Here's a quick rundown of what happened for those of you that haven't been following along.
Eastern Conference
NY Rangers vs New Jersey Devils - WRONG
My pick - Rangers in 7
What happened - Devils in 6
What happened - Devils in 6
This series was bitter right until the end, in part due to the long standing hatred between the Rangers and Devils fan bases and partly because is was a more offensively minded series than a lot of people probably expected. In the end, the Rangers just looked worn down by the grind of two difficult series they needed just to get into the finals. Normally one of the NHL's premiere defense-first teams, the Rangers developed more holes than Swiss cheese and the speed of the Devils offense took advantage. Aging star goalie Martin Brodeur unjustly stole the post-season thunder from Henrik Lundqvist while frankly not doing all that much to help his team win -- because he didn't have to -- and Lundqvist wasn't able to save the team that fell apart in front of him. So this time evil reigns in the East, and I have an easy opponent to root AGAINST. The boyfriend gets to join me.
Western Conference
Los Angeles Kings vs Phoenix Coyotes - RIGHT
My pick -- Kings in 7
What happened -- Kings in 5
What happened -- Kings in 5
The Kings continued their dream season and silenced the doubters, winning only their second conference championship in franchise history. After an easy semi-final round against the St. Louis Blues, this one took more than 4 games. It's also probably a good thing it ended in five or someone might have gotten killed. It was fast, brutal, Western Conference hockey at it's best, with bruises, blows and harsh words exchanged between both the players and fan bases. By the time it ended, Phoenix was looking like the sorest of sore losers and the refs refs were in the doghouse -- but the Kings just minded their own business and walked away, well aware of the bigger prize still waiting. But the best news of the series is that the boyfriend and I survived while rooting for opposing teams -- and THAT was no small feat.
There will be some incredible stories surrounding this Stanley Cup final because the hockey community is a small one and the ties between players, coaches and management are many. I'll be writing about those on my hockey blog Kings Court so be sure to check it out if you want to follow the series in more detail.
But the most important back story of the series to me will be a personal one. My good friend and hockey writer Jon Moncrief passed away a year ago on May 19th at the age of 43.
He hailed from The Garden State and was a life long New Jersey Devils fan, in particular a fan of New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur. The highlight of his hockey writing career was getting an interview with Marty at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas in 2010. I remember Jon coming back from that trip and handing me his tape recorder so I could listen to Brodeur's voice, his face beaming with smiles as I listened to his hero.
I'm sure Jon was watching this May 19th as the Devils lost to the Rangers 3-0 in Game 3 of their conference final series, then rooted for their turnaround in Game 4. Just as I know he'll be watching every moment as the Devils and Kings play for the biggest prize in sports. Seeing his longtime favorite and his adopted team compete against each other might not trump that interview with Marty, but he wouldn't have missed a moment. I'll be the one that will miss discussing the series with him.
Now it's the biggest prediction of my hockey fan life, and with so much on the line I'm sticking with the one thing that has worked for me all post-season. Each time, I've picked the Kings series to go 7 games, and they've won in 4 or 5. So my prediction about the Kings-Devils Cup Final series is pretty simple....
KINGS IN 7
He might not agree, but Jon would approve.
Because It's The Cup...
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