Stanley Cup Finals

The Red Wings are not in them. Thus, I do not care.

Bring on the Ultimate Fighting Chapmionships!

Well, no. (Seriously, what's up with the recent push for the latest “fastest growing sport in America”?) But as I've said before the Annaheim/Ottawa matchup is not one that inspires me. I might watch a bit but I'm not exactly going to seek it out.

My head says to go with the Ducks because, even though they've been riding a short bench and, basically, three defensemen, they've been solid defensively. Ottawa's been carried by the Alfredsson line a lot and although the Ducks have a penchant for taking dumb penalties, they can shut down the Sens offense and outscore them if need be. But all that doesn't matter because Annaheim has the hot goaltender in Guigere. And in the playoffs, it's all about who's got the better goaltending.

My heart, on the other hand says, first, I hate the Ducks with a passion normally reserved for people who cut me off in traffic. And two of those three defensemen are Pronger, whom I've hated since he played for the Blues, and Niedermeyer who's on the “Dead to me because he played for the Devils in '94” list. Second, I'm pretty fond of the Senators – they're a scrappy club that's been on the verge for a while. This might be a different story if they'd actually pulled the trigger on the Yzerman trade but they've also got the Canadian factor going for them. Don Cherry trumps SoCal as far as hockey mojo is concerned. So, emotionally, I'm pulling for Ottawa.

So, if I was putting money down on this, I'd go with, shudder, the Ducks. But I'm not so I'm pulling for the Senators.