2013 GM of the Year Finalists (L to R) Bergevin, Murray, Shero; Mandatory Credit: USATSI/Getty Images

Marc Bergevin is in his first season as the GM in Montreal, having arrived on the scene just twelve months ago.  Upon inheriting a team that finished dead-last in the Eastern Conference, Bergevin raised some eyebrows in hiring Michel Therrien as his head coach.  All the new GM and coach did was turn that 15^th-seeded squad into the second seed this season, winning their first Northeast Division crown since 2008.  Despite many scouts questioning how Alex Galchenyuk would respond to a major knee injury in his draft year, Bergevin went with his gut and drafted the talented American forward with the third-overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, thus far a good move on his part.

Bob Murray, in his fifth season as the architect of the Anaheim Ducks, certainly had a busy season.  As a yearly summer exercise in Southern California, Murray was forced to convince future Hall of Famer Teemu Selanne to put off retirement and return to the Quack Pack.  Murray also upgraded his defense and goaltending by bringing in Sheldon Souray and Viktor Fasth, respectively.  Fasth may have been the discovery of the year, as the 30-year-old goaltender seemingly came out of nowhere to provide Anaheim with two quality netminders.  In his first “full” (see: shortened) season behind the bench, Murray’s hire of Bruce Boudreau has been another good hiring.  However, Murray’s magic this season can best be revealed in his re-signings of both of Anaheim’s franchise forwards, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.  People wondered which of the two, if not both, Murray would be forced to trade during the season or see walk away at the end of it.  Instead, Murray extended both of them and saw his team bounce back from 13^th in the Western Conference the previous season to the second seed this time around, running away with the Pacific Division.

Ray Shero is seemingly in consideration for the GM of the Year Award every year, and this year is no exception.  The seventh-year GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins got the wheeling-and-dealing started right on draft day, making a move that would satisfy both the future and the present by acquiring one of the league’s better third line centers in Brandon Sutter for Jordan Staal, who was in the last year of his contract.  In another offseason move that is really paying dividends right now, Shero acquired goaltender Tomas Vokoun.  Shero’s roster impressed all season long, barely skipping a beat while sustaining injuries to Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang.  Without surrendering a single player off of his current roster, Shero made moves in-and-around the NHL Trade Deadline to bring in Jarome Iginla, Brenden Morrow, Jussi Jokinen, and Douglas Murray.  The Pens won the Atlantic Division and finished as the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

Per NHL.com, the General Manager of the Year Award is “an annual award presented to recognize the work of the league’s general managers” and is voted on by “the 30 club general managers and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast media.”  My choice for this season’s award is Bob Murray.  Bergevin’s major blemish was the holdout that lasted into the early stages of the season with then-restricted free agent P.K. Subban.  Shero did a fine job this season, though the lure for other players to play alongside Crosby and Malkin seems to take care of a lot of the recruiting itself.  Murray, on the other hand, brought in a gem of a goaltender, hired the right coach, and defied the odds by extending not one, but both of Getzlaf and Perry.  Murray is my pick for the 2013 GM of the Year.

Who do you think deserves to win GM of the Year: one of the three finalists or someone else entirely?  Comment below or tweet me @BostonNumber9 (or my team @TMMotS) to let us know who you feel should win this and any of the other end of season awards.

Chicago Blackhawks Defeat Minnesota Wild in OT in Game 1; Mandatory Credit: AP Photo/Jim Prisching

It looked innocent enough, Backstrom slid across his crease in warm-ups waving at a shot puck.  Next thing, he was on his knees facing away from the shooters in pain.  Though there has been no word given on his injury at this point, it appears to have been to his groin or hamstring.

In an instant, Josh Harding had been inserted into Minnesota’s crease to start Game 1 against the President’s Trophy-winning Chicago Blackhawks.  Harding’s playoff experience amounts to a grand total of one appearance, for the duration of one twenty minute period, six years ago.  He also appeared in just five games during this regular season, and hadn’t started a game since January 30.

