Hello NHL Hockey Fans,
The Playoffs are set. Are you ready for all the excitement?
Will the Tampa Bay Lightning continue their dominance and go for the three-peat?
No team has won three Stanley Cups in a row since the back to back (four peats) by the legendary Montreal Canadians team led by Hall Of Fame Coach Scotty Bowman from (1976-1979) and then his fellow Hall Of Fame colleague Al Arbour who coached the New York Islanders to four cups immediately afterwards from (1980-1983).
There have been some other (back-to-back) Stanley Cups won since, by some of the great players in history. Wayne Gretzky led the Edmonton Oilers to back-to-back wins in (1984,1985) and then again in (1987,1988). Mario Lemieux guided the Pittsburgh Penguins to back-to-back wins in (1991,1992). Steve Yzerman helped the Detroit Red Wings to the feat in (1997,1998) and then the last back to back since Tampa Bay Lightning was achieved by Sidney Crosby and once again the Pittsburgh Penguins in (2016,2017).
Those were some great teams, led by Hall Of Fame coaches and legendary players.
Tampa Bay Coach Jon Cooper will be trying to add to his trophy case these playoffs led by some great players which include some offensive dynamites in Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov. A defensive giant in Victor Hedman and a goalie who many experts say is the best in the game at the moment, Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Tampa Bay draws my hometown team the Toronto Maple Leafs in what should be one of the many amazing battles right away in the first-round of the playoffs.
Here are who the experts are picking in each first round match up.
Including their final four conference finalists and Staney Cup Champion.
My picks are as follows:
Eastern Conference First Round Winners
Florida Panthers over Washington Capitals
Toronto Maple Leafs over the Tampa Bay Lightning
Carolina Hurricanes over the Boston Bruins
NY Rangers over the Pittsburgh Penguins
Western Conference First Round Winners
Colorada Avalanche over the Nashville Predators
Minnesota Wild over the St.Louis Blues
Calgary Flames over the Dallas Stars
Edmonton Oilers over the LA Kings
Conference Finalists
Toronto Maple Leafs, NY Rangers, Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche
Stanley Cup Winner
Toronto Maple Leafs
Conn Smythe MVP
Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs)
It is going to be a battle. The NHL Playoffs are already off to an amazing start!
Who are you routing for? What do your picks look like?
Please submit in the comments section (Below) and then we can compare once the Stanley Cup Champion has been crowned in June.
