His spectacular beard, his lovable demeanour – he’s known as “Jumbo Joe” to his teammates as he stands 1.93 metres and weighs just under 100 kilograms – have made him a fan favourite over the years. His Sharks squad also look like they have all the ingredients for a deep play-off run, and in the star-studded Western Conference, will probably fly under the radar this year. This proved great for Ovechkin, and could help the Canadian Thornton.

They did draw the Golden Knights in the first round, who lost the Stanley Cup last year and also ousted the Sharks in the second round in six games. The road won’t be easy, but in the NHL, it never is.

Ask any diehard hockey fan to pick someone outside of their favourite player they want to see win it all, and Thornton’s name will probably come up. He is that well-liked, and one more trophy to his illustrious career would be a feather in his beautiful beard.

Patrick Marleau

Thornton’s former teammate Patrick Marleau left San Jose in the off-season for younger pastures to join the kid squad, a.k.a. the Toronto Maple Leafs. Marleau and Thornton were good buddies during their time together with the Sharks, so a potential Sharks-Maple Leafs Stanley Cup final could offer a tantalising storyline. That is, if both the Sharks and the Maple Leafs, who drew arch nemesis the Boston Bruins in the first round, can make it all the way to the finals.

Marleau, also 39, has joined the likes of Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and William Nylander in Toronto, who were all in grade school when the veteran started his career. The speedy winger is also a fan favourite, much like Thornton, a player who has more friends than enemies in the league.

Marleau, who famously strips off all his gear after the second period for an in-game ice bath, may not be as built for a deep play-off run anymore, but on Toronto he is not expected to be the be all and end all. That burden will fall to Matthews and off-season pick-up John Tavares, superstar talent that have looked less than starbright in the second season throughout their careers.

If the Canadian Marleau were to win this season, it would probably be his last, as he’s now in his 21st campaign after 1,600 plus games and a career that started back in 1997. Beating buddy Thornton, who he went to the finals with in 2015-16 – or losing to him, in the final, would also be one of the most bittersweet NHL storylines in years (cue the tissues for the handshake!). Friends become foes, or frenemies, as they battle for the last trophy which has dogged both their careers for decades. Sounds too good to be true.

Steven Stamkos

If this year’s Stanley Cup is anyone’s to lose, it’s the Tampa Bay Lightnings. The President’s Trophy winners for the best regular season record have been on cruise control for months, bowling over opponents like a big blue machine. The Lightning won a Cup in 2004, however Steven Stamkos, or “Stammer” as he’s known to fans, didn’t join the team until the 2008-09 season. The Canadian has been close, having gone to the finals in 2014-15, however Stamkos and company fell to the Chicago Blackhawks, who were in the middle of a mini dynasty.

The sniper is known for his laserlike accuracy and blazing one-timer shots. He’s also surrounded by what may be one of the most talented squads to enter the play-offs in decades. There’s Nikita Kucherov, Art Ross winner for most regular season points, defenceman Victor Hedman, a Norris Trophy potential for best defenceman and Andrei Vasilevskiy, a Vezina Trophy potential for best goaltender. If Tampa Bay can oust the feisty, piecemeal Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round, they will send chills throughout the league as they were already the favourites to begin with.

It would be to no one’s surprise if the Lightning won this year given their record heading into the play-offs, but the President’s Trophy has been more than a curse than a blessing as the last time someone won it and the Cup was 2013. Just ask Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, who won it twice in the past three seasons but bowed out twice in the second round.

Erik Karlsson

There’s lots of cagey veterans on the Sharks much like Erik Karlsson, who have logged boatloads of impressive minutes in the NHL without hoisting Lord Stanley. This includes Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns, Thorton and new Shark Karlsson. The offensive defenceman, who came over in the off-season with his swashbuckling moustache as the Ottawa Senators committed one of the biggest blunders in franchise history and traded its franchise defenceman.

Karlsson has been battling a recurring groin injury this season which has kept him out of a substantial amount of games, but he played the final regular season tilt against the Colorado Avalance and looks good to go.

Karlsson has yet to make a finals appearance, however has been one of the most productive defenceman points-wise since joining the league in 2009-10, amassing well over 500 points in under 600 games, an impressive stat for any defender.

Karlsson, much like Thornton, doesn’t have a lot of detractors, and became a symbol of class when he was traded by the Senators and handled it like a unflinching professional. Lifting Lord Stanley along with his fellow battle-tested teammates like Thornton makes for the most appealing storyline of this year’s NHL play-offs. A squad chock full and laden with players who have come close, but remained so far from the sport’s biggest prize.

Alexander Ovechkin

C’mon, why not? How much fun was it to watch ‘Ovy’ literally lose his mind on the bench as the seconds ticked down in the final game. He then followed that up by going ballistic in the Stanley Cup presentation ceremony, and the viral video of him doing a keg stand out of the Stanley Cup and running through a water fountain is the stuff of legends.

Ovechkin will forever be linked to the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, the other generational talent that joined the league around the same time as him. Crosby has three cups and probably doesn’t need to do much else to cement what is a first ballot Hall of Fame career.

Ovechkin is likely to join him, but the lovable Russian is too much fun to watch, especially when he’s winning. While Crosby is subdued, Ovechkin gets emotional, delivers punishing body-checks and smashes into the glass after almost every goal. The Caps drew the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round, a team with little play-off experience outside of veteran Jordan Staal and captain Justin Williams, who used to play for Washington. Sounds like the perfect appetiser for another deep play-off run.

Watching the Russian machine go back-to-back would be unheralded and another shock to the NHL system, but then again, last year everyone counted them out as well.