Stanley Cup Finals Preview & Predictions 2012

A battle of low seeds, not that those numbers mean a thing any more. The #6 New Jersey Devils meet the #8 Los Angeles Kings in the 2011-12 Stanley Cup Finals.

Both teams have knocked off the #1 seeds. Both are surprising finalists. Both are backed by quality goaltending: one team a future Hall of Famer, the other a rising star.

Josh Kidd has setup our poll & preview/breakdown of the series. Submit your vote before polling closes (game 1 is a gimme).

Time to break out the crystal balls:

Devils in 6

Martin Brodeur. It seemed like he's won Cups on his own, and now he's got some fire power in front of him. With a nice blend of youth & experience the Devils have been a scrappy team, battling to win every game and every series. The Kings, who defeated some talented teams, never faced opponents who put them in a corner. The Eastern Conference teams looked more solid game in and game out, outside of a few messy Philly-Pittsburgh games, and Dustin Brown's hard hitting-style won't bother the Devils like the Kings' previous opponents. As always, despite prediction, I'll be rooting for game 7, overtime.