Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images
In a few short hours, the chase begins. Let’s take a look at those looking for Lord Stanley!
The Bruins will not be participating in the
NHL playoffs this year, which means that the official position of SCoC is that “we hope they all lose and a cup isn’t awarded this year.”, but that shouldn’t be a reason to not watch, there’s plenty of good hockey left on the calendar!
So why don’t we take a quick look at all the battles scheduled for this first round, and have a good moment to think about all of them!
Eastern Conference
The Battle of Ontario - Toronto vs. Ottawa
I’m so bored of the Leafs.
I have in my head how they will blow this because I’ve seen them blow it in the exact same way multiple times. This year’s version of the team might even be the most painful version of that to date, with a team that did end up gaining home-ice advantage at the cost of nearly everything else. I can see how Ottawa can and likely will beat them, and I am bored of seeing them attempt to overcome their self-inflicted issues.
That doesn’t mean this series won’t be fun, don’t get me wrong, because this series is gonna be
great! Ottawa and Toronto hate each other’s guts, and a Sens team that seems raring to go to both inflict punishment via sheer physicality and a deep willingness to game the referee’s interpretation of the rules will drive a Toronto team that is trying desperately to make it seem like their dragons can in fact be beaten
crazy. It will be bloody, it will be fierce, there will be goals scored that have no business happening in regular NHL games. Some of the most ridiculous provincial discourse you’ve ever heard in your life will be flung back and forth as both sides declare the other the true worst team in Ontario. It’s gonna be a wonderful time!
The Sens aren’t a perfect team by any stretch; while they have some damn fine scoring threats like Tim Stutzle Drake Batherson and Shane Pinto, their defense is looking a little thin thanks to a plethora of injuries. The Injuries are rough too; Claude Giroux, Jake Sanderson, and Brady Tkachuk are either out or day-to-day, with Tkachuk only recently being greenlit for play on Thursday. Linus Ullmark has been phenomenal, but he will be called upon to be spectacular. If the Leafs come out swinging and Ottawa has to adjust to being down multiple games, I won’t be shocked at all.
But I will only be shocked if it’s a rout. Toronto isn’t built for this. Hasn’t been for years.
The Leafs will come into this series, their best players will suddenly be bottled up, their depth will fail them, and even good goaltending will not save them from the sustained pressure. Everyone will blame defense or the goaltending and never once interrogate why the goals keep drying up on them once the postseason starts. They might lead this series the entire time and still never figure it out. They will repeat this process until Brad Treliving loses another trade and Leafs fans insist a curse will have once again be risen from the grave, even if the only curse that team ever had was that of Indolent management and ownership for over 60 years.
So it was, so it shall be.
I’m bored of the Leafs because you can see the seams in where they usually fail, and they’ve never, ever figured out how to actually cover for it in spite of the loud insistence of their fanbase. They might get out of this round alive, but I don’t see how ceding the ice and the puck to your opponent for long stretches of game time is a better way to do things than what they were doing before.
Anyway I’m sure we’ll all be watching Game 7 with bated breath. See you when we get there.
Ex-Bruins in this series:
Goaltender Linus Ullmark for OTT and Defenseman Brandon Carlo for TOR
The “F#!k off, please” Series - Florida vs. Tampa
I think you and I as Bruins fans...We can come to an agreement.
We want the Battle of Florida to go as long as humanly possible.
Not only do we want this going 7 games, if there’s a way buried deep in the NHL Rulebook to add games onto playoff rounds, we want these teams to find the exact circumstances for that to happen and for both sides to absolutely murder each other; spare no dirty trick, deplete every last advantage they have, leave nothing left in the tank for the next round. Make each other as weak as humanly possible so that whoever comes out of the 2nd round and sweeps the winner of this series handily.
Of course, that’s the emotional side. From the objective point of view; this is probably gonna be a great watch regardless; precisely because both sides
relish the opportunity to harm each other.
