The long grind of the NHL regular season is finally over and the best playoffs in professional sports gets underway tonight.
Can the Capitals finally get the monkey off their backs and make a deep run? Will the Penguins be the first team to repeat since the late 90s? Are the Blackhawks deep enough to win their fourth Stanley Cup in eight years? Or will the youth in Edmonton and Toronto find a way to bring glory to their long-suffering franchises?
The HST crew makes its picks for all that and more!
@Rovitz
Western Conference Opening Round
Chicago def. Nashville in 5
Minnesota def. St. Louis in 7
Anaheim def. Calgary in 5
Edmonton def. San Jose in 6
Eastern Conference Opening Round
Washington def. Toronto in 5
Pittsburgh def. Columbus in 6
NY Rangers def. Montreal in 7
Boston def. Ottawa in 6
Western Conference Semis
Chicago def. Minnesota in 6
Edmonton def. Anaheim in 6
Eastern Conference Semis
Washington def. Pittsburgh in 7
NY Rangers def. Boston in 6
Western Conference Finals
Chicago def. Edmonton in 6
Eastern Conference Finals
Washington def. NY Rangers in 7
Stanley Cup Finals
Chicago def. Washington in 6
Conn Smythe Winner
Corey Crawford
Underdog that COULD make a deep run
Nashville Predators
RON EXPLAINS: In the West, it just seems like it’s set up for Chicago to make another run to the Final, as there were no dominant teams out there this year. The Blackhawks are a deeper team than last season, and that first-round exit only fuels them more. In the East, holy, every series with the exception of Boston-Ottawa in the first round seems like it could be a classic. You could make an argument for any of Washington, Pittsburgh, Columbus, New York or Montreal to win it all. I’m most interested in seeing what Connor McDavid and Austin Matthews do in their first taste of playoff hockey. I think McDavid could will the Oilers to a deep run by himself.
@AVKingJames
Western Conference Opening Round
Chicago def. Nashville in 7
St. Louis def. Minnesota in 6
Anaheim def. Calgary in 6
Edmonton def. San Jose in 5
Eastern Conference Opening Round
Washington def. Toronto in 5
Pittsburgh def. Columbus in 7
NY Rangers def. Montreal in 7
Boston def. Ottawa in 5
Western Conference Semis
St. Louis def. Chicago in 7
Edmonton def. Anaheim in 6
Eastern Conference Semis
Washington def. Pittsburgh in 7
NY Rangers def. Boston in 7
Western Conference Finals
St. Louis def. Edmonton in 6
Eastern Conference Finals
Washington def. NY Rangers in 7
Stanley Cup Finals
Washington def. St. Louis in 7
Conn Smythe Winner
Alex Ovechkin
Underdog that COULD make a deep run
Nashville Predators
JAMES EXPLAINS: Honestly, I don’t really follow PREAUX HAWKEY that much, so this is just based more on intuition and lucky guessing. Hey, this website didn’t say it was super serious.
@CallMeBednard
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