By Aaron Ilia Merritt

This year’s NHL Stanley Cup playoffs has been interesting, especially the first round of the playoffs have been completed.

A Stanley Cup playoff series goes until one team wins four games out of seven. The Anaheim Ducks cleanly swept the Winnipeg Jets in just four games. Anaheim will be playing the Calgary Flames, who beat the Vancouver Canucks in six games. The other western series will be the Chicago Blackhawks and the Minnesota Wild, who beat the Colorado Avalanche in game seven of the 2014 playoffs.

In the east the New York Rangers and the Washington Capitals in round two. Also, the Montreal Canadiens will play the Tampa Bay Lightning. The second round of playoffs can be the moment of truth for teams who struggled to even make it to the playoffs. Even more than the third round of playoffs.

This year has been different in that the Los Angeles Kings, the winner of last year’s Stanley Cup against the New York Rangers, did not make the playoffs this year. This is the first time ever that neither the previous  Stanley Cup winner nor the President’s Trophy (most points in a season) winner, the Boston Bruins, did not make the playoffs the following year. A lot of teams who made the playoffs last year did not make it this year, a couple being the San Jose Sharks and the New Jersey Devils.

All the standing teams this year seem to have an equal chance at hoisting the Cup above their heads in June. On any given day an underdog can take the Stanley Cup, which makes this playoff series exciting. It’s not too late to pick a team to root for, so don’t miss out on an awesome playoff experience, watch the Stanley Cup playoffs. And if your team is not in the playoffs this year, there is always next year!