NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2015
View Poll Results: Who will win the Stanley Cup?
New York Rangers
14
11.02%
Ottawa Senators
8
6.30%
Chicago Blackhawks
27
21.26%
Minnesota Wild
12
9.45%
St. Louis Blues
8
6.30%
Montreal Canadiens
10
7.87%
Winnipeg Jets
1
0.79%
Tampa Bay Lightning
10
7.87%
WANGZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
16
12.60%
Other aka Nashville or Anaheim
21
16.54%
04-12-2015
, 03:06 PM
Well hello there hockey fans!
We are in store for what looks to be a fantastic playoff season. The Stanley Cup is constantly referred to as the hardest cup to win in sports and it definitely looks the best.
There is nothing like the intensity and emotion of playoff hockey. I strongly suggest that you watch some of these videos to get yourself properly prepared...
Ok... now that I've got you all jacked up to watch some playoff hockey, let's meet this year's participants...
Starting out in the East with the President's trophy winner...
Metropolitan seed #1
New York Rangers
What's their story?: Last year's runner up are looking like they are prepared to take it one step further this season. Alain Vigneault is the coach of the Rangers and all he does is win regular season championships. He did it in Vancouver and for the past two seasons, he has also done it in New York. He is simply one of the leagues best coaches. What about the players? Well the Rangers possess one of the leagues best goaltenders in Henrik Lundquist. Having one of the best goaltenders in the league is complemented by having one of the highest scoring teams in the league. In fact, the Rangers finished in the top three in both goals for and goals allowed. This team is pretty deep in all areas and have very balanced scoring. With the defending Stanley Cup champions out of the playoffs, the Rangers are now the team to beat.
Odds to win the Stanley Cup: 6/1
vs.
#2 Wild Card seed
Pittsburgh Penguins
What's their story?: Well they did their best effort to miss the playoffs but luckily they managed to draw the historically bad Buffalo Sabres to help them draw the final wild card spot in the East. It's hard to imagine this team as the worst team in the East of all the playoff teams but here they are. A big reason as to why they are in the spot they're in is because they've had massive injuries on D this year. Kris Letang was putting up a Norris worthy season but then he got hurt and that massively hurt the team. Christian Ehrhoff, Olli Maatta and Derrick Pouliot are all injured as well. However, when we talk about Pittsburgh, you still have to remember that they have Sidney Crosby & Evgeni Malkin on their team. They will be heavily relied on to make a playoff run this season.
Odds to win the Stanley Cup: 16/1
Rangers won season series 3-1
Schedule:
G1 Thurs., April 16 Pittsburgh @ NY Rangers, 7 p.m. ET CBC
G2 Sat., April 18 Pittsburgh @ NY Rangers, 8 p.m. ET CBC
G3 Mon., April 20 NY Rangers @ Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. ET CBC
G4 Wed., April 22 NY Rangers @ Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. ET SN 360
G5* Fri., April 24 Pittsburgh @ NY Rangers, TBD TBD
G6* Sun., April 26 NY Rangers @ Pittsburgh, TBD TBD
G7* Tues., April 28 Pittsburgh @ NY Rangers, TBD TBD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Metropolitan seed #2
Washington Capitals
What's their story?: Washington has the leading goal scorer in the league in Alex Ovechkin who is one of the game's best goal scorers of all-time but sometimes he lacks a little bit of effort defensively. Many people associate the Capitals as traditionally being a highly offensive team and they did score quite a bit this year but new bench boss Barry Trotz is notorious for being defensive minded and the Capitals posted a top 5 GA season so they have been good defensively and much of that can be contributed to the excellent play of goaltender Braden Holtby this season.
Odds to win Stanley Cup: 18/1
vs.
Metropolitan seed #3
New York Islanders
What's their story?: A team that has been notorious for terrible management looks like they actually did a few things right during the offseason. They made a pretty big splash landing D men like Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuck and let the hockey world know that they intended on contending this year. The Islanders posted some really good possession numbers this season and possess one of the best young players in the league in John Tavares. The Islanders struggled down the stretch but were still one of the top teams in terms of offensive this season.
Odds to win Stanley Cup: 18/1
Season Series split 2-2
Schedule:
G1 Wed., April 15 NY Islanders @ Washington,7 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G2 Fri., April 17 NY Islanders @ Washington,7 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G3 Sun., April 19 Washington @ NY Islanders, Noon ET Sportsnet
G4 Tues., April 21 Washington @ NY Islanders, 7:30 p.m. ET SN 360
G5* Thurs., April 23 NY Islanders @ Washington, TBD TBD
G6* Sat., April 25 Washington @ NY Islanders, TBD TBD
G7* Mon., April 27 NY Islanders @ Washington, TBD TBD
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Atlantic seed #1
Montreal Canadiens
What's their story?: Well this team sits atop the Atlantic but if it weren't for Carey Price, who knows where they end up. What Price has done has simply been incredible. He has posted some historically elite numbers and because of it the Canadiens finished the year with one of the best records in the East. The Canadiens also have one of the best defensemen in the league in P.K. Subban. Not surprisingly, because of these two players the Canadiens finished as the best team defensively in the league. So, we know the habs can keep the puck out of the net but who can score? Well, the Canadiens have Max Pacioretty who is a good player... but he got hurt so it looks like it's up to P.K. Subban to provide the offense as well. This team is basically a two man show. Without those two players, they are essentially the Arizona Coyotes, but they have those two so if they continue their level of play, look out.
