Wray Morrison: The Who’s Who of Round 1

By the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the focus will turn to the NHL’s superstars.

Last year, veterans Alex Ovechkin and Braden Holtby were front and centre as the Washington Capitals won it all. What makes the first round of the playoffs great is those unexpected players who get to step into the spotlight.

Jordan Binnington is a household name in St. Louis, but in these parts some research is needed.  The Richmond Hill, Ont., goaltender has played in 34 NHL games and yet is trying to do his part in getting the Blues through to the second round. He was solid in the Blues’ first road game against Winnipeg.

Miro Heiskanen of the Dallas Stars had an impressive 33 points in his rookie season, and a two-point performance against battle-tested Nashville in the opener of that playoff series. Then Andrew Mangiapane scored one of the Flames’ goals in Calgary’s series-opening 4-0 win over Colorado. He’s a Toronto product with 44 regular-season NHL games on his resume.

It’s always awesome to go through that Round 1 learning curve, before the stars take over later in the Stanley Cup playoffs.