LOS ANGELES: Chicago Hawks, who sneaked into the playoffs on the final day of the season, will have a chance to defend their title when they open the post-season against the President's Trophy winning Vancouver Canucks. The Blackhawks-Canucks' game is one of five on tap for Wednesday, the opening day of the first round of the National Hockey League playoffs. The Blackhawks beat the Philadelphia Flyers in last year's championship series for their first Stanley Cup title since 1961. The Canucks, who finished the season with a 54-19-9 record are seeking their first Stanley Cup title in their 40-year franchise history. And because they finished with the best record in the league this year – which earned them the President's Trophy – Vancouver has the luxury of having home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. They split their four-games against Chicago this year. “It's a new slate now, a clean slate,” Hawks forward Patrick Kane said. “I'm sure they're kind of thinking the same thing. Hopefully we can get in their heads a little bit and maybe steal one or two games in Vancouver.” Chicago has history on their side as they eliminated Vancouver in the NHL quarterfinals in six games in each of the last two years. Canucks star Henrik Sedin said he is looking forward to the challenge of facing Chicago for the third-consecutive year. “They are going to be a really tough opponent for us,” Sedin said. “They are the defending Stanley Cup champions so that is the team to beat for us.” This year's playoffs mean it is California dreamin' out west as the state will have three teams in the playoffs. For the first time in history, the Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks all made the post-season with the Sharks finishing second in the Western Conference. San Jose will take on seventh-seeded Los Angeles; No. 3 Detroit will face sixth-seeded Phoenix and fourth-seeded Anaheim will play No. 5 Nashville. Anaheim is led by the line combination of Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Bobby Ryan. Perry scored a career-high 50 goals for the Ducks who missed out on the playoffs last season. San Jose is seeking its first Stanley Cup title and will face the Kings, who stumbled down the stretch after losing their top two offensive players late in the season. In order for the Kings to have any hope they are going to rely on their young goaltenders American Jonathan Quick and Canadian Jonathan Bernier. In the East, The Rangers will face Alex Ovechkin's Washington Capitals in the first round for the second time in three years. The other Eastern matchups comprise No. 2 Philadelphia facing Buffalo; rough and tough No. 3 Boston will play original six rival Montreal; and the injury-depleted Pittsburgh Penguins face fifth seeded Tampa Bay Lightning. Pittsburgh still doesn't know if they will have superstar captain Sidney Crosby in the lineup for any of the post-season after he suffered a concussion in January. Pittsburgh's second best offensive player Evgeni Malkin had season-ending knee surgery. Emotions will be running high when the Bruins battle the Canadiens in their best-of-seven series. Not only are they long-time rivals but the two teams combined for 180 penalty minutes in a fight-filled game recently in Boston. “The hatred is definitely there,” said Boston forward Milan Lucic. “That's what makes it fun and what makes it a great rivalry. We can't overthink it.” Sixth-seeded Montreal will be looking for revenge after Boston's giant defenceman Zdeno Chara delivered a nasty hit to forward Max Pacioretty that sent the Montreal player sailing head first into an exposed post that holds up the glass. Pacioretty has not played since and the hit sparked an all-out war earlier this month when the teams played each other. The Canadiens are looking for their second playoff series win over the Bruins in the past four seasons. – Agence France
