No one should care who the Stanley Cup favorites are, unless you’re a degenerate gambler. However, Sports Illustrated’s latest issue had an eye-popper, as it picked Washington to beat Minnesota in the Stanley Cup Finals. While I really hope this pans out, it’s quite a bold prediction when so many oddsmakers picked the Capitals the last couple of seasons, back when they had a superior team.
It’s true that the East is relatively wide open this season, and in a best case scenario, the Caps will make some noise come playoff time. But to say they’re favorites, considering their ‘hangover’ and lack of depth, is a stretch.
The opponent SI picks is also interesting, as Minnesota’s coach is our old friend, Bruce Boudreau. During his days with Anaheim, it wasn’t uncommon to hear folks believing there would be a Caps-Ducks Final, and a Wild-Caps final would have just as many great storylines. Aside from that, Minnesota is a far safer pick to make it to the Finals than the Caps, though there are several other teams in the West that would’ve been just as safe to pick, like Chicago or Nashville.
Good for Sports Illustrated for going against the grain and picking the Caps, despite Washington being shallower now than in the past several years. At the same time, being favorites has only turned out laughable in the past decade with so many first and second-round losses.
We shall see, and I’d LOVE if SI is right.
Things I Never Want to Hear About Again (Until the Caps Win a Cup)
