The hockey has been superb in these Stanley Cup Playoffs. My two favorite teams are both still alive in the East and in the West.
The Boston Bruins in six games eliminated the Columbus Blue Jays to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. Meanwhile, my favorite team in the West–the Colorado Avalanche take on the San Jose Sharks tonight on the road in another glorious Game 7 conclusion to a series.
The superstars didn’t advance per se this post season. Sid and Ovi didn’t make it out of the first round. Instead—the Boston Bruins with David Pasternak, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and netminder Tuukka Rask have made it thru two rounds and in Vegas are the presumed favorite to win the Cup at this juncture.
On the other side in the East–the upstart Carolina Hurricanes with stellar vet forwards Jordan Stahl and Justin Williamson have cruised to the conference finals with good goaltending and a power play which should keep working.
Three things to always watch in playoff hockey…1 who has the hot goalie, 2 which team’s power play is converting at around 28-30%, and 3 who’s killing off penalties with consistency. And of course physicality–which team is willing to make the hit to create space and time and to set an overall tone for sixty minutes.
These clips come from home sites in Carolina and Columbus and as you can see there are passionate hockey fans in other markets other than the just the traditional powers in the NHL.
Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avs tonight in Game 7 in San Jose. The winner takes on the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference Finals.