The Predators have the Presidents’ Trophy Luke Schenn Jersey Womens , and the NHL-expansion Golden Knights carry the buzz entering the Western Conference playoffs, which have the potential of resembling nothing from the past.So step aside Chicago, which missed the playoffs for the first time in nine years, and say bye to the Blues, whose six-year playoff run is over.The changing of the West’s guard begins at the top, where Nashville clinched its first Central Division title by running away with the league’s best record. And then there’s Vegas, which broke every measureable NHL expansion record for success by going 51-24-7 to win the Pacific Division.Add in the talent-laden Winnipeg Jets, making their franchise’s third playoff appearance, and youth-filled Colorado Avalanche, who clinched their second berth in eight years, and it results in three of four first-time postseason matchups: Nashville versus Colorado, Vegas versus Los Angeles and Winnipeg facing Minnesota.The fourth matchup has Anaheim facing San Jose for only the second time after the Ducks eliminated the Sharks in six games during a 2009 first-round series.Of the eight teams, only three have won the Stanley Cup (Colorado Zach Bogosian Jersey Womens , Anaheim and Los Angeles), while two have never won a playoff game (Vegas and Winnipeg, formerly Atlanta).The weight of expectations falls mostly on the Predators , who won’t be underestimated a year after the eighth-seeded team’s surge to the Final ended in a six-game loss to Pittsburgh. It was a run Nashville began against Chicago in becoming the first team to sweep a No. 1 seed in the opening round since the current playoff format was set in 1994.”I think our guys are well aware of what went on last year,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. ”For me, this group is looking down the tunnel at something, and all that other stuff is noise.”That’s not to say Laviolette didn’t play the ”everyone’s picking Chicago” card as motivation a year ago.”I might have used it,” he said with a wink.The Avalanche know their history, with forward Gabriel Landeskog listing how several No. 8 seeds have made deep playoff runs, including the 2012 Cup champion Kings.”Anything can happen in the playoffs. That’s kind of the mindset we’ve had,” Landeskog said of the Avalanche , who enjoyed a 47-point turnaround after finishing last a year ago. ”This is a big accomplishment to make after such a tough season. We’re not done.”PREDATORS vs AVALANCHENashville finished seventh in the league with 261 goals without any player scoring 30. The Predators’ balanced attack is fueled by a group of speedy, playmaking defensemen who combined for a league-best 206 points (56 goals Scott Wedgewood Jersey Womens , 150 assists). Pekka Rinne went 42-13-4 to finish third in victories, and his 2.31 goals-against average was third among goalies playing 40 or more games.Though Nashville has won 10 straight against Colorado, beware of the Presidents’ Trophy curse. Of the 31 teams to finish first since 1986 when the trophy was established, only eight have won the Cup, the last being Chicago in 2013.Nathan MacKinnon entered the MVP discussion by leading Colorado with 97 points, including a league-leading 12 game-winning goals. Colorado tied with Arizona with the youngest roster at 25.8 years old.GOLDEN KNIGHTS vs KINGSA Golden Knights team put together with other teams’ discards spent the season using a ”why not us?” mantra in setting expansion-team records for most wins (51), home wins (29), road wins (22) and longest point streak (10-0-2). Vegas features six 20-goal-scorers, including trade-deadline addition Tomas Tatar.The Golden Knights closed the season 6-3-2, with the regulation losses coming against non-playoff teams: Arizona, Edmonton and Calgary. Marc Andre-Fleury went 29-13-4, but allowed six goals on 18 shots in a season-ending 7-1 loss at Calgary.The defensive-minded Kings allowed a league-low 202 goals and had the league’s best penalty-killing unit. Jonathan Quick’s 2.40 goals-against average was sixth among goalies appearing in 40 games.JETS vs WILDThe Jets closed their most successful season in both victories and points on a 20-5-1 run, including winning the final nine home games. Winnipeg is still searching for its first playoff victory after being swept in two previous appearances: by Anaheim in 2015 Conor Sheary Jersey Womens , and by the Rangers in 2007, when Jets were based in Atlanta.Paul Stastny’s trade-deadline addition provided the NHL’s second-best offense with six 50-plus point producers. Third-year goalie Connor Hellebuyck went 44-11-9, and broke the single-season record for victories by U.S.