The NHL Playoffs are now in the Semi-Finals for the Stanley Cup Championship. The four remaining teams in the NHL playoffs are the Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks, and San Jose Sharks. Both the Blackhawks and Flyers are winning their series 2-0, but it’s too early to tell whether they will win the 7 game series as the playoffs have been filled with twists!
Number Crunching
Baffling Bracket
The NHL playoffs have the top 8 ranked teams from the East and West advance into the beginning of the playoffs. A funny thing happened this year with those rankings and numbers. Get this… the #1, #2, #3, #5 teams in the West advanced in the first round, and the #4, #6, #7, #8 teams advanced in the East. To make things even more interesting, the #1 Sharks and #2 Blackhawks in the West are battling right now in the semi-finals while the #7 Flyers and #8 Canadiens are matched up in the East… COMPLETE OPPOSITES!
Crying in Canada
Montreal Memories
The Canadiens could be the first team from Canada to win the Stanley Cup since they did it in 1993. It’s no secret that Canadian teams have been suffering in the NHL. The Quebec Nordiques had a really good team in the 1990s but they were moved to Colorado and became the Avalanche. The Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in their very first year and then again a few years later. Now Canada has only 6 teams in the NHL and only 3 teams made the playoffs. The Canadiens have made a great run to the Semi-Finals but they are huge underdogs to win any more games. It looks like Canada will have to wait another year before the Stanley Cup comes back.
Predicting the Year’s Champs: Chicago Blackhawks
Best for Byfuglien
Chicago has the best chance to win the Stanley Cup this year. Not only are they easily beating the San Jose Sharks, but all the players are healthy and the Blackhawk Star players like Jonathon Toews and Patrick Kane are playing on an unstoppable line with big power forward Dustin Byfuglien. Chicago goes back home and will have a good chance to sweep the Sharks and then get some good rest to take on the Flyers or Canadiens in the Finals.
