With round one of the Stanley Cup playoffs in the books for the Western Conference it’s time to pick the best playoff performers thus far. The likes of Colorado Avalanche’s goaltender Craig Anderson and Los Angeles Kings defensemen certainly were making a case for themselves, that is until both of their teams were ousted from the playoffs. Suffice to say there are plenty of other candidates out there, here are my top five. Evgeni Nabokov: Goaltender, San Jose Sharks— With all the pressure to perform in the playoffs squarely on Nabokov’s shoulders very few of us would have been surprised to see him falter. Fortunately for the Sharks Nabokov was rock solid for the Sharks in the final four games of their series against the Av’s, posting a 3-1 record, with his only loss coming in a game in which

Every year we wait patiently for the NHL Playoff season to commence. Some say the best part of the playoffs is watching a team get upset by a lower seed, some say it’s the heightened compete level from players and teams alike, me? I like watching unexpected hero’s emerge and players that were doubted by the “experts” come up huge. With that in mind, let’s take a look at five of the most surprising players thus far in the playoffs, for better, or for worse. Chris Pronger—Defenseman, Philadelphia Flyers: Playing upwards of thirty minutes and 34.3 shifts per game, Pronger has been seeing plenty of time on the power play—and for good reason. Pronger has two power play goals, three points and has made life miserable for New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur by clogging up his crease. More importantly,