Playoff pairings set up interest in the West

(1) Colorado Avalanche vs. (8) Vancouver Canucks\nThe Avalanche enter the series after winning the President's Trophy, indicative of the league's best regular-season record. But this is nothing to rest their laurels on, as last year's top regular season team, the St. Louis Blues, was eliminated in the first round.\nColorado enters the series with an arsenal of star players including Joe Sakic, Ray Bourque and Patrick Roy. \nIf the Avalanche possess nuclear firepower, the Canucks have the firepower of 18th century muskets -- they are simply outmatched. Because of injury, leading scorer Markus Naslund is lost for the season, and second-leading scorer Andrew Cassels is out until Game 3. \nAvalanche in four.\n(2) Detroit Red Wings vs. (7) Los Angeles Kings\nAs the regular season series indicates (1-1-1), these teams know how to play each other. With both teams playing well in the last month, that trend should continue.\nDetroit coach Scotty Bowman has many of the tools he used to bring the Stanley Cup to the Motor City twice in the 1990s. Forwards Brendan Shanahan, Sergei Fedorov and Steve Yzerman all know how to score in the playoffs. Veterans Steve Duchesne and Nicklas Lidstrom are formidable defenseman. And though goalie Chris Osgood is made fun of in Detroit as often as George W. Bush is in the rest of the nation, Osgood manages to turn his game up a notch during playoffs.\nThe Kings have improved their stock drastically since trading Rob Blake for defensemen Aaron Miller and Adam Deadmarsh. Another trade that worked out well for the Kings was acquiring Felix Potvin. The "Cat" has a 1.91 goals against average since joining LA.\nBut Detroit doesn't lose at home.\nRed Wings in six.\n(3) Dallas Stars vs. (6) Edmonton Oilers\nNo one can accuse these teams of being unfamiliar with each other -- this is their fifth consecutive playoff meeting. Edmonton's only series win in that sequence was in 1997, but this year they are ready for another victory.\nThe defending conference champion Stars feel that they can represent the West once again, but Ed Belfour will have to be clutch in the net for the third consecutive year for the Stars to succeed.\nThe Oilers pack a potent offensive punch with Doug Weight, Ryan Smyth and Anson Carter. Defenseman Janne Niinimaa contributes with some crisp passing. Edmonton is banking on underrated goalie Tommy Salo to get hot and carry the team. \nThis is poised to be the best first round series in the West. For Edmonton to pull the upset, it needs its power play unit -- ranked 21st in the league -- to improve.\nOilers in seven.\n(4) St. Louis Blues vs. (5) San Jose Sharks\nLast year, the Sharks evaporated the heavily favored Blues' dreams of bringing St. Louis its first Stanley Cup. This year, the Blues will be out for blood, but the combatants will be decidedly more even.\nThe Blues already had a solid offense with Pierre Turgeon and Scott Young as leaders, but adding Keith Tkachuk from Phoenix adds another scoring dimension. With Chris Pronger back from injury, he and Al MacInnis make a formidable defensive tandem. Though goalie Roman Turek has been somewhat inconsistent, he is capable of stopping nearly everything when he is hot.\nThe Sharks also improved drastically via trade by adding super-scorer Teemu Selanne from Anaheim. With Vince Damphousse returning from injury, the Sharks have another player who can make solid plays. The key to San Jose's success lies in the hands of rookie goalie Evgeni Nabakov, the best NHL player from Kazakhstan. If he continues his regular season pace, the Blues might be in trouble. But I don't think so.\nBlues in six.