by Dorothée Durivage ’28 and Pippa Jones ’28 on April 16, 2026
Sports
Lightning
Ranking No. 3 in the Atlantic Division, the Tampa Bay Lightning remain a top contender to take home the Stanley Cup. With 49 wins this season, they finished strong despite injuries taking out five of their players. Dominic James, Maxwell Crozier, and Victor Hedman have been on injured reserve and are likely out for the rest of the season, while Zemgus Girgensons and Darren Raddysh are being monitored on a day-to-day basis to see how their injuries progress. This season, they also gained more popularity when they hosted the 2026 NHL Stadium Series game. The game was held in Tampa to highlight the spread of hockey to Florida. With this season’s newfound support, the team has pressure on them to perform. Nikita Kucherov, Tampa’s leading goal scorer, has 43 goals and 85 assists. Their right wing has set a franchise record for the most assists and goals in a season. The Lightning are a team that has had consistent success within the regular season and in playoffs. They have won three Stanley Cup championships: in 2004 against the Calgary Flames, in 2020 against the Dallas Stars, and in 2021 against the Montreal Canadiens. This season they were very successful despite their challenges, affirming their strength as a team. Tampa Bay often appeared in the Eastern Conference Finals and has set NHL records, such as having the most wins in a season in their 2018–2019 season, which has since been broken by the Boston Bruins in 2023. As a hockey club, Tampa has always been dependable with their great goaltending and strong offense. Their strength as a team will carry them through the playoffs and into the championship, especially considering their experience with success in the Stanley Cup playoffs in other years.
– Pippa Jones ’28
Sports Staff
Avalanche
Having clinched the Presidents’ Trophy, the Colorado Avalanche are in a great position to win the 2026 Stanley Cup. With the start of the playoffs approaching on April 18, the Avalanche currently stand at No. 1for the regular season after 79 games and scoring 115 points. As a result of being the top regular-season team, they are guaranteed to have home-ice advantage for every playoff appearance they make. The current Avalanche team is made up of two key players who are dominating the league, giving them an edge against any opponent they face, both offensively and defensively. Halifax-born Nathan MacKinnon currently leads the NHL in goals, having scored 52 this season. When combining that number with his 74 assists, he has 126 points this season, placing him No. 3 in the league behind the Edmonton Oiler’s Connor McDavid and Tampa Bay Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov. Another strong player for the team has been Brampton-born goalie Scott Wedgewood, who has the NHL’s highest save percentage at .918 having played 43 games out of 79. Wedgewood also has the league’s lowest goals against average, sitting at 2.10.
In playoff history, Colorado has played postseason games in 21 seasons and are on a nine-year streak, having made it past the regular season every year since 2018. The Avalanche have appeared in three Stanley Cup Finals since the move from the Quebec Nordiques to the Colorado Avalanche in 1995. Out of their three appearances, the team has won all of them, winning in 1996, 2001, and 2022. Head coach Jared Bednar has been with the team since the 2016–2017 season and has taken the team to the playoffs every season except for his first and coached them through their 2022 Stanley Cup win. Coach Bednar has the experience needed to bring the trophy home again this year, making the team a very strong contender to make it all the way.
– Dorothée Durivage ’28
Sports Staff