Odds to win the Stanley Cup: 9/1
vs.
Wild card #1 seed
Ottawa Senators
What's their story?: Wait, what??? Yup, the Ottawa Senators have made the playoffs in what can be described as one of the most improbable runs in sports. The Senators pulled up a goalie named Hammond from the minors who put up mediocre numbers in the minors. On February 18, Hammond made his first start for the Senators and they were 10 points behind Boston for the last playoff spot and 19 points behind the Penguins with 17 games left to play. They basically won every game with Hammond in net since then and managed to pass both teams and lock up a playoff spot and players started celebrating by eating burgers. It was quite the incredible run that was obviously made possible by the unreal goaltending that they got from Hammond. Rookie Mark Stone also tore it up to finish the season to get some Calder consideration.
Odds to win Stanley Cup: 16/1
Ottawa won season series 3-1
Schedule:
G1 Wed., April 15 Ottawa @ Montreal, 7 p.m. ET CBC
G2 Fri., April 17 Ottawa @ Montreal, 7 p.m. ET CBC
G3 Sun., April 19 Montreal @ Ottawa, 7 p.m. ET CBC
G4 Wed., April 22 Montreal @ Ottawa, 7 p.m. ET CBC
G5* Fri., April 24 Ottawa @ Montreal, TBD CBC
G6* Sun., April 26 Montreal @ Ottawa, TBD CBC
G7* Tues., April 28 Ottawa @ Montreal, TBD CBC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Atlantic seed #2
Tampa Bay Lightning
What's their story?: They are led by undoubtedly the greatest GM in hockey Steve Yzerman. Yzerman has been able to assemble a team full of young, amazing players who are under the age of 25. Stamkos, Drouin, Johnson, Kucherov, Palat, Hedman & Pacquette are all either 25 or under 25 so this team could be very good for a long time. The kicker here is that they are also very good now and could legitimately win now. As I mentioned before, this team has a ton of young talent up front and that young talent has led Tampa Bay to the top in terms of scoring. They are the best offensive team in the NHL.
Odds to win the Stanley Cup: 12/1
vs.
Atlantic #3 seed:
Detroit Red Wings
What's their story?: Well, this is the 24th straight season that the Red Wings have qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs which is the longest current streak in all N.A. major sports. This is just another indicator of how great this franchise is. Detroit is led by the ageless wonders in Henrik Zetterberg & Pavel Datsyuk. If you are a casual hockey fan you should probably take a look at some Pavel Datsyuk highlights... He can break your ankles, dazzle you with his stickhandling, knock you on your ass, and you can't make a bad pass to him. Really at the end of the day, I think he's actually a wizard. They probably really only need Datsyuk but they also have an assortment of young players that have made their way through the minors and have turned out to be very good NHL'ers. Guys like Gus Nyquist, Tomas Tatar, Riley Sheahan, etc. The Red Wings also went out and made a few moves at the trade deadline and got right handed defenceman Marek Zidlicky who has been very good for them since the trade deadline. They also have the consensus best fanbase on SE so if you are looking for a team to bandwagon during the playoffs, this is probably your best bet.
Odds to win the Stanley Cup: 16/1
Tampa Bay won the season series 3-1
Schedule:
G1 Thurs., April 16 Detroit @ Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G2 Sat., April 18 Detroit @ Tampa Bay, 3 p.m. ET CBC
G3 Tues., April 21 Tampa Bay @ Detroit, 7 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G4 Thurs., April 23 Tampa Bay @ Detroit, 7 p.m. ET CBC
G5* Sat., April 25 Detroit @ Tampa Bay, TBD TBD
G6* Mon., April 27 Tampa Bay @ Detroit, TBD TBD
G7* Wed., April 29 Detroit @ Tampa Bay, TBD TBD
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Over in the west we will start with the conference champions....
Pacific #1 seed
Anaheim Mighty Ducks
What's their story? Another season coached by Bruce Boudreau and another first place season. To me, Boudreau is one of the most underrated coaches in the NHL. He has consistently led his teams to first place finishes in the regular season but he has not seen post-season success. The two most prominent names on the Ducks roster are the duo of Ryan Getzlaf & Corey Perry. Two very elite offensive players who have been at the center of this team's success for quite some time now.
