The National Hockey League’s regular season has ended, meaning the time of year that all hockey fans look forward to is finally here: the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Sixteen teams, three from each of the four divisions, as well as two wildcard teams from each conference, will face off in seven game series in order to crown a champion.

One of the top teams in the Atlantic division is our hometown team, the Boston Bruins, who finished the regular season tied for second place in the league. The B’s finished the season with a record of 49-24-9. The first round of the playoffs had the Bruins playing the Toronto Maple Leafs, who finished third in the Atlantic division and seventh place overall. The Bruins were able to beat the Maple Leafs in game seven of the series, winning 5-1.

Junior Erin Gershuny is excited about the Bruins’ playoff hopes this year, saying “I can’t wait to watch the B’s play. They’re a good team, and there’s like only a few teams that I think could play against them.”

The Bruins’ offense is led by 100 point scorer Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, and long-time Bruin Patrice Bergeron, whom had 81 and 79 points respectively. The rest of the forwards are filled up with big name players such as David Backes, Charlie Coyle, and Marcus Johansson, as well as some talented young players like Jake Debrusk, and Danton Heinen.

The defense on the Bruins is led by captain Zdeno Chara who plays alongside the young stud Charlie McAvoy. The second defensive pair is Torey Krug, who led the defense with 53 points in the regular season, and Brandon Carlo. The third pair of defense is Matt Grzelcyk and Steven Kampfer.

Tukka Rask is the starting netminder for the B’s. Rask started 45 games during the regular season, earning a 27-13-5 record. His 2.48 goals against average is puts him in 11th place for goalies that have played at least 30 games in the season. With a save percentage of .912, Rask ranks in the top 25 for goalies that have played more than 30 games throughout the season.

Senior Sam Rennick is also ready for the playoffs. “The Bruins are going all the way. The only team that will compete with them are the Pens in the Eastern Conference Finals, but the B’s are winning in seven.”

After defeating Toronto, the Bruins are now playing the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Eastern Conference semifinals. This series is currently 2-1 in favor of Columbus after they were able to hold on to a one goal lead in game 3. The Blue Jackets are one of the wildcard teams, coming off a big round one win against the top team in the league, the Tampa Bay Lightning. Although they were by far underdogs in the series, Columbus swept the Lightning in one of the biggest upsets ever.  This gives Columbus a lot of momentum, but junior Michael Beevers says, “It won’t help them. The Bruins are a lot better and will beat them easily. The series will go at most five games.”

If the Bruins are able to beat the Blue Jackets they will have one more round to go before they can compete against the winner of the Western Conference for the Stanley Cup. The Eastern Conference finals would have the Bruins playing either the Carolina Hurricanes, or the New York Islanders. The Hurricanes are coming off a round one victory against the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Washington Capitals, while the New York Islanders were able to sweep the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round. The series between the two teams is currently 2-0 in favor of the Hurricanes.