The Hockey News Playoff Preview 2018 - May 14, 2018

YEARS AGO, BEFORE THE beard was mature enough to be fashionably straggly and the hair too young to tinge grey, Alex Ovechkin, when asked by a THN reporter about his NHL success, replied simply, “Cups is Cups.” At 32 and enjoying another exceptional season, as our Matt Larkin explores in a story beginning on pg. 26, Ovechkin is still hunting for Cups, err, Cup. It’s a blank space on an otherwise immaculate resume. It also puts him in a class of his own. He is undeniably the best player to never win an NHL crown. His three Hart Trophies are all the proof we need. Of the eight men to win three or more MVPs, Ovechkin is the only one without a Cup. The others accomplished it at least twice, each…

Future looks bright I am really glad to hear a true fan bought The Hockey News. As a fan who sometimes gets bored with all the Connor Mc-David and Sidney Crosby features that permeate the media, I really enjoy the well-written stories about hockey’s lesserknown players from the NHL, minors and around the world that only THN provides, such as Graeme Roustan’s childhood experiences. I was hooked on THN since I was a kid. When our family bought a piano, I was forced to get lessons. I remember being dropped off in a bad mood for my first lesson when I noticed all these hockey newspapers in the waiting room. From then on I would show up an hour early to get my hockey fix, and the teacher’s husband let me…

When the playoffs begin in Smashville, Shea Weber will sneak into the Preds lineup in a fake mustache just to see if anyone notices. – @GGriggs7 Fergie is picked to sing the Canadian anthem before Game 7 between Winnipeg and New Jersey. She sings the French national anthem by mistake. – Chad Siewert The Vegas Golden Knights make it to the Stanley Cup final where they take down the Pittsburgh Penguins. In a twist of fate, Marc-Andre Fleury is suspended as the result of a gambling scandal and doesn’t get the chance to beat his old team and doesn’t get his name on the Cup. – Thomas Gillen @PKSubban1 has cool and minty breath all playoffs long thanks to a healthy rinsing of Scope prior to every game. – @Phil_Blond The Cup-winning goal will…

WHEN THE NHL DECIDED to expand to Vegas, most GMs were faced with a pick-your-poison scenario when it came to managing their rosters. Either they were going to lose a pretty good player or they were going to have to part with assets to keep that from happening. Some teams did the former, others the latter, and we’re seeing the results in a Golden Knights team that has both set records for expansion success and built up a cachet of futures that is the envy of many NHL clubs. When the NHL expands – yes, we said when, not if – to Seattle, likely in time for 2020-21, teams will once again be faced with the same vexing decisions. But unlike last summer when GMs had to navigate the first expansion…

BACKUP GOES BEAST MODE CAM WARD, 2006 Martin Gerber set a franchise record for wins in the regular season, but he got the hook in favor of rookie Ward after the first-place Canes dropped two straight home games to start the post-season. Ward posted a .920 save percentage and became the fourth rookie goalie to win playoff MVP. Unlike the others, he wasn’t even a starter when the post-season began. REVIVING A DYNASTY BILL RANFORD, 1990 It was supposed to be Grant Fuhr’s team, but a shoulder injury ended his season, putting immense pressure on relative unknown Ranford to help the Oilers prove they could win The Big One without The Great One. Ranford’s crusade of acrobatic saves in the 1990 playoffs is the stuff of legend. RON VERSUS THE WORLD RON HEXTALL, 1987 The Conn Smythe wasn’t…

THIS SUMMER, ONE NHL franchise will throw a wicked Stanley Cup party. Speeches will be made, someone will accidentally curse, and all the fans in attendance will take the next day off work. It’ll be fun – unless it’s not your team. But not all fan misery is created equal. Some cities have suffered for decades, while others can still remember the good times. Some have no glory to speak of and, even worse, very little hope in the present. Here’s our ranking of the most-to leasttortured NHL fan bases. 1. ST. LOUIS BLUES The oldest franchise without a Cup hasn’t reached the final since the first years after expansion. And those shouldn’t even count since the playoff format guaranteed an expansion team a final berth. 2. BUFFALO SABRES Buffalo doesn’t just have losses,…