With the Winnipeg Jets beating the Nashville Predators last night in epic fashion (yes, a 5-1 Game 7 victory in which the opposing netminder, a Vezina Trophy finalist is pulled counts as epic), the final four is set in the NHL.

The Jets will play the expansion Vegas Golden Knights in the West, while the venerable Tampa Bay Lightning will take on the Washington Capitals for the right to represent the East.

There’s a ton of storylines here, from the sheer craziness of the Golden Knights making it much further than even the most optimistic of prognosticators had predicted to the Washington Capitals finally getting past the Pittsburgh Penguins.

There’s also the Jets trying to become the first Canadian team to win the Cup in 25 years and the Lightning quietly dismantling every foe with ruthless efficiency after not making the playoffs last year.

With all the different narratives flying around, we asked some of the Straight’s more sports-inclined employees who they think will be awarded Lord Stanley’s chalice.

Charlie Smith, editor

I’m hoping for the Vegas Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup because it’s inconceivable that an expansion franchise could go all the way. Plus, this will breed even more suspicion among fans about Gary Bettman and his role in ensuring that they were able to obtain so many effective players. Besides, Alex Ovechkin was cheering for Putin in the Russian presidential election, so I'm not looking forward to him hoisting Lord Stanley's trophy should the Capitals win the final.

Dillan Winn, accounting

In the East, Tampa Bay is the better team. Surely Washington will be fired up having finally edged the Pens, but Holtby can't do it all.

I think back to Game 5 against Columbus, where, with a one goal lead, the Caps were outshot 16-1 in the third, eventually holding on to win in overtime. That kind of half-hearted defensive shutdown strategy won't work against the firepower of the Lightning.

In the West, two Cinderella stories collide in what should be quite a battle. Whoever comes out of that one emerges beat up and tired. Combine that with inexperience and the veteran Tampa Bay Lightning should come out Stanley Cup Champions.

Jon Cranny, ad services

The Winnipeg Jets are a bit bigger than the Vegas Knights and that could slow down the Knights offence a bit. However, Vegas have had some rest while the Jets have just finished battling it out in a long series. So, which is better?

On one hand, a break in play can heal your team up, but on the other hand, the team might lose a bit of that playoff edge. The Jets are in the opposite position. They just got through a full seven game series and that can leave a team a little beat up or it can help a team by keeping a team fully playoff energized. They seemed to beat the Nashville Predators easily in Game 7, so perhaps fatigue won’t even play a factor.

In the end, I think this series will come down to special teams and goaltending. Knights in 6 games. 

Tampa Bay has a better regular season record, but Washington just shook off their second round curse by beating their rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins. This series should be a high scoring one that will most likely go the full seven games.

I really want to see Alexander Ovechkin get that Stanley Cup. He’s been in the league for 13 years now and consistently proved that he is one of the best in the league. He has accomplished so much, except for that big Stanley Cup win (and Olympic gold, but that’s for another time). 

If Nicklas Backstrom stays out of the line-up, the Capitals will have to rely more on their defense and Braden Holtby will have to have to play stellar against the speedy, high-scoring Tampa Bay Lightning. Capitals in 7 games.

If Washington does beat Tampa Bay, I think the cup is theirs.

Anonymous, certified village idiot

To be a Washington Capitals fan is to accept the reality that some things are never meant to happen.

Like Hillary Clinton becoming President of the United States. Or Sylvester Stallone deciding that the last thing the world needs in another Rocky Balbao movie. Or the citizens of Vancouver declining to riot after the Canucks lose a Stanley Cup final.

The Capitals, much like the Canucks, have spent decades upon decades coming up with new and exciting ways to crush the hopes and dreams of its fans.

There was the first decade of screaming futility that made the Kansas City Scouts like the the’70s Montreal Canadians. Once Washington got semi-decent the failures became as frequent as they were epic.

Some games are so burned into the consciousness of Caps fans they have names. Google, if you will, 1987’s Easter Epic, which saw Washington lose a game seven game to the New York Islanders in quadruple overtime.

The Capitals' current era has seen them led by Alexander Ovechkin, who’s won every prize that matters but the Stanley Cup. Ovi’s legacy to date? That would be Game 7 collapses in 2009, 2010, and 2017, among others, adding to the team's reputation as truly fabled failures.

It’s all so grindingly awful, only a villiage idiot would admit to being a Caps fan. 

So we know what you’re thinking: this is the season that it all changes. After breaking its long-standing tradition of losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington actually found itself on the winning side of the handshake this last round. That has a certain Georgia Straight editor who we won’t name here—let’s call him M. Usinger to protect his anonymity—beyond excited. The man—actually let’s call him Mike U.—has been a Capitals fan since John F. Kennedy was president.

Said staffer loves rooting for losers, which is why he also pulls for the Canucks.

This week he’s been showing up at the office in Capitals home and away jerseys—not just the classic uniforms, but also the ones with the screaming eagle on it. Ask him who’s going to win, and he’ll say that—with all the established veteran teams now bounced—the path to a Washington cup parade has never been clearer.

Which, given the way history has unfolded for Caps fans, means the Vegas Golden Knights will be winning the Cup in seven.

