This week starts the most important and exciting part of the hockey season, the Stanley Cup playoffs.  While normally by the end of an NHL season it’s pretty easy to guess who will be in the playoffs, this season it wasn’t quite that easy.  Because of the short season it was a toss up all the way into the playoffs.  For consistency, I’ve ranked all sixteen postseason teams the same way I have been all season, from the shoe-in Blackhawks to the barely scraping by Minnesota Wild.  I’m excited to see how the Original Six hold up against the rest of the league teams!

*Rankings based upon statistics at the close of the regular season

1.  Chicago Blackhawks (No. 1, West)

This year’s President’s Trophy winners, the Blackhawks are not surprisingly still in first place.  Goalies Corey Crawford and Ray Emery also won the William Jennings Trophy, an award for the best GAA in the NHL.  The Blackhawks have had a killer season and played consistent all year.  With so much star power on the team and pressure at their backs, the only true question is who will actually give Chicago a run for their money in the postseason.  Starting the playoffs against eighth seed Minnesota should be good practice for Round 2.  Let’s see how long Patrick Kane’s mullet can get!

2.  Pittsburgh Penguins (No.1, East)

While many feel Pittsburgh should actually be above Chicago, it’s hard to justify that when Chicago plays in a tougher conference, won the President’s trophy, and ended the regular season with a better overall record.  A lot of people are expecting Pittsburgh to walk their way to the finals, but with playoff hockey as unpredictable as can be, that’s a bold assumption.  The Penguins had a great season and earned their title of the best in the East but it’s a great disservice to teams like the Capitals and Bruins who have an equal opportunity to earn a spot in the finals.  The Penguins played, and won, against teams they could face in the playoffs in their last few games of the regular season.  Their biggest challenge will be teamwork and cohesiveness on the fly with Sidney Crosby back and the new additions to the team.

3.  Anaheim Ducks (No. 2, West)

The Ducks had a great season and played really well, but no one paid much attention to them.  They started out the season with continued talent but couldn’t really pull it together and just a few short months became the only other team besides Chicago to secure a playoff spot in the beginning of April.  Round 1 might be tough as the Ducks don’t have a great playoff history and the Red Wings seem to play magically, but with their veterans such as Ryan Getzlaf and Teemu Selanne, they should be ok.

4.  Boston Bruins (No. 4, East)

The other elite team in the East, the Bruins appear to have everything in place and are ready for a great postseason push, despite ending the regular season on a shaky note.  Adding Jaromir Jagr at the trade deadline gives this playoff worthy team an even bigger, added burst.  Boston won the 2011 Stanley Cup and are hoping for another but play their first round against Toronto, a team with a chip on their shoulder and a mission in their hearts.

5.  Montreal Canadiens (No. 2, East)

The Habs were a big story all season, coming out of nowhere and fast; then the last few weeks happened and they fell apart. The Canadiens are a big team and made a lot of effective change all season which will help them in the postseason.  Despite dropping their last few games by huge deficits, Montreal is a hard team come playoffs and their home-ice advantage won’t hurt either.

6.  St. Louis Blues (No. 4, West)

The Blues are a fast, talented, deep, and physical team this season.  When the 2012-13 NHL season started they were amongst the favorites for a Stanley Cup win.  Unfortunately, in a division with the Blackhawks, they Blues were in a bit over their heads.  They struggled some but were able to breeze their way into the postseason as it turned out.  Downside of their seeding?  They’ll start the postseason playing defending champs Los Angeles. The Blues have a cohesive team though and should be able to give teams a run for their money.

7.  Los Angeles Kings (No. 5, West)

For a defending champion, the Kings tried really hard to not even make the playoffs this year.  Unlike last year and their eighth seed entrance, they’re a little higher up this year but potentially still just as unlikely.  The Kings slow start and slow finish to the season lost them the home advantage, but that didn’t seem to make much difference last year.  We’ll see...