Odds to win Stanley Cup: 8/1
vs.
Wild card seed #2
Winnipeg Jets
What's their story?: It's been 19 years since the Jets have seen NHL playoff hockey so expect this city to blow the roof off their stadium when they host their first playoff game. This team has been pretty mediocre since moving from Atlanta but this year, they really seemed to put things together. Their GM Cheveldayoff actually realized that in order to be a GM in the NHL, you may need to make trades and shipped off Evander Kane and some others and in return the Jets received guys like Tyler Myers, Drew Stafford & Jiri Tlusty. This team has had it's struggles with injuries on D and trying to figure out who their starting goaltender will be but now they appear to be healthy heading into the playoffs and Pavelec has been playing really well to finish out the season.
Odds to win Stanley Cup: 25/1
Ducks won season series 3-0
Schedule:
G1 Thurs., April 16 Winnipeg @ Anaheim, 10:30 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G2 Sat., April 18 Winnipeg @ Anaheim, 10:30 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G3 Mon., April 20 Anaheim @ Winnipeg, 9 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G4 Wed., April 22 Anaheim @ Winnipeg, 9:30 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G5* Fri., April 24 Winnipeg @ Anaheim, TBD Sportsnet
G6* Sun., April 26 Anaheim @ Winnipeg, TBD Sportsnet
G7* Tues., April 28 Winnipeg @ Anaheim, TBD Sportsnet
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pacific seed #2
Vancouver Canucks
What's their story?: Well, not sure a lot of people predicted the Canucks to be in the #2 seed in the Pacific, yet here they are. Whenever you speak of the Canucks, you have to speak about the Sedin twins. There's a good chance you didn't hear much about them this season, but year after year the Sedins put up some solid numbers and led this team to the playoffs. Vrbata is the lucky guy that gets to play with the Sedin twins and they also have a couple of young guns that look to contribute to the success of the Canucks in Bo Horvat & Sven Baertschi.
Odds to win the Stanley Cup: 16/1
vs.
Pacific seed #3
Calgary Flames
What's their story? Wait, what? Yes, the story that no one predicted and no one is really sure how they got here but the Calgary Flames are in the playoffs. This year was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Flames and they were expected to be in the McDavid sweepstakes yet they put in quite the performance during the regular season and I think for many of the SE regs, this was the team that a lot of posters bandwagoned and were really hoping made the playoffs. This team has been fun to watch this year. They consistently found ways to come back from deficits in the third period and win hockey games. They have a Calder candidate in Johnny Hockey (Gaudreau) who is very exciting to watch. They have one of the best defencemen in the league in Mark Giordano but he's gone down with an injury so that is a massive blow to their playoff chances as he was likely one of the front runners to win the Norris trophy this season. No one really knows how this team got here, but a lot of us are cheering for them to do well. One of SE hockey's favorite posters, Geddy Lee, is the lone Flames diehard on the board and we all know that he'll be cheering them on...
Odds to win Stanley Cup: 20/1
Season series split 2-2
Schedule:
G1 Wed., April 15 Calgary @ Vancouver, 10 p.m. ET CBC
G2 Fri., April 17 Calgary @ Vancouver, 10 p.m. ET CBC
G3 Sun., April 19 Vancouver @ Calgary, 10 p.m. ET CBC
G4 Tues., April 21 Vancouver @ Calgary, 10 p.m. ET CBC
G5* Thurs., April 23 Calgary @ Vancouver, TBD CBC
G6* Sat., April 25 Vancouver @ Calgary, TBD CBC
G7* Mon., April 27 Calgary @ Vancouver, TBD CBC
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Central seed #1
St. Louis Blues
Probably NSFW...
What's their story? This team seems to everything pretty well. You look at their team and it's tough to find weaknesses. This team is deep and this team is talented. They are led by one of the best players under 25 in the league in Vladimir Tarasenko who scores goals like this. Tarasenko isn't the only one that can put the puck in the net though as they have guys like Backes, Steen, Oshie, Schwartz and others that contribute offensively. The Blues ranked fifth in the league in goals scored and also fifth in the league in goals against. The blue line for the Blues is as impressive or even more impressive than what they have up front. Guys like Bouwmeester, Shattenkirk & Pietrangelo led the Blues on the back end. If you are trying to exploit this team, than all I can say is good luck because there's not a lot of weaknesses. If anything, the Blues may have a bit of controversy as to who gets the call in the postseason between the pipes as Elliot hasn't played very well down the stretch.
Odds to win the Stanley Cup: 8/1
vs.