Kate Wilson, staff writer

At the beginning of the playoffs, I entered a hockey fantasy pool. After a pretty epic start—second place, anyone?—my team is now limping along at the bottom of the table with seven players left. In other words, I would take any of my predictions with a pinch of salt (though, in my defense, I still can't name one person who figured the Caps would ever make it to the top four, Barry Trotz included.) 

This year, the Western Conference has turned out to be infinitely more entertaining than the Eastern, and that's entirely due to the Vegas Golden Knights. Although Brad Marchand's tongue may have stolen column inches away from the Vegas/San Jose Sharks series, the Golden Knights have been explosive and physical, and deserve their title of the "miracle season" team. 

In the East, the Tampa Bay Lightning are starting to pick up steam. Steven Stamkos might have had a weak start to the playoffs but he's started putting up some better numbers, while Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point are overproducing. With the Penguins out of the running, the Lightning have a good chance of advancing to the finals. 

I'm getting ready for the Golden Knights to face off against the Lightning for the Cup, with Tampa Bay taking it in seven. Then again, I have a habit of finishing last in bracket challenges. 

Laura Moore, director of arts and sponsorship

It will be Washington vs Winnipeg in the Stanley Cup Final with Winnipeg rolling over a tired Washington squad in six games.

Oh Canada!

Martin Dunphy, senior editor

Do I go with my heart or my head?

Winnipeg rules the hearts of most Canadians right now, and I think they could even get past the fairy-tale team of sequinned expansionists in Las Vegas (who are due for a fall but had a record-setting and amazing year).

But then they would be up against Washington (who I believe will edge Tampa in seven hard-fought games), and that's where both head and heart come together.

Ovie is getting to be an oldie, and probably no overachieving, manic, still-plays-like-a-delirious-14-year-old superstar in the NHL wants a Cup more than him. He has weathered more disappointments postseason than most. It's his year. The Caps also boast some of the best setup men since Ron Francis and Adam Oates dominated the league, a deep, deep roster, and potentially great goaltending.

Finally, Washington Capitals fans get their due.

Nathan Caddell, sports writer

This should all be taken with the prior warning that I, um, wasn’t too accurate with my second round predictions. I went one-for-four, but I’ll be doubling down on the one team I got right.

It won’t matter that the Winnipeg Jets will have one day of rest against the week off enjoyed by the Vegas Golden Knights. The Jets are deeper, bigger and more skilled, and at the risk of being proven wrong once again by Vegas, I don’t think Winnipeg will need more than five games to dispatch the expansion franchise.

It’s fun to root for the Capitals, because it’d be nice to see Alex Ovechkin prove all his haters wrong and finally lift the Cup over his head.

I just don’t see it happening this year. The Lightning are stacked from top to bottom and with a strong defence that only got better this season with the addition of Ryan McDonagh, they are well equipped to handle Ovechkin and co. Tampa Bay in six.

Everything is cyclical. And while the first round of the playoffs wasn’t super entertaining, the second round more than made up for it. I see the same thing happening here, with the third round being more of a formality leading up to a raucous, insane Stanley Cup Final between the Lightning and the Jets.

The Winnipeg Jets take it in seven games, culminating in an overtime win at the MTS Centre in front of a crazy home crowd. A Canadian team winning a Stanley Cup Final Game 7 at home, imagine that.

Sandra Oswald, production

There are so many reasons why the Winnipeg Jets will be hoisting Lord Stanley in mid-June.  Where do I start?

They just beat the team many hockey pundits and wannabees predicted would take the Cup at season's end, Nashville. 

Adding to that, they beat the Preds three times in their own rink, which is not easy to do. I hate mentioning Vegas in the same sentence as Winnipeg, but there is no denying that the Knights are on a mission this year and come at you in relentless waves of energy. But Marc-Andre Fleury is going to crack and come crashing back down to earth. Sure, MAF has stood on his head in the playoffs so far, but he is punching above his weight in both SV% and GA in these playoffs. The law of averages will show against the Jets. Jets in six games over the Knights. 

Winnipeg will meet Tampa Bay for the Cup.  TB douses Washington in 5 games and gets a good rest coming into the finals. 

This is a great match-up and you couldn't ask for two better teams to watch.  Both can run and gun, as both finished in the top two in scoring during the regular season. Both also give up 30-plus shots per game. However, Tampa has had an easier ride to the Cup Final (New Jersey, Boston, Washington vs Minnesota, Nashville, Vegas) and has not been pushed mentally or physically to a Game 7 where your true character crumbles or strengthens. Winnipeg has been there. They will channel that experience and be able to dig a little deeper having gone through that.  Most importantly, however, and the key to the Jets Cup dreams, is Connor Hellebuyck. The 6-foot-4, 24-year-old Michigan native (130th overall draft pick in 2012) has come of age this season, and has simply been a wall of consistency including in these playoffs.

Couple that with Winnipeg's towering forwards overwhelming Andre Vasilevsky at every opportunity and I see Gary "The Muppet" Bettman handing the Stanley Cup to the Winnipeg Jets in 6 games. 

And yes, during that ceremony, Teemu Selanne will step onto the ice and be passed the Cup by captain Blake Wheeler. You just can't write better endings than that.