I'm a local celebrity of sorts here in Calgary when it comes to sports prognostication. A day doesn't go by when a person doesn't say to me: "Huck, you're awfully good-looking and one hell of a sports visionary. What is the secret to your tremendous success when figuring who will be still standing at the end of the Stanley Cup final?"
Being a modest person, not to mention eerily astute and extremely handsome, I have to admit that there is a reason to my supposedly mad sense of forbearance. For one, the biggest factor in picking a series has nothing to do with current playoff performances, nor does it even have to do with regular season success. Go back even further to past post-season accomplishments by the players, or even that of the particular franchises themselves, and you won't find where I develop my keen insight to where their respective destinies lay.
No, the first question I ask myself regarding which team is going to win a particular series is, What is the record of that franchise in World Hockey Association championship play? In this case, the New England Whalers, who later became the Hartford Whalers and, ultimately, the Carolina Hurricanes, have a dominating single championship to their credit while the lowly Alberta/Edmonton Oilers have merely one final round defeat for which to boast. How pathetic.
For this reason and this reason alone, I believe that Carolina will defeat Edmonton in 6 games in the 2006 Stanley Cup championship series.
Avco Cup victories aside, there are other reasons to believe the Canes will emerge victorious.
I don't buy the theory that the Grease Spots are the overwhelming underdogs in the series. Even though Vegas is betting against them due to regular season differences and the advantages due to home ice, there are few around these parts who aren't giving the Oil the Cup already. From the Conn Smythe play of Chris Pronger to the inexplicable play of Dwayne Roloson, from the grown men waving silver pom-poms to the knives of Whyte Ave, it seems that this is the year of destiny for those raucous Shiv City fanatics.
However, by playing in a city which alters its hockey schedule with that of the NASCAR circuit, the Hurricane generators have gone unnoticed but still built themselves the best franchise in the league has seen ever since Steve Yzerman had at least one working knee ligament. Solid goaltending, both on the starting rotation and manning the door, has already taken on the world's best netminder - who had been on a 15-game winning streak, I might add - and won decisively. Rookie Cam Ward, in particular, has shown he can keep his cool in big games and give his team a chance to in every game. Hockey peoples looking for Ward to falter under the bright lights of (ahem) Edmonton will be disappointed in his confidence in the blue paint, even with Ryan Smyth's big ass and greasy mullet in his face.
Three exceptional first-lines bolster an attack more formidable than most, complimenting an effective fourth line centred by the underrated Kevyn Adams. What more can be said about the brilliant play thus far of Rod Brind'Amour, for example, which doesn't involve his talent in the face-off circle, his aggressive forecheck and timely scoring? What can I add to Eric Staal's desire to have the puck and do something wonderful with it? How does one describe the pairing of Oilers-linked has-beens - former captain Doug Weight and former stickboy Ray Whitney - and their emerging presence with rookie Andrew Ladd with every game closer to the final? Is there anything I can contribute to the stories of Justin Williams and Cory Stillman other than they are two players who will be considered as potential late-season pickups for teams contemplating a Stanley Cup run for the foreseeable future?
These men are the real deal.
True, the offense had had the luxury during the last series of dealing with a depleted Sabres blueline, and they managed to take advantage of that weakness to their full advantage. But how do you explain the success of the Canes' d-corps, known only for their success as a no-name hodge-podge of dependable defenders, who shut down the likes of Briere and Drury? I know that Wesley has flown under the radar ever since leaving the dominant Bruins teams of the late eighties and early nineties, but here you have a guy who hardly ever makes a mistake, which is precisely all 'lina needs. Ditto that for Bret Hedican and Niclas Wallin. Mike Commodore, known more for his bedroom attire and Raggedy Andy 'do, has established himself as a first-rate, second-line defensive specialist. There are no Prongers here, but you don't need a twelve-foot wingspan if you're rotating three pairs without any key injuries who can all play in all situations.
And do I have to mention the vicious special teams play by the Hurricanes?
Yep, Edmonton has had a terrific run and the players and management are to be commended, even if their fans aren't. However, it's about to end. Like I said earlier, the Lardbirds aren't the only team to go on a torrid post-season streak in these playoffs who have met the Hurricanes, and I'm betting that the results will be quite similar.
Then again, according to my Western conference predictions, I've been wrong before.
Canes in six
