Stanley Cup Final Predictions

If you still haven't figured it out yet, I'm not quite the hockey guru that some of my fellow bloggers are, but I like to think I bring some sort of charisma to the table, if you will. The first round, I tried to be educated about my predictions, and I got about 50% of them right. In round 2, I was basing my picks off the performances in the previous round, and again, was about 50% right. Last round, it was all about what I wanted and I was 100% right. Sure you could argue that with the number of teams and series dwindling, I had a better chance of getting lucky with whom I picked to win, but based on the calls of my more educated bloggers, I say going with the gut is more accurate than going with the numbers. Unfortunately for my ways of prediction, however, my gut is pretty torn on this one, so I'll attempt to talk you and me through the scenario until we settle on an outcome.

So here we are in the Stanley Cup Finals with just two teams left, the New Jersey Devils, clearly a favorite of more than one of our bloggers, and the LA Kings, who happened to be equally admired as well. So now I must choose between favoritism and admiration. I'm curious to see which one wins out...

I'm sure some of you have wondered why I'm a Devils fan to begin with. I mean, I am from Massachusetts, and we do have a fantastic team in of our own. While I do love my Boston Boys, the Devils were actually the reason I started watching hockey to begin with. It was about 2 and a half years ago when I started watching hockey at college and the Devils seemed popular with my hockey loving friends. Once I started watching, I became hooked, even though the Devils weren't at their best that first season. I honestly don't remember if they even made the playoffs or not, and if they did, they didn't make it very far. As I mentioned before though, I'm a Boston baseball fan, so I am more than used to having a team fall short every year. Not finishing the year with a championship did not even come close to deterring me from remaining a Devils fan.

Watching the Devils got me into watching the Bruins, of course, and I was lucky enough to witness a Stanley Cup victory in my first year as a real hockey fan. It was an incredible feeling staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning watching the Bruins pull off miracle after miracle in game 7 after game 7. (I was only up that late because I was in England, watching them on my computer screen) The excitement and anticipation of watching those games were more than amazing, and the Devils have been no different for me this season. I would be overjoyed if I could see the Devils finish their under-dog rise the way the Bruins did last year, and allow me to see my two favorite teams win back-to-back Stanley Cups. It would also be nice to give Kovy a final and undeniable reason to have tell the media to politely "shove it" with all their comments about how he isn't worth the price the Devils paid.

While my enthusiasm for the LA Kings isn't as strong as the enthusiasm and passion I hold for the Devils, I really do respect their organization and what they've done this year. Honestly, I never really followed any team in the West until I was told to watch NHL 36. The first episode I saw was with Mike Richards and the LA Kings. Not to be terribly cliche, but I was star struck by the Hollywood team. To continue in my trend of honesty, I was captivated more by Mike Richards himself than the team he recently joined, but he was the stepping stone that made me an admirer of the team. He seemed like a lovely fellow and they played hockey something fierce, so in my mind, I had every reason I needed to declare them my Western favorites.

So here we are again, my Eastern favorite and my Western favorite meet for the final showdown. Of course, I am pleased as punch because no matter what the outcome of this series brings, one of my teams will go home a victor. I'm actually afraid for my personal future in hockey because between last year and this year, I have been downright spoiled by the playoffs and I have a strange feeling that I won't go home with a winner every year... So who will get the spoils this year? Will I be equally spoiled as I was last year with my top team bringing home the cup, or will I be contently satisfied with the LA Kings bringing home the cup?

I feel like it should be obvious that I want to pick the Devils as the winner simply because I feel much more loyal and dedicated to them, but predicting this series simply based on what I want isn't as easy as it's been in previous rounds. What's holding me back is how much the Kings have done to get to where they are and what a victory will mean to them. I've been told many times before about the heroic Devils of the past, the amazing players like Stevens, the multiple Stanley Cups, the invention of the trap and how they changed the game of hockey. The Devils have had an amazing past in the short 30 years (happy belated birthday) they've been part of the NHL, but the LA Kings have yet to win the immortal Stanley Cup in their 45 years of existence. I want the Devils to win, of course, but I feel like it would mean so much more to LA if the Kings brought home their first cup. I feel like Mike Richards could use the ego boost as well, since I feel like trading away your captain is a huge betrayal in the sports world and he should be able to show the Flyers (who performed horribly in Round 1 at least) just how great he truly is. Based on those reasons, I am going to say the Kings take home the cup, but I want hockey to last as long as possible so it's going to game 7. Both teams have the passion, the skills, and the power to push it that far.

The puck drops at 8, here's to hockey.