from Scott Burnside of ESPN,

In 16 locker rooms across North America, players are looking at each other today and asking two simple questions: Why not us? Why not now?

For the 16 teams who will begin the playoffs this week -- the most difficult, dramatic playoff tournament in pro sports -- those questions will sustain them and drive them forward in the face of injury and fatigue and crises of faith and confidence. Because at the very core of what is about to unfold is this talisman: it can be them.

It can be the Washington Capitals or Vancouver Canucks or New York Rangers or Calgary Flames that find a way to ring up 16 victories over the next two months and live forever on the shiny bands of the Stanley Cup. This year more than any in recent memory the shiny truth -- a beacon on the hockey seas, if you will -- is that all things are possible for all teams, and that truth will be held close as the days and weeks unfold before the final series.

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