The NHL playoffs schedule for 2014 starts this week and the postseason dates begin on Wednesday on TV and the east and west series have some great matchups with teams, including the Detroit Red Wings taking on the Boston Bruins, while the Chicago Blackhawks will start their Stanley Cup defense against the St. Louis Blues in the western conference, with the Bruins and Anaheim Ducks as the top overall seeds in each side.
The playoffs start up on Wednesday and Thursday and the coverage this year comes from NBC, the NBC Sports Network and TSN and so far the league is very happy with the series matchups and the playoff format that started this season. There are division winners in each conference along with the second place teams and the next two teams in the standings regardless of division are the wild card winners and they will be matched up with the higher seeded teams in the first round.
The new format has been exciting pushing towards the finish and it has the top three teams in each division getting into the playoffs from the east and west and then the next two teams are judged by total points for the wild card and it still works out to eight teams per conference. This year the format has the top seed in each of the divisions playing the wild card teams in the conference, while the second and third seeds in the divisions play against each other in the opening round and that should make for some great matchups, including an old rivalry in the NY Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers.
The Eastern conference has the Detroit Red Wings against the Boston Bruins, as they were the second wild card and they are matching up with the top overall seed in the east. The Bruins dominated the east with 117 points and they came in ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Montreal Canadiens as the top seeds in the division. The Canadiens are number three and they are playing against the other division winner in the Lightning and that should be a tough matchup as well.
The Columbus Blue Jackets are the first wild card in the east and they are playing against a division champion in the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won the Atlantic over the Rangers and Flyers. New York had a very solid finish to the season and now they are the number two division seed from the Atlantic and they will have home ice advantage against the Flyers as they renew their classic rivalry.
The West matchups are very good as well and that will have the Anaheim Ducks taking on the Dallas Stars as the conference leaders and they are against the second wild card in the west. The San Jose Sharks were a division number two finisher and they play against the Los Angeles Kings and will have home ice in that series. The Wild are the number one wild card and they play against the Colorado Avalanche, while the Chicago Blackhawks are the number three division team and they are battling with the St. Louis Blues, who finished ahead of them in the division.
The teams in the east and west will be looking to win 16 games to take the Stanley Cup and now the Hawks come in as Stanley Cup champions as they defend their title.
