Well, the NHL playoffs are in full swing and my main teams are all out but there are still a lot of strong teams left and it’s been an interesting second round thus far. Firstly, if you haven’t watched much NHL hockey outside of the State of Hockey, you’re missing out. In years past I’d typically watch until my teams were out and then I’d just stop watching. 

This season I’ve been watching every game I get a chance to because there are so many good teams, but there’s one in particular I’m leaning my alliances towards more than others. That team would be the Colorado Avalanche. Yes, the division rival Avalanche, something about them makes you want to cheer for them. 

I haven’t been able to see much of the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers series but it’s been a good one. As far as the other Eastern series, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers, it was a shock to most. The Lightning swept the series in four games, after seeing game one, it really didn’t surprise me but it was a letdown to say the least as I hoped to see Andrew Brunette coach his Panthers to the Stanley Cup. 

Why am I not wanting to see the Edmonton Oilers raise the Cup as they take on the Calgary Flames? Well, I’m not against it, part of me would love to see Connor McDavid finally lift the Cup after all these seasons of scoring but not making it far. It also goes to show one player can’t carry the team in most cases. He’s obviously the MVP of that team but without the other guys on the ice, they wouldn’t be where they are. 

The other part of me sees all the success he’s had and would rather see an underdog make it. Are the Avs an underdog? Not necessarily because of all the talent they have but they’ve had the same issues as the Oilers without the bigtime scorer. Nathan McKinnon is great but he’s not quite the level of McDavid and that could prove to be an advantage as he can play his game and not be expected to lead the team in scoring. 

Their goaltender Darcy Kuemper (yep, former Wild player) has also been outstanding and has me pretty proud. After the way he left MN, I was hoping for the best because he was a great goaltender, he just didn’t fit the greatest here. Now that he seems to have found a home, it’s great. He’s proved his ability and it’ll be interesting to see how well he can play from this point out. The St. Louis Blues are a tough team and won’t go down easy. 

The Eastern Conference is a bit more of a mystery to me as I don’t watch a lot of their teams. They’re typically on earlier than I get home from work and I just didn’t get a chance to watch it much. It’ll also be fun to see if the Lightning can carry out the three-peat, something I kind of hope doesn’t happen. As cool as it would be for the history books, I’d rather see a team that hasn’t won in a while. 

Frankly this season I’m glad to have had the chance to watch pretty much all of the games. It’s been so fun to watch different teams and see the level of competition they all have. The speed, puck handling, goaltending, it’s all at another level during this time of the year. This season has been an odd one to say the least with all the high scores and weird hits, it won’t be one that’s easy to forget. Hopefully things settle a little bit in terms of hitting, it’s no fun to see someone get injured. 

I can’t wait to see how things unfold further and it’ll be entertaining to see who can pull off the win. Next month I’ll hopefully have an update that the Avs stole the Cup or McDavid finally won the Cup that has eluded him all these seasons, it’s the one award he hasn’t snatched yet and he’s still pretty young. Only time will tell.