NHL Stanley Cup Final Predicitions: A drought's about to end

In just a couple weeks, one of those video game depictions is going to come true and a long-suffering franchise will finally be raising Lord Stanley's Cup. This is the first Bruins team to even reach the Finals in more than two decades, and it's been almost 40 years since the team's last championship in 1972. But at least Beantown's tasted victory before, unlike Vancouver, where the team has never been declared champions ever since entering the league in 1970.

So once again, we'll presumably be presented with some rather spirited and raucous crowds in both cities as these two supposedly long-suffering (last year's beloved Blackhawks had a nearly half-century wait between Cups) franchises compete for one last series win.

The big winner in this, of course, would have to be the NHL. Considering that the alternatives last round included the markets of San Jose and Tampa Bay, the ratings could have been a lot scarier. Instead, an appearance from the Canucks is surely the best shot a Canadian team's had at the Cup in quite some time, and most anything involving Boston is almost always good for television.


Before we get to everybody's final picks, here's how the "experts" have fared up to this point:

1. (1) Sean Leahy, Puck Daddy: 13-1 (5)
2. (3) Justin Bourne, Puck Daddy: 12-2 (6)
3. (2) Ross McKeon, Yahoo: 12-2 (4)
3. (4) Matt Romig, Yahoo: 12-2 (4)
5. (6) Ryan Lambert, Puck Daddy: 11-3 (5)
6. (5) Darryl Dobbs, Puck Daddy: 11-3 (3)
6. (7) Greg Wyshynski, Puck Daddy: 11-3 (3)
8. (10) Rob Pizzo, Puck Daddy: 11-3 (2)
9. (7) Matthew Barnaby, ESPN: 10-4 (3)
10. (12) Sam McCaig, Yahoo: 10-4 (2)
11. (11) Nicholas J. Cotsonika, Yahoo: 10-4 (0)
12. (7) Erin Nicks, Puck Daddy: 9-3 (3)
13. (13) John Buccigross, ESPN: 9-5 (2) 
13. (13) Barry Melrose, ESPN: 9-5 (2)
15. (15) Matt Barr, Puck Daddy: 9-5 (0)
16. (19) Steve Levy, ESPN: 8-6 (2)
17. (19) Dmitry Chesnokov, Puck Daddy: 8-6 (1)
18. (16) Linda Cohn, ESPN: 6-8 (3)
18. (16) Pierre LeBrun, ESPN: 6-8 (3)
20. (18) E.J. Hradek, ESPN: 6-8 (2)
21. (21) Scott Burnside, ESPN: 6-8 (0) 
21. (21) YOURS TRULY: 6-8 (0)

Ugh. Anyway, the Mother Ship is once again absent a few faces currently, although I'm sure they'll add the remainder in the very near future. In the meantime, here's what they've got at the moment:

And here's how the Yahoo gang's seeing things:

Finally, my own guess here:

Vancouver Canucks over Boston Bruins in six games

I haven't picked the Bruins to win a series yet in these playoffs, so why start now? Twice they've been pushed to seven games this postseason, and while the team indeed overcame those tests, it seems as though Vancouver has just been getting better and better with each passing round. I had thought that in getting by the Blackhawks team that had eliminated them each of the past two seasons, the Canucks' biggest hurdle may have been that opening round matchup. It took seven to oust Chicago, then six to get rid of Nashville, and most recently, only five games to humble the Sharks (once again). I'm buying heavily into the disparity between the two teams' power play results thus far, where Vancouver's power play has been absolutely dynamite all season long and even into these playoffs. Boston, meanwhile, has been nothing short of totally abysmal this postseason, converting only five of the 61 opportunities with the man advantage. Just to give you an idea of how bad that is: Four teams eliminated in the opening round accumulated just as many—or even more—in one round than the Bruins have through the 18 games they've played thus far over three rounds. To me, it's too glaring of a weakness to believe Boston can correct now. Sure, it's not impossible since the Canucks' penalty kill hasn't been as strong as it was in the regular season, but I'm more inclined to believe that this year's Cup is going to be determined by the performance of special teams. At long last, Lord Stanley will finally return to Canadian soil, arriving in Vancouver for the very first time.