Whichever team wins will be a deserving champion (although certainly not a great champion). Both teams are okay. Thomas will probably deservedly win the Smythe whether he wins or loses the Cup. It would be nice to see Mark Recchi go out with one last Cup but on the other hand the Vancouver fans have acted with a lot more class than the Boston ones. Also there are NO sportscatsers anywhere who are such flagrant homers as in Boston.
My preference would have been # 1 Detroit or # 2 Tampa Bay (coincidentally these teams are led by the two best GMs in hockey - # 1 the great Ken Holland, second best GM of all time, behind only Sam Pollock, and # 2 Steve Yzerman who proved to be a wizard in his FIRST year on the job).
But after those two favorite picks, any team can win as long it's not Toronto - and of course we NEVER have to worry about that, especially with Brian "More Cheese Please" Burke as GM. If Boston wins, it means EVERY ONE of the Original Six will have won the Cup in the last 18 years EXCEPT of course the Leafs, who haven't even made it to the finals in 44 (!!!) years and counting. (Detroit of course has won FOUR Cups in the last decade and a half!) If Vancouver wins, ALMOST every current Canadian team will have won in the last 25 year s(Vancouver, Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary). Of current Canadian teams (can't count Winnipeg this season) ONLY the Leafs (no surprise as usual) and the Senators will not have won - but at least the Sens got to the final! Furthermore the Sens rate to improve significantly next year given that they will be coached by Paul Maclean, who has received the usual top-notch training working for the best organization in professional sports, the great Detroit Red Wings.
