Hockey Thoughts: Stanley Cup Finals

Yeah, I know, we are potentially one game away from the end of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs and I'm just now writing a substantive post about the Finals.  Sorry. 

I just went back and reviewed my picks in the previous rounds because it feels like a million years ago already and I just wanted to make sure before I ran my mouth.  I did not really differentiate between the teams I thought would win and the teams I wanted to win for the semi-finals round, so I'll have to clarify that now. 

For the Quarterfinals round I went 2 for 4 in the Western Conference and 1 for 4 in the Eastern Conference with my actual picks, for a total of 3 out of 8, or 38%.  That's pretty bad.  As for the teams I wanted to win, I fared even worse.  I went 0 for 4 in the Western Conference and 2 for 4 in the East, or 2 of 8 total, a paltry 25%.  My two favs, and my pick to go all the way, were eliminated in the First Round.  Bummer.

In the Semi-Final Round I went 2 for 2 in the Eastern Conference in actual picks and in terms of who I wanted to win, since they were the same in both categories.  I also went 2 for 2 in picks for the Western, but only wanted one of them to win, so survived getting 1 of 2 in that category.  

For the Conference Finals I very decidely was wrong, and did not get who I wanted, in the West--picking San Jose, who got swept by Chicago.  As for who I wanted in the East, I was evenly split between the two teams wanting Montreal to go because they took out Pittsburgh, but also wanting Philly to go because they have some ex-Preds and hadn't beaten the Caps.  I thought Montreal would take the series, but they did not.  So, I was 0 for 1 in picks and somewhat neutral in what I wanted.  

Now we are to the Finals, and it should be pretty evident by the choices outlines above that I want Philly to win.  I also pick Philly over Chicago for the win.  After last night I'm not sure if I picked the winner (and who I pick usually loses anyway), but the series isn't over yet, and its not a done deal for the Hawks.  I'm still sticking with Philly.  

A special shout out to Partick and Parker, who I met this weekend in Knoxville at Cheryl's bar who are die-hard Hawks fans.  Two very cool dudes, and knowledgable on hockey, which is a rare find down South.  They both recently moved from Chicago, and I had a ball teasing them, talking hockey and "Wayne's World."  I even drew them some pictures on coasters demonstrating why Jonathan "Toes" is gay.  They did not like my illustrations, but they are fact.  There's not a whole lot I can do about it.  We also discussed Kane being gay, which did not bother them much and the NBC announcer bolstered my opinion last night when he declared that, "Timonen didn't see Kane coming on his backside."  I just love it when the announcers are unintentionally dirty.