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Stanley
Cup - June 05, 2006
After a
one year hiatus, a new Stanley Cup
champion will be crowned and fans
will be rejoicing in either Carolina
or Edmonton.
Click
here for NHL Odds
Carolina
is favored to win the series at -135
and favored in the opening game at
-145. Edmonton is +115 in the series
and +125 in the opener. The Over /
Under for tonight’s game is
6.
When you
think about the cities these two teams
come from, they can not be more different.
Edmonton is a Canadian city with a
lot of history and Stanley Cups from
the Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier
era.
Carolina
plays in a U.S Southern city after
formerly being the Hartford Whalers
franchise. The Hurricanes are a solid
NHL team, but you know that most Canadians
are angry that there are only six
teams in Canada, while the U.S has
teams in places like Columbus, Tampa
Bay and Nashville.
Carolina
was 52-22-8 during the regular season
which gave them the second best record
in the Eastern Conference behind Ottawa.
Eric Staal led the team with 45 goals
and 100 points, and they had four
players with 70 or more points.
The goaltending
for the team has been a tale of two
seasons. Martin Gerber saw most of
the work in the regular season and
he had a 2.78 Goals Against Average
(GAA), but he got replaced in the
opening playoff series against Montreal
by Cam Ward.
Ward guided
the team through most of the Montreal
series as well as against New Jersey
and Buffalo. Wards miniscule 2.07
GAA in the playoffs so far has been
one of the best stories in the post-season.
Edmonton
was 41-28-13 during the regular season
which left them as an 8th seed in
the Western Conference. That meant
their playoff ride was a daunting
and remarkable one with wins over
Detroit, San Jose and Anaheim.
Unlike Carolina
and Eric Staal, the team did not have
one dominant scorer in the regular
season, but they did have four players
with at least 66 points. That doesn’t
include Sergei Samsonov who was a
great addition late in the season
from Boston, and he is tied for 3rd
on the team in playoff points.
Defensemen
Chris Pronger actually leads the team
in post-season points, showing that
he is playing at a tremendously high
level on both ends of the ice.
The goaltender
for Edmonton is Dwayne Roloson, another
player acquired late in the season,
this time from Minnesota. Roloson’s
2.22 GAA in the playoffs makes this
goaltender duel with Ward a potential
classic.
Overall,
Edmonton has had a magical run to
become the first 8th seed to go to
the Stanley Cup Finals. However, they
have a worthy and slightly deeper
opponent in Carolina who comes in
with a slight edge.
Prediction:
Carolina in Seven
Posted
by miker at June 5, 2006 07:37 AM
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