Detroit and Carolina in Conference Finals

The Detroit Red Wings eliminated the Anaheim Ducks last night and it really was a battle to the finish.  With a final score of 4-3, it wasn’t exactly a runaway victory.  Still the 2008 Stanley Cup Champions have advanced to the next round and it should be interesting to see this well-oiled team comprised of many veterans face off against the youth and vigor of the Chicago Blackhawks.

For the first time in the postseason last night, Jonas Hiller showed how human he really is.  He got knocked in the net and, as if that wasn’t bad enough, his helmet fell off and when he went to stand up, he hit his head on the crossbar.  He ended up getting pulled (he still made 36 saves) and was replaced by Jean-Sebastien Giguere who, correct me if I’m wrong, hadn’t made an appearance in the playoffs until that moment.

I was starting to think that this game was going to go to overtime but with just three minutes left in the game, Dan Cleary won for the Red Wings, sending the defending Stanley Cup champions to the Western Conference finals for the third straight year.

On the east coast, the Carolina Hurricanes upset the #1 Eastern Conference seed, the Boston Bruins, by eliminating them in overtime of Game 7.  It doesn’t get much closer than that.

I really was a little shocked and disappointed by this turn of events.  Truly, as naive as it might sound, I thought that the Bruins and the San Jose Sharks might be the last two teams standing after the amazing seasons they had but they were eliminated by teams that I really had dismissed (Carolina and Anaheim, respectively).  Sometimes I like being wrong but this isn’t one of those times. 

The Bruins’ amazing season came to an end last night at 18:46 into overtime when Scott Walker used his hands to put the puck behind Bruins netminder, Tim Thomas, instead of using them to punch Aaron Ward in the face. 

The Hurricanes will go on to face the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference finals which means that Eric Staal and Jordan Staal will be competing against each other.  They will be just the fourth set of brothers to do that.  Who are their parents going to cheer for?

images: Zuma Photos