Western Conference playoff preview

About this episode

The episode previews the Western Conference Stanley Cup playoff matchups and discusses first round picks.

On a special edition of The Athletic Hockey Show, the guys preview all four Western Conference Stanley Cup playoff matchups, discuss what to expect when the postseason begins on Saturday, and make their first round picks to close out the show. This episode was recorded live at 11:30am ET on April 17, 2026. Hosts: Jesse Granger and Sean McIndoe With: Mark Lazerus, Michael Russo, Thomas Drance, and Scott Wheeler Executive Producer: Chris Flannery Producer: Chris Flannery Watch full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theathletichockeyshow Join our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/VTm9VjkF Subscribe to The Athletic: https://theathletic.com/hockeyshow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Hosts: Jesse Granger, Sean McIndoe

Guests: Mark Lazerus, Michael Russo, Thomas Drance, Scott Wheeler

Topics covered

• Western Conference
• Stanley Cup playoffs
• hockey analysis
• postseason preview
• first round picks

Keywords

• Western Conference
• Stanley Cup
• playoffs
• hockey
• postseason
• matchups
• analysis

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Athletic

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