Western Conference Finals Preview: Youth vs. Experience

The Western Conference Finals brings us one of the classic Original Six rivalries in the NHL, as Detroit and Chicago square off with a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals on the line. The Red Wings are looking to become the first team to repeat as champions since they did it during the 1997 and 1998 seasons, while Chicago is looking to return to the finals for the first time since 1992.

More Coverage: NHL Scoreboard

Detroit Red Wings		Chicago Blackhawks
While Pavel Datsyuk has struggled offensively in the postseason, Johan Franzen and Henrik Zetterberg have dominated in their typical playoff fashion.	Forwards	The Blackhawks boast three of the most "efficient" goal-scorers in the postseason, as Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp and Martin Havlat continue to fill the back of the net.
Advantage: Detroit: You have to think that, at some point, Datsyuk is going to break out of his offensive funk. Nothing against Chicago's fantastic group of forwards, but the Wings are just too deep and experienced up front, while they have three of the best two-way forwards in the league with Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Marian Hossa.
Nice balance on the Red Wings blue line, while Nicklas Lidstrom is still one of the top defenders in the league.	Defense	Exciting young group of rearguards that can jump into the play and provide offense. Brian Campbell leads the way nine points in seven playoff games.
Advantage: Detroit. It's an interesting match-up as both teams have guys that can move the puck out of the zone and provide offense from the blue line, but only Detroit has Nicklas Lidstrom. That's enough to swing this in the Wings' favor.
After being the weak link in Detroit for, well, the entire season, Chris Osgood has once again managed to play like an NHL goalie in the playoffs. How does he play so bad from October-March, and then so good from April-June?	Goalies	Nikolai Khabibulin helped lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to their only Stanley Cup during the 2003-04 season, and he's had a strong season in net for the Blackhawks. His numbers have taken a bit of a fall in the postseason.
Advantage: Detroit. Three months it would have been insane to give Detroit a goaltending edge in any series with the way Chris Osgood was playing, but somehow the guy manages to get the job done in the postseason, as his save percentage and goals against average are near the top of the list in the playoffs. Both goalies have their name on the Stanley Cup, so experience shouldn't be much of an issue.
The Red Wings have the No. 2 power play unit in the playoffs (trailing only Chicago) while their penaly kill has been dreadful, giving up 11 goals in 40 shorthanded situations.	Special Teams	Chicago has scored a power play goal in 10 of its 12 playoff games, while scoring multiple goals on the man advantage in four games.
Advantage: Chicago. The Blackhawks power play is clicking on all cylinders heading into the Western Conference Finals, while Detroit comes in with the No. 14 ranked penalty kill (out of 16) in the playoffs. Chicago isn't fairing much better in shorthanded situations, but it's still a slight edge for the Hawks.
Familiar territory for Mike Babcock, as he has the Red Wings in the Western Conference finals for the third consecutive year.	Coaching	Joel Quenneville took over behind the Chicago bench after Denis Savard was fired just four games into the season
Advantage: Detroit. Quenneville has done a great job with the young Blackhawks, but it's difficult to go against Babcock and what he's accomplished during his four years in the Motor City.
Detroit gets home-ice advantage while there's only four players on the team that don't own a Stanley Cup ring.	Intangibles	Hockey is back in Chicago and the United Center has been quite a home-ice advantage. The Blackhawks are 5-1 at home in the playoffs. Chicago is also 7-5-2 vs. Detroit the past two years.
Advantage: Detroit. This match-up for the Red Wings looks very similar to their Stanley Cup Final series a year ago. A seasoned, experienced, veteran team going up against a young, relatively inexperienced team on a huge stage, and we all know what happened then.
Final Prediction: 5 of our writers picked the Red Wings, while 1 picked the Blackhawks.