NHL playoff odds

If March Madness just ended, then Spring Madness begins tonight, with the two-month ride that is the NHL playoffs. In no other sport is the phrase “second season” more appropriate, and while it would be demeaning to past Stanley Cup winners to call the postseason a complete crapshoot, it is fair to say that what you did prior to this no longer matters and that anyone—down to the lowest seeds in the bracket—can win the Cup if they can put it all together for a good, sustained run. TheSportsNotebook offers its final preview of the 2012 NHL playoffs, with a listing of each team’s odds to win both their conference and the Cup, links to the first-round preview articles we’ve been running the last two days and predictions as to how the bracket will ultimately play out.