2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Rejoice, the greatest time of year is finally here

Christmas has come early for hockey fans with the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs finally here.

Yes, after what was one of the strangest regular seasons ever in the long and rich history of the National Hockey League – and it still isn’t technically over (thanks, COVID-19) – we can now finally get ready to tuck into a mouthwatering feast of Stanley Cup Playoffs hockey.

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You can’t beat postseason hockey in the NHL and this year’s edition should have an extra special feel to it after what has been a tough year and a bit for everyone in the wake of the Pandemic that wreaked havoc and left a trail of devastation in its wake, impacting every single aspect of our everyday lives.

While there were far more serious implications with millions of lives lost, jobs and livelihoods destroyed and every single one of us having to navigate a scary new normal, the sports world also had to deal with a plethora of challenges due to COVID-19 and the NHL was no different.

After cancelling the remainder of the 2019-20 regular season, the entire Stanley Cup Playoffs were played inside two ultra-secure Bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton with no fans present, with the Tampa Bay Lightning overcoming a boatload of adversity to finally lift the greatest prize in all of sports.

The strangeness carried over to this season with all 31 teams having to overcome no preseason games while the entire league began proceedings with no fans in the stands yet again, and a shortened 56-game season and new-look Divisions were also introduced.

It hasn’t been plain sailing with multiple teams being forced to go on hiatus due to COVID-19 outbreaks, while the North Division is still finishing out its regular season schedule due to the scary outbreak that completely engulfed the Vancouver Canucks.

2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs signals a more than welcome return to normal

However, we have begun to turn a hugely significant corner thanks to the remarkable work done by all involved in getting vaccines ready to go into the arms of millions in this country, and we are starting to ease back into our normal lives with progress in the war against COVID-19 being made on a daily basis.

We saw a small number of fans welcomed back into arenas across the NHL in the latter months of the regular season, and having the most passionate fans back into Playoff games will give us something that was dearly missed inside the Bubbles last year.

I mean, the Nashville Predators are expected to have around 12,000 thousand crazy and passionate fans at their home games, T-Mobile Arena will still be incredibly loud and crazy even at half-full and every single Playoff game will boast an electric backing track thanks to having fans back in seats, and that will only ensure this year’s Playoffs are even more special than usual.

Plus, with the situation improving throughout the United States on a daily basis and the NHL working on an agreement with the Canadian government when it comes to allowing cross-border travel, it is possible that we could see arenas close to full capacity by the time we get to the latter stages of the postseason.

And that would be the ultimate gift.

Granted, there won’t be fans inside the building in Canada but the North Division will treat us to two absolutely breathtaking matchups with the Toronto Maple Leafs taking on old foes the Montreal Canadiens for the first time since 1979, while the Connor McDavid-led Edmonton Oilers will pit their wits against the Winnipeg Jets.

It is going to be a wide-open field and, while teams like the Colorado Avalanche, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning will attract a lot of admiring glances, it is incredibly hard to predict who will make it to the Stanley Cup Final and that suspense and drama is what makes hockey the best sport on the planet.

So, while we aren’t there yet, we’re beginning to inch closer and closer to a return to normal and the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs should serve as a cherished and welcome reminder that the things we have missed most about our favorite sport were only gone on a temporary basis, and we can now buckle up and get ready for what should be an absolute thrill-ride of a postseason with almost all of the trimmings on the side this time around.

America is coming back to life and we’ve got a two-month chase for the greatest trophy in all of sports to celebrate. It can’t get much better than that.

Bring it on. The magic of the Playoffs is well and truly back!