With the recent downfall of Villanova University and the University of Virginia in the NCAA Tournament, I have officially moved on from this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. I have completed a bracket every year for nearly a decade, but miraculously, I get worse and worse every year. This year, with four of my Elite Eight teams out by the second round, I’m accepting an early defeat.
Now, instead of explaining how my bracket “really isn’t that bad,” I will invest my time and energy into the next best sporting event coming up, the NHL postseason.
The National Hockey League has seen great success this year. The Winter Classic at Nationals Park featured a last-minute goal to give the home team, the Washington Capitals, a memorable win. This season’s Stadium Series, which continued the newest trend of outdoor games, pitted the San Jose Sharks against rival and reigning Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings in sunny Santa Clara, California.
This year’s rookie class is the strongest in recent history, featuring incredible scoring talents that include Calgary Flames’ and former Boston College Eagle Johnny Gaudreau (57 points in 71 games) and Nashville Predators’ Filip Forsberg (55 points in 73 games).
Rookie goaltending this year has also been superb. Winnipeg Jets’ Michael Hutchinson (20-9-5, 2.41 GAA, .913 save percentage) has aided the Jets into playoff contention for the first time since the team’s relocation to Manitoba. For most of the season, there was little doubt that Hutchinson was the best rookie goaltender in the league. However, a new guy, Andrew Hammond, has taken that title.
The Ottawa Senators’ 27-year-old rookie goaltender has taken the NHL by storm and has provided the Senators new life in the process. Andrew Hammond posted mediocre numbers throughout his minor league career. However, his professional stat line looks like it hails from a video game, not reality. In 16 games played, Hammond is 14-0-1 and has two shutouts. He boasts a 1.67 goals against average and .946 save percentage. If Hammond had played enough games, each of those statistics would be the best in the NHL.
Andrew “The Hamburglar” Hammond has brought fun to the Ottawa Senators, a team that was desperately in need of a spark. The Ottawa fans have developed a ritual of throwing hamburgers on the ice after a Hammond win. This ritual began after a shootout win over the Philadelphia Flyers, when Hammond picked up a McDonald’s hamburger thrown onto the ice by a fan, saluted the crowd and then tossed it to a child on his way to the locker room. Since then, Hammond has been awarded free McDonald’s for life for his service to the Ottawa fans.
More importantly, though, Hammond has brought the Senators tremendous success. Despite a slow first half to this season, the Senators the Senators have leapfrogged the Boston Bruins for the last wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. They are now a point ahead of the Bruins, and have a game in hand.
If the Senators can stay hot for just a few more weeks, they will make it to this year’s postseason alongside a host of teams who did not qualify last season.
Barring a monumental collapse, the New York Islanders will enter the postseason for the first time since the lockout shortened the 2012-13 season and just the second time since the 2006-07 season. The Nashville Predators have shattered their preseason expectations and will likely finish the season second or third in the Central Division, arguably the NHL’s most competitive. The Calgary Flames, led by the robust efforts of the 20-year-old Sean Monahan and the 21-year-old Gaudreau, may advance to the postseason for the first time since 2008-09. The Winnipeg Jets are streaking into the playoff picture due to stellar goaltending and a strong defense featuring the dynamic Dustin Byfuglien. The Vancouver Canucks and Washington Capitals both reside in playoff position, which escaped each of them last year.
However, nobody is beating the New York Rangers this postseason. This is the year Henrik “Hank” Lundqvist wins his first Stanley Cup and the first for the Blueshirts since Mark Messier’s famous “Guarantee” in 1994.
Cam Talbot has been nothing short of excellent filling in for the injured Lundqvist. The 27-year-old has gone 19-7-4 thus far as Hank’s backup, and with the help of the NHL’s strongest defense, has produced a 2.13 goals against average and a .929 save percentage. Though the Rangers are excited at the prospect of Lundqvist’s return, they are in good hands with Talbot.
The Rangers were a great team before their trade deadline deal to acquire Keith Yandle from the Arizona Coyotes. They have become an elite team with him. Yandle’s presence makes the Rangers defense the best in the National Hockey League, adding a profound offensive element to a lock-down roster including alternate captains Dan Girardi and Marc Staal and captain Ryan McDonagh.
Since Yandle’s addition, the Rangers have entered the top spot of the President’s Trophy standings, reaching the 99-point mark in fewer games than the Anaheim Ducks and the Montreal Canadiens.
The Rangers are a well-oiled machine with a fast, smart, strong forward corps, the best defense in hockey and two commanding goaltenders. They are the team to beat.
