NHL West Semi-Finals Begin Tonight

Both NHL Western Conference semi-final series begin tonight.

The two top rated teams meet in what is the Central Division bracket while the third ranked Pacific Division team has home ice advantage vs a third Central Division team.

Though second ranked, having finished tied for first in points in both the Central division and NHL West, but losing the tiebreaker, the St. Louis Blues are slight favorites vs the NHL West top seed, Dallas Stars.

In what amounts to the Pacific Division bracket, the San Jose Sharks are about nine to five favorites vs the Central Division, 4th place team and first conference wild card team, the Nashville Predators.

Both the Sharks and Predators defeated Los Angeles area, higher ranked Pacific Division teams, the L.A. Kings (2nd in the Pacific Division) and Anaheim Ducks (first in the Pacific Division) respectively in the first round.

Only the Dallas Stars, among the 4 NHL West semi-final teams, has ever won a Stanley Cup or a Stanley Cup finals game for that matter. They won it all in 1999.

Pekka Rinne, the Nashville Predators’ goaltender, pictured above, led them into the second round where they will face the San Jose Sharks.