-born goalies set by Tom Barrasso.The Wild limp into their sixth straight playoff appearance with defensemen Ryan Suter (broken right ankle) and Jared Spurgeon (torn right hamstring) sidelined, though Spurgeon is expected back from a 17-game absence in this series. Eric Staal’s 76 points (42 goals, 34 assists) were third-most in team history.DUCKS vs SHARKSThe Ducks earned home-ice advantage with a 3-0 season-ending win over Arizona, coupled with the Sharks’ season-ending 6-3 loss to Minnesota. Anaheim went 25-10-4 since the bye break, and is 14-1-2 at home since Jan. 23. Goalie John Gibson went 21-7-3 in his final 31 decisions, but missed the final week and is listed day to day with an upper body injury.The Sharks went 19-13-3 over their final 35 games since Joe Thornton was sidelined with a knee injury. Martin Jones allowed five goals on 19 shots against Minnesota, and is 1-4 in his past five while allowing 17 goals.CONFERENCE FINAL PREDICTIONNashville over Anaheim in five games. Nashville’s too deep and talented to avoid a letdown, while the Ducks have the experience to get through the injury-depleted Pacific and untested Vegas. Too bad the Predators and Jets face a potential second-round matchup more befitting of a West final.—AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno and sports writers Teresa M. Walker and Pat Graham contributed.— WASHINGTON (AP) — Cameras followed Willie O’Ree’s every move and flashbulbs popped as the hockey pioneer toured the Smithsonian’s Museum of African American History and Culture.When the player who broke the NHL’s color barrier in 1958 stood next to a statue of Jackie Robinson, Commissioner Gary Bettman paused to take his phone out and snap a few photos of his own. O’Ree and Bettman have attended countless events together over the past two decades, but this tour on the opening day of the season and a month before they’re inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame together was a unique opportunity for an influential newsmaker to immerse himself in hundreds of years of history.“It brought back a lot of memories for me,” O’Ree said Wednesday. “My grandparents Tage Thompson Jersey Womens , they were slaves, and then bringing up to date, it’s just amazing. I had a few tears in my eyes there.”With Bettman by his side, O’Ree wiped tears from his eyes as sports curator Damion Thomas talked about the small buildings slaves slept in in after picking cotton from sunrise to sunset. He stopped to read about Michael Jordan’s influence and got a kick out of a story about Chuck Berry driving a red Cadillac on stage to perform at St. Louis’ Fox Theatre.Memories came flooding back in a room featuring a picture of one of Robinson’s games in Atlanta with so many people packed into the stadium that some were on the field. O’Ree sat down in one of the replica seats from Ebbets Field and recalled meeting Robinson in the dugout after a game at age 14 and telling him he played not only baseball but hockey, too.“He remarked that, ‘I didn’t know that there were any black kids playing hockey,'” O’Ree said. “I said, ‘Yeah, there’s a few.'”Thirteen years later when O’Ree was playing professional hockey in Los Angeles, a coach introduced him to Robinson. Or, rather, re-introduced him.“Mr. Robinson turned around and said, ‘Willie O’Ree Dalton Prout Jersey Womens , aren’t you the young fella I met in Brooklyn?'” O’Ree said. “So he remembered me from 1949 to 1962 and that made a big impact on me.”O’Ree’s impact is still being felt today as there are now more than two dozen black players in the NHL. There isn’t yet anything about the Canadian-born O’Ree in the museum, though that could change after he and Bettman got to experience what it was all about.“This museum is amazing,” Bettman said. “As a bit of a history buff, there’s so much I didn’t know and that I was learning and it’s clear to me that I have to come back. But as importantly to be able to experience this with Willie, special doesn’t begin to describe it.”O’Ree, 82, also wants to return with his family after getting only 90 minutes or so to walk around. But those were some important minutes for the museum itself with a living legend in its hallways.“It was an honor to tour through the museum with Willie,” Thomas said. “You’re not just sharing history with a member of the public, but you’re sharing history with a history maker. So, what you hope that you’re able to do in the museum is to have people see their contributions in a much larger light, have people be able to see how their contributions connect to other parts of history.”
