Back in September, thirty NHL teams opened training camp with the same goal, win the Stanley Cup.
After seven months, sixteen of those teams have earned the opportunity to make that goal happened.
Looking at the list of playoff teams I feel that only six teams have a legit chance at winning the Stanley Cup this spring but it is a 16 team tournament where the unexpected can happen and usually does in the first round.
I'll have a breakdown of each first round series on Wednesday but in the meantime here's my power rankings of the 16 playoff teams and how I think their chances are of raising Lord Stanley's Cup.
16. Florida Panthers:
During the off-season GM Dale Tallon did a major overhaul remaking nearly half the roster from the previous season. It worked as the Panthers clinched their first division title in franchise history and their first playoff berth in 12 years.
And while Florida is back in the post-season I don't think it will last long.
They have the fewest wins of any team in the playoffs and 18 of their losses during the season came in overtime or the shootout. The Panthers are 2-3-5 in their last ten games, worse of all sixteen playoff teams. Florida also has a goal differential of -24 which is the worst of all sixteen playoff teams.
I hope the all the Panthers fans enjoy their first post-season trip in 12 years. I don't think it's going to be a long stay.
15. Ottawa Senators:
In my opinion no team overachieved more this season than the Ottawa Senators.
Coach Paul MacLean took over a team that finished 32-40-10, 19 points out of a playoff spot last season and led them to a playoff berth in his first season as head coach. not bad for a team that many thought to be rebuilding.
Yet for all the success Ottawa has had this season we need to remember this is a team with a lot of young players, many of them making their first appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
While there is a good mix of veterans on this roster it's the young players that have allowed the Senators to overachieve this season. The playoffs are a different animal though and I don't the Senators are up to the challenge.
14. Washington Capitals:
If you ask me who the biggest disappointment in the East was this season the answer would have to be the Washington Capitals.
After being the top seed in the East the last two years the Capitals struggled this season after starting the year 7-0. Bruce Boudreau was fired as head coach with Dale Hunter taking over.
Despite the change Washington struggled to find their groove all season. The Capitals were able to finally clinch a playoff spot on Thursday night, defeating Florida 3-2 while Buffalo lost 2-1 in Philadelphia.
Yet I don't see Washington doing anything in the playoffs. Their goal differential on the season is -8. Only Florida was worse. For a team that historically underachieves in the playoffs I don't see that changing this spring.
13. Los Angeles Kings:
The last few years I have taken a look at the Kings roster and say this is the year they breakthrough and win the Pacific Division. And every year they underachieve and make the playoffs as a lower seed.
This year the same story was unfolding before Los Angeles made a coaching change, hiring Darryl Sutter to replace Terry Murray.
While the Kings did not end up winning the Pacific Division they did end up clinching their 3rd consecutive playoff berth.
The story for Los Angeles all season long has been they play good defense, have good goaltending and yet cannot score any goals to save their life.
They'll have to hope their defense and goaltending doesn't fail them if they want to get out of the 1st round for the first time since 2001.
12. San Jose Sharks:
If Washington is the biggest disappointment in the East then the San Jose Sharks have to be the biggest disappointment in the West this season.
Having been the sexy pick to win the Stanley Cup the last few years the Sharks struggled finally clinching a playoff spot on Thursday night.
A big part of the Sharks struggles was the loss of Dany Heatley and Devon Setoguchi to Minnesota in the off-season.
Martin Havlat was brought in to replace Heatley but he has missed most of the season with injuries only scoring seven goals in 38 games.
The good news for San Jose was they did finish the season strong winning seven of their last ten games including four in a row. Whether that momentum carries over into the playoffs remains to be seen.
11. Phoenix Coyotes:
After watching the job Dave Tippett has done as coach of the Phoenix Coyotes the last three seasons you can make a good argument that he is the best coach in the NHL.
What Tippett has done as head coach over 82 games is impressive. Yet when you play the same team over a seven game span strengths and weaknesses become apparent. You may be able to surprise a team in game one but you won't surprise them by game seven.
A lot of people have marveled at the season Mike Smith has had in goal (38 wins, 2.21 GAA, .930 save percentage) for the Coyotes. Without his play in net Phoenix would not have won the Pacific Division.
However I must point out this is the same goaltender that never took hold of the starting job in Tampa Bay despite having numerous opportunities to establish himself as the man in net during the four seasons he played for the Lightning.
While Smith has had a great season in goal his career stats give me doubts he can continue to keep up this pace. How far the Coyotes go in the playoffs depend on his play in net.
