NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2016: Finals Preview

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nd then there were two. The long slog of the NHL playoffs will culminate in a final series between Sidney Crosby's Pittsburgh Penguins and Joe Pavelski's San Jose Sharks. Sportswriters (this blogger included) tend to write story-lines around things like "redemption" and readers look to those sorts of instructive headlines, especially around championships. Sport seasons, or campaigns as our European brethren prefer, have all the rising and falling actions of any story. Heroes and villains, upsets and fulfillment, selfishness and teamwork all vying for a place at the top at the zero sum game of professional sports. One winner means winner takes all. For all the effort of the second place team, all but the most die hard fans will have forgotten of them in three months at best. So who will raise the Cup this year?

The Stanley Cup 
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San Jose Sharks vs Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, heralded as "The Next One" since a teen, has not had the number of championships that were expected. While consistently in the top 10 of regular season scoring, the Crosby's Penguins have not been to a Finals in eight years, so this team qualifies for the redemption tale. If Crosby wins again, he will add a second Cup to his gold medals and cement himself as a sure fire first ballot Hall of Famer, as well as putting his nemesis Alexander Ovechkin further back in his rear view mirror. The Penguins will try to use their team speed and power play against the Sharks and if Malkin and Kessel are scoring, San Jose looks to be in trouble. The Sharks are also a perfect candidate for redemption. Year after year writers saw the Sharks as the sweetheart pick to win the Stanley Cup, and year after year they would disappoint and not make the Finals. This year they were not such a pick, and managed to barely make the playoffs finishing third in the Pacific behind their California rivals. While Joe Pavelski is by far their best performing player, the redemption that would befall Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, both felled captains of San Jose's losing past, would be palpable. Expect fawning stories featuring quotes like "I always believed in myself even when the media did not." And would they be wrong? These are multi-million dollar players, All-stars, and faces of their teams that for whatever reason fell short on the way to the Cup, a position held by many great players over the years. And called "losers," which by all other socio-economic metrics, they most assuredly are not. But in the winner take all redemption story of professional sports, those bitter years of disappointment will give way to a "went out on top" tale to make even the most ardent Sharks hater blush. Joe Pavelski, a goal scoring captain and leader is playing with a Mark Messier like determination. All Marleau and Thornton need to do is follow his lead.

Sharks will win the Stanley Cup in 7 games, giving the republic of California the Stanley Cup three of the last six years.

Next redemption story in the queue: Canadian teams will be shut out of the Cup for twenty three years running. Who will break the mold and redeem the nation who invented the game? 

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