For the next two months, the National Hockey League playoffs will be on many people’s televisions and this year will be one of the most exciting playoffs to watch.
The best storyline of the playoffs is the newest team to the NHL, which is the Vegas Golden Knights.
They have had a great season and were the point leaders many times throughout the year. They ended up winning the Pacific Division and will face off against the Los Angeles Kings starting Wednesday night.
I may be a little biased since the Golden Knights are my favorite team, but they are one of the most entertaining and intriguing teams in the NHL.
I think that Vegas will win in six games and move onto the quarterfinals to face the Ducks.
The best series of the first round will be the Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Wild. The Jets have been a very good team this year, but the Wild will pose lots of trouble for Winnipeg. I think this series will go seven games with Minnesota winning and going on to face either Nashville or Colorado.
As for the other series in the Western Conference (since that is the conference I watch 90 percent of the time) I think Anaheim will take down San Jose.
The stunner of the opening round will be the Colorado Avalanche, who will beat the best team in the Western Conference — the Nashville Predators — in five games. The Avalanche is coming off a win against the St. Louis Blues from Saturday night and that momentum will be huge in this series.
The winner of the Stanley Cup Finals this year will be the Golden Knights, who will beat the Boston Bruins in seven games. It feels like it is their season, and they have all the tools they need to win it all this year.
Good luck to all of the teams, and happy NHL playoffs!
Avery Osen is a graduate student in mass communications. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Collegian. Please send comments to opinion@kstatecollegian.com.
