Kings of the Castle, Masters of Their Domain

*If anyone gets the reference from this post’s title, you’ll be my bestie for life.  But seriously.*

Oh, the Kings.  A team after my own heart.  I’ve always rooted for the underdog, and since every “favorite” team (save for the New York Rangers) lost in the first round of these seemingly backwards playoffs, this year will be forever known as the year of the upset.  I’m not even going to go through which teams lost in the first round (because then I’d have to relive the heartbreak of my Blackhawks blowing it), but you all know what happened.  And let’s be honest, if your reaction wasn’t:

…then you’re either crazy, a liar, or both.  It’s going to be a special thing to see Los Angeles win, but then, there’s the other guy.

New Jersey Devils

The Devils, though not as much my favorite as the Kings are, they deserve to be here.  How they dethroned King Henrik and the New York Rangers, coming back from 2 games down in the Eastern Conference Finals will be the stuff of legend.  Every game was a classic in that series, and they worked hard to get to the Finals.  No Doubt.

Now, I’m not going to make any predictions for this series.  But, if I’m honest (which, lezbehonest, I always am), I want the Kings to win for a few reasons.  One, Colin Fraser is on that team, and I always root for former Blackhawks.  They’re coached by Darryl Sutter, another former Hawk.  And, finally, probably my most legitimate reason, I want Mike Richards and Jeff Carter to succeed.  As much as I despise the Flyers, and they are the former captain and alternate captain of that team, what happened to them last summer was brutal.  They were the faces of that franchise, and were blindly traded away.  Carter struggled quite a bit this season with injury, and it’d be nice for him to get some vindication.

Either way it goes though, I’m so excited for this series.  It’s gonna be magical :)

-M