Gary Bettman is a happy man. The Stanley Cup Finals will be featuring a match-up that the league office has been salivating over for months.
The Pittsburgh Penguins will face the Detroit Red Wings in a finals showdown which will pit the youth of the NHL against the oldest, most experienced team in the league.
But the contrasts don't stop there.
The Red Wings stingy defense has allowed the fewest shots on goal of almost any team in the league. The Penguins have a solid defense as well, but I believe the strength of the team is their high-powered offense.
This is a classic match-up of two juggernauts.
Both teams had a pretty easy time of it in the playoffs, (Pittsburgh went 12-2 and Detroit won 9 in a row at one time). Both teams dominated during the regular season. Detroit won the President's Trophy while the Pens recovered after a slow start and played excellent hockey down the stretch.
This should be one heck of a series. Will Chris Osgood get the Conn Smythe?
After going 0-4 with my picks during the conference semi-finals, I redeemed myself a bit by picking both of these teams to make it. Who do I think will win the Cup? At this point it's hard to go against experience, so I will have to pick Detroit to take this series.
Peter Gabriel