Gary Bettman's Wet Dream Come True: Penguins vs. Wings in Cup Final

Three down, one to go. We are at the apex, the pinnacle of the season if you will. At long last, the Stanley Cup finals are set to begin Saturday night.

This seasons championship round features the sexiest match-up the NHL could ever have hoped for with the Penguins and the Red Wings. Personally speaking, I have my own bias in this series. I hate (I know it's a strong word, but believe me it fits) Detroit. Not just the Wings, every Detroit based team is on my 'BOO/HISS' list.

Anyways, I digress.

I have had theories over the years in regards with a certain league official (Kerry Fraser), as well as to which teams are going to win championships based on who they [the NHL] are desperately trying to market. Generally speaking, I am usually right with these. When everyone picked Calgary to beat Tampa Bay, I said Tampa would win because they would get "preferential treatment" with the refs, and Bettman is desperate to sell hockey to the southern states.

Game 6, Marty Gelinas of Calgary scores what would be the series winning goal. But wait, who's that? It's Kerry Fraser! He, as usual, screws the Canadian team, and disallows the goal saying it never crossed the line, even though the replay clearly showed it had. End result: Tampa wins games 6 & 7 to hoist the cup. Next cup final had Carolina (another southern team Bettman wants to market to) against Edmonton.

The Canes get the majority of the calls, and they win the cup. This year, the league is trying to push the dynamic duo of Crosby and Malkin, as well as the rest of the Pittsburgh Penguins as a great comeback from the brink of financial ruin story.

In other words, take a wild shot who I am going to pick to win. The NHL is not trying to push one of the three most boring teams in the league with Detroit are they? They are pushing one of the most exciting, young teams with the Pens.

And how, may I ask do you do that best? You manipulate the situation to get the desired result. Which in this case is having NHL cover boy Sidney Crosby lift the cup at the end of the series. You watch, the officiating has been suspect at best so far in the playoffs. You may see the worst ref job in recent NHL history if Bettman has his way. And like the Napoleon he thinks he is, he will.

My Pick:

Pittsburgh Penguins over Detroit Red Wings in 6 games.

Evgeni Malkin wins Conn Smythe as Finals MVP.

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