A day late...

... a dollar short... you guys are lucky we're still paying attention, at this point!

My thoughts on the final?

Emotionally, speaking from the heart, all that, you have to want Ottawa to win. Canadian, right?

What I've seen all season has suggested to me that Anaheim will be the team to beat. They're more physical, they have an intriguing mix of youthful energy and a ton of playoff experience. While their big line has been a bit disappointing since losing Kunitz, they're not ineffective, and they've seen players like Getzlaf and the other kids, their big D-men, and their shutdown men step up. Their only downfall (as exhibited by Game 1) will be a lack of discipline. We've seen other teams teeter on the edge between playing aggressively and playing dirty before - it's all good fun.

Ottawa on the other hand, has been more unpredictable. There are a lot of wild cards in play here. Emery. The big line. The coaching. What I'm going to point to (since I have nothing original nor insightful to say about the team itself) is that Ottawa hasn't been particularly successful this season against Western Conference teams. Put another way, of the six Western Conference teams they played this year who qualified for the playoffs, they had a 2-3-0-1 record. Of the remaining four teams, Ottawa went 2-2 against them. Make of that what you will.

But it doesn't matter, right? Playoffs are a whole new story...

Huzzah! The end is near...

We will see.