Why the Preds-Pens Stanley Cup Final will be stellar
The NHL is a copycat league, and you can count on 28 front offices directing their attention to the Nashville Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins over the course of the next few weeks, attempting to replicate the clubs' models of success.
In that sense, it's ironic that despite the Preds and Pens - at this point, at least - having rosters built with completely different blueprints, the first team to four wins will define what it takes to build a winner in today's league.
New to the dance, Nashville has reached this point on the strength of an impenetrable blue line, with a recently depleted forward corps missing the services of No. 1 center Ryan Johansen.
Pittsburgh, on the other hand, has consistently iced a beleaguered blue line throughout the postseason, but it's yet to become a factor, thanks to two of the best centerman the NHL has ever seen, and a deadly supporting cast.
With polar opposites competing for the same prize, this Stanley Cup Final could be an all-timer, featuring a compelling storyline or personality at every turn.
Legacies
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Believe it or not, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin alike can transcend into another stratosphere if Pittsburgh repeats as champion.
Crosby's legacy, already one of the greatest of all time, can be further burnished with back-to-back Cups. In the salary cap era, a feat of that stature can't go unnoticed. And while you might be sick of his dominance, and craving a new winner, remember the scene when, just weeks ago, an ill-timed cross check from Matt Niskanen had the collective hockey world anxiously wondering when he'd take the ice again.
Then there's Malkin, No. 87's partner through it all. The duo, now 30 and 29 years of age and eight years removed from their first triumph, are one-two in the playoff scoring race. Together, they have a chance to do something the Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr-led Penguins never did: capture a third ring.
If Pittsburgh wins, you can count on Crosby or Malkin capturing the Conn Smythe, which would mark the second for either player. Only Wayne Gretzky, Lemieux, Bobby Orr, Bernie Parent, and Patrick Roy have accomplished that.
Reputations are built in the playoffs, and we're witnessing two of the best ever take another chance to reach the pinnacle of the sport. Enjoy it.
Faces of the NHL
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While Crosby's long held the title of the NHL's best player, P.K. Subban is about to take the sport's biggest stage - something the league should rightfully exploit.
Subban has all the characteristics to become the face of the NHL: relentless charisma, an honest approach, and otherworldly talent. The 28-year-old rearguard works in a platoon to make the Preds' D corps the best in the league, and after being shipped out of Montreal for reasons supposedly unknown, winning a title would be the perfect way to cap a hectic year.
For a league that struggles to market its stars, the NHL, in its 100th year, has a chance to showcase the game at its very best, featuring its very best players.
If watching Crosby, Malkin, and Subban, among others, occupy the same rink to compete for the Stanley Cup doesn't draw you in, hockey probably isn't for you.
Teams of destiny
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Both the Predators' and Penguins' 2016-17 stories feature much more than star power.
After slowly escaping the perils of a weak market, Nashville, led by general manager David Poile, has given the city hockey fever over the years, and the team reached new heights this spring.
Poile, in the Predators organization since its inception, has built a perennial contender in Music City, and his resume speaks for itself. Less than a year after letting go of Seth Jones for Johansen, he traded his captain for Subban.
This is a club that's gotten this far as an eight-seed, sweeping away the Chicago Blackhawks, suffocating the St. Louis Blues, and clawing past the Anaheim Ducks. The Preds have Cinderella charm and juggernaut talent, and, based on how they're built, it looks like this is just the beginning.
The Penguins, meanwhile, are the favorites, loaded with experience. But they've shown there's more than one route to sustained success.
The team lost top defenseman Kris Letang for the playoffs, then starting netminder Matt Murray prior to Game 1 of the first round.
Pitted against the Presidents' Trophy-winning Capitals in Round 2, the Penguins got it done, then in Game 7 double overtime against the Senators, they, like always, found a way.
The Predators-Penguins final has all the makings of a classic. Whether it's Pittsburgh's unstoppable offense meeting Nashville's immovable defense, the cementing of a dynasty versus the birth of a new one, or simply the showcasing of the world's best players, this series could be one for the ages.