This is the best time of the year for the millions of passionate hockey fans across Canada.
The anger and resentment that engulfed so many hockey fans during yet another long labour stoppage last fall has been replaced by excitement and enthusiasm as the Stanley Cup playoffs are now underway.
Playoff hockey is always sensational, but the hockey in this year’s Stanley Cup tournament should be even more remarkable as the players are just hitting mid-season form following the abbreviated 48-game regular season.
While hockey fans in Alberta and Manitoba probably remain depressed as the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets have again missed out on the post-season dance, there is plenty of enthusiasm in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver as all four teams have very talented squads and could cause some serious damage over the next couple of months.
For the long-suffering fans of the Maple Leafs it has been nine long and agonizing years waiting for return to the only hockey that really matters in May and June. Toronto is going to have to beat a tough and talented Boston Bruins team to get past the first round, but the Maple Leafs have been very resilient all season and an upset is not unthinkable.
The Canadiens will be facing the Senators in an all-Canadian first-round battle that promises to be extremely close from beginning to end.
This is a ‘pick em’ series that will probably come down, as it often does, to which team receives the best goaltending.
In Vancouver, the Canucks hold the hopes and dreams of millions of hockey fans across British Columbia.
The Canucks will be facing a talented San Jose Sharks club in the opening round, but they will be the favourites and should prevail in what promises to be another great matchup between two evenly-matched hockey teams.
The Canucks have under-achieved in the playoffs several times in the past decade and this would be as good a time as any to prove the pundits wrong and show that this team is capable of doing something magical when it counts the most.
The Canucks were one game away from winning the Stanley Cup only two years ago and have most of their impact players still in place. Winning it all would be considered a huge upset, but this team has been there before and is capable of playing great hockey.
As the Los Angeles Kings showed last year when they grabbed the eighth and final playoff spot and went all the way to win the Stanley Cup, any team that makes the post-season is a good hockey team and capable of going a long way if they play their best hockey.
There hasn’t been a Stanley Cup hoisted by members of a Canadian-based team in 20 long years. It would be thrilling if that cold streak ended this year.
The obvious favourites are the Pittsburgh Penguins from the East and Chicago Blackhawks from the West, but Stanley Cup playoff games are won on the ice and not on paper.
Enjoy the ride hockey fans. It should be incredible to watch.