The hunt for Lord Stanley's mug begins tonight as sixteen teams embark on their quest for hockey glory. And with 5 Canadian teams in the playoffs this year, will the Cup finally be coming home?
WINNIPEG JETS (0-0) vs ST LOUIS BLUES (0-0)
CANADA LIFE CENTRE, WINNIPEG MB
3:00 PM PST/ 6:00 PM EST
TV: SPORTSNET, CBC
The Presidents' Trophy can sometimes be a curse (believe us we know. In the last decade, only two of the teams who were at the top of the standings in the regular season advanced to the second round. The Jets, no strangers to disappointing playoff exits are hoping that this season provides a change to that narrative.
They've been an absolute beast all season long, with a speedy, skillful offensive attack, solid defence and the NHL's best goaltender in Connor Hellebuyck. And while they're going to be without Nikolas Ehlers for possibly the first round, it's not enough to derail the team that could be Canada's best hope to bring home the Cup in a long time.
They go up against a St Louis team that floundered through the first half of the season before going on a ridiculous heater in the tail end of the season to snag a wild card slot. Unlike 2019, when they went from last place in the NHL to their first ever Stanley Cup, this Cinderella isn't staying at the ball. The Blues will put up a fight, but this Jets team is on a mission, and ready to give the Whiteout something to cheer about.
LINEUPS
Over on nhl dot com, they say to watch for this...
Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Alex Iafallo
Nino Niederreiter -- Vladislav Namestnikov -- Cole Perfetti
Brandon Tanev -- Adam Lowry -- Mason Appleton
David Gustafsson -- Morgan Barron -- Jaret Anderson-Dolan
Josh Morrissey -- Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg -- Neal Pionk
Colin Miller -- Luke Schenn
Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie
Scratched: Ville Heinola, Haydn Fleury, Logan Stanley, Dominic Toninato
Injured: Nikolaj Ehlers (lower body), Gabriel Vilardi (upper body), Rasmus Kupari (concussion)
Jake Neighbours -- Robert Thomas -- Pavel Buchnevich
Jimmy Snuggerud -- Brayden Schenn -- Jordan Kyrou
Mathieu Joseph -- Oskar Sundqvist -- Zack Bolduc
Alexey Toropchenko -- Radek Faksa -- Nathan Walker
Cam Fowler -- Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg -- Justin Faulk
Ryan Suter -- Nick Leddy
Jordan Binnington
Joel Hofer
Scratched: Tyler Tucker, Dalibor Dvorsky, Matthew Kessel, Alexandre Texier
Injured: Dylan Holloway (lower body)
COLORADO AVALANCHE (0-0) vs DALLAS STARS (0-0)
BALL ARENA, DENVER, CO
5:30 PM PST/ 8:30 PM EST
TV: SPORTSNET, SN360
With a different first round opponent, I could see the Dallas Stars being legit Cup contenders. But having to go against a Colorado team looking very much like they're ready for a long run, and losing Jason Robertson to injury the other night, the Dallas Stars appear to be headed for an early exit this spring. And while the acquisition of ex-Avs forward Mikko Rantanen will help them overcome the loss of Robertson somewhat, Colorado is a different beast in the playoffs, and with a fired up Nathan MacKinnon, and the return of Gabe Landeskog for his first game since they won the Cup in 2022, the Ball Arena is going to be absolutely electric tonight.
These two teams have a healthy dislike for each other, and it's almost a shame that they have to meet this early, but it will still be one of the most entertaining series of the first round. It will be interesting to see if the Stars are still mired in the funk of the last couple weeks, one that saw that record breaking last minute collapse at the hands of the Canucks along with a number of somewhat shocking losses. They're definitely not playing their best hockey at the moment, can Pete De Boer get his team back on track?
LINEUPS
This is what the nhl dot com site tells us to expect...
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
"Do you wanna fight on Saturday Night?" Oh, you better f'n believe it! Ireland's finest GAMA BOMB are back with a 4 song EP 'Necronomicon Automaton', and it shows the lads in fine form. The first track "Nunchucks!" is an absolute belter! Check it out here, available now from Prosthetic Records.
There may not be Canucks hockey to watch, but it's gonna be fun nonetheless. Don't forget to check out our playoff prediction thread!
