There will be creativity and chaos, magic and madness. There will be battles and bounces, brilliant bursts of speed and superlative skill. Most of all, there will be two exceptionally well-built hockey clubs playing at least 60 minutes of the highest quality hockey we have seen in the 2017-18 Stanley Cup playoffs.



For Winnipeg, good fortune in the form of good health means it can ice a virtually matchup-proof lineup for Thursday’s winner-meets-Vegas, Game 7 against the Predators.



When I look at Connor Hellebuyck’s season in goal, whether it’s his .924 regular season save percentage or the .922 he’s carried through 11 games of the playoffs, I see a goaltender likely to be worthy of the moment.



In Winnipeg’s four forward lines, perhaps best exemplified by the strength of centres Mark Scheifele, Paul Stastny, Adam Lowry, and Bryan Little, I see four groups of players who can be trusted against nearly any opponent.



There is,...