tough Central Division... watch out NHL...

i actually looked at the NHL teams,at the beginning of last season,and i ranked them,1 to 30,and i honestly thought that Chicago had enough firepower,and defense,to win the Western Conference... their only weakness was in goal,i thought... was i wrong,ultimately? yes... when Chicago shut down Detroit,twice,in back to back games,at least,for Detroit,it was back to back games(two 3-0 shutouts,in a home and home series of games),they were the team to beat in the Western Conference,to me... when Chicago got off to a great start,they were not going to be caught,by anybody,in my book... San Jose won the conference,on last day of season,because of a Red Wings win,over Chicago,in regulation... had Chicago gotten,somehow,into overtime,that day,against Red Wings,they would have won the Western Conference,because they actually won more games than San Jose(52 wins,to 51 wins),but my opinion had not changed one bit,about Chicago,going into playoffs... the toughest division,overall,in the NHL,is the Central Division... points to back up claim:Two Stanley Cup Championships,in last three years,three straight Western Conference Champions came out of the Central Division,and every team in the division have tasted playoff hockey,at least once,in last three years... the team coming out of the Central,and maybe the second place team,is going to be super tough to beat,in the playoffs,every year... point is that two times the Red Wings won Stanley,(4 times in last 13 years)they did not even win their own division... i dislike Chicago very much,because they are our most-hated rival,but honestly,i have to respect them... they are black,blue,and bruised teams,coming out of their own division,every year,and who have been battle tested teams,going into the playoffs every year.... all the teams can beat up on each other,and they have a pattern of defense(Detroit's),that they use on each other,30 games a year(6 games/team/year/in division),that they have perfected their defense,against each other,and so when they play other teams,they play tougher than many teams,so when Chicago was in the conference finals,it was no surprise to me(only thing i thought Detroit would get past San Jose,to meet them,in conference finals,but that is spilled milk),but Chicago was the best team,in the West,and Philadelphia would lose in six games,(see blog/5-29-10)and a perfect prediction...