8.  Vancouver Canucks (No. 3, West)

The Canucks had a pretty up and down season, but are efficient at making a final playoff push.  With questionable losses at the end of the season to lowly teams like the Oilers and blowouts against Dallas and Edmonton, however, give a person reason to pause and question their longevity this postseason.  Vancouver has been riddled by injury and illness all season but will go into the Cup chase with goalie Cory Schneider at the helm and Ryan Kesler back on the ice, despite missing 30 games this season.

9.  San Jose Sharks (No. 6, West)

Besides starting out with a record breaking season, the Sharks played well overall this year.  At the start of the season everyone expected to see the Sharks in the postseason and that never really changed.  As of late people have started to write them off after a few late-season crushings by teams like the Stars and Columbus, but San Jose definitely still stands a chance.  With lowered standards they’re bound to turn out a great playoff performance.

10.  Washington Capitals (No. 3, East)

The Capitals started this season all over the place, not playing as a team, and looking old and worn down.  Alexander Ovechkin looked like he didn’t belong on the ice anymore and by the end of the season was a goal-a-game player and amongst the league’s leaders for scoring.  The Capitals won eight out of their last 10 games, clinched their divisional lead, third seed, and beat teams like Toronto and Boston along the way.  Washington went from a team who was in the playoffs by default to a team others are really going to have to take seriously this postseason.

11.  Toronto Maple Leafs (No. 5, East)

Their last Stanley Cup win was 1967; their last time making the postseason, 2004.  Maybe this is the year for the Maple Leafs, but either way, they’re finally back in the postseason giving it a shot.  The Leafs had a lot of ups and downs this season both having big wins and losses against the same teams, such as the Rangers.  Like everyone else this season, Toronto has had a few embarrassing losses too.  Currently there isn’t much going for or against the Maple Leafs right now; their postseason is a toss up.

12.  Detroit Red Wings (No. 7, West)

Despite having an overall bad season, Michigan can rest easy knowing that the Red Wings squeaked into the playoffs, their 22nd year in a row.  Detroit didn’t have much of anything notable happen this year other than a couple painful losses to Calgary and Phoenix.  The fact that they’ve played in so many consecutive playoffs (against many odds) and that they’re starting out against Anaheim who hasn’t won a series since ‘08 could make this Red Wings team formidable.

13.  New York Rangers (No. 6, East)

When the lockout ended and hockey started, fans expected the Rangers to easily make the playoffs.  Although a talented team, they played without much effort all season and it showed.  Their last season rebuild seems to be what made the team and put them into the postseason.  With Henrik Lundqvist on the ice and raring to go, the Rangers should be okay.  They’re in at least.

14.  Minnesota Wild (No. 8, West)

Midseason the Wild looked like they’d be clinching the division title but ended up falling so far down as to just barely scraping a spot into the playoffs.  They’re a young team, with good talent, but they just aren’t quite at the level of veteran teams yet.  Ryan Suter and Zach Parise are huge for the Wild and definitely helped earn them a spot; Niklas Backstrom in net doesn’t hurt.  The Wild are on a push and are proving their worth, but they start the postseason against the mighty Blackhawks so it’ll be a tough road for this group.  Losing Backstrom in warm-ups Tuesday night of Game 1 will definitely add some tension to this young Minnesota team.

15.  New York Islanders (No. 8, East)

The Islanders have a few star players like John Tavares, mixed with youngsters, a group of veterans, and a few trades making them a jumbled team, but a jumbled team who still snuck into the playoffs.  This will be their first time in six years.  Islanders are a team with a lot of notoriety without much reason and they played unnoteworthy teams this season, so although they are in the playoffs, I’m not expecting much from them.

16.  Ottawa Senators (No. 7, East)

Last but not least, we’ve got the Senators.  They were late bloomers this season, one of those teams who although doing poorly had potential to turn their season around.  They did, more or less, and had some big wins this past month including a 4-2 win over Boston; it never hurts to win a Stanley Cup championship team.  However, the Senators also had some pretty bad losses to some of this year’s worst teams.  With both defenseman Erik Karlsson and league leading goaltender Craig Anderson back on the ice, the Senators could definitely come out with some upsets this postseason.