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Sporting News, The, May 21, 2001 by John Rawlings

When Sean Hill smacked Chris Dingman and sent him to a world outside the Pepsi Center in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals last Saturday--even though the outcome of the Blues-Avs game long had been derided--it was a reminder of what playoff hockey is about. We are down to the final four in the NHL postseason, where every inch is contested in a way that is unique to the sport.

Senior writer Larry Wigge, who forgets more about the NHL in a day than most of us will know in a lifetime, is convinced this final four of the Avs, Blues, Devils and Penguins has more speed than any since 1984's quartet of Canadiens, Islanders, Oilers and North Stars. But, he says, "we've learned through the years that speed and skill are never the only ingredients for a team to earn its chance at getting to the Stanley Cup finals. Goaltending. Strength up the middle. A good transition game. Coaching. Passion and leadership.

"But while the game goes through different trends, the one element that is always necessary is depth. One-line teams don't win Stanley Cups. Teams with one good defense pairing don't survive."

That certainly was demonstrated in the first game of each series. The Avalanche --even without Peter Forsberg --and the Devils--even without Scott Niedermayer--showed their superiority early on. Managing editor Paul Grant's analysis of each team's strengths and weaknesses on page 48 will provide a better understanding of what you'll see as two of the four survivors move toward the Stanley Cup finals.

The Penguins have good reason to believe they can knock off the defending cup champion Devils based on a 3-1-1 record against New Jersey in the regular season, including a 2-0-1 mark after Mario Lemieux returned to the lineup. "But we all know how important regular-season statistics are under the intense pressure and scrutiny of the playoffs," Larry says. They're not, of course, because the only similarity between the playoffs and the regular season is the temperature of the ice.

E-mail John Rawlings at jrawlings@sportingnews.com