Sixteen teams. Four rounds. Two conferences. One champion. It is that time of year: the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs are officially underway. The playoffs in the NHL follow a best-of-7 format (first team to win four games advances to the next round). This year, the playoffs have provided some incredibly entertaining hockey games. They have also had their fair share of upsets, which include 7-seeds, Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators, defeating 2-seeds, Anaheim Ducks and Montreal Canadians. However, both 7-seeds lost to 1-seeds, Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round of the playoffs.

This year, many predicted Chicago and Pittsburgh meeting in the finals, since they are both the highest seeded teams in their conferences. Currently,  both teams are in the conference finals. The Blackhawks are battling the defending champions, Los Angeles Kings, and the Penguins are facing the Boston Bruins.

Out of the two 1-seeds, Pittsburgh Penguins seem to be in much better shape going into the conference finals than the Chicago Blackhawks. The Penguins disposed of their last opponent, the Ottawa Senators, fairly easily as they won the series in five games. The Blackhawks, however, went to a full seven-game series against a low-seeded team, the Detroit Red Wings, in which the last game of the series went into overtime. Chicago’s confidence may prove to be damaged by this because they were so heavily favored to win the series with ease.

One thing these playoffs have proven is that they are unpredictable. The only way to be sure what will happen is to watch the games yourself. The conference finals began on Saturday, June 1, but you can still tune into the action!