To his credit, Harding was up for the challenge.  Neither team came out firing in the first period, but Harding made the saves he needed to make.  One would have expected Chicago to be firing pucks towards Harding right from the opening faceoff, but Minnesota did a valiant job keeping Chicago to the perimeter and limiting their chances.

In fact, after more than seven minutes of action, both teams had managed just a single shot on net.  Minnesota took advantage of their one shot, as Cal Clutterbuck placed a shot past Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford that I’m sure he’d like to have back.  The event was hardly even a scoring chance, but Minnesota will certainly take what they can get in a series where they figure to be serious underdogs.

Despite a lack of offensive chances early on, the two squads made it a point to finish their hits.  It felt like one of those football games where each defensive unit was engaged in a battle of field position, and the battlefield in Game 1 was the neutral zone.

The second period remained physical, and a penalty due to Minnesota forward Zach Parise’s lack of effort to avoid skating into Crawford resulted in a powerplay goal by the dangerous Marian Hossa.  At the other end of the ice, Crawford remained solid.  While he wasn’t tested often, Crawford made some nice saves and limited the opportunities for rebounds.

Halfway through the third period, things finally started to open up at the United Center.  Both teams seemed to have a sudden, jolting sense of urgency and traded hits and chances at a furious pace.  Harding and Crawford certainly did their parts to keep the game tied at one, but plenty can also be said about each team’s inability to finish.  Still, the Wild, in particular, played a solid brand of team defense.

If there’s one thing better than playoff hockey, it’s overtime playoff hockey.  Each of these two squads realized what was on the line, and both seemed to develop a more conscious effort to take any and all available shots.

Chicago defenseman Johnny Oduya played exceptionally in his nearly 27 minutes on the night.  At 7:34 of overtime, however, his high stick on Jason Zucker (the third penalty Zucker drew on the night) put Ryan Suter and the Wild on the powerplay.

Suter played a game-high 41:08 and was seemingly everywhere on the ice in Game 1.  He set the tone defensively with four blocked shots, while also controlling the speed of the game on the breakout, and seemed poised to lead his team on the powerplay with a chance to take the opening game.  A minute later, Chicago captain Jonathan Toews drew a questionable (see: makeup) call that negated the remainder of Minnesota’s powerplay.

That may have been the turning point in the game.  Minnesota survived Chicago’s abbreviated powerplay but the Blackhawks seemed to have found their determination.  At 16:35 of the first overtime, Oduya flipped the puck up the ice and Viktor Stalberg centered it to Bryan Bickell, who pulled the puck to his backhand and slid it past Harding.

Harding has no reason to hang his head after his Game 1 performance.  His rebound control wasn’t as proficient as his counterpart’s, but he rarely found himself out of position.  The unexpected starter had 37 saves on the night.

Chicago really wasn’t at their best.  They seemed to lack urgency early on, but still showed they have the depth to give Minnesota fits throughout the series.  Minnesota will need to continue to clamp down defensively to keep the scores in this series close, but I still stand by my prediction that the immensely superior Blackhawks will wrap things up in five games.

What did you think of Game 1?  Where do you see this series heading?  Leave a comment below or tweet me @BostonNumber9 or my team @TMMotS to discuss this series or any of the others.  Be sure to check back often to TooManyMenOnTheSite.com for league-wide news and playoff coverage.

These two organizations have never before met in the postseason.  Still, their budding rivalry didn’t disappoint one bit during the 2013 regular season.  Chicago won two of the three meetings outright, by scores of 5-3 and 1-0.  Minnesota won the other game 3-2, by way of the shootout, keeping the scoring margin between the two clubs at just a two goal differential over the three contests.  The Blackhawks and Wild last met each other on April 9, after which I tweeted both my disappointment that they had fewer scheduled matchups this season as non-divisional opponents, as well as the hope that they would meet each other in the postseason.

Chicago won the Stanley Cup in 2010.  Because of their salary cap situation, however, that squad was stripped down before the banner was even raised.  After taking a bit of a step back in the seasons following Patrick Kane’s overtime Cup-clinching goal, the Blackhawks again look like the best team on the planet.

