Because of bad weather, I was unable to try to get in this material earlier. I apologize to all of you. You all know the match for Lord Stanley's Cup- the San José Sharks vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins. But, how did we get here? Here is some retrospective.
1st Round
30 teams try to prove they are the best (or luckiest), and 16 proven themselves. Those sixteen were whittled down to eight. This Stanley Cup Playoffs was a bit weird because... no Canadian teams qualified to compete. So we're assured an all-American playoffs and an American team hoisting the Stanley Cup. Here's what happened starting with the Western Conference...
--- WEST ---
* It was Sanji Humira's #1 seed Dallas taking on Red Dragon and Northstar's Minnesota Wild. A unique thing about this series was that it was Minnesota's current team vs. the artists formerly known as the Minnesota North Stars. Even facing elimination, Minnesota put up the fight of their lives to make an ugly blowout close. Dallas still advanced, defeating Minnesota in six games. Minnesota didn't have the services of some of their better players.
* kolio's #2 St. Louis Blues hosted the defending champion #3 Chicago Blackhawks. This one went the seven-game distance with St. Louis taking out the defending champs. Chicago was the only Original Six team on the West end of this season's playoffs.
* The #1 Anaheim Ducks took on the other Wild Card West winners, the Nashville Predators. This series also went seven games with Nashville advancing to the next round.
* A California team was going to advance regardless of if it was the #2 San José Sharks or the #3 Los Angeles Kings. The Sharks couldn't be contained, dispatching Los Angeles easily in five games.
--- EAST ---
* Omnis' #1 Florida Panthers had one of their best seasons of late. Their series was against one of the East Wild Card winning New York Islanders. The Islanders tamed the Panthers in six games to advance to the next round.
* The #2 Tampa Bay Lightning took on AnthonyD1993 and Joey D's #3 Detroit Red Wings. This series was nuts with everything from fights to bloody faces defining the intensity of this series. Tampa Bay took out the one of the NHL's Original Six in five games. This Original Six team made the postseason for the 25th successive season. It sadly ended In fact, the Red Wings were sadly the first team eliminated this postseason.
* All eyes were on the #1 Washington Capitals for them to make as much noise as they could. The other East Wild Card winning Philadelphia Flyers took on Washington. The Capitals reigned supreme, taking out Philly in six games.
* One of the other Original Six teams that made the playoffs was the #3 New York Rangers. They would take on the #2 Pittsburgh Penguins. It was easy money for the Pens as they finished off the Rangers in five games.
2nd Round
Eight teams will become four... but WHICH four advanced?
--- WEST: Rd. 2 ---
* The Dallas Stars wanted to get their shine on when St. Louis came calling. This competitive series went the seven-game distance. Memorable moments, such as St. Louis blowing a kiss at Dallas, defined the back-and-forth action of this series. It was the blue and gold of St. Louis advancing over the Dallas Stars.
* Nashville and San José had themselves quite a series- even including some insane Overtime action. San José advanced in this series that went seven games strong.
--- EAST: Rd. 2 ---
* It was the New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning that went at it in the next round. Tampa Bay didn't need too many games to show they were the better team. In fact, this was only a five-game series.
* The Washington Capitals tried to continue their coasting to the Stanley Cup Finals. One problem- they couldn't get past the Pittsburgh Penguins. Pittsburgh downed Washington in six games.
Conference Finals
Okay, so I spoiled the results by mentioning who will play for the Stanley Cup. Read these anyways, gosh darn!
--- WEST ---
Destiny awaited either St. Louis or San José, as both teams have never won the Stanley Cup. A fierce series between these two blue teams saw Sharks teal take down St. Louis' beautiful colors in six games.
--- EAST ---
Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh both wanted to play for another Stanley Cup. It was the three-time champions, Pittsburgh, defeating Tampa Bay in a seven-game stretch.
So there you have it- we got San José and Pittsburgh ready to tangle for the Stanley Cup starting this Monday. Tell it, GTPlanet- who wins and (extra credit) how many games? I know I've seen a few early predictions.
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