Wild card seed #1
Minnesota Wild
What's their story?: Somewhat similar to what the Sens did in the East, the Wild went on an incredible run after acquiring goaltender Devan Dubnyk. In the second half of the season, the Wild looked like they basically had 0 chance to make the playoffs but Dubnyk put up Hammond like numbers (only earlier in the season so the run wasn't as exciting) to propel the Wild into the playoffs. Even though this team is a wild card seed, they have a very solid team if they actually have an NHL caliber goaltender. It looks quite obvious that the reason the Wild struggled early in the season is due to sub par goaltending as they seemed to have very good possession stats and when you look at their roster, they have some very good players like Zach Parise.
Odds to win Stanley Cup: 8/1
Season series split 2-2
Schedule:
G1 Thurs., April 16 Minnesota @ St. Louis, 9:30 p.m. ET SN 360
G2 Sat., April 18 Minnesota @ St. Louis, 3 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G3 Mon., April 20 St. Louis @ Minnesota, 8 p.m. ET SN ONE
G4 Wed., April 22 St. Louis @ Minnesota, 9:30 p.m. ET SN 360
G5* Fri., April 24 Minnesota @ St. Louis, TBD TBD
G6* Sun., April 26 St. Louis @ Minnesota, TBD TBD
G7* Wed., April 29 Minnesota @ St. Louis, TBD TBD
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Central seed #2
Nashville Predators
What's their story? Always thought to be a very defensive minded team with the likes of players like Shea Weber and one of the best goaltenders in the World Pekke Rinne, the Preds will still be a team that will be tough to score on but they managed to have a very promising rookie campaign from Filip Forsberg and also a good season from new acquisition Mike Ribeiro to show that they can actually score as well. The Predators were leading the West for most of the season but faltered a little bit down the stretch but they put up some pretty good possession numbers throughout the season.
Odds to win the Stanley Cup: 12/1
vs.
Central seed #3
Chicago Blackhawks
What's their story?: This team is a #3 seed? Really? Hard to imagine a team with the likes of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, etc. to be a #3 seed but here they are. This team has an embarrassment of riches and always seems to be a threat to win the Stanley Cup every year. They don't really have any weaknesses but their big strength is their defense. Only Montreal allowed less goals this year. Even though the Blackhawks have one of the best D men in the league with Duncan Keith, the Blackhawks forwards are also very responsible defensively and can also score goals when needed.
Odds to win Stanley Cup: 8/1
Chicago won season series 3-1
Schedule:
G1 Wed., April 15 Chicago @ Nashville, 8:30 p.m. ET SN 360
G2 Fri., April 17 Chicago @ Nashville, 9:30 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G3 Sun., April 19 Nashville @ Chicago, 3 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G4 Tues., April 21 Nashville @ Chicago, 9:30 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G5* Thurs., April 23 Chicago @ Nashville, TBD TBD
G6* Sat., April 25 Nashville @ Chicago, TBD TBD
G7* Mon., April 27 Chicago @ Nashville, TBD TBD
We are in store for what looks to be a fantastic playoff season. The Stanley Cup is constantly referred to as the hardest cup to win in sports and it definitely looks the best.
There is nothing like the intensity and emotion of playoff hockey. I strongly suggest that you watch some of these videos to get yourself properly prepared...
Ok... now that I've got you all jacked up to watch some playoff hockey, let's meet this year's participants...
Starting out in the East with the President's trophy winner...
Metropolitan seed #1
New York Rangers
What's their story?: Last year's runner up are looking like they are prepared to take it one step further this season. Alain Vigneault is the coach of the Rangers and all he does is win regular season championships. He did it in Vancouver and for the past two seasons, he has also done it in New York. He is simply one of the leagues best coaches. What about the players? Well the Rangers possess one of the leagues best goaltenders in Henrik Lundquist. Having one of the best goaltenders in the league is complemented by having one of the highest scoring teams in the league. In fact, the Rangers finished in the top three in both goals for and goals allowed. This team is pretty deep in all areas and have very balanced scoring. With the defending Stanley Cup champions out of the playoffs, the Rangers are now the team to beat.
Odds to win the Stanley Cup: 6/1
vs.
#2 Wild Card seed
Pittsburgh Penguins
What's their story?: Well they did their best effort to miss the playoffs but luckily they managed to draw the historically bad Buffalo Sabres to help them draw the final wild card spot in the East. It's hard to imagine this team as the worst team in the East of all the playoff teams but here they are. A big reason as to why they are in the spot they're in is because they've had massive injuries on D this year. Kris Letang was putting up a Norris worthy season but then he got hurt and that massively hurt the team. Christian Ehrhoff, Olli Maatta and Derrick Pouliot are all injured as well. However, when we talk about Pittsburgh, you still have to remember that they have Sidney Crosby & Evgeni Malkin on their team. They will be heavily relied on to make a playoff run this season.
