Prediction: Blackhawks win in 6

The Blackhawks begin their Stanley Cup run 7 p.m. Thursday against the Nashville Predators in Chicago.

All the hard work and grind of the regular season is preparation for the months of April through June when the Blackhawks get a chance to win their fourth Stanley Cup in seven years.

The Nashville Predators are an opponent that the Hawks have faced in the playoffs two out of seven times in the past decade with the Blackhawks taking both series.

The Predators have talent on their roster with defenseman P.K. Subban and goaltender Pekka Rinne, but the Predators are simply not good enough to give the Blackhawks any chance of a competitive series and will likely be going home early.

The Predators have a chance to make things interesting with a line consisting of winger Victor Arvidsson, center Ryan Johansen and winger Filip Forsberg. They will challenge the Hawks’ famed second line of winger Patrick Kane, winger Artemi Panarin and now healthy center Artem Anisimov as one of the more dangerous lines in the NHL.

The Blackhawks, the No. 1 overall seed in the Western Conference, have balance throughout all four forward lines and have a two-time cup champion in goalie Corey Crawford, who pushes the puck down ice for an impressively fast offensive rush.

The Hawks will face the same issue when they won the Stanley Cup against the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2015: an aging and inconsistent third defense pairing.

Head Coach Joel Quenneville will rely heavily on all-stars Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook as well as the newly reunited pair of Niklas Hjalmarsson and Johnny Oduya.

However, Quenneville will search for consistency among defensemen Michal Rozsival, Brian Campbell, Trevor Van Reimsdyk and Michal Kempny to take heavy minutes away from Quenneville’s trusted top-four.

Blackhawk fans will be encouraged to know that with home-ice advantage under the regime of Quenneville, the Blackhawks have gone 11-1 in playoff series with the only loss coming at the hands of the eventual Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings in the 2014 Western Conference Finals.

It seems like it will be an easier time in this round with the Blackhawks playing well in the later stages of the regular season.