Podcast

The host discusses the upcoming NHL playoffs for the Stanley Cup. There are 16 teams in each conference, and the top 8 from each conference will qualify for the playoffs. The Eastern Conference is currently battling for the last wildcard spot. The host emphasizes the importance of experience in winning the playoffs. The playoffs consist of a best-of-seven series, and there are no shootouts in playoff hockey, only continuous overtime. Coaches have a different strategy for playoffs compared to the regular season. The host believes that any team has a chance to win the Stanley Cup this year, but mentions the Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche, and New York Rangers as top contenders. The determination and intensity of the players make the playoffs exciting to watch. The host concludes by encouraging viewers to tune in to the playoffs starting on April 20th. What's up my fellow hockey fans and players this is your host Aiden Bergey on Score Now and today's episode we're going to focus on the NHL playoffs for the Stanley Cup run. As right now the hockey season is coming to a close with every team only having about one or two games left before on April 20th the playoffs have begun and I'm not the one to say this start off the bat but this race to the Stanley Cup playoffs has been really hectic in the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. For those who don't know hockey in the NHL that much the National Hockey League has two different conferences the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference each have 32 teams total like as a whole in the league but in each conference there are 16 teams total and then there's the Metro Division, the Atlantic Division, the Pacific Division and the Central Division. Two divisions in the West have eight teams in it for each conference and for the playoffs to qualify you need to have the most amount of points per game in order to qualify and eight teams on each side will qualify which will give us 16 teams to go to the Stanley Cup Finals and right now we have almost every single team qualify for the playoffs but we're still waiting on the wild roller coaster for the Eastern Conference to qualify where there's four teams currently battling out for the last wildcard spot being the Detroit Whaling, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals. Those four teams are in an absolute war battle to try to get that last spot and what's most interesting I believe right now is all these teams are playing each other to battle out for that last point and I do think that this coming week it will be an absolute blast to watch any of these teams play because they're going to give it all they got to the playoffs and I'm so excited for that. Unfortunately we couldn't have our guest speakers on today's podcast due to some complications but I'm here to tell you that what I personally think for this upcoming playoff run to win the playoffs for non-hockey fans and players you need the grit, you need the experience, you need it all, the whole mindset, the whole thing to in order to win but I think the most crucial thing is you think of star power and all these other contributing x-factors is great but if you the one thing that will win you a title is having the experience because if you have the experience, the will of wanting to win, then you can push your team forward over the hump to get to the East round. As also for the non-hockey fans and players, how the playoffs work compared to other leagues so each team when everybody qualifies so the eight teams in the East will face each other and the other eight teams in the West and they'll just keep winning winning until one team on the West will come out and one team on the East will come out and face each other in the final but each series can include a seven game so it's a seven game series where you have to win four out of the seven in order to qualify to the next round and you may think oh if I lose one game I can just bounce back no as a former hockey player myself in the current hockey player I still play to this day I firmly believe you cannot take every game with a grain of salt you have to give it all you got give it a 110% in order to win every game so if let's just say the Rangers right now with my favorite team is the New York Rangers and I'm not being unbiased because I really do love this team but for the Rangers we're just they're just waiting for that last wildcard team so if they were going to play the Penguins the Flyers the Capitals the Redwings just because they're not having a great season like them I think the Rangers can't take if we lose one game we'll just get them next time no when it playoff hockey happens all the emotions the physicality all the aspects from the regular season go up on a completely different level so in order to level yourself off with that kind of play you need to really be focused in order to win so as an example last year the Rangers played the Devils in the playoffs and unfortunately they lost in a game 7 which was very unfortunate the reason why I find it unfortunate is because the unfortunate part about it is when you think about this kind of things with like the Rangers and Devils Heat Arrival, the Hudson River Rivalry it was big the Rangers went up 2-0 and they thought yeah we can beat these guys we don't have to worry about them however they got too cocky and overconfident and they're like they just absolutely lost the next three in a row they're up 2-0 see if you get a league in the playoffs like you have to say I'm gonna go win four in a row usually you want to try to win four in a row but if you can't win four in a row it's it's tough though