Odds to win the Stanley Cup: 16/1
Rangers won season series 3-1
Schedule:
G1 Thurs., April 16 Pittsburgh @ NY Rangers, 7 p.m. ET CBC
G2 Sat., April 18 Pittsburgh @ NY Rangers, 8 p.m. ET CBC
G3 Mon., April 20 NY Rangers @ Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. ET CBC
G4 Wed., April 22 NY Rangers @ Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. ET SN 360
G5* Fri., April 24 Pittsburgh @ NY Rangers, TBD TBD
G6* Sun., April 26 NY Rangers @ Pittsburgh, TBD TBD
G7* Tues., April 28 Pittsburgh @ NY Rangers, TBD TBD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Metropolitan seed #2
Washington Capitals
What's their story?: Washington has the leading goal scorer in the league in Alex Ovechkin who is one of the game's best goal scorers of all-time but sometimes he lacks a little bit of effort defensively. Many people associate the Capitals as traditionally being a highly offensive team and they did score quite a bit this year but new bench boss Barry Trotz is notorious for being defensive minded and the Capitals posted a top 5 GA season so they have been good defensively and much of that can be contributed to the excellent play of goaltender Braden Holtby this season.
Odds to win Stanley Cup: 18/1
vs.
Metropolitan seed #3
New York Islanders
What's their story?: A team that has been notorious for terrible management looks like they actually did a few things right during the offseason. They made a pretty big splash landing D men like Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuck and let the hockey world know that they intended on contending this year. The Islanders posted some really good possession numbers this season and possess one of the best young players in the league in John Tavares. The Islanders struggled down the stretch but were still one of the top teams in terms of offensive this season.
Odds to win Stanley Cup: 18/1
Season Series split 2-2
Schedule:
G1 Wed., April 15 NY Islanders @ Washington,7 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G2 Fri., April 17 NY Islanders @ Washington,7 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G3 Sun., April 19 Washington @ NY Islanders, Noon ET Sportsnet
G4 Tues., April 21 Washington @ NY Islanders, 7:30 p.m. ET SN 360
G5* Thurs., April 23 NY Islanders @ Washington, TBD TBD
G6* Sat., April 25 Washington @ NY Islanders, TBD TBD
G7* Mon., April 27 NY Islanders @ Washington, TBD TBD
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Atlantic seed #1
Montreal Canadiens
What's their story?: Well this team sits atop the Atlantic but if it weren't for Carey Price, who knows where they end up. What Price has done has simply been incredible. He has posted some historically elite numbers and because of it the Canadiens finished the year with one of the best records in the East. The Canadiens also have one of the best defensemen in the league in P.K. Subban. Not surprisingly, because of these two players the Canadiens finished as the best team defensively in the league. So, we know the habs can keep the puck out of the net but who can score? Well, the Canadiens have Max Pacioretty who is a good player... but he got hurt so it looks like it's up to P.K. Subban to provide the offense as well. This team is basically a two man show. Without those two players, they are essentially the Arizona Coyotes, but they have those two so if they continue their level of play, look out.
Odds to win the Stanley Cup: 9/1
vs.
Wild card #1 seed
Ottawa Senators
What's their story?: Wait, what??? Yup, the Ottawa Senators have made the playoffs in what can be described as one of the most improbable runs in sports. The Senators pulled up a goalie named Hammond from the minors who put up mediocre numbers in the minors. On February 18, Hammond made his first start for the Senators and they were 10 points behind Boston for the last playoff spot and 19 points behind the Penguins with 17 games left to play. They basically won every game with Hammond in net since then and managed to pass both teams and lock up a playoff spot and players started celebrating by eating burgers. It was quite the incredible run that was obviously made possible by the unreal goaltending that they got from Hammond. Rookie Mark Stone also tore it up to finish the season to get some Calder consideration.
Odds to win Stanley Cup: 16/1
Ottawa won season series 3-1
Schedule:
G1 Wed., April 15 Ottawa @ Montreal, 7 p.m. ET CBC
G2 Fri., April 17 Ottawa @ Montreal, 7 p.m. ET CBC
G3 Sun., April 19 Montreal @ Ottawa, 7 p.m. ET CBC
G4 Wed., April 22 Montreal @ Ottawa, 7 p.m. ET CBC
G5* Fri., April 24 Ottawa @ Montreal, TBD CBC
G6* Sun., April 26 Montreal @ Ottawa, TBD CBC
G7* Tues., April 28 Ottawa @ Montreal, TBD CBC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Atlantic seed #2
Tampa Bay Lightning
What's their story?: They are led by undoubtedly the greatest GM in hockey Steve Yzerman. Yzerman has been able to assemble a team full of young, amazing players who are under the age of 25. Stamkos, Drouin, Johnson, Kucherov, Palat, Hedman & Pacquette are all either 25 or under 25 so this team could be very good for a long time. The kicker here is that they are also very good now and could legitimately win now. As I mentioned before, this team has a ton of young talent up front and that young talent has led Tampa Bay to the top in terms of scoring. They are the best offensive team in the NHL.
