NHL finalists through the eyes of one... 

Devils and Sharks.

There, I said it. On the record. Come early June, not long after you have ditched your parka and hot chocolate for a Speedo and Corona, you'll be singin' it along with me.

Two sleeps removed from the NHL's Trade Deadline, it's time to step back, assess the damage and, like any other peasant  in this business, offer vagrant predictions as to how it is all going to play out.

Never mind the proclaiming of the big winners and losers once the smoke had cleared Tuesday. Too easy. I'm going one further, analyzing everything — well, all right, you got me, flipping a coin— to let you who will be playing for that big ol' shiny thing this June.

At the risk of enduring public ridicule and endless "Dear Idiot" emails, I'm saying, right here, right now, it will be the

Read Full Post: Stanley Cup predictions from a Devil's advocate

jersey maybe but only because of brodeur but no way san jose goes all the way. detroit, anaheim or dallas will destroy them and the will have to face one of them in the second round at the latest

Have you guys ever heard of anaheim? They are 9-1 since Selanne's return and still are playing with 3 of their top 4 centers hurt. They still havent played with their entire team on the ice all season but they are a few weeks away from being at full strength. Plus, they picked up *another* defenseman, Marc Bergeron, to add to Pronger, Beauchemin, Niedermeyer, O Donnel, Huskins, and Schneider. Giguere plays as well as Brodeuer once the playoffs start. Nabokov has had a stellar regular season but he has not rested all season (while Giguere has been pacing himself because the Ducks also have Jonas Hiller) and will not make it through a playoff series. The way things look, the Sharks may get the Ducks in the first round! Also remember that Anaheim has dominated San Jose all season with a partial lineup. Dallas? Much more likely. The question is whether Anaheims defense can stop Dallas's offense. We will see. Detroit? Too small and started out too fast. It will be Dallas or Anaheim versus the Devils and the Western Conference champion, whomever survives, will roll over NJ in less than 6 games.

Thanks for your opinions, all, and to whiteshark, don't think for a minute I would discount the Ducks. As I said, those four I mentioned will fight it out and it really is too close to call right now. Any one of the four could win the whole thing. My thoughts on the Stars and Sharks hooking up in the WCF is a guess at best. If the Sharks and Ducks meet in the opening round, at least one of the four will be gone, obviously. The Ducks are still scary, but I just went on a hunch. But whoever wins the west will roll over the east champ...agreed. I notice moreau posted the Wings twice and while I will not speak for him, I can only assume his leaving out the Ducks was accidental.