h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Toronto Maple Leafs. Naturally.

Very optimistic. Especially in the face of the fact that the West has dominated recent Finals, and that they also dominated the East in interconference play. The East has nobody who matches up well with Colorado or Dallas. The Western Conference Final will determine the Stanley Cup champion, and the Cup Finals will just be an epilogue. My money is on Colorado... they have more heart than Dallas right now, and their young players (Hejduk, Drury) are making outstanding contributions along with the proven stars (Forsberg, Sakic). Plus, I'm grateful to them for knocking off Detroit.

*mutters to self about a certain team from a certain Golden State and their 7 year playoff losing streak*

Bah, I still say that with Cujo in net and with the rest of our team, Toronto will kick the ass of whoever they are up against. That is, as long as this newfound streak of good luck helps them against the Devils tonight (which it most certainly will).
Anyways, it's time that Toronto took the Cup back home to Canada. They haven't had it since '67, when they added all those expansion teams. This is the first season the Leafs have been out of Maple Leaf Gardens (one of the six original stadiums, home to the Leafs for 66 years, 1933-1999), and it seems like that's brought them some good luck!

Getting the monkey off their back, so to speak?

I gather you mean the Leafs when you say "they haven't had it since '67", and not Canada as a whole, since Canada last held the cup as recently as 1993. I know this because the first game of that year's finals was the last time the Kings won a playoff game *sniff*. That was also the closest they ever came to the Cup, as they have never won it in all of franchise history. This year they looked like they were going to be able to get at least to the second round, but then the injury plague struck them yet again, and that assinine new three division seeding scheme forced them to play Detroit in the first round, while they were still hurting.

Anyway, it's not like LA is Tampa Bay or anything... they've had great teams, they just haven't been able to put it together. *flashes back fondly to the days when Wayne Gretzky, Luc Robitaille, and Jari Kurri combined to make goaltenders weep in frustration throughout the league*

Okay, back to the present. Toronto has a huge task ahead of them yet. First, they have to manage to upset New Jersey, and with Larry Robinson running that system, I don't know if they'll manage to pull it off. Then, they'll have to get through whoever survivesthe war in Pennsylvania (but if they play any more 5 OT games, there won't be anybody left standing), and then they'll finally come across the class of the league. Toronto's best chance of actualy winning a cup lies in the chances of San Jose managing to upset St Louis, Dallas, and Colorado. And it looks like San Jose's luck has just about run out.

The Leafs will never win another Stanley Cup. Accept it and move on.

Personally, I've always had a soft spot for the Pens - even with the return of Mario I can't see them winning again for a couple of seasons (and a lot more money)...

But then, I'm an know-nothing Englander, so hopefully they wont listen to me

Actually, I think the Pens have the best chance. They have the two best players in the world (Mario and Jagr) and they were already a fairly good team before Mario's return, in an easy conference (can anyone east of Detroit skate anymore?). So it's quite likely that the western conference teams will brutalize each other in the playoffs, and be easy pickings for a skilled team like the Penquins.

It's a nice thought, but you must admit their recent playoff performance has been lacking a little - from one of the hardest hitting teams in the NHL, they're not brutal enough thesedays

Will the buzz of Lemieux's return still be felt by the end of the regular season? Or will it falter after a month or so, like many of the revitalising ideas they've tried in the last couple of seasons (like dumping Constantine)?