Odds to win the Stanley Cup: 12/1
vs.
Atlantic #3 seed:
Detroit Red Wings
What's their story?: Well, this is the 24th straight season that the Red Wings have qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs which is the longest current streak in all N.A. major sports. This is just another indicator of how great this franchise is. Detroit is led by the ageless wonders in Henrik Zetterberg & Pavel Datsyuk. If you are a casual hockey fan you should probably take a look at some Pavel Datsyuk highlights... He can break your ankles, dazzle you with his stickhandling, knock you on your ass, and you can't make a bad pass to him. Really at the end of the day, I think he's actually a wizard. They probably really only need Datsyuk but they also have an assortment of young players that have made their way through the minors and have turned out to be very good NHL'ers. Guys like Gus Nyquist, Tomas Tatar, Riley Sheahan, etc. The Red Wings also went out and made a few moves at the trade deadline and got right handed defenceman Marek Zidlicky who has been very good for them since the trade deadline. They also have the consensus best fanbase on SE so if you are looking for a team to bandwagon during the playoffs, this is probably your best bet.
Odds to win the Stanley Cup: 16/1
Tampa Bay won the season series 3-1
Schedule:
G1 Thurs., April 16 Detroit @ Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G2 Sat., April 18 Detroit @ Tampa Bay, 3 p.m. ET CBC
G3 Tues., April 21 Tampa Bay @ Detroit, 7 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G4 Thurs., April 23 Tampa Bay @ Detroit, 7 p.m. ET CBC
G5* Sat., April 25 Detroit @ Tampa Bay, TBD TBD
G6* Mon., April 27 Tampa Bay @ Detroit, TBD TBD
G7* Wed., April 29 Detroit @ Tampa Bay, TBD TBD
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Over in the west we will start with the conference champions....
Pacific #1 seed
Anaheim Mighty Ducks
What's their story? Another season coached by Bruce Boudreau and another first place season. To me, Boudreau is one of the most underrated coaches in the NHL. He has consistently led his teams to first place finishes in the regular season but he has not seen post-season success. The two most prominent names on the Ducks roster are the duo of Ryan Getzlaf & Corey Perry. Two very elite offensive players who have been at the center of this team's success for quite some time now.
Odds to win Stanley Cup: 8/1
vs.
Wild card seed #2
Winnipeg Jets
What's their story?: It's been 19 years since the Jets have seen NHL playoff hockey so expect this city to blow the roof off their stadium when they host their first playoff game. This team has been pretty mediocre since moving from Atlanta but this year, they really seemed to put things together. Their GM Cheveldayoff actually realized that in order to be a GM in the NHL, you may need to make trades and shipped off Evander Kane and some others and in return the Jets received guys like Tyler Myers, Drew Stafford & Jiri Tlusty. This team has had it's struggles with injuries on D and trying to figure out who their starting goaltender will be but now they appear to be healthy heading into the playoffs and Pavelec has been playing really well to finish out the season.
Odds to win Stanley Cup: 25/1
Ducks won season series 3-0
Schedule:
G1 Thurs., April 16 Winnipeg @ Anaheim, 10:30 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G2 Sat., April 18 Winnipeg @ Anaheim, 10:30 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G3 Mon., April 20 Anaheim @ Winnipeg, 9 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G4 Wed., April 22 Anaheim @ Winnipeg, 9:30 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G5* Fri., April 24 Winnipeg @ Anaheim, TBD Sportsnet
G6* Sun., April 26 Anaheim @ Winnipeg, TBD Sportsnet
G7* Tues., April 28 Winnipeg @ Anaheim, TBD Sportsnet
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pacific seed #2
Vancouver Canucks
What's their story?: Well, not sure a lot of people predicted the Canucks to be in the #2 seed in the Pacific, yet here they are. Whenever you speak of the Canucks, you have to speak about the Sedin twins. There's a good chance you didn't hear much about them this season, but year after year the Sedins put up some solid numbers and led this team to the playoffs. Vrbata is the lucky guy that gets to play with the Sedin twins and they also have a couple of young guns that look to contribute to the success of the Canucks in Bo Horvat & Sven Baertschi.
Odds to win the Stanley Cup: 16/1
vs.
