The New Jersey Devils and Los Angeles Kings are ready to square off for the right to raise the Lord Stanley's Cup. The Devils and Kings are the last two teams standing after neither received a lot of attention when the playoffs started as potential Cup winners.
The Devils are the #6 seed out of the Eastern Conference and defeated the Florida Panthers, Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers on their way to the Cup finals. Led by their captain Zach Parise and future Hall of Fame goalie Marty Brodeur, New Jersey struggled at times in the playoffs. They almost didn't even get out of the first round against the Panthers who took them to a Game 7. And the #1 Eastern Conference seed Rangers had a 2 -1 series lead against them before they ripped off 3 straight wins. But the Devils "even keel" approach kept them on track to the Finals.
On the other hand the Western Conference #8 seed Los Angeles Kings has made their run look a bit easier. The Kings are 12 - 2 in the playoffs and in each of their series against the Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues and Phoenix Coyotes (seeds 1, 2 & 3 respectively) they jumped out to a 3 games to none lead. Los Angeles has yet to lose a road game in these playoffs. They are led by goalie Jonathan Quick, who by far has been the best keeper in the playoffs.
The Kings will start the Stanley Cup Finals on the road again, a familiar pattern that has been successful for them. But this time they have to travel all the way to the east coast. Will the long trek east have negative effects on their road dominance? Or will their seemly destined journey to have their names engraved on the Cup come to fruition? The Devils are a sneaky team; they look bad at times but have a knack for getting victories despite that. As much as I respect New Jersey and Brodeur, I'm picking the Kings to win. I just would be shocked if they don't continue on the roll that they are on.
