs, Vancouver will be heading to the finals again.