I should note before I provide any comment that, yes, I chose the two No. 1 teams in the East and the West as the Stanley Cup finalists. It looks lazy on my part, but in the three years I've been doing this, I never favored both No. 1 teams as finalists. This season, however, I truly believe both of these teams deserve to be here. Here are my reasons why and who will come on top.
STANLEY CUP FINALS
No. 1 Chicago Blackhawks vs. No. 1 Pittsburgh Penguins
Comments: It's amazing the season even got to this point. The NHL was close to not having a season in the first place after a lockout crushed the first half, eliminated the all-star game and shut down the Winter Classic in Michigan. Despite the shortened season, we saw spectacular play all around the league, especially from these two teams.
The Blackhawks had the longest points streak out of any other team this season. Meanwhile, the Penguins were one game shy of breaking the record for most consecutive wins in NHL history. The Blackhawks had only seven regular season loses in 48 games. The Pens scored more goals than any other team, despite Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin missing games at a time.
If these two meet, it would be one of the most intense Stanley Cup playoffs in years. The Blackhawks are just as big of a threat to the Pens as the Detroit Red Wings were back in '08 and '09. Both teams have some of the best talent in the league. You have Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews on one side and Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jussi Jokinen, James Neal and Jarome Iginla on the other. Both teams have solid goaltenders between the pipes. The defenses on both teams are back-breaking. Each building has fans that have seen their fair share of triumph and misery and will be vocal when necessary.
Statistically, it's almost too close to call. The Pens scored the most goals at 165. The Blackhawks were scored on the least with just 102 goals against. Both teams are equally impressive away and home, and neither showed signs of letting up at the end of the season.
The only significant difference between the two is overtime. The Pens didn't lose a single game in overtime, including three shootouts. The Blackhawks had 11 shootouts and won six of them. If these teams have to go extra innings, it looks as though the Pens won't waste more time than needed.
Each team has won a Stanley Cup in the past five years. This is one of the hardest predictions I've had to make in the past four years, especially since the two didn't meet once this season to provide some insight, but here it is:
Predicted Winner: Penguins
Reasoning: The West was the weaker conference, and the two conferences hardly crossed paths due to the lockout. I would've liked to see the records of these two teams had they played outside the conference more often. I feel the Pens are the better team when playing outside the conference, however.
I also think Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford is great in net, but he has way too much talent opposing him this time around. The Pens have Marc-Andre Fleury and Tomas Vokoun, both who have played well in tandem this season. I don't think Ray Emery has enough in him to hold Chicago's goaltending together if Crawford blows a tire (We saw how Emery did in Philadelphia a few seasons back.)
Even though I'm an avid Pens fan, I normally bet my money against them. This year, the organization made the effort to stack the team. They brought in great players who have been close to winning a Cup but weren't surrounded with just enough talent. The Pens have had great consistency compared to other years. This is the year.
When the finals roll up, it will be, as it says in the Pens' locker room, "...A Great Day For Hockey."
No comments:
Post a Comment