Ok. Who will Hoist The Cup?

Well I am Canadian and although I'd love Montreal to win - there is virtually no Canadian talent on this team....they are mostly imports! The Canadian talent is thick in San Jose - Philly too. But- - - - Go Habs

I am curious, which team is the strongest and has the better chance at winning? I think I am kind of too late to reply to this post. So I probably am not making any sense to ask this.

Montreal does not need another championship they have so many from the early days I will be pulling for the San Jose Sharks of the 4 teams that are left as I can't stand Philadelphia and no team has had a more tortured playoff past then San Jose has and it would be nice to see a team that has had so much playoff disappointment finally get a championship it seems long overdue for that team as they have been so good the last few years, but just haven't had the breaks go their way come playoff time. I know Montreal being the 8 seed and Philadelphia being the 7 seed and coming back from 3-0 down to beat Boston and being down 3-0 in Game 7 and coming back to win will be the great stories as one of those two will be in the Finals and I just can't pull for Montreal to win another of their many championships they have more then many many teams put together and even though its been 17 years since their last one it would be like it is in baseball no one wants the Yankees to win because they already have so many championships I believe that Montreal and the Yankees are the only franchises in professional sports that are in the 20's for championships the Yankees got their 27th last year which I loved cause I have been a Yankees fan since I was a kid and that was the 5th championship that I personally got to see the first one was on my birthday in 1996, and for my team to go 9 years without a championship is an eternity to them, and for Montreal to go 17 years must seem like a lifetime to them and most people will say they won most of their championships when there was only 6 teams in the league, but they did win them and the other teams had just as good of a chance to win as they did and they took the best advantage of there only being the 6 teams it doesn't mean that you aren't as good it just means you don't have to beat as many teams as other sports just like in baseball now you have to win 3 rounds to be the champion back when I was a kid first you had to win the divison just to get into the playoffs then if you did that you were right into the league championship series and I must admit I love the expanded playoffs cause it adds more drama and more teams get a chance to be in it, but it has become harder and many more teams have won the championship because of it and I think that makes for a better game. if not for the expansion of the playoffs in all the sports stories like this year with Montreal and Philadelphia would not be possible and to think Philadelphia was the last team in with a shootout victory against the New York Rangers they are certainly making the most of their second chance.

I will take San Jose to win the Cup, although I wouldn't mind Chicago. BlackHawks are fun to watch, but Jumbo Joe and Nabakov will shed their non-winner images. Nabokov is the lone million dollar goalie left, the others were mainly back-ups.

It's funny how there seems to be the 2 strongest teams in the league in the west, and two seemingly teams of destiny in the east. I would also like to see the Habs in the finals. And maybe the Hawks coming out of the west. Just for the Hossa factor! Although the big Joe's from the Sharks finally winning is also an interesting idea!

I also hope the Habs, but if they don't the BlackHawks.

I think it will be a Western team that will hoist The Cup. All the teams in East are upsets. The Hawks and the Sharks( on paper ) are far superior to those teams. That said, the Habs have beaten two of the top teams in East. The Flyers have beaten some tough opponents as well. However, Chicago Blackhawks and the Sharks are two elite teams. How many upsets do the Habs and Flyers got in them? I predict Montreal to win their series against the Flyers. They beat tougher opponents and their goalie has been outstanding. The Sharks-Hawks series is a toss up. Hawks dominated them in regular season but the playoffs is totally different. The Sharks size might not be a big advantage. Hawks have been known to make hitting teams look silly and out of position. Sharks need to use their size in scrums and not to lay the big hit.Big hits make the Hawks play with more urgency and fire. Sharks have more experience in the back end. I think that will help them considerably in the series. Hawks have better special teams and maybe goaltending. But I really see goaltending as a toss up. I wouldn't be surprised if either team made it to the Finals.