NHL Playoffs Underway

The NHL Playoffs are finally underway. The Playoffs started on 15 April. After an entire season of giving it everything they had, the teams that made the playoffs are playing for a chance to win the Stanley Cup.

“This is easily my favorite time of the year. I love playoff Hockey,” senior Ryan Gantz said.

Only sixteen teams are lucky enough to make it: eight teams from the Western Conference and eight teams from the Eastern Conference.

“There’s nothing like playoff Hockey.  The intensity level is unreal, and you’re on the edge of your seat the entire time,” Gantz said.

The teams from the Western Conference that have made the 2015 Stanley Cup playoff race are the St. Louis Blues, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Flames, and the Vancouver Canucks.

“The west is probably the hardest conference to be in with so many good players, and every year they have a lot of the best teams in the league,” senior Mike Osenbach said.

The Eastern Conference includes the Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lighting, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, and New York Islanders.

“Being a Red Wings fan, I’m obviously looking for the Wings to make a big run at the cup, but the Lighting are a good team so they’ll definitely have their hands full,” Osenbach said.

The first game of the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs was on 15 April in Montreal between the Canadiens and the Senators.