Pacific seed #3
Calgary Flames
What's their story? Wait, what? Yes, the story that no one predicted and no one is really sure how they got here but the Calgary Flames are in the playoffs. This year was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Flames and they were expected to be in the McDavid sweepstakes yet they put in quite the performance during the regular season and I think for many of the SE regs, this was the team that a lot of posters bandwagoned and were really hoping made the playoffs. This team has been fun to watch this year. They consistently found ways to come back from deficits in the third period and win hockey games. They have a Calder candidate in Johnny Hockey (Gaudreau) who is very exciting to watch. They have one of the best defencemen in the league in Mark Giordano but he's gone down with an injury so that is a massive blow to their playoff chances as he was likely one of the front runners to win the Norris trophy this season. No one really knows how this team got here, but a lot of us are cheering for them to do well. One of SE hockey's favorite posters, Geddy Lee, is the lone Flames diehard on the board and we all know that he'll be cheering them on...
Odds to win Stanley Cup: 20/1
Season series split 2-2
Schedule:
G1 Wed., April 15 Calgary @ Vancouver, 10 p.m. ET CBC
G2 Fri., April 17 Calgary @ Vancouver, 10 p.m. ET CBC
G3 Sun., April 19 Vancouver @ Calgary, 10 p.m. ET CBC
G4 Tues., April 21 Vancouver @ Calgary, 10 p.m. ET CBC
G5* Thurs., April 23 Calgary @ Vancouver, TBD CBC
G6* Sat., April 25 Vancouver @ Calgary, TBD CBC
G7* Mon., April 27 Calgary @ Vancouver, TBD CBC
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Central seed #1
St. Louis Blues
Probably NSFW...
Spoiler:
What's their story? This team seems to everything pretty well. You look at their team and it's tough to find weaknesses. This team is deep and this team is talented. They are led by one of the best players under 25 in the league in Vladimir Tarasenko who scores goals like this. Tarasenko isn't the only one that can put the puck in the net though as they have guys like Backes, Steen, Oshie, Schwartz and others that contribute offensively. The Blues ranked fifth in the league in goals scored and also fifth in the league in goals against. The blue line for the Blues is as impressive or even more impressive than what they have up front. Guys like Bouwmeester, Shattenkirk & Pietrangelo led the Blues on the back end. If you are trying to exploit this team, than all I can say is good luck because there's not a lot of weaknesses. If anything, the Blues may have a bit of controversy as to who gets the call in the postseason between the pipes as Elliot hasn't played very well down the stretch.
Odds to win the Stanley Cup: 8/1
vs.
Wild card seed #1
Minnesota Wild
What's their story?: Somewhat similar to what the Sens did in the East, the Wild went on an incredible run after acquiring goaltender Devan Dubnyk. In the second half of the season, the Wild looked like they basically had 0 chance to make the playoffs but Dubnyk put up Hammond like numbers (only earlier in the season so the run wasn't as exciting) to propel the Wild into the playoffs. Even though this team is a wild card seed, they have a very solid team if they actually have an NHL caliber goaltender. It looks quite obvious that the reason the Wild struggled early in the season is due to sub par goaltending as they seemed to have very good possession stats and when you look at their roster, they have some very good players like Zach Parise.
Odds to win Stanley Cup: 8/1
Season series split 2-2
Schedule:
G1 Thurs., April 16 Minnesota @ St. Louis, 9:30 p.m. ET SN 360
G2 Sat., April 18 Minnesota @ St. Louis, 3 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G3 Mon., April 20 St. Louis @ Minnesota, 8 p.m. ET SN ONE
G4 Wed., April 22 St. Louis @ Minnesota, 9:30 p.m. ET SN 360
G5* Fri., April 24 Minnesota @ St. Louis, TBD TBD
G6* Sun., April 26 St. Louis @ Minnesota, TBD TBD
G7* Wed., April 29 Minnesota @ St. Louis, TBD TBD
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Central seed #2
Nashville Predators
What's their story? Always thought to be a very defensive minded team with the likes of players like Shea Weber and one of the best goaltenders in the World Pekke Rinne, the Preds will still be a team that will be tough to score on but they managed to have a very promising rookie campaign from Filip Forsberg and also a good season from new acquisition Mike Ribeiro to show that they can actually score as well. The Predators were leading the West for most of the season but faltered a little bit down the stretch but they put up some pretty good possession numbers throughout the season.
Odds to win the Stanley Cup: 12/1
vs.
Central seed #3
Chicago Blackhawks
What's their story?: This team is a #3 seed? Really? Hard to imagine a team with the likes of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, etc. to be a #3 seed but here they are. This team has an embarrassment of riches and always seems to be a threat to win the Stanley Cup every year. They don't really have any weaknesses but their big strength is their defense. Only Montreal allowed less goals this year. Even though the Blackhawks have one of the best D men in the league with Duncan Keith, the Blackhawks forwards are also very responsible defensively and can also score goals when needed.
Odds to win Stanley Cup: 8/1
Chicago won season series 3-1
Schedule:
G1 Wed., April 15 Chicago @ Nashville, 8:30 p.m. ET SN 360
G2 Fri., April 17 Chicago @ Nashville, 9:30 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G3 Sun., April 19 Nashville @ Chicago, 3 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G4 Tues., April 21 Nashville @ Chicago, 9:30 p.m. ET Sportsnet
G5* Thurs., April 23 Chicago @ Nashville, TBD TBD
G6* Sat., April 25 Nashville @ Chicago, TBD TBD
G7* Mon., April 27 Chicago @ Nashville, TBD TBD
Last edited by Steve Yzerman fan; 04-12-2015 at 03:29 PM.
Reason: Poll: Can a mod change the poll to make the choices to be made after 7 days and make it non-secret?
04-12-2015
, 03:23 PM
04-12-2015
, 03:25 PM
04-12-2015
, 04:12 PM
04-12-2015
, 06:28 PM
04-12-2015
, 07:27 PM
04-12-2015
, 07:50 PM
04-12-2015
, 10:20 PM
In this thread again. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SIX YEARS, BITCHES
MONAHAN
GAUDREAU
HUDLER
HUDLER
HUDLER
HUDLER
HUDLER, MONAHAN, & GAUDREAU
THE KILLER B'S
BRODIE
BACKLUND
BOUMA
MR. STEP-UP (NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH MR. DRESSUP) KRIS RUSSELL
MATTY FRANCHISE, MY [REDACTED]
DAYDREAM BELIEVER DAVY JONES (RIP 1945-2012)
MONEY WIDEMAN - EVERY MAN HAS HIS PRICE (RIP FEASTAHHHH REGIME 2012-2014)
HILLAHHHHHHHH
(Somebody please Photoshop a dart hanging from Hiller's mouth and I'll love you long time
)
THE KIDS
BURLINGTON EAGLES CITY REP ALUMNI JOSH JOORIS
FERLAND
GRANLUND THE YOUNGER
THE FALLEN SOLDIERS
RAMO
HEALTHY NOW, SAMMY "KILLER JR." BENNETT
IL CAPITANO, O CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN, HOLY DIVER GIO
THE GOAL THAT SAVED THE SEASON (RIP GIO'S BICEP
)
THE LAST TIME WE MET
IS ANYONE FROM THIS BRAWL STILL ALIVE?
JOEL OTTO
1994 DID NOT HAPPEN
NEITHER DID NAGANO '98
SHUT UP, ROBERT REICHEL
IT'S HAPPENING
FLAMES IN 7
LET'S GO
YOU DID IT, LANNY
THEO DOES THE ELECTRIC SLIDE
JAROME
THE SHIFT
WE'RE BAAAAAAAAAAAACK
YEAHHHHHHHHH BABYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
MONAHAN
GAUDREAU
HUDLER
HUDLER
HUDLER
HUDLER
HUDLER, MONAHAN, & GAUDREAU
THE KILLER B'S
BRODIE
BACKLUND
BOUMA
MR. STEP-UP (NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH MR. DRESSUP) KRIS RUSSELL
MATTY FRANCHISE, MY [REDACTED]
DAYDREAM BELIEVER DAVY JONES (RIP 1945-2012)
MONEY WIDEMAN - EVERY MAN HAS HIS PRICE (RIP FEASTAHHHH REGIME 2012-2014)
HILLAHHHHHHHH
(Somebody please Photoshop a dart hanging from Hiller's mouth and I'll love you long time
)THE KIDS
BURLINGTON EAGLES CITY REP ALUMNI JOSH JOORIS
FERLAND
GRANLUND THE YOUNGER
THE FALLEN SOLDIERS
RAMO
HEALTHY NOW, SAMMY "KILLER JR." BENNETT
IL CAPITANO, O CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN, HOLY DIVER GIO
THE GOAL THAT SAVED THE SEASON (RIP GIO'S BICEP
)THE LAST TIME WE MET
IS ANYONE FROM THIS BRAWL STILL ALIVE?
JOEL OTTO
1994 DID NOT HAPPEN
NEITHER DID NAGANO '98
SHUT UP, ROBERT REICHEL
IT'S HAPPENING
FLAMES IN 7
LET'S GO
YOU DID IT, LANNY
THEO DOES THE ELECTRIC SLIDE
JAROME
THE SHIFT
WE'RE BAAAAAAAAAAAACK
YEAHHHHHHHHH BABYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
04-12-2015
, 10:48 PM
04-12-2015
, 10:51 PM
04-12-2015
, 10:55 PM
04-12-2015
, 11:27 PM
04-13-2015
, 12:20 AM
That Iginla shift man. Jonathon Toews plays like that now. Can just take over a shift with pure heart and WIM. Iginla was so good on the Flames in his prime, wow.
I will be cheering wholeheartedly for the Flames over the Canucks in Round 1
I will be cheering wholeheartedly for the Flames over the Canucks in Round 1