The 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs Open Post

6/13 Update: It's over. It took six games but the scores were seemingly the only thing close in this series at the time. The Pittsburgh Penguins have fully deserved and earned the Stanley Cup in this year. They are your champions of 2015-16.  The NHL offseason will begin for everyone now.

Congratulations to the Penguins.  This post will be removed in the evening of 6/13 so get your congrats in now.  Thank you all for commenting and following along.

5/26 Update: Penguins prevailed 2-1 over Tampa Bay and dominated possession to win Game 7.  They will go to the SCFS as well.  Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

5/25 Update: Congratulations to Peter DeBoer, Paul Martin, and Dainius Zubrus (among others) for helping the San Jose Sharks organization get to their first ever Stanley Cup Finals appearance.  We will find out on 5/26 (or after if it goes late into overtime) who they will face between Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay.

Either way, the Stanley Cup Finals will begin on May 30.

4/24 Update: On February 23, I wrote the following:

They took the season series against their hated rivals and now every Devils fan can respond to the Rangers' inevitable playoff exit with the phrase, "Well, of course they got beat. They couldn't beat the Devils in the season series."

Now Our Hated Rivals have won as many Cups as the Devils have this season.  I told you so. Thank you, Penguins.

***

Another year, another NHL Playoffs will begin tonight without the New Jersey Devils.  If the goal is to lift Lord Stanley's Cup, then the Devils did not succeed. They are not even in the tournament to decide it.  It will go on without them.  Unfortunately, this year's postseason will include Our Hated Rivals and the Second Rate Rivals in addition to three other teams from the Metropolitan Division.  So what can we do here at AAtJ? We can once again indulge in what all fans in all sports enjoy, whether they admit it or not: hoping our rivals lose and lose miserably.

Therefore, consider this to be your open post for the entire 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs.  All talk about the playoffs should be in this post.  All games, all news surrounding the games, and so forth goes here.  Should you want to know the match-ups and the schedule, then go visit this page at NHL.com. Should you want any suggestions on who to cheer for, then go check out this post by Gerard. Are there any additional rooting interests? Sort of. If you really want a better third round pick, then you should want Detroit to lose their first round match up with Tampa Bay.  Given that the Devils also have Ottawa's third rounder and, well, it's a third rounder, it's not much of a benefit if they do or not.  Should you want to show someone why playoff hockey rules, well, what are you doing here? Go show them a game! It speaks for itself!

What about Albany? Their playoff run will get their own separate open post.  There should be more interest in that what with Damon Severson, Joseph Blandisi, Reid Boucher, and many more featuring for a strong Albany squad. Maybe I'll have a separate one for the World Championships in May, which will feature John Hynes coaching the United States, possibly Keith Kinkaid in net for the U.S. (congratulations on being selected), and at least Sergey Kalinin possibly appearing for Russia. If there's not much interest (let me know), then I'll just tack it onto this post.

Anyway, all site rules apply for this open post. Please don't feed the trolls.  Enjoy the postseason. Go opponents of Our Hated Rivals and the Second Rate Rivals!