Both the NBA and NHL Playoffs are rolling! Because they both started last week, Instead not going to waste time writing up a preview, I just wanted to briefly share my thoughts on both. Today, let’s talk some Stanley Cup, shall we?
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Winnipeg vs. St Louis
White out!! The Jets had an incredible season winning the Presidents Trophy for the NHL’s best regular season record with 116 points! But there’s that dreaded President’s Trophy curse though! Only eight times has the winner has gone on to win a Stanley Cup and that’s also thenumber of times that the Trophy winner has lost in the first round!! Led by veterans Mark Scheifele, Kyle Conner, and Vezina favorite Conner Hellebuyck; Winnipeg better hope they don’t suffer that same first round exit. They got steamrolled 5-1 today with being outhit 15 to 3! Did I make my point?
As for the Blues, despite just sneaking into the Playoffs with 96 points, you know they’re scared of the Jets. St Louis has a culture of gritty blue-collar hockey; and this is a long time Hawks fan saying this to you. Led by Braydon Schenn who’sbeen a part of that team since 2017, he’s embedded into that culture as team Captain. Anytime the Blues have been good to great; they make you pay that price facing them. I do not see this being any different vs. the Jets.
Dallas vs. Colorado
Excellent matchup right here! The second and third best teams in the Western Conference, tied with the most goals scored along with Winnipeg, and both teams have been to a Cup Final recently with the Aves winning it all in 2022. What more can you ask for!?
Just the names on both squads alone are must-see TV, with the Stars having Tyler Seguin, Jamie Been, Jason Robertson, Thomas Harley and Miro Heiskanen as the top defensive pair, Jake Oettinger in net and Mikko Rantanen facing his old team in Colorado. If you’re a hockey fan, you know how lethal Nathan McKinnon is! The man had 116 points, and what makes thins even better for him as he has in my view the best defensemen in the NHL in Cale Makar as a linemate; that’s just two players! But also, McKenzie Blackwood had a great year in net with his 22-12-3 record with 2.33 goals against and his save percentage being 913. Aves captain Gabreal Landeskog coming back last night was great to see and even though the Stars got shelled 4-0, with the series tied 2-2, we may have the very best matchup in round one!
Minnesota vs. Vegas
This is a must-see matchup. On one side, the Golden Knights do not have Jonathan Marchessaultanymore; but they do have a mix of veterans from other teams like Brandon Saad, Jack Eichel, Tomas Hertl and Alex Pietrangelo to help carry VGK along with the remaining members of the OG “Misfits;” Mark Stone, Braydon McNabb, and Shea Theadore, With their combo of skill, speed, team defense and power play acumen, the Knights can be dangerous for any team facing them come playoff time.
For Minnesota, they’ve been in Purgatory forever. They haven’tbeen to the Conference Finals since 2003 and haven’t even been out of the first round since 2014. Kirill Kaprizov leads the Wild attack tallying 96 points and Filip Gustavsson is good with 31wins and a 2.56 GAA; but I wonder even if they do beat Vegas, how much gas will have left for LA or Edmonton? Stay tuned.
Los Angeles vs. Edmonton
Speaking of, I root for Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to get back to the Stanley Cup Finals and win one; between both getting injured and LA’s depth and stifling defense, I just don’t see it happening. This isn’t the same Oilers team we’re used to here as they only finished five points ahead of St Louis and Calgary who both had 96 points.
As for the Kings, there are serious wild card out West. Between being a defense-first club along with having stars like Phil Denault, Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar, and Darcy Kuemper in goal, they can destroy Edmonton. But also, they just look like a team you do not want to run into come playoff time. The Kings are dangerous.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Toronto vs. Ottawa
The Battle of Ontario!! The Leafs should close it out soon but at least the Senators didn’t roll over and managed got a win in OT at home. You do expect them to play their tails off with Brady Tkachuk leading the way! Toronto is loaded with talent. Between Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares Tavares, and Morgan Reily, they should finally get to a Cup Final but only time will tell if they finally do.
Florida vs. Tampa Bay
The Battle of Florida! The Panthers are stacked with pedigree and have nothing to prove being carriedby Sergei Bobrovsky, Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Aaron Ekblad and Brad Marchand who I still can’t believe went to Florida!
For the Lightning, this feels close to a last call at the bar for them. Guys like Andrei Vasilevskiy, Viktor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov will do what they can, but nothing lastsforever, and the loss of Steven Stamkos has to really hurt as they’re battling their interstate neighbors who now have the Stanley Cup. For now, Tampa is still an excellent team but if they want to win another Cup, the time has to be now.
Washington vs. Montreal
Welcome back, Canadiens! After being as low as you can get after their Stanley Cup Finals run in 2022, the Habs are finally back and even though they’re down 3-1 in the series, they have a bright future once again. With Nick Suzuki. Cole Caufield and Defensive blue chipper Leo Hutson led the charge, and Sam Montembeault earned his stripeswinning 31 games in net. But that defense really needs to improve down the road because they gave up 265 goals this season, which is the worst of any team that made the playoffs.
As for the Caps, congratulations Ovi! It’s a momentous achievements passing Wayne Gretzky’s goal scoring record, John Carlson and Nicklas Bäckström are still bringing it too, and in Game 4 tonight, Tom Wilson scored a vintage clutch goal to help give D.C. a 3-1 series lead with a 6-2 victory. I actually hada good feeling the Caps would be coming into the season; I do feel they can get to the Finals again,
Carolina vs. New Jersey
The Hurricanes are running out of time. They got 99 points this year but among the Miko Rantanen fiasco losing three games in-a-row to end the season I’m not sure how much they have left. Even worse, they face a gritty Devils team that is the second-best defensive squad in the Eastern Conference. Led by Brent Burns, Jordan Staal and Taylor Hall, I respect how they play but they cannot lose again in the first or even second round. There are only so many chances a team can get before that window shuts completely.
As for New Jersey, in spite of losing Dougie Hamilton and Jack Hughes, the Devils had a solid season where they gave up the second fewest goals in the East behind Tampa Bay. My question for them, do they have enough firepower and gas in the tank to get past some of the other top teams in the Conference should they beat Carolina. I’ll keep my eye on them to find out.
Forgive me if I rushed through all of this. Had a long weekend and there is so much to unpack after one week of playoff action.With that being said, this has been a pleasure to share this with you; take care.
