Mike Brophy

Veteran hockey columnist Mike Brophy writes Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday on Sportsnet.ca and appears regularly on Hockeycentral.

Jamie Langenbrunner #15 of the New Jersey Devils is congratulated by teammate Ilya Kovalchuk.

The playoffs were tougher to make out West, but a serious Cup dark horse resides in the East.

The West is the best.

It took 95 points for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference to make the playoffs this season compared to just 88 in the East.

So why bother even allowing Eastern Conference teams to compete in this season’s NHL playoffs?

We’re kidding, of course.

I’ll tell you why: Because as good as the Western Conference has been this year, there is a very good chance the Stanley Cup champion will come from the East.

In addition to the fact the Washington Capitals won the President’s Trophy with 121 points, there’s also the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins to consider. Also, the Northeast Division champion Buffalo Sabres, with superstar goaltender Ryan Miller, might just have that lethal combination of good defence and depth on offence to go deep into the playoffs.

Then there’s the New Jersey Devils.

The Devils have flown a little under the radar this season, but when you take a close look at their lineup, it’s really not too hard to imagine them wearing down four teams en route to a fourth championship in 16 years.

Let’s start right at the top.

Devils’ general manager Lou Lamoriello is one of the most successful and respected bosses in any major sports league. He has his vision of how a professional sporting operation should be run – like a business – and he sticks to it.

Lamoriello will go to any length to give his team the best chance to win as exhibited by his acquisition of impending unrestricted free agent Ilya Kovalchuk just prior to the trade deadline this season. There are no guarantees Kovalchuk will re-sign with New Jersey, but Lamoriello was willing to take the chance because he knew his club needed a special player to get past Washington and/or Pittsburgh.

Jacques Lemaire is a two-time winner of the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach of the year and after a decent run in Minnesota, he returned to New Jersey where he led the Devils to the Stanley Cup in 1994-95. Lemaire’s style of coaching is simple: Wear the opposition down with methodical defensive play and take advantage of them when they nod off to sleep.

It can be painful to watch, but it is also effective.

That said, the Devils do have some players that are capable of drawing fans out of their seats with exciting play. Let’s start with Kovalchuk. On the surface you might think Kovalchuk has not had the impact the Devils were hoping for. After averaging 1.2 points per game in Atlanta, he has slipped to a point per game with New Jersey. Also, he has gone from scoring .63 goals for game to a paltry .38. Indeed, there have been growing pains.

The big difference is, with Atlanta Kovalchuk was a free-wheeling offensive nomad who cared nothing about his play in the defensive zone. With the Devils he has become more of a team player, so there is every likelihood he will finally taste victory in the post-season.

In seven seasons with the Thrashers he got to the playoffs once and his team was swept in the first round. The Devils have a number of offensive threats, meaning the opposition won’t be able to concentrate on just shutting down Kovalchuk.

Speaking of offensive weapons, the Devils have one of the best young forwards in the NHL in Zach Parise. He has not quite been the same prolific scorer he was a year ago when he finished fifth in NHL scoring, but he is not a player any team would like to take for granted when facing the Devils.

Kovalchuk and Parise have a strong supporting cast that includes Travis Zajac, captain Jamie Langenbrunner, Patrik Elias and Brian Rolston, all capable scorers in their own right. The Devils also boast a number of solid defensive forwards such as Jay Pandolfo, Rob Niedermayer and Dean McAmmond, who attach special value and pride on shutting down the opposition.

New Jersey played most of the season without its best defenceman, Paul Martin, who is back from injury and ready to help his team embark on a deep playoff run. Martin isn’t flashy, but he is effective and gives the Devils a scoring threat from the blueline. Andy Greene, for my money, is one of the NHL’s most underrated defenceman, a solid performer at both ends of the ice.

Finally, we get to the reason why the Devils could be a serious Cup threat.

The playoffs have not been kind to Martin Brodeur the past two years, but that doesn’t mean the veteran goaltender is no longer capable of leading his team to four series victories. Brodeur is 4-8 in playoff games the past two years, but he is 98-78 in his career and has not only been the backbone of three championship teams, but he has been one of the best and most consistent goaltenders in the NHL this season.

He leads the league with nine shutouts, a reflection of both his strong individual play as well as his team’s commitment to defence.

The Western Conference has been the stronger of the two this season, but that doesn’t mean the Stanley Cup champion will reside there. I have a sneaky suspicion the winner will come from the East and while most would agree the Capitals and Penguins have the best chance, don’t count out the Devils.

They are my dark horse.