2001 Stanley Cup Preview

Courtesy of Colorado Avalanche

Lemieux

freeyourhack@gmail.comThe regular season is over and now the battle begins for the three feet of metal known as the Stanley Cup. It means sudden death overtime, big-time bodychecks and the best end to end hockey action of the year. Hang On! The 2001 playoffs should be a great ride.

The Matchups

The Favorites
The New Jersey Devils are the defending champions and they look good again this year. They have great goaltending with Martin Brodeur and their defence is tighter than a Britney Spears' tube top. The favorites from the West will be Colorado. They have mountains of talent including Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Rob Blake, and of course, Patrick Roy. But don't count out Detroit - they're getting old but the big red machine could still be churning its pistons when the Cup is lifted in June.

Teams With a Chance
You can never count out a team that has both Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr. The Penguins have a chance to beat anyone even though their goaltending totally bites. Speaking of goaltending, the Buffalo Sabres have Dominik Hasek. When the Dominator is on his game, even the highest octane offences in the league can be held off the scoresheet.

No Hope, No Chance.
The Carolina Panthers and the Vancouver Canucks are about as likely to win the Cup as Kobe is to receive a birthday card from Shaq. Thanks for coming out guys, but your summer vacation will be starting before the end of April.

The Overtime Factor
The best part about the Stanley Cup playoffs is sudden death overtime. It's just like playing "next goal wins." Playoff games go on until someone scores - even if it takes 10 overtimes.

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