Pardon my recent apathetic blogitude...

In case you didn't know, the Stanley Cup Playoffs have already reached semi-final play, where as the NBA Playoffs won't reach that point until late October. Here are some highlights:

Boston vs. Montreal: The Canadiens lived up to their number 1 seed, until they squandered a 3-1 series lead. Carey Price faltered like a normal 20 year old rookie, and the Bruins forced a game 7 back at the forum, in which they were promptly shut out by a 20 year old rookie. But credit the play of the Bruins, along with the Original Six match up, for sparking interest in a very troubled franchise. Something is A-Bruin in Boston, that's for sure.

Washington vs. Philly: Another exhilarating 7 game series that showcased two of the NHL's most improved teams. Of course, only the Capitals have Alexander Ovechkin, who played a huge part in the series; most notably leaving Joffry Lupul open in front of the net, allowing Lupul to tap in a rebound for the series clinching goal in overtime. 

Im pretty sure some stuff happened out west too....but trust me, aside from the Sharks/Flames series, in which the Sharks played like shit and almost choked, nothing interesting happened.

Second round? Penguins won the series in overtime, which was the series' only good game. Gary Bettman must have been happy to see Sidney Crosby playing on the nations biggest stage on national TV (Yes, NBC televises games on the weekend.)

Karma came around and lacerated Sean Avery's spleen. Awesome.

In a battle between two hockey rich markets, San Jose and Dallas played an incredible series the consisted of four overtime games. The last being an actual four-overtime game which the Sharks dominated, but were out-dominated (?) by Marty Turco, who turned away 473 shots. 

The Sharks, unfortunately, were my pick to win the cup. They have the size (only four guys under 200 pounds, one being a goalie, and one being Brian Campell who hits like a truck), talent (Thornton, Campbell), youth (Pavelski, Michalek), leadership (Marleau, Roenick), and most importantly, goaltending (Nabokov won 46 games with a 2.14 GAA). Unfortunately, Marleau and Nabokov were the only ones to make any sort of impact on the series, which allowed an old ass Dallas team to skate with them for two full games before winning the series on the power play (with Campbell in the box, no less)

Even worse, the Sharks were the only team that could beat the Red Wings. The Wings have choked in the last several years, but I think they are finally experienced enough not to. IThis message was made clear in an 8-2 dismantling of the Avalanche at the Pepsi Center in the deciding game. Zetterberg and Datsyuk are mature enough to step up, which will take some of the load off the youngsters like Filppula and Lilja. They also have this guy named Nick Lindstrom, who is about to win his 69th Norris Trophy. 

So we're left with the interstate rivalry of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia in the East, and Dallas and Detroit in the West. And even though Dallas and Philadelphia have played extremely well this postseason, neither stand a chance. The Penguins have Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, and hired gun Marian Hossa, all of whom can score at will. With Sergei Gonchar running the point, the Penguins are one scary offensive team. That being said, Marty Biron has played like a man possessed for the Flyers and will be responsible for at least one win, but the Pens' onslaught will be too much.

As for the Stars, I guess its not so much that they've played that well, as it is their opponents playing poorly. With the best players on that team all hovering around their 30's, there is no logical explanation for the victories over the Ducks and Sharks (Arguably the two best teams in the West), other than lack of effort from the opposing bench. They'll pick up a win or two, just so long as their best players keep playing well (Modano, Morrow, Turco), but in a 7 game series, Detroit has few predators.

New cup prediction? Wings over Penguins in 4...maybe 5. Maybe Osgood or Hasek will have an off game, but at the end of it all, the Wings are too damn good, too damn experienced, and too damn overdue.