You can take a wild guess and still be dead wrong. It’s what makes playoff hockey so fun.

It’s Colorados Cup to lose. My money is still with them …

I always like to see what seems like the most “interesting” team to watch.

The Buffalo Sabres haven’t been in the playoffs since 2011. They have the all-time record “drought” for the playoffs, missing 14 in a row.

They’re in a three-way tie right now for second-best record in the league. Interesting!

They also haven’t ever won a Stanley Cup. They and the Vancouver Canucks are the oldest active franchises that have never won a cup.

Buffalo has been to the Stanley Cup finals three times, in 1974-1975, 1979-1980, and 1998-1999. So even that’s been a really long time.

As an aside, Buffalo is an interesting sports town because they also have an extraordinary American football team that went to the championship game four times in a row and lost (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994). No other team has even played four in a row, let alone lost all four.

Corey Perry’s team has lost in the stanley cup finals 6 years in a row*. He’s back on the Lightning this season and they’re looking strong. I predict the curse continues.

* ok technically the streak was broken in 2023 when Tampa got bounced by the Leafs, but the fact the Leafs won a playoff series at all makes that season such a historical aberration it deserves an asterisk.