the Stanley Cup the previous three seasons http://www.officialislanders.com/authentic-adidas-adam-pelech-jersey , the conference’s longest drought in the 13-year salary cap era.Before the Washington Capitals won it last year after Pittsburgh claimed consecutive championships, the West was usually the best, winning seven of 10 titles. Four teams seem to have the best shot to prevent it from being a four-year run without a Stanley Cup. And perhaps a few more have an outside chance.“The West is like loaded right now,” Nashville Predators general manager David Poile said. “It feels like anybody could not only make the playoffs, there’s going to be some unbelievable top teams that don’t make the playoffs.”Winnipeg is stacked with talent from up front to the back and in net. And, the Jets are no longer off the radar after advancing to the conference finals for the first time. Nashville , which was eliminated by Winnipeg in the second round, won the Presidents’ Trophy with an NHL-high 117 points last season and has kept its strong and balanced team together.The Vegas Golden Knights tried to improve their chances of returning to the Stanley Cup Final in their second season by signing free agent center Paul Stastny and acquiring forward Max Pacioretty. The San Jose Sharks made the boldest move, trading for two-time Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Erik Karlsson just before the puck dropped for training camp.Poile said the talent-filled conference should be fun for players and fans, but not so much for coaches and the front office.“It’s probably going to be nerve-wracking for us,” Poile said. “If you’re going to be the best Anders Lee Jersey , you’ve got to beat the best, and I think the West certainly has more than its share of top teams.”WINNIPEGThe Jets, who trailed only Nashville in points last season, have an elite team after years of patiently drafting and developing players. Winnipeg has so much young talent, including 20-year-old wing Patrik Laine, the time to win is now because it is going to be challenging next season to keep the team together and under the cap.“Bring it on,” Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said. “There’s excitement. That’s what this all about.”NASHVILLEThe Predators have one of the world’s best goaltender, reigning Vezina Trophy winner Pekka Rinne. He may have the surrounding cast of hungry, experienced talented players to win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in its 20 years after leading the league in points.“Obviously things didn’t end up the way we wanted, but winning the regular season doesn’t give you much,” Rinne said.VEGASThe Golden Knights signed three-time Stanley Cup champion Marc-Andre Fleury to a three-year Andrew Ladd Jersey , $21 million extension over the summer. They can lean on his experience of helping Pittsburgh go from losing the Stanley Cup in 2008 to winning it the next year. Adding the leadership of Pacioretty and Stastny after losing James Neal was a smart move.SAN JOSEThe Sharks’ shot to win it all for the first time in their 27-season history increased the moment they acquired Karlsson, one of the elite players in the NHL.“That trade makes this team look a little bit more dangerous,” captain Joe Pavelski said, entering his 13th year with the franchise. “And, a little bit more real.” LOS ANGELES The Kings, who hoisted the Cup in 2012 and 2014, tried to pry open their window to win by bolstering their offense by signing Ilya Kovalchuk. The 35-year-old winger is back in the NHL for the first time since 2013. Los Angeles should be able to compete every night with two-way forward Anze Kopitar, the reigning Selke Trophy winner, and standout goalie Jonathan Quick. ST. LOUIS The Blues missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2011, but they made a series of moves to give some help to forwards Brayden Schenn and Vladimir Tarasenko along with defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. St. Louis acquired center Ryan O’Reilly in a big deal with Buffalo, signed center Tyler Bozak and winger David Perron Anthony Beauvillier Jersey , who is back with the Blues for his third stint.EDMONTON Connor McDavid should give the Oilers an opportunity to win any game. The 21-year-old center, though, can’t do it alone as last year proved when the team missed the playoffs despite his career-high 108 points. Edmonton needs winger Milan Lucic and goalie Cam Talbot both to bounce back from lackluster seasons. LAS VEGAS (AP) Their story had been too good, their season way too magical.Then the script was suddenly flipped. And the storybook ending the Vegas Golden Knights had desperately hoped for became a story of another kind for the Washington Capitals.Two goals in the third period gave the Caps their first Stanley Cup title, ending 43 years of futility and sending a surprisingly large contingent of red-clad Washington fans into a frenzy. They stood and cheered as the Caps passed the Stanley Cup around, enjoying a scene that up to now no Las Vegas tourist had ever imagined.A few minutes earlier, thousands of Knights fans were on their feet cheering for their team. The game was over, but ”Go Knights Go” reverberated through the arena on the Las Vegas Strip.Both teams had something to celebrate. But only Washington would be drinking out of the Stanley Cup.”When you get this close to the cup it’s hard,” Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. ”It doesn’t happen too often. It’s very disappointing.”An inaugural season like no other ended on a bittersweet note for an expansion team like no other. The first major sports team in this gambling city bucked the odds until the end, but in the end this was Washington’s championship to win.It was the Caps who won every playoff series coming from behind. It was the Caps who found a way to win in the third period when things seemed to be going the Knights way.”We got angry and mean,” Washington coach Barry Trotz said. ”Even when they got an extra timeout when the clock broke our guys were like Authentic Brock Nelson Jersey , we got this. There’s not a chance they will score.”It was the Knights, though, who bonded with a city and thrilled fans who before October began knew little more about hockey than it was the fastest game on ice.They played into June, this collection of Golden Misfits, something no one could have imagined for a team that barely had any players a year ago. The temperature outside was close to 100 degrees for Game 5 but hockey worked in the desert and it worked in a city where you don’t have to go far to place a bet on the team.And the bet is that this is a franchise that won’t have to wait 43 years to raise a Stanley Cup of its own.”We came up short but I’m sure in a few days we’ll come up with a lot of positives about the season,” defenseman Deryk Engelland said. ”Right now it’s the worst feeling ever. You never want to lose any game, but especially at this point.”A season that began somberly in the wake of the massacre of 58 people just down the street from the T-Mobile Arena ended 102 games later with a community continuing to heal and a team that far exceeded expectations on and off the ice.It was Engelland who stood before the crowd at the first home game and told them, ”We are Vegas strong,” a message that carried over on the ice. The Knights won their division, and were 12-3 in the playoffs coming into the Final, confounding the hockey experts at every turn.When they won the first game of the series it looked like the tale of an expansion team and its city would soar to new levels. But the Caps came back to win four straight Cal Clutterbuck Jersey , including the 4-3 win that capped off their own improbable run.”No one gave us a chance from the start,” said forward David Perron. ”I thought when I got picked in the draft that Vegas would be a fun place to be but the team wouldn’t do much. It’s been a great ride.”While the Capitals were enjoying a lengthy postgame celebration on the ice, the Knights filtered through a somber locker room, talking softly about great times and a painful ending. On the verge of doing something historic, they lost their way and the price to pay for it was another team passing the Cup around on their ice.”It was a phenomenal year and in a couple days we’ll think about that,” Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. ”Every day was fun for us.”A magical season, yes. But it also won’t be long before the reality sinks in that teams just don’t get to the Stanley Cup Final every year.All the Knights had to do was look at the team celebrating on the ice to understand that.—-Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org or http://twitter.com/timdahlberg