With the NHl Playoffs underway the winner of Lord Stanley’s cup will soon be crowned. The NHL has existed since 1917 and there has been a Stanley cup champion every year since. The frontrunner for the cup this year has to be the New York Rangers. The Rangers have just come off their best season in franchise history with 54 wins and securing the presidents trophy. The Presidents’ Trophy is awarded to the team who amasses the most points in the regular season. They have a very good team put together ready to make a deep run into the playoffs. Other teams in the running for the Stanley cup are the Florida Panthers, the Edmonton Oilers and the Dallas Stars. All four of these teams are currently in the semi-final round of the playoffs as of writing this. 

With the NHL playoffs there always comes a wide variety of predictions on which team will win, which player will help their team the most, etc. Joseph Vecchione, a senior at Wayne Valley and a Rangers fan, had a very bold prediction that the New York Rangers would win the Stanley Cup. When questioned on why he thought this he responded saying “because they’re the best team in the league.” When asked who he thinks their MVP would be if they won, Vecchione exclaimed that Artemi Panarin would take home the Conn Smythe trophy, the award given out to the MVP in the playoffs.  

The Rangers are hands down a top candidate but they aren’t going to get it easily. When questioned on who he thought was going to win the Stanley Cup, senior Brian Szastak presumed that the Florida Panthers would take the Cup home. When inquired on why he thought this, he exclaimed, “Because they have the goaltending, the depth, and they can easily beat the Rangers.” When put to a question on who he thought the MVP would be Szastek remarked that goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky would take home the Conn Smythe.

We will have to see what will happen in the next few games!