Round 1; 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs

The first round of the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs are already wrapped up and the second round is underway. Each series brought something exciting to the table. LA making history, being only the 4^th team ever to win a playoff series after losing the first three games, the Canadiens sweeping the Lightning, a series that was expected to be a wild one, and of course the defending Stanley Cup champions making their mark again in the playoffs. Each series was one in which you as a hockey fan would never want to miss.

            Starting with the Bruins vs. Red Wings series; the fact of the matter was, The Bruins were just the stronger team. Each team showed an astonishing amount of skill in this series, but the Red Wings didn’t have it in them to fight off the big bad Bruins. A series that everyone was talking about was the San Jose vs. Los Angeles series. By the end of game 3, those who picked the kings in their pools were about to have panic attacks, and those who picked San Jose were jumping for joy. Perspectives drastically changed as game 7 rolled around and the Kings had tied up the series. The Kings made history winning that game 7, and were moving on. Personally, the St. Louis vs. Chicago series was one that I could not keep my eyes off of. The unbelievable coincidences of St. Louis’ first round last year compared to this year was borderline creepy. Both game 1 and 2 had the Blues trailing, but seemingly able to find a goal in the last seconds of the game. That right there is the reason I love sports. Anything can happen. Of course Chicago went on to win the series, and also went on knocking me out of my playoff pool (thanks guys).

            Now truthfully, I don’t believe anyone had anticipated the Habs knocking out the Lightning within 4 games, but it sure happened. Due to lack of quality goaltending, and all around just not being able to compete with the Canadiens is what sent the Lightning to the golf course. Rangers vs. flyers was a series that was very evenly matched up. Going down to the wire, (just as expected). The Rangers were able to advance on to the second round. In the regular season, Colorado was the team that went from being zero last season, to hero this season. Somehow, The Wild was able to fight of the very challenging and hardworking likes of that team. To a lot of people, the Blue Jackets were taken as a write-off team. Many people believed that the Pens would be able to sweep them, which as a matter of fact was not the case. For the first two games on the series, Columbus was seemingly the better team. With Crosby and Malkin not being able to produce properly, and Fleury not playing to the best of his ability, Pittsburg looked like they were in trouble.  They then found their game, and were moving on to the 2^nd round. Last but not least the Anaheim vs. Dallas series. For Leaf fans (including myself) game 6 of this series looked a lot similar to game 7 of the Leafs vs. Bruins series last year. Fighting tough all game, and losing everything in the final minutes – horrible memories leafs fans, I know.

            I feel as if the first round went by so quickly, and it’s just going to keep going by quicker and quicker. The playoffs are something that we all look forward to, and something that we never want to end. In the next couple of weeks or so, games will be flying by, and soon enough we will be watching two teams face off to lift that Stanley Cup. It’s a bittersweet moment indeed, but I cannot wait.