NHL Playoff Schedule 2011: What To Watch During the First Week of the Postseason

The playoffs are full of all teams hopes and dreams, but to even have a chance at the Stanley Cup, they must make it out of the first round of playoffs.

With No. 1 seeds ranked against No. 8 seeds, the games can get intense quickly and Cinderella stories can appear out of nowhere when a lower ranked seed beats the Cup favorites.

So, who should everyone watch during the first round of playoffs? It may not be the Cinderella stories but instead, rivalries that were formed during the regular season.

The first round playoff series that may be the most interesting to watch is the Eastern Conference’s No. 3 seed Boston Bruins vs. the No. 6 seed Montreal Canadiens in a series that is garnering a lot of attention due to a long lasting rivalry that was intensified in the waning weeks of the season.

During the March 8 game between the two teams, Bruins’ captain Zdeno Chara hit Max Pacioretty, breaking the Canadien player’s neck and sending him off the ice on a stretcher.

The March 24 game between the two teams was a clean game between the two, but was a blow out as the Bruins won the game 7-0.

The Bruins come into the game losing their last game while the Canadiens come in trying to prove that their Cinderella-like run last year was not a fluke. While the March 24 game was calm, it can be expected that the playoff series will be much different, as both teams fight to get out of the first round.

The second most interesting game of the first round may be the Western Conference No. 1 seed Vancouver Canucks vs. the No. 8 seed Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks squeaked into the Playoffs on the last night of the season with the Dallas Stars’ loss against the Minnesota Wild.

The last two post seasons, the Canucks have been eliminated by the Blackhawks, but they come into this season as the President’s Trophy winners while last year’s Stanley Cup winning team dealt with a tough hand this season that involved injuries and a slump.

The question here is, will the Canucks keep history from repeating or will they just be a stepping-stone towards a second Cup for the Hawks?  

The Battle of California between the No. 2 seed San Jose Sharks and the No. 7 seed LA Kings will be one that California hockey fans want to tune into.

Not only are all three California teams in the playoffs (the Anaheim Ducks are playing the Nashville Predators in the first round); they are more represented than Canada in the playoffs.  

While this may not be a big game for the rest of the country, it is a big step forward in California hockey and one that should be watched closely.

While every match up has the potential to be the most exciting series in the first round, the above games should provide entertainment for any hockey fan looking for something to watch during the playoffs.

Although, if you are a fan of any of these teams, you better hope that their series doesn’t go to seven games because the stats don’t look good for them.

The last 32 teams to win their first round series in seven games haven’t been able to win the Stanley Cup.

Let the playoffs begin. As the NHL likes to say: “History will be made”.