Bring on the Blues: Vancouver Canucks Open Against Old Rival St. Louis

The matchup is now set, the Canucks will open the post-season at GM Place Wednesday against the St.Louis Blues.  If their is anything to their past playoff history fans should be in for one hell of a series. 

The last two times they met in post season action were both seven game affairs with the Canucks outlasting St.Louis in '95 and coming back from 3-1 down to win again in 2003.  The Blues and Canucks surprised many people by making the playoffs but they have both shown to be very deserving of their position. 

Here is a breakdown of what you should expect to see with these two clubs, with every matchup and key players and outlook for the series.

Goaltending: both teams have goalies that come into the post-season red hot, Chris Mason has finally found a home as a number one goalie with the Blues and posted a career high 27 wins this season and a 916 save percentage to help the Blues make a late charge to surge into the playoffs for the first time since 2004. 

On the other end Roberto Luongo is back to his usual self despite a slow start following his injury, the Canucks captain still won 15 of his final 21 games and posted a 917 save percentage, and was named to the all-star team for a third straight year.

Edge: Canucks

Defence: The Blues were devastated with injuries this season none more significant than their captain Eric Brewer who will be missed, offensively they do not provide much of a threat with their leading scorer being Carlo Colaiacovo with a mere three goals. 

In their own zone they are not much better as only they only had three  defence-man (Mckee,Woywitka,and Strachan) who had a plus rating this season.  They will no doubt be counting on the experience of Jay Mckee to help them tighten up defensively. 

The Canucks when healthy possess one of the six most solid d-men in the league, leading the way is Willie Mitchell with an outstanding plus 29 rating this season and extremely valuable on the back end. 

Bieksa and Edler had decent numbers offensively scoring 11 and 10 goals respectively but they still appear to lack a strong puck moving defenceman which may hurt them should they be able to outlast the Blues.  Mattias Ohlund will need to be better on the power play for the Canucks to make a serious run at the cup this post season.

Edge: Canucks

Forwards: the experience and toughness of Keith Tkachuk will be invaluable to this young Blues team as will will be a go to guy up front without Paul Kariya.  Andy McDonald will also be counted upon as he is one of the few players on the team with a cup ring.

Brad Boyes and TJ Oshie proved to develop faster than expected and will provide some much needed grit ans toughness to an undermanned Blues squad.

Vancouver finally got some balanced scoring this season with five players scoring 20 or more goals, it's now time for them to prove it in the playoffs.

Henrik and Daniel have been sub par in the playoffs for Vancouver and must be better to help the team succeed, Mats Sundin's experience will be looked upon and he will hope to improve his play in the playoffs. 

The fourth line could be the real x factor in this series for Vancouver as Rick Rypien and Darcy Hordichuk are built for playoff hockey and don't be surprised to see them chip in with a few points.

Edge: Canucks

Special teams- St.Louis was greatly improved on the power play this season as they finished with a rating of 20.5 percent good for eighth place in the league, the penalty kill was even better as they were third ranked killing 87.3 percent of their penalties this season. 

Vancouver on the other hand was sub par and up and down in both department's this season, the penalty kill though it improved late in the year still finished a dismal 16th—a far cry from the team that led the league in penalty killing two years ago.

Though Alex Burrows and company still have the potential to get a shorthander, on the power play was about the same clicking at 18.8 percent good for 17th in the league. 

Edge: Blues

Final Assessment: Both teams are looking to rebound from tough season last year and out to prove they are for real.  In terms of experience the Canucks may have more all-together but have no one with a cup ring and the Blues do, not sure experience will be a great factor in the series but it will no doubt be talked about on both sides. 

The Canucks appear to have the edge in most categories on paper but they have to prove they are hungry, the Blues have nothing to lose in this series and not much is expected out of them, a strong first round performance will show us weather this Canucks team is for real or not.

Prediction: Canucks in five