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5/29 UPDATE: Well, well, well.
Where's your ring, King Nothing?
— John Fischer (@JKFischer) May 30, 2015
Congratulations to the Tampa Bay Lightning for winning the Prince of Wales Trophy. Chicago-Anaheim tomorrow at 8 PM EDT to decide the Clarence Campbell Trophy.
For the sake of transparency (and not wanting to re-write the whole thing), the original post follows:
Once again, the New Jersey Devils are not a part of the postseason. Tonight will begin the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs and it will not include the Devils. However, playoff hockey rates about 73 on a scale of 1 to 10 for sports entertainment. So in the interest for those wanting to follow the playoffs, this is an open post for all users to discuss the playoff games from the first round all the way to the final game. Here's a schedule for the first round; future rounds will be determined based on those results. All site rules apply. Please don't feed the trolls.
For those who want some guidance who to root for, here's my suggestions.
For Want of a Better Pick: Detroit's pick the Devils got from the Marek Zidlicky trade is conditional on Detroit's playoff success this year. If the Red Wings get to the Eastern Conference Finals, then they get their third round pick in 2016 and their fifth rounder in 2015. If they get to the Stanley Cup Finals, they don't get that fifth rounder, but the third round pick in 2016 is upgraded to a second round pick in 2016. So if you want that Zidlicky trade to yield value, then you would want the Red Wings to go all the way.
Fourteen Other Options: I leave it to you to decide who you like among the rest. You could go support low-Corsi squads like Montreal and Calgary. You could cheer on mediocrity with Vancouver. You could root for more local squads like whoever is left on Pittsburgh, an Islanders team trying to play above their sub-average goaltending, or a Washington squad that's been hot and surely won't cool down, oh no, not at all. Or a good team in the West. Whatever. There is only really hate-able team that isn't worth your brain cells to even consider supporting.
That Fifteenth Team...You Know, Our Hated Rivals: ABR. That's all I have to say about that.
Additionally, the IIHF World Championships will begin in Prague and Ostrava, Czech Republic on May 1. As of right now, Tuomo Ruutu is the only Devil committed to playing for his country as Tom Gulitti reported on Monday. When those games begin, please feel free to also discuss it in this very post.