Anyone else following the Stanley Cup playoffs?

[MysticSlayer]

I'm just wondering how many people here are following the playoffs and will be following the finals that start on Monday.

For those who haven't been following them:

The two teams that made it to the finals this year are the San Jose Sharks, who have never even made it to the finals, and the Pittsburgh Penguins, who last won the Stanley Cup in 2009. Neither team even made the playoffs last year, which is sort of surprising. It also guarantees that, for the first time since 2011, a team other than Chicago or Los Angeles will win the Stanley Cup.

So for those of you who already know all that, who are you rooting for? What are your predictions? And what have you thought about the playoffs so far?

As for me, this year has just felt weird as Blackhawks fan. I still can barely believe we lost in the first round. I didn't expect to win the Stanley Cup again this year or even make the Western Conference finals (thought we would lose to Dallas), but losing to St. Louis was rather shocking, especially since I felt we played better throughout the series. Oh well, I guess we had to give Minnesota a break this year (not that Dallas would have let us face them anyways).

Beyond that, the playoffs have been very enjoyable to watch. Seeing Minnesota nearly come back from a four-goal deficit in Game 6 against Dallas was incredibly exciting, especially since it was an unbelievably lucky bounce for Dallas that kept them from pulling it off. Seeing Pittsburgh almost do the same to Tampa was also a lot of fun, and tonight's game between Pittsburgh and Tampa was just marvelous! And with how much fun it has been to watch San Jose and Pittsburgh during the whole playoffs, I can't really be disappointed in seeing them face in the finals, and I can't wait to see what each team does.

As for who I want to win: I'll be rooting for San Jose. After them beating Los Angeles, Nashville, and St. Louis, I feel obligated to root for them. It also would be nice to see them and some of their players finally win the Stanley Cup.

 

[Lennac]

I'll be cheering for Pittsburgh for gambling reasons that I made at the start of the playoffs. But, from the perspective of a Leafs fan who obviously had no stock in this, I would be very happy for either team. San Jose is a franchise without any past success and some great future Hall of Famers in Thornton and Marleau making it to their first ever final. Additionally, the Sharks have James Reimer who was nothing but an exceptional character when he was with the Leafs.

Obviously Pittsburgh has Kessel. And unlike most Leafs fans, I'd be really happy to see him with the cup.

As for predictions, it's anyone's guess... but I could see San Jose simply overmatching Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh has a lot of speed and skill, but San Jose has the size and grit to physically dominate the Penguins. And it's not like San Jose is a slow team anyway.

 

[Glongpre]

I was in a work pool, and I hedged all my picks on who I thought would win the most. High risk, high reward is where it's at. That said, I was the first one out, and that means I get $5, booyah! (picked guys from Washington, Dallas, Florida, Anaheim, with a Washington vs Dallas final).

These playoffs have been great. Every series seems to be a back and forth, and you could never be sure who would win. It was thrilling.

I am picking San Jose. They are on a tear, the offense is there, the defence is there, and most importantly the goalie is holding his own. I also would like to see Joe Thornton win a cup. Everyone always shitted on him when the team did badly, even though he puts up a crazy amount of points. The dude is one of the best passers ever, he puts up assists without even trying.

Pittsburgh has been hot though. So like I said, this could go either way.

 

[mduncan50]

I'll be cheering for Pittsburgh for gambling reasons that I made at the start of the playoffs. But, from the perspective of a Leafs fan who obviously had no stock in this, I would be very happy for either team. San Jose is a franchise without any past success and some great future Hall of Famers in Thornton and Marleau making it to their first ever final. Additionally, the Sharks have James Reimer who was nothing but an exceptional character when he was with the Leafs.

Obviously Pittsburgh has Kessel. And unlike most Leafs fans, I'd be really happy to see him with the cup.

As for predictions, it's anyone's guess... but I could see San Jose simply overmatching Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh has a lot of speed and skill, but San Jose has the size and grit to physically dominate the Penguins. And it's not like San Jose is a slow team anyway.

I'd disagree that most Leafs fans wouldn't want to see him win a Cup. He wasn't hated by the fans here, he was hated by the media. But the sports media here can go fuck itself. Personally I'm cheering for the Penguins since they've always been my #2 team since the early Lemieux years and because I'm very happy for Phil, but I wouldn't mind it if the Sharks won either, since they've had such a snake-bitten history and it's always cool to see a franchise win its first Cup.