trust me it goes back and forth because it starts two games home then you're two games away then home away home away you try and get the best regular season record or not have hall-mice advantage and I think that's very important the playoffs because your fans will support you no matter what if you're not playing so good they'll make you feel better so I think the fans in the game have a big impact today if that's cheering your team on or doing some little chirping there and back with the other players I find it funny but I do think though a big contributing factor in the playoffs is having your home rink having your fans behind your backs and having the confidence to play in front of them however what I would say what makes it extra hard with hockey compared to other sports for playoffs is there's no rest like you play a game once then you travel the next day you play a game and it's not like the regular season where most teams aren't that physical but in the playoffs they really turn them up and it's like there's big hits there's fighting there's all this conflict of interest it's like these players are built and they just like machines they want to win they will hit you guys they'll do anything they need to do to get that puck in the net but I find it more interesting is in the playoffs there's um unfortunately there is no shootout after you know like a tie what you would go to the shootout you know to do like a penalty shootout there's none of that in playoff hockey it's only overtime it's continuous overtime so someone gets that goal so it's all pedal to the metal and you gotta do whatever you gotta take but I do find it very interesting that coaches how they approach this like in their playoff strategy their playoff strategy is way different than their regular season strategy because you got to focus on their star players their goalies they got to focus on all their team format because if you have to think we're playing these guys at least four times what's what can we do to beat these guys there has to be a way to beat these guys and I personally think that that's why it takes a lot to win but in my opinion how I think the Stanley Cup playoffs will go this year I think it's anybody's game like this year every single team is balanced out to an extent where they have star players all over and it's not just one mega super team that's going to destroy everybody so I would love to see my Rangers win the Stanley Cup this year but I just don't think they can do it personally because I just think there's so many better players on different teams that they can easily win but um what I do think that's very interesting this year compared to last year is that how balanced out every team is just because they're better in the regular season they'll bring players back from like I out like on injury report and all these like other scenarios so it's not like oh yeah they're a pushover we can definitely beat these guys also the confidence is key to beat any team you need to have confidence in yourself your teammates your coaches your whole organization that in order to get over the next hump so I personally think that if you're telling me who's gonna win the Stanley Cup and who's gonna win the Stanley Cup I don't know I'm gonna root for my team and that's all I can personally do but if it comes to all other teams it's a good it's gonna be a good guess I mean I'd love to say the Boston Bruins if they're another top team the Rangers might have to play eventually but I think the Rangers the Colorado Avalanche and the Boston Bruins have the best chances to win the Stanley Cup because I think that they have experience of winning a lot of playoff series and Stanley Cups recently so I think that that player and mindset still is there so they have the confidence to win another one in the next few years but the one thing I will say with the determination in this league it's no joke it's like these guys want it they're like oh we lost like I said before we don't want to lose any games we just want to be on a roll and the more you're on a roll the more positivity in each locker room you said okay we can beat the next opponents we face and you know what we have the hearts to win each game so they'll put their body on the line the block shots they'll do anything they can in order to win the Stanley Cup I just love this sport so much because the intensity is there and it's just all the emotions from everybody just they just want it like they just they play all season for they just want it it's gonna be a battle to get you through each round but they just want it so badly so it's really fun to see but uh for the most part I do believe that the fans have a big outcome on it too but as I wrapped up this episode I know I couldn't make it this long but this is just a little you know if you're ever interested April 20th is that some playoffs start and once the playoffs start the roll you know definitely to tune in because it's gonna have you'll get an adrenaline rush just for watching on TV but if you're lucky to see them in person the games absolutely electric the atmosphere the fans the players it's just a whole different scenario if you think if you watch the Super Bowl this year it's oh that's just one game that's electric the Stanley Cup playoffs that's like seven games in a series and all these games play at the same time it's just the atmosphere and everything's so electric about it and it's just amazing to watch these players go all in on their on their teams and it's just yeah well yeah thanks for tuning in on my episode score now on the cup run and I hope for you guys to watch the playoffs or in April 20th thank you for your time and go Rangers