Let those who want star power go ga-ga over Crosby’s Pens taking on the Broadway Blueshirts.  You want to relive the ’90’s?  Detroit-Colorado’s for you.  If you have a rubbernecking interest in psycho fanbases, tune into Montreal-Philly where one fanbase might riot and the other will boo anyone and everyone.

But if you want the best pure hockey series, look out West young man (along with the other diehards out there) and stay up late on Friday night to watch the beginning of the Stars-Sharks series in San Jose.  If the regular season is any indication, then expect this one to go right down to the wire.  In the eight-game season series each team won four times, and none of the games were decided by more than two goals.

And both teams are almost mirror images of each other; let us count the ways:

1) San Jose and Dallas both rely on All-Star goaltenders - for the Sharks, Evgeni Nabokov stands between the pipes.  Nabokov led the NHL in wins with 46, and his 2.14 GAA and .910 save percentage with 6 shutouts were more than good enough to get the veteran netminder a Vezina nomination.  Consistent Marty Turco again led Dallas to a fine season with 32 wins, a 2.32 GAA and .909 save percentage.

2) Both San Jose and Dallas got off to dissapointing starts, in the Stars’ case it led to the firing of GM Doug Armstrong, replaced by the tag-team of Les Jackson and Brett Hull - yes that Brett Hull.  Each team picked it up towards the middle of the season and made big trade deadline acquisitions.  While Brian Campbell shored up the Sharks’ defense and gave them an offensive threat from the blueline (19 points and a +9 in 20 games), center Brad Richards gave an offensively challenged Stars team a boost down the stretch with 11 points in 12 games as well as 5 points in Dallas’s six-game series triumph over defending Stanley Cup champion Anaheim in the first round.

3) Each team has playoff skeletons in its closet.  For two straight years, a talented Sharks team under Ron Wilson has blown leads in the second round and as an organization, San Jose has yet to reach the Stanley Cup finals despite some very good teams, while Dallas had only won one playoff series in four years with Turco and coach Dave Tippett going into the 2008 playoffs.  While Dallas took a big step toward exorcising their demons by beating the Ducks, the Sharks - even after struggling to beat seventh-seeded Calgary in a Game 7 - are still a favorite to come out of the West.  Nothing less than the franchise’s first trip to the Finals will do for GM Doug Wilson and the Sharks’ organization.

4) Being too top-heavy in scoring has been a problem for both teams, particularly the Sharks, whose offense has dissapeared for long stretches this season other than 2006 MVP Joe Thornton, who led the team by a mile in the regular season with 96 points.  Milan Michalek - a frequent member of Thornton’s line - was second on the team with a mere 55 points.  Other than Campbell, San Jose’s defense is largely bereft of offense although underrated defenseman Craig Rivet had 35 points in 74 games (as well as 104 penalty minutes). 

Dallas, meanwhile only had three players with 50 or more points.  Center Mike Ribero led the team with 83 - and was rewarded handsomely with a new contract in mid-season.  Hard-nosed captain Brenden Morrow had 74 points and led the team with 32 goals, while veteran Mike Modano chipped in with 57 points.  Although gritty Stephane Robidas had a big goal and assist in the third period of Game 6 against Anaheim, Dallas’s defense is also lacking consistent offensive production though in large part that’s due to the injuries suffered by Sergei Zubov and Phillipe Boucher.  While Zubov’s expected to return after a long absence, Boucher is questionable after missing the final three games of the Anaheim series with a strained hip.

5) In addition to big names such as Thornton, Modano, Richards and Campbell both teams have x-factors that could play a role.  For Dallas, Robidas had a first round to remember with six points in six games including a crucial goal.  Joel Lundqvist (the lesser-known brother in Henrik’s family) got promoted to the second line and chipped in four points of his own during the series with the Ducks.  Perenially underrated winger Jere Lehtinen had another injury-plagued season but managed 37 points in 48 games and also had 6 points in the first round. 

San Jose fans, meanwhile had to be a bit stunned by the identity of the team’s leading scorer (with eight points) in their first-round series with Calgary - Ryane Clowe.  Who?  Well, he’s a gritty forward who missed all but 15 games this season, scoring just eight points.  He did have 34 points in 58 games last year, but still matching his season output in one series qualifies as a surprise.  Affable, perhaps annoying (or both) graybeard veteran Jeremy Roenick also helped the Sharks advance after one of the most memorable games of his fine career in Game 7 with two goals and two assists, this after having no points in the first five games and being scratched in Game 6.  And after a largely underachieving season with 48 points and a -19, Patrick Marleau came alive late in the season after being shifted to wing, and had six points in the Calgary series.

So with all these similarities, how then to pick a winner this series?  Well even though the Sharks did have 108 points to Dallas’s 97, these teams should fight tooth-and-nail.  I expect a Game 7 at the HP Pavillion in San Jose on May 6.  And somewhat surprisingly I’ll predict the road team to win this time.  I think Dallas has a lot of momentum and confidence after beating the defending champs, while the Sharks still have to prove they have playoff toughness.  Winning a Game 7 in the first round is a start, but it was against a seventh-seed Calgary team that shouldn’t have been in that position to begin with. 

So while I’ll pick Dallas in 7 - I do not, however think Wilson will pull a Mike Keenan during Game 7 and lift Nabokov in favor of Brian Boucher (despite how well as he’s played since being signed).