There’s only one game left and then this miserable season will be over. While the Red Wings clean out their lockers and then hit the beaches and golf courses, sixteen other teams will carry on as they make their playoff push. We here at Wings Nation don’t plan on not watching hockey for the next two months, so we’ve all chosen which teams we’ll be cheering for. Here are the teams that some of our staff will be watching this post-season and why you should watch them too.

The Vegas Golden Knights are likely to play Anaheim or Los Angeles and are not likely they get bounced early. The West is good in general, so it’s tough to definitively peg any of the teams but VGK is super deep. While Kopitar and Doughty will be the best forward and best D-man on the ice for LA and ANA certainly has the high-end advantage at forward; Vegas seems to me to be the better team top to bottom. They don’t have any truly elite talent but they’ve found a way to be consistently good no matter who is on the ice. There are few differences between the lines and they have a few guys who-while not having elite talent-are producing at a nearly elite clip. At the end of the day, I love their story and love how they play the game. It will stink from the Red Wings perspective if they go deep but they are a good team and I expect they win this round.

When it comes to the team I’m cheering for; my heart won’t let me select any other team than the Philadelphia Flyers. Do I believe this team has what it takes to bring Lord Stanley’s Cup back to the City of Brotherly Love this year? Well, not really but they’ve been my team since the beginning, and I cannot abandon them now. However, I do feel that this team can surprise a few people and win a round, especially if the face off against the Washington Capitals in round one. They could give the likes of Tampa Bay and Boston a run for their money, as they have played well against them in the regular season. Still, I think the Lightning and Bruins would end up besting the Flyers in a seven-game series. The one franchise certainly doesn’t want to see first is the Pittsburgh Penguins. They haven’t had an answer for them all year. Anyways, this is the team that receives my support, even if their time in the postseason is short.

There will be a lot of interesting story lines when the Stanley Cup playoffs begin next week. From the Vegas Golden Knights’ first run to the Pittsburgh Penguins looking to be the first team to win three consecutive titles since the New York Islanders in the early 1980s, there will be a lot of excitement surrounding the playoffs. However, the team I will be cheering on is the Washington Capitals. While a second-round matchup against the Penguins is almost a guarantee, I’m hoping Alexander Ovechkin and the gang can finally defeat their demons and get past the second round. Nobody wants Ovechkin to end up in the same category as Dan Marino as one of the greatest players to never win a championship. It’ll be a tough road, but Ovechkin deserves to raise Lord Stanley’s Cup.

One of my favourite teams to watch this season has been the Columbus Blue Jackets, and I hope that they continue to be as entertaining as they have been throughout these upcoming playoffs. It’s a “my mind is telling me no, but my heart is telling me yes” situation. As of now, the possibility of facing either the Washington Capitals or the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round, is a terrifying sight. But a matchup that I think they can overcome with forces like Artemi Panarain, Seth Jones, Zach Werenski, Alexander Wennberg and Pierre-Luc Dubois. Who wouldn’t want to see Michigan-born and raised Werenski lift the cup? Might be a while until the Cup is in Michigan again.

Do you hear that? It’s the sound of a LIGHTNING storm brewing! After missing the post-season last year, the Bolts put up massive numbers this year to once again put themselves on top. Andrei Vasilesvkiy, though probably a little tired by now, proved that he can hang with the best of goalies. Mikhail Sergachev broke out as one of the team’s best defensemen, laughing at the Habs logo in his rearview mirror. What more can you say about Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov? Both were spectacular this year, despite battling some minor injuries.

And the architect who put it all together? Stephen Gregory Yzerman. The former Detroit Red Wing who led our franchise to three Stanley Cups in six years. Also knows as “Stevie” or, simply, “The Captain”. He was and always will be my favourite Red Wing so you’re damn right I’m cheering for him to win the Cup again.