Neat Stuff

The topic: assorted semi-interesting facts about the second round of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs. And....go!

With a 2/8 matchup and a 3/4 matchup in the West, and a 1/7 matchup and a 5/6 matchup in the East, the second round this year contains exactly one team of each seed number (1-8).

In the West, Kings are the only team that pulled off an upset. In the East, the Rangers are the only team that didn't suffer one.

The Rangers are moving on from defeating the team from Canada's capital city to try and defeat the team from America's capital city.

Three of the final four teams left standing in the East are from the Atlantic Division. If the Rangers win their series, the Conference Finals will be an intra-divisional matchup. (THOUGHT EXERCISE: How much less exciting would these Playoffs be after realignment? Answer in 500 words or less.)

The four teams remaining in the East are separated by a maximum of just over 200 miles (about 4 and a half hours by car). The four remaining teams in the West are separated by over 2000 miles (about 4 and a half hours by airplane).

Remember how three of the remaining teams in the Playoffs are from the Atlantic Division? Well, none of the other five has ever won the Cup before.