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Overview
Both teams are armed with offensive weapons. The big ones are obvious. For the Battalion the teams leader in points, Eric Lindros and the Ice with sniper Pavel Bure. The Battalion ranked #1 will pose a big threat to the Ice in the goaltending department. Belfour has been great all year and is one the big keys to Battalion sucess. Fiset didn't play much, but when he did he was always solid. On the other side Sean Burke did keep the Ice in many games, but also hurt them in some as well. It will be intresting to see how he will do in this very important playoff series. Steve Sullivan v.s Ron Francis will be another important battle. The two are expected to both play 2nd line center,opposite one another.

Statistics
Records: Ice (34-37-9) 77 pts, Battalion (46-26-8) 100 pts
Season Series: Ice lead 2-0
Top Scorers: Ice- Pavel Bure 57 G 46 A, 103 pts Battalion-Eric Lindros 32 G 50 A, 82 pts
Power Play: Ice 15.0% (18th), Battalion 17.2% (8th)
Penalty Kill: Ice 83.1% (20th), Battalion 87.3% (4th)
Team Scoring: Ice 3.30GPG (9th), Battalion 3.57 GPG (2nd)
Team Defense: Ice 3.48 GAPG (26th), Battalion 2.80 GAPG (4th)

Offense
Either team could take this category. Pavel Bure will have lead the team through the playoffs. If he does not play well, the team will not win. Bure can't do it by himself though. Rucchin,Sullivan and Brown will have to continue there play and step up as well. On the other side, the Battalion have many players that can score. Armed with consistent scorer Eric Lindros and sniper Keith Tkatchuk, the team shouldnt have too much trouble putting the puck in the net. Ron Francis scored 33 times this season and Andrew Brunette surprised many by putting home 26 pucks. D-man Sandis Ozolinsh has been known to score as well.

Advantage:

Defense
This is a very close matchup. When you look at it,both have 5 descent d-man and 1 big-gun. For the Ice-Todd Reirden,Suter,Norton,Van Impe, and Ndur, with the big-gun being Foote. The Battalion have Kravchuk,Hans Jonsson,Bryan McCabe,Pushor and Francis Bouillon,with the big-gun being Ozolinsh. I think the teams were so far apart on paper defensivley because of the goaltending. The Battalion are the better team,so i have to give it to them considering there's is more effective.

Advantage:

Goaltending
Belfour. One of the leagues top goalies makes this match-up very lopsided. Despite Burke's efforts,he has been inconsistent and youd never know if he was play well or poorley. The back-up goalies play was limited this season with Fiset and Vernon, so its kind of hard to judge them.

Advantage:

Coaching
Ken Hitchcock has been known for his multiple all-star appearences in the NHL as well as being the Jack Daniels head coach in the allstar game. He also is coaching a first place Battalion team which means he is doing a great job. Bob Hartley as well is a good coach but cant say hes done as much as Hitchcock in his carrear.

Advantage:

Prediction
Battalion in 6.

By Joe Scanlon
Action