Both sides have been Eastern Conference favorites for years at this point. Florida’s commitment to finding insane value and the Lightning’s enormously shrewd if sometimes heartless management have created strong teams with plenty of pedigree among their skaters for both good reasons and bad, with world class talents that take turns being infuriatingly creative rulebreakers who seem to know how to game the system better than anyone in the NHL; leading to high event penalty-fests and a season series that went 2-2, with each game being a penalty filled gong show. Adding Brad Marchand and Yanni Gourde back into this particular brew, even if they themselves aren’t quite at their peak, will be adding a truly spectacular finishing touch if you’d like to see the kind of hockey that makes you annoyed with refereeing as a concept.
The X-factor, as it often is, will be goaltending; Andrei Vasilevskiy has returned to form after a year off to be one of the league’s premiere netminders again, and Sergei Bobrovsky has also returned to form...as the deeply, deeply inconsistent goaltender who rubber bands between all-star and sub-AHL in terms of performance. It also behooves the Florida Panthers to play to their potential; something they have not been able to do over the last few weeks as cracks in their tradeline acquisitions appear to have formed, and
many of the important players on the Panthers are already out; Ekblad, Barkov, Lundell, Tkachuk, and Reinhart are out for one reason or another. Maybe one or two being gone would be less of a challenge, but all five of them feels like the version that’s limping into the playoffs now will be a far cry from what this team wants to be, and unless they can get more out of their impressive depth, they may not be able to hang with a mostly healthy Tampa.
For all of our sakes, and I mean this in the meanest possible way...I hope they do it and make this series a grueling war.
Oh, and the Panthers to win so the Bruins get a better pick out of the Marchand trade. Makes me bleed a little bit in my mouth to type that out, but hey! The future needs to get here somehow!
Ex Bruins in this series:
Brad Marchand will be suiting up for the Florida Panthers.
Turnaround vs. Taking a Step - Washington vs. Montreal
Washington last year ended up being just bad enough to be less an underdog, and more of a consolation prize for a team that managed to suck the least to make it to the
NHL Playoffs in an East that seemed interested in ensuring
nobody got that spot. Now, Washington is the one on easy street looking down at the kids down in the wildcard wondering what all the racket’s about.
Hockey can be very funny like that.
Of course, ever since Alex Ovechkin got his goalscoring record, the Caps are in need of a bit of a wakeup call. They’ve been playing some pretty ugly hockey recently; even with the multiple healthy scratches they’ve been utilizing to get to the playoffs. Part of that has come from their goaltending deciding to take April off; as Logan Thompson finished his season with some mediocre starts and an injury, and Charlie Lindgren having taken until Tuesday night to have a half decent game; all the rest being .880 or below efforts.
That’s a bit of a shame, because otherwise the Caps scoring has been pretty strong outside of their crazy russian uncle’s one timers; Alexei Protas, Dylan Strome, and yes, even Tom Wilson have been phenominal pieces for the Red Machine, and have been bolstered by Pierre-Luc Dubois, Connor McMichael, and Jakob Chychrun. Given where the Caps were last year; this turnaround has been dramatic and a pretty fun story, and this recent stint of poor play threatens to undo it all.
Meanwhile, Montreal played spoiler for Columbus by finally taking the fabled step forward they were prophecized to do months ago by beating a sleepwalking version of the
Carolina Hurricanes after failing to beat the Blackhawks and almost the entire Atlantic Division down the stretch; the only actual thing they needed to do in order to advance. Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Lane Hutson, and Juraj Slafkovsky have blossomed into fine NHL talents, and have dragged the rest of Montreal’s roster to a half respectable season. The inclusion of Ivan Demidov and his flashes of brilliance make for a roster that is scrappy, a bit flawed, but innately fun to watch if you don’t happen to have some pre-determined hatred for them like I do.
That said, if the Habs wanna win this and shock the world, then they need to start testing their opponent’s goaltender for consistent periods of time, and critically control their own slot; something they have been both really,
really bad at letting shots through on...and the place where the Caps do an outsized amount of their shooting. If they can’t do that, then even with all the goodwill they’ve managed to pull together, it will be a very short series.
