Fan In Van

Top 10 Playoff Heroes

The NHL’s latest playoff commercial comes with the slogan that “The Cup Changes Everything”. What they’re trying to market to their fans is that when the playoffs begin, those are the times where NHL players earn their stripes. No longer are they playing for money, but for personal pride and a shot at immortality in NHL history.

So far, the NHL playoffs have delivered just that. There have been a handful of heroes emerging in the playoffs, and there have been an equal amount of zeros who have disappointed the expectations their fans set upon them. I’m breaking down the Heroes and Zeros of this year’s 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs:

Heroes

Johan Franzen - Johan “The Mule” Franzen is looking more and more like a thoroughbred these playoffs. Franzen has scored 11 goals in 14 games so far and is currently beating out teammates Datsyuk and Zetterberg for the team scoring lead. Franzen scored 27 in 72 games during the regular season but has scored half of that in 1/5 of the games. Franzen also has four game-winning goals.

Martin Biron - Biron is proving all the doubters wrong when they said he couldn’t be a legitimate playoff goaltender. He has not only outduelled the likes of Cristobal Huet but made his Montreal opponent Carey Price look like a mismatch at times. Biron has been nothing short of spectacular.

Mike Ribeiro - Ribeiro looked invisible last year versus the Canucks but is having a phenomenal playoff this year. Fresh off a career season which also involved him inking a four-year extension, Ribeiro has been the Stars’ knife that spreads the butter, with 10 assists and 13 points.

Brenden Morrow - While Mike Ribeiro has been the knife spreading the butter, Morrow has been the butter. He represents the heart and soul of the Stars and is having a gutsy postseason. Morrow has fought off high sticks and bruises and come to score the series winner against San Jose last night. Like Ribeiro, Morrow had an almost invisible playoff last season.

Daniel Briere - Briere has played in the most playoff games post-lockout. And in each and every postseason, Briere has shined without fail. 3 of his 8 goals in the playoffs have been deciding factors and he has 14 points on the postseason to lead his team.

Evgeni Malkin - Malkin has had a few hiccups this postseason but has been the Penguins’ go-to guy the whole way. Some of his forgetful memories include Game Five vs. the Rangers which had him stopped on a penalty shot and slew foot Paul Mara, but Malkin has 5 goals and 13 points and has shined otherwise. His real test comes against a tough Flyers’ team.

Marty Turco - Looks like Marty picked up right where he left off last season. Turco has undoubtedly been the best goaltender in the playoffs and has slain Pacific Division rivals JS Giguere and Evgeni Nabokov in doing so. He has had to make a plethora of difficult saves in order to bring the Stars back to the Western Finals.

R.J. Umberger - Well, the Canucks can take solace in the fact that they drafted a player who could actually score big playoff goals. Problem is, he’s not on their team anymore. Umberger, who toiled from Vancouver to the Ranger organization before landing a permanent job with the Flyers, has been their best scorer. His nine goals are second to Franzen’s 11, but Umberger pretty much destroyed the Canadiens on his own, getting 8 of his 9 markers in the second round.

Marc-Andre Fleury - Fleury has been great, but hasn’t been tested to a great extent in the playoffs. He outduelled a shaky Senators team in the first round and had a week’s worth of rest before staving off the Jagr-led Rangers in the second round. His GAA of 1.98 ranks tops in the playoffs, which is noteworthy. He’ll have to be more than sharp against the Flyers.

Jaromir Jagr - He’s no longer in the playoffs, but give 68 the props he deserves. He played like it would very well be his final postseason, scoring a ridiculous 5 goals and 15 points in 9 games to lead the playoffs in scoring. Jagr picked up the Rangers on his back and carried them to an honourable five game defeat to a tough Penguins team, his former team, at that. If this is Jagr’s last hurrah in the NHL, it was a great one to say the least.

Matt’s Conn Smythe Nominations:

From the West: BRENDEN MORROW

From the East: DANIEL BRIERE

Don’t like my Heroes? Got some of your own? An honourable mention, or two? Let’s hear from you!

Next time… THE ZEROES!