10. New Jersey Devils:
After a one year hiatus the New Jersey Devils are back in the post-season where they will be the number six seed in the East. This is the best case scenario for the Devils as they will face Florida in the 1st round.
And while these Devils don't strike fear in the NHL like they did from 1995-2004 when they won three Stanley Cups they are a solid team that plays good fundamental hockey.
New Jersey has won six games in a row entering the post-season and are just has good on home ice (24-13-4) as they are on the road (24-15-2)
With the futures of Martin Brodeur and Zach Parise in New Jersey up in the air after this season there is plenty of motivation for the Devils to make a strong run in the playoffs.
9. Chicago Blackhawks:
When trying to figure out the chances of the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Playoffs the first question that needs to be asked is what is the health of center Jonathan Toews.
Toews has missed the last 23 games with a concussion and while the Blackhawks have gone 13-5-5 without him in the lineup Chicago is a much better team when he plays.
Without Toews in the lineup there is a huge drop-off in depth at center. If you don't have depth at center you aren't going to go far in the playoffs.
The second question is how will Corey Crawford play in net?
In his first full year as the starting goaltender Crawford won 30 games while finishing with a GAA of 2.72 and a save percentage of .903%.
He'll have to be strong in net if the Blackhawks make a deep run in the playoffs, especially with the health of Toews in question.
8. Philadelphia Flyers:
Whenever I hear people talk about who they like to come out of the East one team I hear referred to frequently is Philadelphia.
That doesn't surprise me. The Flyers are 3rd in the NHL in goals scored (264) and they have the 5th best power play (19.7%)
For as good as their offense has been their defense is what concerns me. The Flyers are in the bottom third of the NHL in goals allowed (232) and their penalty kill has been average this season.
The other thing that concerns me is Ilya Bryzgalov in goal for Philadelphia.
He has been in the playoffs three times in his career and the only success he has had was when he was when he played in Anaheim in 2006 sharing the job in net with J. S. Giguere. With Phoenix the last two seasons he was bounced out by Detroit in the 1st round.
It's one thing to under perform in Phoenix. It's another to under perform in Philadelphia where the goalie has been under the microscope since Bernie Parent manned the net back in the 70's.
Maybe I would feel differently if Chris Pronger was healthy and playing on the blueline for the Flyers. Pronger's not healthy and while GM Paul Holmgren has done a decently job tweaking the blueline in Pronger's absence I still don't feel a strong playoff run in them.
7. Detroit Red Wings:
There was a point earlier this season where I thought the Red Wings had a legit chance to win the Stanley Cup once again.
After all they were almost invincible this season at Joe Louis Arena and the core of players on this roster are playoff tested and know what it takes to win in the post-season.
Then injuries derailed whatever momentum they had built during the regular season. Jimmy Howard, Pavel Datsyuk, and Nicklas Lidstrom missed games in March. Because of this Detroit went 4-8-2 in March allowing both St. Louis and Nashville to over take them in the Central Division, sacrificing home ice in the 1st round.
Winning the Stanley Cup without home ice in the 1st round is practically impossible. The only team to do it since the NHL adopted the current playoff format was New Jersey in the lockout shortened season of 1995.
Yet if there is one team that is capable of pulling off that feat in the playoffs this season it's Detroit. All they have to do is get a split in the 1st two games for everything to fall in their favor.
6. St. Louis Blues:
At the start of the season I picked the Blues to finish last in the Central Division.
I don't think I could have been more wrong if I tried.
Granted it took a coaching change back in November but once Ken Hitchcock took over the Blues took off finishing with 107 points on the season, good enough to win their first Central Division title since 2000.
Hitchcock is a defensive minded coach and nobody has benefited more this season that Kevin Shattenkirk.
The former Boston University defenseman has reached a career high this season in goals, assists, and points along with having the best plus/minus total in his three year NHL career. What was once thought to be a just another player in the Erik Johnson trade may have become the best player in that trade.
Two other players that have benefited because of Hitchcock are the tandem of Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak in goal for the Blues.
Elliott leads the NHL in GAA (1.56) and save percentage (.940) while Halak is 5th in GAA (1.97) and 7th in save percentage (.926)
The only thing that concerns me about St. Louis is Hitchcock's track record as a coach in the playoffs.
While he was the coach of the team that was awarded a Stanley Cup in 1999 his first year in the playoffs with a team is usually short-lived. He lost in seven games with Dallas in 1997 and was swept by Detroit in 2009 while coaching Columbus.
He did manage to get out of the 1st round in 2003 in his first season coaching the Flyers but was ousted six games later thanks to Ottawa.