Ex-Bruins in this series:
Neither team will have any Ex-Bruins.
“We’re good! We Swear!”: The Series - New Jersey vs. Carolina
You could also call this series “Fraudwatch” if you really wanted to.
New Jersey and Carolina are two very interesting teams because they’ve met each other a lot over the years, and either absolutely annihilate their foes in lopsided asskickings or fail to generate enough offense to beat teams they probably should and their goaltending, which hasn’t been a strength for either side, starts to fall apart at the worst possible time. That’s been true in the regular season and the playoffs in equal measure, and little about that has changed even with their fairly regular success.
For Carolina, part of it is Rod Brind’Amour’s system; which prioritizes fishing for rebounds and taking shots above all else; even if they aren’t especially dangerous shots. That means they forecheck like crazy and shoot constantly, but rarely if ever find a way to go to the net if the puck didn’t make it there off a defenseman’s stick, and tend to leave their goalie out to pasture if things go wrong. They even have spectacular talents who could help overcome that if they really wanted to, but Rod’s got a system, and he’s sticking to it. It’s not a
bad idea necessarily, but it does turn their defenders into potential targets, and the men they’ve been using to facilitate that haven’t been all that great at it lately. The Canes also have, by my count,
seven players who are day-to-day; that might be a major problem if Slavin and Aho can’t go.
For New Jersey, they simply have some of the most atrocious injury luck possible and to the worst possible players for it to happen to. They just got Dougie Hamilton back, which is a major shot in the arm for them, but they’re now missing Jack Hughes, Jonas Siegenthaler, and Ondrej Palat. Siegenthaler was expected; he’s been out for awhile, but being without Hughes
sucks, as their center depth gets kind of spotty once you get past Hischier and Cody Glass. While the Devils are a blindingly fast team that’s been able to get some exceptional performances out of guys like Stefan Noesen and Jesper Bratt, the games the Devils have played all seem to be somewhat stifled without their Hughes to help push it along.
Both happen to share the same issue in net; it’s going..fine! It’s just fine. Both sides have had their injuries at netminder, but neither Markstrom nor Andersen have been truly dominant in their division nor conference, and that has sunk them on more than one occasion. The single biggest x-factor for both sides will be their netminders and whether or not they can pull it together long enough to survive the round. This in my opinion makes for the kind of series that could either be enormously fun, north-south boatrace nonsense, or it could be a much more stoic series on account of what both teams are going through.
There’s also a lot of rubbernecking going on in this series for fans outside of either fanbase as a great many narratives beg to be born; Are the Canes actually bad all this time for cheaping out? Is Sheldon Keefe actually a terrible coach in disguise? Whose goaltender is the bigger flake in the playoffs? Your average midwit hockey podcaster/commentator is just raring to go about all this! This is the series for the hack writer in you!
Former Bruins in this series:
New Jersey seems to collect them; they’ve got Erik Haula, Curtis Lazar, Marc McLaughlin, and Dougie Hamilton suiting up for them. Taylor Hall meanwhile will suit up for the Hurricanes.
Western Conference
Manitoba vs. Monty - Winnipeg vs. St. Louis
The Winnipeg Jets are the President’s Trophy winners, and there isn’t really much behind it that can’t be seen on the surface; they have great goaltending, a strong transition game, and excellent goalscorers. They even did it in a fairly mundane manner; making shrewd picks at the Draft and getting the most out of the few Free Agents who’d be willing to brave a Manitoba winter for a paycheck. Are they the best team in the world at possession? Maybe not, but they get to the dangerous areas of the ice and quick, and have a world class goalie who’s been playing absolutely out of his mind for a ridiculous 62 game season that ended with a .924 SV%. For Winnipeg? It’s more than enough.
By all accounts, if you wanted an easy money pick for the cup, it’s Winnipeg.
Which brings us to the Blues.
