2015 Stanley Cup Final Prediction

Here is my prediction for the 2015 Stanley Cup Final.

(A1) Tampa Bay Lightning vs (C3) Chicago Blackhawks: This should be a great series considering all the star power on both teams. It's clear the league wanted Rangers versus Blackhawks, but hey, at least the Blackhawks being in a big market in Chicago will save NBC from a ratings standpoint! Onto the matchup. I did mention there is star power here with Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Steven Stamkos. It will be interesting to see whether Joel Quenneville has Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook together defending the "Triplets" line of Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov, and Ondrej Palat, who continue to produce time in and time out, or he has say Keith and Johnny Oduya defend the line of Stamkos, Alex Killorn, and Valtteri Fippula and Seabrook and Niklas Hjalmarsson defend the "Triplets" line. I believe Jon Cooper will have Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman defend the line of Toews, Kane, and Brandon Saad, who were terrific playing together in the last few games of the Anaheim series and have Jason Garrison and Braydon Coburn defend the line of Marian Hossa, Brad Richards, and Brian Bickell. Both goalies Ben Bishop and Corey Crawford have had their struggles in the playoffs, although Ben Bishop shut out the Rangers in games 5 & 7 and that Corey Crawford has been better since he has been benched in the first round against Nashville. Tampa Bay deserves credit for going into MSG and beating the Rangers in a game 7, which no team has ever done until the Bolts did on Friday. Chicago being short handed on defense is well documented and they have shown time and time again how resilient they are by finding ways to win games and the way they came back from a 3-2 series deficit to beat the Ducks. The Hawks were my preseason pick to win the cup and they have the championship pedigree for winning two cups this decade. I really believe experience will matter here and the Chicago Blackhawks will have three cups in six seasons. Let the dynasty talk begin.

Prediction: Blackhawks in six games.

Conn Smythe Trophy Pick: Duncan Keith