[Sport] NHL Playoffs 2013 - the teams
It's that time of the year again - the Stanley Cup playoffs are here! I'm going to do a round by round review again this year, but I'll probably vary the format a bit from last year. My rough plan is to give short comments on each game of every series, every round. These will almost certainly be based purely off the highlights from the NHL's Youtube channel; with my thesis writing in progress, I can't really afford to be staying up to odd hours watching ice hockey!
But that's to come. Today I wanted to get down some brief thoughts about the 16 teams that have made the playoffs.
The Blackhawks were the President's Cup winners this year, and deserved it. They were strong all the way through the shortened season, winning three quarters of their games and easily outscoring all of the other teams in the league. I love watching the Blackhawks; the combination of Patrick Sharp and Patrick Kane is incredibly dangerous, and Kane in particular is mesmerising to watch. Their defence too are solid, and several of them can be powerful attacking forces in their own right. The Ducks, another of my favourite teams, were a bit of a surprise this season, but had a strong run to make the playoffs. They've looked more settled this year too, and seem to have found too excellent goaltenders, which is making a difference for them. The Canucks are the third of my favoured teams in this conference, and have been interesting to watch. They started very strongly, but seemed to peter out a bit in the middle of the season and lose their way. Either that or the other teams learnt how to deal with them. They also seem to struggle in the playoffs every year, so I'm not expecting too much to be honest.
The round 1 pairings for the 2013 playoffs. There are some interesting looking match-ups there. (Credit: bluejackets.nhl.com)
The Blues are back, proving that last year was no fluke. The defending Kings looked to be struggling at a couple of points during the season, but have finished strongly to make it in, although only seeded 5th which I'm sure is a disappointment. The Sharks and the Red Wings are perennial playoff contenders, and the Wild are this year's outside bet. I've not seen much of their games, so it will be interesting to see how they do.
In the Eastern Conference, the lucky teams are the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Montreal Canadiens, the Washington Capitals, the Boston Bruins, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the New York Rangers, the Ottawa Senators, and the New York Islanders. That's a lot of Canadian teams!
The Penguins are the 4th of the teams that I make a point of following through the season. They have so much talent, particularly on attack, and made out like bandits in the mid-season trade period. But I have questions over the defence and goaltending. Fleury had a strong season this year, but after his performance in the 2012 playoffs I'll be watching carefully in the hope that he improves.
Which team is going to be lucky enough to lift the cup this year? (Credit: cbc.ca)
The Canadiens, the Maple Leafs, the Senators, and the Islanders are all surprises to me. I didn't follow them through the season, but I had no idea that the Canadian teams were doing so well. It's particularly good to see the Maple Leafs in the playoffs, as they've always seemed like the weakest, or at least least rated, of the teams north of the border. Similarly, the Islanders are a welcome inclusion, as they've always seemed like the Rangers' smaller, weaker cousin. The Rangers and the Capitals reprise their appearance from last year, and should provide a good contest in the first round.
I'm excited about the playoffs this year. The shortened season really got me paying more attention than I normally would, and it's been an interesting one too. I can't wait to see how the next couple of months play out.
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