Open Thread: NBA & NHL Playoffs

What up TOC Nation? Here by demand (to be determined if popular) is an open thread for you all to chat about any and all sports currently going on. Right now, the NBA and NHL playoffs are both into their 2nd rounds.

In the NHL, the first round saw the elimination of the Boston Bruins, who just set the regular season record for most points ever, the Colorado Avalanche, who were defending champions, and the Tampa Bay Lightning, who had been to 3 straight Stanley Cup Finals. The second-round matchups are Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes vs. New Jersey Devils, Seattle Kraken vs. Dallas Stars, and Vegas Golden Knights vs. Edmonton Oilers. With 2 teams still in it, maybe this will be the year Canada ends its drought. Last team from the great north to win it all was the 1993 Montreal Canadiens.

In the NBA, we saw 4 lower seeds win their first-round matchups. The second round is well underway, with each series being at least one game in. In the east, Miami Heat and New York Knicks are even at 1-1, while Philadelphia 76ers are up 1-0 on Boston Celtics. And in the west, Denver Nuggets are up 2-0 on Phoenix Suns, while the L.A. Lakers took game 1 from the Golden State Warriors. If I were to make one prediction about these 2nd round series, I would say that the LAL/GSW series is going 7. But based on everything that has happened so far in these playoffs, I can’t feel comfortable making any prediction about who is winning any of these series.

Feel free to shout out your predictions in the comments. Share observations about the games as they happen. This thread is not limited to these events. If there are other sports going on right now and something crazy happens, please share that with everyone.

Enjoy your television watching.