The word “tournament” is generally reserved for March Madness. Why is that? We here at Blue Line Station say the real tournament is only beginning.
St. Patty’s Day and basketball – it is the order of business during the month of March.
At no other time during the year do we so often hear the word “tournament” and “bracket.”
March Madness brings us an inordinate number of pieces of paper and user profiles for which we need to fill out our brackets. Picking one mid-major college basketball team to knock off a basketball factory – although most of the nation can’t name one player on the squad – has never been so important.
It is, without a doubt, the most wildly popular tournament in the world.
But why?
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The National Hockey League has the quite the tournament itself. Actually, it’s a tournament not for the faint of heart. While the college basketball version features buzzer-beaters and drama, the professional hockey edition gives us obscene passion and unmatched excitement.
The only reason March Madness is the most known “tournament” in the world is because of the word tournament itself.
To many intelligent individuals out there, the NHL features the best postseason in all of sports.
It brings the physical nature of football, the movement and athleticism of basketball, and the hand-eye coordination of baseball; all while playing every other day, redefining the words grueling and toughness. It is the one time of year that brings casual hockey fans together as they scream at the top of their lungs and hold their hands up to their faces in a praying fashion.
Although the 2013-14 version of the New York Rangers were among the better squads during the regular season, they were never considered elite. It played out that way as the Pittsburgh Penguins took a dominating 3-1 series lead over the Blueshirts in Round 2.
As the NHL Playoffs generally do, it shocked us yet again in the rarest of ways – arguably even more so than that tournament that goes off in March.
To many intelligent individuals out there, the NHL features the best postseason in all of sports.
New York suffered through a couple of sob-stories involving Marty St. Louis and Dominic Moore, then took off from there, getting all the way to the Stanley Cup Playoffs before being upended by the No. 8 seeded Los Angeles Kings.
Yes, that’s right, a No. 8 seed.
This is the NHL Playoffs, where anything can happen.
Luckily for everyone, here at Blue Line Station we realize that sentiment rings true. We also realize with the new “Divisional Format” that allows for true brackets and no reseeding, it has changed the playoff game for fans.
This is why filling out an NHL Playoffs bracket is just as, if not more important than the college basketball version.
Here are several staff picks for what’s going to go down during the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs:
Mar 31, 2015; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; New York Rangers defenseman Marc Staal (18) stretches prior to the game against the Winnipeg Jets at MTS Centre. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Fedyck-USA TODAY Sports
Staff Playoff Takes
Not only do we take this opportunity to provide our brackets, but we want to bring you playoff specific takes.
Yes, the Rangers came up with an epic 2014-15 regular season. How could anybody think any differently after a franchise record 53 wins and 113 points?
Starting with the Western Conference, the Minnesota Wild have what it takes to get to the Finals.
This team is highly underrated along with goaltender, Devan Dubnyk who is statistically the best goalie in the West, second only to Carey Price in the league. This team is also fast and they’re dangerous on the road. With 12 straight road games won at the end of the season, their 11th against the Chicago Blackhawks to clinch a playoff berth shows that the Wild have the ability to buckle down when it matters most.
Mar 28, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; New York Rangers left wing Rick Nash (61) shoots the puck during the first period against the Boston Bruins at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
In the Eastern Conference, the Ottawa Senators have been a huge surprise in the regular season and, although they haven’t had much success in the playoffs in recent years, they’ve got a lot to fight for this time around. They’ve definitely shown, with Andrew Hammond in net and rookie Mark Stone, that they have exceptional resilience to make it far in the postseason.
But when it comes to the New York Rangers, the Sens won’t be able to overcome this team with incredible depth at the blue line (hopefully including Kevin Klein by then) as well as offensive prowess (if Rick Nash can continue to score goals at rapid fire).
The Rangers know what it takes to get to the Finals, the bad taste of loss still fresh on their minds, so this team is really going to want it more than any other. The Rangers have everything it takes in the toolbox to get er done this year, including incredible goaltending from either Lundqvist or Talbot.
So, no matter who stands in their way of Lord Stanley, this New York team is undoubtedly going to have a good fighting chance to add “Stanley Cup Champions” to their already long list of accomplishments this year.
The Wild and Blues are evenly matched, but the play of Devan Dubnyk will make the difference. The Predators have no chance if Pekka Rinne doesn’t take his game to another level.
All four teams in the Pacific bracket have suspect goalies, which makes this an absolute crapshoot. Give me the Jets, mostly because I bet them +1100 to win the Western Conference (I may have made that bet after a couple of beers, but, hey can’t go back on it now.
Apr 4, 2015; New York, NY, USA; New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist (30) takes a drink during a second period timeout against the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers defeated the Devils 6-1. Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports
When its all said and done the Wild, who are the most underrated team in the NHL, will advance to the Finals.
For the East, I think it should be status quo in the first round, with three of the four higher seeds winning. The Islanders, however, will beat the Capitals in an exciting series.
The Rangers will take care of the Islanders because Henrik Lundqvist is much better than Jaroslav Halak. The Canadiens don’t have the offense to keep up with the Lightning, no matter how well Carey Price is playing. In the end, the Rangers will beat the Lightning in a classic seven game series because they have goalie who has proven what he can do in the postseason.
The Rangers and Wild will meet in the Finals, and, after 21 long years, the Cup will make its long awaited return to the streets of Manhattan.
Right off the bat it feels as if the West is much tougher to gauge.
More upsets seem possible. For example, both the Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Wild are being picked by many experts to make runs. It’s not surprising considering how horrid the Anaheim Ducks have been in the playoffs in recent memory.
Apr 2, 2015; Saint Paul, MN, USA; New York Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh (27) against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center. The Rangers defeated the Wild 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
The once darlings of the regular season – the Nashville Predators – represent to me the easiest West matchup to pick as the playoff tested Chicago Blackhawks will take it in six.
The series of the first round will be the Wild and the St. Louis Blues. While Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk has been unconscious this season (27 wins, 1.78 GAA), somehow David Backes and the Blues will win a Game 7 on home ice.
It won’t be enough to knock off Chicago in the next round, and in fact, whoever comes out of the suspect Pacific Division bracket will find the conference finals tough.
In the East, as long as the New York Rangers find their groove early on in the Pittsburgh Penguins series, they should win a tough, hard-fought second-round matchup against a very good Washington Capitals team.
Although the “Hamburgler” has been a sensational story, he’s never been dissected like he will be in a long playoff series. Montreal is by far the most balanced and deepest team in the East other than New York.
That Eastern Conference finals will be a bloodbath featuring the top two goalies in the league.
By the time the Stanley Cup Finals roll around, the Rangers will finally realize they have the character to overcome a bigger bodied Blackhawks squad.
