By Gavin Lindahl
Assistant Sports Editor
The 2013-14 NHL season has been one of the stranger ones in recent years.
From Patrick Roy breaking the glass partition to yell at Bruce Boudreau to John Tortorella trying to fight his way into the Calgary Flames’ locker room to Olympic snubs and to this week’s James Neal ordeal, it’s been a long, strange season, and the playoffs should be just as crazy.
The first thing fans probably notice is this year’s postseason will be missing some of the usual suspects, like Vancouver and Washington, in lieu of new teams we haven’t seen in recent years.
Teams like Tampa Bay and Colorado have found themselves back in playoff contention.
Tampa Bay last saw playoff action in 2011 when they fell to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Boston Bruins, in game seven of the Eastern Conference finals.
The Lightning featured a thrilling cast of veteran players like Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Simon Gagne and Dwayne Roloson, as well as young star forward, Steven Stamkos.
While all of those players mentioned except Stamkos are gone from the Lightning now, the team has a plethora of new names and faces.
Young goalie Ben Bishop has been one of the league’s best tenders, and rookie forward Ondrej Palat has stepped up too. Led by newly appointed captain Stamkos, the Lightning should offer some good competition in the playoffs.
The Colorado Avalanche is another fresh team in the playoffs and will be making its first appearance in three seasons. The Avalanche is a fast, exciting team stocked with tons of young talent including players like Matt Duchene, Gabe Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon, who was the first overall draft pick in 2013.
While it’s been a while since the Avs last made an appearance, fans should get a glimpse this year of what to expect from the team for years to come.
The Columbus Blue Jackets haven’t seen the post-season in four years, but they are currently holding onto one of the East’s two wild card spots. However, they can easily be swept off by a number of teams knocking on the door.
The Blue Jackets will have to look to its eclectic roster of spare parts from other clubs and homegrown talent to make a stand to hold onto its spot.
The Washington Capitals, who have made an appearance in the postseason each of the past six seasons, are currently outside of the East’s last two playoff spots – although not by much. The Vancouver Canucks are in more of a desperate spot than the Capitals. The Canucks practically have to win out the season to make it into post-season and continue their five-year appearance streak.
The Detroit Red Wings, who have been crippled by injuries this season, are currently clutching to the East’s other wild card spot. But like the Blue Jackets, the Red Wings are in a precarious spot and could be knocked out.
If the Red Wings lose their spot, it will be the first time in 22 seasons they don’t make an appearance in the postseason. Most students at Bona’s have never seen an NHL postseason without Detroit in their lifetime.
With so much that can happen before the end of the season, this year’s postseason is sure to be as exciting as ever. Even though teams like Pittsburgh, Boston and San Jose will assume their roles as playoff frequents, other streaks and droughts are guaranteed to be broken.
That’s what I think is on tap for this year. It’s an exciting time to be a hockey fan.
Gavin Lindahl is the assistant sports editor for The Bona Venture. His email is lindagh12@bonaventure.edu
