With the Vancouver Canucks advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals from the Western Conference and the Boston/Tampa Bay series moving to a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference, NashvillePredators.com got in touch with Preds broadcaster Pete Weber for his thoughts on conference finals series.
NashvillePredators.com: What surprised you the most from the Vancouver/San Jose series?
Pete Weber – The Sedins reemergence after being non-factors against the Preds, especially Henrik. He had 12 points in the San Jose series (five games); he and Daniel combined only had seven points in the entire series against the Preds (six games) — and both had minus plus/minus ratings.
NP.com: Does Vancouver’s offensive success against San Jose make Nashville’s defensive success against the Canucks more impressive?
Weber – Without question! Vancouver was the highest scoring team in the regular season (3.15 goals per game) and they showed that against San Jose (scored 20 goals in five games; 4.00 goals per game). The Preds held them to just 14 goals in the series (six games, 2.33 goals per game), with three overtime periods in there as well.
NP.com: Western Conference bracket is now complete — who were your top-3 playoff performers in the Western Conference half of the playoff bracket this year?
Weber – Ryan Kesler (VAN), Joe Thornton (SJ) and Pekka Rinne
NP.com: Heading into Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals — who have been your top-3 playoff performers in the Eastern Conference half of the playoff bracket this year?
Weber – Tim Thomas (BOS), Vincent Lecavalier (TB) and Patrice Bergeron (BOS)
NP.com: How does Vancouver stack up against Boston or Tampa Bay in a potential Cup match-up?
Weber – First of all, Vancouver stacks up well against anybody. They had the most points in the whole league during the regular season and showed that again in the first three rounds of the playoffs. That said, Boston’s D corps matches the Canucks better than Tampa’s does, but I feel Tampa’s quick-strike attack could make for a very entertaining offensive oriented series.