As spring rolls in, the excitement on the ice is only intensifying. The NHL (National Hockey League) playoffs are officially in full swing, with each team across the league hashing it out for one of the most iconic trophies: The Stanley Cup.
The Stanley is one of North America’s oldest trophies, was commissioned in 1892 by a man named Lord Stanley of Preston, Canada’s Governor General, to honor Canada’s top amateur hockey club. It was first awarded in 1983 to the Montreal Hockey Club, and it soon became the exclusive NHL championship trophy in 1926, with the Florida Panthers having won it last year.
The playoffs, which are often known for their intensity and unpredictability, feature the top three teams of each division (along with four wild card teams) from the regular season competing in a series of best-of-seven matches; each team will play the same team for seven games every other day until one team wins four of the seven games, with the final round being against one team from the Eastern Conference and one from the Western Conference. The teams which are competing this year are the following:
Atlantic Division:
Buffalo Sabers
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Canadians
Wild Cards:
Boston Bruins
Ottawa Senators
Metropolitan Division:
Carolina Hurricanes
Pittsburgh Penguins
Philadelphia Flyers
Central Division:
Colorado Avalanche
Dallas Stars
Minnesota Wild
Wild Card:
Utah Mammoths
Pacific Division:
Las Vegas Golden Knights
Edmonton Oilers
Anaheim Ducks
Wild Card:
Las Angeles Kings
As we continue into the first round of playoffs, we already have teams being eliminated and some close to elimination.
Western Conference:
Colorado eliminating Las Angeles
Dallas 2- Minnesota 3
Vegas 2- Utah 2
Edmonton 2- Anaheim 3
Eastern Conference:
Buffalo 3- Boston 2
Tampa Bay 2- Canada 2
Carolina eliminating Ottawa
Pittsburgh 2- Philadelphia 3
