Battle of Dynamic Duos in Blackhawks vs. Ducks Makes Series Must-See TV

Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf vs. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Four of the most talented players in recent hockey history, not to mention four of the biggest gamers, going at it for a trip to the Stanley Cup Final. For lovers of hockey, the start of Game 1 of the Western Conference Final can't come soon enough. 

I'll be honest, these NHL playoffs hadn't done much for me until this past weekend. Some of the team matchups lacked intriguing storylines and star power. (Anaheim vs. Winnipeg, anyone? Calgary vs. Vancouver, anyone? Anyone?) There had also been too many 1-0 and 2-1 games. Not that low-scoring affairs can't be hugely entertaining, but too many of the early games were just plain snoozers.

But now it's all coming back together. What appeared would be second-round blowouts in the East have turned into thrilling extended series, complete with plenty of bad blood and Game 7 victory guarantees. And in the West, we now have a matchup featuring two deep and hungry teams full of warrior-type leaders who only care about winning. Playoff hockey has become playoff hockey again!

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The tag team matchup of Toews and Kane against Perry and Getzlaf makes for a Western Conference Final as star-studded as the old Avalanche-Red Wings days, when Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg would battle Steve Yzerman and Sergei Fedorov. One of those two teams made the conference final every year from 1995 to 2002, including three times head-to-head (1996, 1997 and 2002).

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While the Blackhawks have now made the conference final five of the last seven years, this will be Anaheim's first trip since 2007, when Perry and Getzlaf won a Stanley Cup against Ottawa.

The Ducks duo has won two gold medals for Canada since then as teammates (along with Toews), but their playoffs have been filled with disappointment, with complete absences in two of the previous five seasons, two first-round exits and a second-round loss last season.

Getzlaf, the captain, has 86 points (27 goals) in 90 career playoff games, while Perry has 71 points in 83 games. Those are great numbers, but Toews and Kane have been even better. Toews has 92 points in 104 career playoff games, and Kane has 104 points in 103 games, including nine game-winners.

Entering Tuesday, the four players were among the top six in overall playoff points, with only Tampa Bay's Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov in the mix with them. 

Getzlaf and Toews are team captains, with Kane and Perry first-rate deputies. Kane came back early from a broken collarbone that sidelined him for the last few weeks, and he has been terrific so far. It looked like Perry's playoffs might be over in Sunday's Game 5 against Calgary, when he could barely get off the ice after taking a knee-on-knee hit from Matt Stajan.

Player	Games Played	Goals	Assists	Points
Jonathan Toews (CHI)	10	4	7	11
Patrick Kane (CHI)	10	7	6	13
Ryan Getzlaf (ANA)	9	2	10	12
Corey Perry (ANA)	9	7	8	15

Perry admitted to the Los Angeles Times' Lisa Dillman that he was in some pain, but he came back in the game and won it in overtime with a goal. That's leadership.

"Him coming back was awesome and getting that kind of game-winner is textbook Perry," Ducks goalie Frederik Andersen told ESPN's Scott Burnside.

The trouble for the Ducks is that they are up against a player who is widely considered the best team leader in hockey. That player is Toews, and he has two Stanley Cups and two gold medals to his name. He's also just 27.

My favorite Toews moment continues to be the 62-second shift he had in a playoff game last season against Minnesota. Despite two down-and-back skates from both ends, Toews still had enough left to create a turnover behind the net on a big hit, then muscled his way to the front of the net to jam a loose puck home past Ilya Bryzgalov for a game-tying goal in an eventual win.

Toews can beat you with skill, but his whatever-it-takes desire is what really separates him from others. Of course, you can say that about the other three too. Kane has proven to be anything but a dainty player who can only compete in skill contests, while Perry and Getzlaf can beat opponents with skill or in a fistfight.

"They've got a top line that's as good as any in the game," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville told Chicago's WGN Radio on Monday, noting the Perry-Getzlaf-Patrick Maroon line. 

Asked to compare Toews and Kane to Perry and Getzlaf, Quenneville told WGN:

"

Both are top-end guys. ... Perry leads the league a lot of times in goals, and Getzlaf is always a No. 1, 2 or 3 centerman, and Tazer and Kaner are exactly where they are. So, it's a great matchup. You've got four of the premier players in the game, offensive players, star players that can wow you. ... Both teams pride themselves around these guys and basically set the tone for their teams.

"

One of the other stars of this series, Anaheim's Ryan Kesler, will likely shadow for Toews throughout:

It says it all that Toews and Getzlaf are two of the three finalists (along with Andrew Ladd) for the Mark Messier Leadership Award this year. Not many would have batted an eye, probably, had Kane or Perry been a finalist either.

Smooth as satin or rough as sandpaper, the four stars of the Western Conference Final can play any way they want and still win. The prize of this contest for the four is a trip to play for the Cup.

Let's drop the puck for Game 1 already.