Stanley Cup Final Preview

[Superfraggle]

The Past:

Day 62: Columbus 3 Montreal 2 : Outshot 41-33, Miller came up big for the win. Mtl led 2-0 at one point.

Day 112: Columbus 4 Montreal 3: Again outshot 44-33, again Miller outplayed Rinne for the win. Again, Mtl led 2-0. Had two goals disallowed, though.

So Columbus narrowly won both games, despite being outplayed on the strength of Ryan Miller. Unfortunately for them, Pekka Rinne has really come into his own since the last time we met, which may be the deciding factor in this series.

The Trade(s)

First and foremost:

To Columbus: Ryan Miller
To Montreal: Pekka Rinne and Michael Latta

Few would argue that this, more than any other, is the deal that turned around the Blue Jackets' season. Ryan Miller came in and stole the show for the first couple months, inspiring an impressive turnaround in his teammates.

Rinne, on the other hand, struggled at first as a Hab. GM Superfraggle never lost hope, however, fending off many offers for the struggling keeper. As the season closed, his faith was rewarded, as Pekka Rinne caught fire and comes into the finals as the top playoff goalie in the league.

Many believe that the fate of the 2012 CPHL Championship comes down to these two men. Miller has a history of success. Rinne is the hottest goalie around. Who will prevail?!!!

The Other Big Trade:

To Columbus: Thomas Vanek, Dion Phaneuf, Cory Sarich, Mikael Granlund

To Montreal: Anze Kopitar, Chris Pronger, Bruno Gervais

From this trade only Vanek, Kopitar, and Gervais remain with the team they were dealt to. Pronger begat Michalek, who begat Ryan Whitney for the Habs, while Phaneuf was dealt with Rene Bourque (previously acquired from the Habs for Havlat, who begat Stafford) in a large deal which brought in Kuba and Lombardi.

The Road So Far:

Columbus (4th seed in the west):
defeated Dallas (5th seed) in 5 games
defeated Nashville (6th seed) in 6 games
defeated Anaheim (7th seed) in 4 games

Rick Nash leads the league by far with 24 points in 15 games
Brendan Morrison with 19 points
Mike Richards and Thomas Vanek with 15 each
Ryan Miller: 12-3-0, 2.63 GAA, 0.917 Sv%

Montreal (6th seed in the east):
defeated Washington (3rd seed) in 6 games
defeated Philadelphia (5th seed) in 5 games
defeated Ottawa (2nd seed) in 5 games

Anze Kopitar leads the team with 16 points in as many games
Alexander Semin and Patrick Marleau have 15 points each
Pekka Rinne: 12-3-1, 2.33 GAA, 0.930 Sv%, 3 assists

The Keys

For Montreal:
#1: Goaltending
#2: Shut Down Rick Nash
#3: Take advantage of team depth

For Columbus:
#1: Goaltending
#2: Limit Montreal's scoring chances
#3: Satiate any karma gods MJK may have angered over the course of the season.

Should be a great series.

[Superfraggle]

Most recent Lineups:

Montreal:

Morrow - Kopitar - Semin
Moulson - Marleau - Sharp
Penner - Plekanec - Leino
Stewart - Kopecky - Simmonds

Ehrhoff - Keith
Whitney - Morris
Martin - Niskanen

Rinne
Harding

IR: Drew Stafford - should be ready to go for Game 1

Columbus:
Cleary - Richards - Callahan
Vanek - Morrison - Nash
Stewart - Oshie - Hejduk
Desjardins - Lombardi - Bickell

Regehr - Hainsey
White - Kuba
Stuart - Rivet

Miller
Turco

IR: Trevor Daley - should be available mid-way through the series.

[Caged Great]

Please win Montreal.

[MJK]

I anticipate the majority of the league will be rooting for the Habs and their super nerdy but nice GM even though they are the 2-time Stanley Cup Champs. That will just make it even sweeter when I win! Other than Goffie and maybe Ravi I don't anticipate a lot of support.

But that won't matter and I can't wait to beat Rinne and the Nerd Patrol in Montreal. You can't stop Rick Nash and Rinne will crap the bed.

[MJK]

In a strong bid to sway Caged Great's support, the Jackets have offered the Panthers a 2015 8th round pick.

[MJK]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Please win Montreal.

Once upon a time I ran the Panthers franchise and they were just as strong (or stronger) than my current Jackets team. Now look at them...

Please win Florida.

[simmer2]

Interesting, when the Habs first won it was with Miller and Nash leading the way. Will be interesting to see what happens this year now that CBJ have them.

Great matchup on paper, let's see what happens!

[Slava]

I really don't know who to cheer for. It's not a comment on the GMs at all (I like both guys!), but I'd like both to lose. I can't cheer for Columbus, as they're probably my biggest rival. I also don't want to cheer for the Habs because they've won twice in a row.

I think it will go 5 though and Columbus wins. Good luck to both guys and congrats on making the finals!

[Da_Chief]

Go Columbus!

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by MJK

Please win Florida.

I'm trying to get it so that my team is a good team every year like a Pittsburgh or Philadelphia (hopefully with better playoff results....).

Unfortunately that just leads to rather unpleasant results in the process.

Still, go Montreal. We want a dynasty.

[MJK]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

I'm trying to get it so that my team is a good team every year like a Pittsburgh or Philadelphia (hopefully with better playoff results....).

Unfortunately that just leads to rather unpleasant results in the process.

Still, go Montreal. We want a dynasty.

I hear ya and I think that's great but I don't remember the Penguins and the Flyers building their teams with 5th round NCAA prospects!

[Goffie]

I'm a Jacket fan in this one. I like Fraggle and what he has done with the Habs, and I am happy that two active GM's have made the finals. That said I think Dave has paid his dues and has been very active every season so he deserves to bring home a cup.

[Swayze11]

I am hoping for an earthquake in this final to be honest.

[I wanna be like Miikka]

On one hand MJK is most annoying GM in the entire league but on the other MTL has won twice already so some new winners would be nice. I'll have to pull for CBJ since I was eliminated by them so I guess I may as well lose to the best team in the league.

Good to see 2 great teams in the finals though, both definitely get full marks for making the moves to get there. Glad to see it paid off. Go Jackets.

[Radically Red]

Go Columbus!!!

[Sylvanfan]

Go Blue Jackets! Say no to nerds.

[droopydrew19]

Jackass vs nerd.

Cant believe I'm saying this. Jackass in 6

[Superfraggle]

Great! Looks like I get to do the "us vs. the world" speech again that got us through each round so far.

[MJK]

Nice guys finish last. You are nerdy and nice, that's a double whammy.

[Hanna Sniper]

No brainier for me, Jackets

Habs suck, doesn't matter what friggen league