The Blues probably shouldn’t be here. The problems they faced all year long felt like we were going to watch a team blow itself up for the sake of improvement...and then Boston went and fired Jim Montgomery, who did exactly what you’d expect Jim Montgomery to do after running into a team that’s been having no fun; made hockey fun for the team again, and got them on a massive winning streak. Are their underlying numbers good? No, not really, but that’s never stopped Monty teams before. He works on vibes, and so far over the last 20 games or so, so do the Blues.
The Jets
should probably make short work of the Blues. There’s very little to suggest that a team that’s been cruising at their pace should struggle for much of any reason. Unfortunately for Monty, If there was a series earmarked for a potential sweep, it
should be this one.
But Jordan Binnington could go on another heater. That’s always a terrifying possibility, and with how little real friction the Jets faced this year, it’s hard to say how they’ll handle it. Given Winnipeg’s luck with playoff series historically, they should try to win every game by double digits and crush his spirit before it ever starts to believe.
Ex-Bruins in this Series:
Coach Jim Montgomery will be the skipper for St. Louis, and had Torey Krug not had a serious injury that ate his entire season, he would’ve been playing in this one. The Jets meanwhile would have Colin Miller on the team, but he is Day-to-Day.
All Gas, No Brakes - Dallas vs. Colorado
Unlike the Cats and Bolts, this is a series that I want to see go 7 because I want to watch these two teams invent crazy new ways to maneuver a puck. This is a lucha libre match in the playoffs.
These two squads are the Central Division’s most entertaining teams by a mile if you’re not into goalie play or Kyle Connor; two wildly fun teams with some of the best individual players in the game with nothing but great stories on either side.
Dallas; aside from being Team Finland’s official winter home, is looking to fully introduce Thomas Harley to the rest of the league; a defenseman who finished his year with 50 points and was such a comically impactful player for the Stars it’s a wonder they tried to play anyone else besides him and Miro Heiskanen. Wyatt Johnson, Roope Hintz, and Jason Robertson have also become fantastic scoring threats for Dallas; supplementing the old guard of the Stars with fresh, hungry, wickedly talented skaters. Further, the chance for redemption after two rough trades in a season for Mikko Rantanen looms large.
The Avs meanwhile have managed to stay relevant through sheer force of will, as Colorado’s injury and goaltending luck threatened to keep Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar out of the playoffs, were it not for the sheer force of will between them and their skating corps; overcoming their lineup becoming effectively half Colorado Eagles at some points throughout the season by sheer force of will, and the luck of somehow acquiring former Devils goalies and finally making them work out. And of course, the entire locker room has to be jazzed about the return Gabriel Landeskog; back after 3 years of intensive rehab and realistically having a very slim chance of
ever being an NHL player again. Will he actually suit up for Colorado? Who cares, he’s
here again.
As for who would win? Anybody who’s watching will most likely get an absolute belter of a series of out of it, so we might as well just hope it lasts. Part of this series lasting will almost certainly being you raising your hands to the sky to give Jason Robertson your energy, as he’s day-to-day and losing him for any length of time would be
awful for the Stars.
Ex Bruins in this series:
Tyler Seguin will play for Dallas, and Charlie Coyle will play for the Avalanche. Avs D-Man Ryan Lindgren was drafted by Boston, but he never played for the team.
The Speedbump Series- Vegas vs. Minnesota
Vegas is running into a Minnesota Wild team who’s had their first entirely healthy game this week. 82 games, and they’ve been missing guys like Brodin, Kaprizov, Faber, Eriksson-Ek, Spurgeon, Nyquist. Johansson, Zuccarello, and Hartman on the mend throughout all of it.
As Bruins fans, I think we can agree that Minnesota medical staff needs to be tried at the Hague, but maybe they were just next to collapse from overwork.
