Stanley Cup Playoffs: 3 dark horse candidates from the Eastern Conference
These three underdogs could make some noise in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
With the NHL announcing recently that the Stanley Cup Playoffs will most likely happen this summer, it means that many fans will get to watch their team compete for a Stanley Cup. In fact, there will be many more teams this year with an opportunity to do so because of the fact the NHL has announced they are going with a 24-team playoff format rather than the standard 16.
Though many people are not a fan of this new format, it brings an element of excitement in the fact that league superstars such as Carey Price and Patrick Kane will be in the playoffs. As everyone knows, the playoffs are a new season, and everyone that is in them has a shot.
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The one other big factor in this year’s playoffs is that there was a big rest period, meaning that teams with injuries were able to recover and will be chomping at the bit. With all that said, here are the top three dark horses for this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets were arguably the most impressive team in the entire NHL this season. After what was an extremely tough offseason in which they lost Artemi Panarin, Matt Duchene, and Sergei Bobrovsky, there were many who doubted that they would be able to make the playoffs this season. Somehow, coach John Tortorella was really able to rile them up as underdogs and outmatch their opponent’s effort almost every night.
Prior to the NHL stoppage, the Blue Jackets were sitting in the final Wild Card position in the Eastern Conference with a 33-22-15 record. Although that record may not look spectacular, it is extremely impressive when you consider the adversity they faced nearly all season.
On top of losing the players mentioned above, they also had extremely tough luck in the injury department. Prior to the league being paused, they were without Brandon Dubinsky, Josh Anderson, Alexandre Texier, Dean Kukan, Cam Atkinson, Seth Jones, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Nathan Gerbe due to different ailments.
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The good news for the Jackets, and scary news for other teams, is that other than Dubinsky, the players mentioned above are expected to be ready for the postseason. Considering how well they were able to battle without many of those players for big chunks of the season, it makes them a very intimidating team to go up against in the first round.
They certainly don’t have the most skilled team, but Tortorella has done a great job at instilling the ‘Us against the world’ mentality, and teams shouldn’t take them lightly.