It's the New York Rangers vs. the Los Angeles Kings for the 2014 Stanley Cup.
The team that beat the Canucks in 1994 Final against the team that knocked out Vancouver in the first round in 2012 as an eighth seed before winning a cup of their own.
The Rangers led by our old coach Alain Vigneault with ex-Canuck spare-part defenseman Raphael Diaz, vs. the Kings and ex-Canuck defenseman Willie Mitchell.
Ah, Willie Mitchell. A player who was cast aside by the Canucks as damaged goods after a 2010 concussion is now competing for his second Stanley Cup with the Kings. Mitchell's 37 now—an older player that the Canucks dispatched far too soon. He's playing a solid 20 minutes a game and is a plus-seven in 13 games. He missed eight playoff games when he was injured in Game 6 of the first round but has been solid since his return.
Also of note—Mitchell didn't play at all last season, when the Kings were bounced by Chicago in the Western Conference Final, so he is actually playing for his second straight Cup. As much as I dislike the Kings, I wish Willie all the best.
Despite all the early proclamations that the Western Conference champion will walk away with the Cup, I think there could be some twists and turns in this Stanley Cup Final.
The Rangers are rested and have a game-changing goaltender, which should give them a solid foundation to compete. The Kings are likely to go through a letdown after such an intense series against Chicago.
But Los Angeles is starting the Final at home—something that never happened during their 2012 Cup run or through this playoff. The Kings should get a big lift from their home crowd to start the series.
Game 7 last night didn't have quite the same lustre as the earlier games of the series, but still brought plenty of suspense. The 'Hawks reverted to a less terrible version of the team that blew its two-goal lead in Game 2, and the winning goal was a total fluke. The game truly could have gone either way.
I'm not sure if coming within one goal of the Stanley Cup Final will be enough to bring on any major changes in Chicago this summer, but it could keep the Ryan Kesler rumours alive once the dust settles in the Windy City.
From my point of view, the worst news of the series:
In case you missed it, Ron MacLean announced that Bob Cole will be returning next season. Excellent.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 2, 2014I thought our own Rick Ball did a pretty solid job of calling HNIC late games last season. I hope he gets another chance under the new regime.
Sportsnet's Luke Fox picked up a Toronto radio appearance by Jim Benning late last week while he was at the NHL Combine. His article focuses more on whether or not the Canucks will look for another goalie this summer, but the money quote is about Ryan Kesler:
“I touched base with Ryan yesterday. We’re still going back and forth on that. We’re going to listen to Ryan. We’re going to have a good, open, honest communication,… said Benning, who has also been speaking with Kelser’s agent. “Where it leads to, at this point I don’t know.…
This sounds like a shift in tone from Benning's comments when he was first introduced, when he said he wanted Kesler to stay. To me, these words leave the possibility open that the rift might not be repairable. This remains a hot-button issue to watch in the weeks leading up to the draft.
News from the NHL combine took awhile to trickle out this weekend. The NHL.com site has now posted a bunch of stories looking at the event and the prospects every which way. The action on this front is finally starting to heat up. Less than four weeks until we start to get some answers!