While parts of me are aware that Vegas, built like they are, can easily fart around in series like this until they decide to press the “we have more talent than you” button and win it (something they’ve done to Central Division foes before), I can’t help but feel like the Wild may cause a
little more trouble for the Knights than people are giving them credit for. While they can’t be at 100%, the Wild were, at least at one point, witnessing the grand revealing of an exciting, interesting hockey team before the plague doctors who run their medical staff began trying to balance humors got a hold of Kaprizov and Eriksson-Ek.
There still has to be
some parts of that squad that was lighting up the Western Conference sitting in there, right? With a complete roster they’ve gotta be at least a
little more dangerous than everybody’s saying right? A team that still can take over games with ease...right?
Because otherwise...This could get ugly fast. The only players the Knights could miss are Mark Stone and Noah Hanifin, both being Day-to-day, and the rest of Vegas is as you would expect a Bruce Cassidy team to be; a little unhappy that their boss is a little surly, but otherwise close-knit, extremely talented, and deep. Sure, having Stone out sucks, but they’ve got a Pavel Dorofeyev now, while not necessary a patch defensively, he’s been an absolute nightmare of goalscoring that makes up for it.
Minny better hope they stay healthy, or there’s a very short series in here.
Ex Bruins in this Series:
Quite a few here: Coach Bruce Cassidy will be the man behind the bench for Vegas, Reilly Smith will be playing wing for Vegas, Marcus Johansson and Justin Brazeau will be playing for Minnesota.
The Pacific Proving Ground - Edmonton vs. Los Angeles
If I was a Kings fan, I’d be wondering what I did to deserve this.
The Kings have been good enough to make the playoffs, but not nearly good enough to avoid playing Connor McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers in multiple years; having shown up to get rinsed by 97 in 6 or 7 games time and time again. The scariest part is it could very easily happen again in spite of this being the best
possible chance the LA Kings have to actually overcome Edmonton.
Edmonton is less entering the playoffs and more limping at them; Evander Kane is hurt. Trent Frederic is still kind of hurt. Mattias Ekholm is hurt. Darnell Nurse is hurt. John Klingberg’s on IR. Draisaitl, Hyman, and Jake Walman are all Day-to-Day. If Walman can’t go they will absolutely need to pull somebody up from Bakersfield to fill the hole. Their goaltending has only one long-term player on it who has a .900 SV%. While accepting that the Oilers still have plenty of quality options to keep the play moving; McDavid’s healthy, RNG is still doing pretty well, Jeff Skinner, Viktor Arvidsson, and Corey Perry (ugh) have been contributing decently, they are potentially walking into this series as beaten up as they have ever been.
All LA has to do is
not screw this up by suddenly forgetting how to clog up the ice like they’re sometimes prone to doing.
Los Angeles has been able to get a little bit of veteran presence and youthful improvement throughout the season; Quentin Byfield, Alex Laferriere and Brandt Clarke all finding their footing as a future player to watch among Adrian Kempe, Anze Kopitar and Kevin Fiala having damn fine seasons. Their goaltending has even been reasonably sound under Darcy Kuemper’s watch; coming into this with a very respectable .922 SV%. They control pucks better than almost everyone in the Western Conference, they shoot better than almost anyone in the Western Conference, they attack the net better than almost anyone in the Western Conference...this should be their time!
It’s just one minor thing; the “almost anyone” out west that’s overtaken them...is Edmonton.
Even with all the progress the Kings have made, the Oilers still manage to find a way to be even better. Part of it of course is Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid being a step above your average player, but they’ve managed to pull together a very, very, very good team. One that is perfectly fine trading chances if it has to (and it often does). I’m not sure LA can say the same.
But, the thing is, LA’s healthier than Edmonton by a considerable margin. That so-called juggernaut is as vulnerable as it could be.
Now’s as good a time as any to prove you can slay your dragons, right?
How on earth did this balloon into 4100 words.
Today’s Games:
- St. Louis vs. Winnipeg, 6pm ET
- Colorado vs. Dallas, 8:30pm ET
Both are Game 1’s.
Good luck to Charlie Coyle, Jim Montgomery, and Tyler Seguin in their opening games!