All the Blackhawks did this season en route to their President’s Trophy was to go 36-7-5.  Shortened season or not, Chicago grinding through the entire first half of the season without a single regulation loss (21-0-3) is one of the most impressive runs that any of us will ever see.

Chicago has now qualified for the last five postseasons.  Throughout those seasons, their high-end talent has been as good, or better, than any other team in the field.  If their depth was a weakness in recent seasons, this year it might be as strong as ever.  Although Kane and Captain Jonathan Toews both found themselves in the MVP discussions throughout this season, the Blackhawks actually had fourteen players score game-winning goals.

Speaking of depth, one of Chicago’s greatest strengths has been their goaltending tandem.  Both Corey Crawford and Ray Emery have been amongst the best, most reliable goaltenders in the league this season.  Each netminder posted a 1.94 GAA, with Crawford’s .926 save percentage edging out Emery’s save percentage of .922.  Each of them also had three shutouts on the season, though Crawford made nine more appearances.

With such similar numbers, Head Coach Joel Quenneville seemed ready to alternate between the two until the hot hand emerged.  With Emery not quite at 100% health, Crawford looks to have the first crack at the job in this series.

The Blackhawks ranked second in the league in goals scored and first in goals against.  They are as healthy as can be this time of year and are able to roll four solid lines.  Not to mention, Chicago wins nearly 90% of their games when scoring first.  The ‘Hawks would give any team a difficult time.

Unlike their perennially strong opponents, this is Minnesota’s first playoff appearance since 2008.  The Wild undoubtedly made the biggest offseason splash by signing unrestricted free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, both Americans, to identical contracts on America’s Independence Day.  While most pundits will agree that these moves bode well for the future of the club, it made sense that the team would suffer some hiccups in a season that saw just a brief training camp following the lockout.

After some fits and starts, Minnesota skated to a 26-19-3 record.  Suter didn’t immediately adjust to his new team, but wouldn’t be discouraged from bouncing back to record 32 points in 48 games from the back end.  Now playing the brand of hockey that we’ve become accustomed to seeing Suter play, look for the powerplay quarterback to play upwards of thirty minutes a night.

Parise, along with Captain Mikko Koivu, will be relied on heavily for both production and leadership.  With team highs in goals (18) and points (38) this season, Parise will need to set the tone in all areas of the ice and in the locker room.  Lacking both the high-end talent and the secondary scoring of Chicago, the Wild will need to play a disciplined game in all three zones.  Offensively, Koivu was second on the team with 37 points.  Dany Heatley put up 11 goals and 21 points in 36 games, but will be out indefinitely (likely the entire playoffs) with a shoulder injury.

Unlike Chicago’s two-goaltender tandem, Niklas Backstrom laid claim to the crease in 42 of Minnesota’s 48 games this season.  Now 35 years old, the Finnish netminder is still capable of stealing a game or two.  His 2.48 GAA and .909 save percentage seem rather pedestrian in comparison to those of his counterparts’, but Minnesota will need Backstrom to outduel whoever he faces across the ice if they look to have a chance to upset Chicago.

Though the beginning of the second season is very much a fresh start in many players’ minds, it is worth noting that Minnesota was one of just three teams in the postseason to finish out its regular season schedule with a losing record over their final ten games.  Over a larger sample size, Minnesota finds themselves the only playoff team to have allowed more goals (127) than goals scored (122) over the course of the season.

If the Blackhawks were looking for a new foe to stand in when their longtime division rival Detroit Red Wings move to the Eastern Conference next season, they may have found one with the Wild.  Fans of the old Blackhawks—North Stars rivalry must be feeling pretty nostalgic these days.

However, this just isn’t the year that will produce a long series.  The Blackhawks are at the top of the league and the Wild are at least a year or two away.  While the individual contests may end up being tight, hard-fought battles, I see Chicago taking care of business.  Blackhawks in five.

Agree with my prediction?  Disagree?  Let me know @BostonNumber9 or our team @TMMotS.  For team-specific coverage of this series, head over to BlackhawkUp.com or GonePuckWild.com.  Be sure to check back often to TooManyMenOnTheSite.com for coverage of each and every series throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs.