I haven’t written on here in a while but with the playoffs and draft season coming along, it’s about that time of year again. I’m excited for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, obviously, but every time I look at the format I still can’t get past how terrible it is. Copying the AHL format to save money and “create rivalries” is such an NHL thing to do. Nevermind giving the bad divisions an advantage by playing against each other until the Conference Final while they good ones beat up on each other. But ANYWAYS, on to the playoffs.
Definitely going to be a weird/different look with no Los Angeles, Boston or San Jose. Those three have seemingly been mainstays in the NHL playoffs the last 6-7 years and it’s going to be strange to not see them in the mix. There is also a heavy dose of Canadian teams this year that should offer a different change of pace. The best part though? This is probably the most wide-open the playoffs have been. There is no clear-cut favorite and that obviously makes trying to predict what is going to happen quite difficult, but here goes nothing.
The Daily Traub 