Canes Country’s 2019 Playoff Pick ‘Em Challenge: Stanley Cup Final

If you came out of the first round thinking “wow, we might get some real craziness in the Stanley Cup Final,” I regret to inform you that the 2019 Stanley Cup Final is remarkably chalky.

In one corner, we have the Boston Bruins, a 107-point juggernaut that holds the misfortune of being in the same division with one of the greatest regular-season teams of all time - not that it really mattered, given that the Tampa Bay Lightning soiled the bed and opened the door for the Bruins to have home-ice advantage for the entire playoffs.

And in the other, the St. Louis Blues, who you might have heard were last in the league standings on January 2 but ripped off a 117-point pace from that point forward, earning their first trip to the Final since 1970, when they...uh, were swept by the Bruins.

Will the Blues finally get their long-awaited title? Or will the Bruins claim their second Cup of the Patrice Bergeron - Zdeno Chara - (ughhhh) Brad Marchand era and keep St. Louis stuck on zero Cups in 52 years in the league?

Before we get to the pick ‘em, here’s the schedule of games for the Final. All games are at 8:00 p.m. ET:

• Game 1: Monday, May 27, Blues at Bruins, NBC
• Game 2: Wednesday, May 29, Blues at Bruins, NBCSN
• Game 3: Saturday, June 1, Bruins at Blues, NBCSN
• Game 4: Monday, June 3, Bruins at Blues, NBC
• Game 5*: Thursday, June 6, Blues at Bruins, NBC
• Game 6*: Sunday, June 9, Bruins at Blues, NBC
• Game 7*: Wednesday, June 12, Blues at Bruins, NBC

And now onto the pick ‘em, which is anyone’s game. Seriously, with 13 points on offer in the Final, ten people have a legitimate shot at winning, and since the top two finishers win a T-shirt, there are 21 contenders to come away with a prize. Here’s how things look after the third round:

As a reminder, the winner will get their pick of one of the two T-shirts we’ve offered this postseason: either the “Mr. Game 7” shirt or the “We’re Playing Hockey” shirt (both marked down to $10!). By the way, there’s a 20% off Memorial Day sale on everything in the store (use promo code MEMORIAL), so if you wanted to grab one, now’s a good time! Proceeds, as before, benefit the CC travel fund - which at this point is going to pay off our travel-related bills from the three rounds of the postseason.

The rules are just a bit different in the final, but largely the same as before:

• Select who will win the Stanley Cup, and in how many games. Also, for a tiebreaker, please indicate the total number of goals scored in the entire series by both teams with your entry.
• In the fourth round, you’ll get eight points for picking the correct winner. If you pick both the correct team and the correct series length, you’ll also get five bonus points.
• You will have until the start of Game 1 to pick the Cup winner. Comments will close on Monday, May 27, at 8:00 p.m.

Below are the staff picks for the Stanley Cup Final. Good luck!