I guess what I am trying to say is if one of the top four seeds is to lose in the 1st round, my money would be on St. Louis.
5. Boston Bruins:
It's been quite a year for the defending Stanley Cup Champions.
Boston started the season by going 3-7 in October. Before talk of a Stanley Cup hangover took effect the Bruins bounced back going 12-0-1 in November. They followed that up by going 9-3 in December.
Boston is the number two seed in the East and is just as good as last year. The only thing that concerns me is that the Bruins have played a lot of hockey over the last two years.
When you play that much hockey it's only a matter of time before you hit the wall. Boston did a good job of playing their way out a slump at the start of the season and after the Tim Thomas/White House fiasco back in January.
The Bruins are playing some good hockey right now going 7-2-1 in their last ten games. It wouldn't surprise me if they are representing the Eastern Conference once again this June.
4. Nashville Predators:
Every year in the playoffs there is a team that gets the label "The team no one wants to face."
This year that label once again belongs to the Nashville Predators but unlike previous seasons the team with this label has a legit chance to make a Stanley Cup run.
Goaltender Pekka Rinne leads the NHL in wins with 43 and gives the Predators a swagger in net that most teams wish they had.
The blueline, which is lead by Shea Weber and Ryan Suter, got better at the trade deadline with the addition of Hal Gill from Montreal.
Nashville added forwards Paul Gaustad and Andrei Kostitsyn at the trade deadline giving the Predators the most quality depth at forward they have ever had.
The Wild Card for Nashville is Alexander Radulov who came back to the club a few weeks ago after spending the last couple years over in Russia playing in the KHL.
Mentioned by many as the best player not playing in the NHL Radulov will be a key forward for the Predators and gives them a dynamic wing that is capable of scoring whenever his stick touches the puck in the offensive zone.
It wouldn't surprise me if Nashville comes out of the West. With Suter a free agent at the end of the season and Weber a restricted free agent next season you could say the future of the Predators depends on this post-season.
3. New York Rangers:
Let me start by saying I love watching the Rangers play this year.
I love the fact the Henrik Lundqvist is playing like an elite goaltender. I love the players the Rangers have on defense and I love the job John Tortorella has done coaching this team.
What I don't love about the Rangers are their forwards, mainly their top six.
Watching them this season I felt New York was one forward away from being a legit Stanley Cup threat. Seeing them two weeks ago I still feel that way.
The Rangers are a good team that is capable of winning the East but if one of their top six forwards gets hurt (and we here in Minnesota are all familiar with Marian Gaborik's history of health) and is out for a good amount of time then New York will have to rely on their defense to carry them.
This is the best team the Rangers have had since they won the Cup in 1994 and yet to me they feel more like the team from 1992 when they were good enough to contend for the Stanley Cup but came up short in the playoffs.
2. Vancouver Canucks:
Is it possible to win the President's Trophy and fly under the radar at the same time?
If it is then that's what Vancouver did this season as they finished with 111 points.
A lot of people are quick to dismiss the Canucks as a Stanley Cup threat. That would be a mistake as I believe this Vancouver team is better than last year's squad.
The additions this season of David Booth, Sammy Pahlsson, and Zack Kassian makes the Canucks group of forwards better than last years group that played in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Vancouver has a deep core of defenseman and the luxury of knowing that if Roberto Luongo struggles in goal, Cory Schneider can come in to play and the team won't miss a beat.
They won the West last year, I don't see any reason why it can't happen again.
1. Pittsburgh Penguins:
The most important thing a team can have in the Stanley Cup Playoffs is depth and nobody has more quality depth than the Penguins.
Their top three centers are Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, and Sidney Crosby. Those three alone would be the top center on 10-15 other teams in the NHL.
They lead the NHL in scoring with 278 goals and they have two players, Malkin and James Neal that have reached the 40 goal mark this season.
The Penguins have a goal differential of +61. Only Boston has a better goal differential with +67. Because of that Pittsburgh has two defenseman, Kris Letang and Brooks Orpik that are in the top 15 in Plus/Minus ratings.
The other key for the Penguins is Marc-Andre Fleury in goal. While his stats aren't as strong as other goaltenders in the NHL they don't have to be on this team.
With Pittsburgh ability to score from all four lines and their defense to shut down the opposition all Fluery has to do is make the key save when his team needs it. Having already won a Stanley Cup back in 2009 I feel confident that Fleury can do it again.
Come June the Steel City will be celebrating their 4th Stanley Cup championship in 21 years.
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