This will be my fifth Finals appearance. I wouldn’t say nervous, I’d describe it as anxious. I’ve been in this position enough times that I know what to expect. This is part of the reason management brought me to Minnesota. There are plenty of guys here who can fill the veteran leadership role, and I wouldn’t want to step on their toes, but there aren’t a lot of players here who have been to the Finals before. Even fewer have won a cup. Knowing what to expect during the Finals can help the team to keep doing what got us here. Sure, everything is a bit elevated, but a steady, experienced hand can keep everyone in the locker room on track, continuing the success we’ve had in the regular season, and earlier in the playoffs. Hopefuly, my experience can help us to not lose focus, and bring the cup to Minnesota.

I think most players are being appropriately sung right now. I’ll go with Olli O’Koivu, simply because he’s being so overshadowed by the play of Timo Haas right now. Haas is playing so well, I think O’Koivu is a bit forgotten, in comparison. Heading into the finals, O’Koivu has only dropped one game. He has played very solidly, posting a 0.910 save percentage, which is very respectable. He also has a 2.68 goals against average, also quite good. Both of these numbers are second in the playoffs only to Timo Haas. I think O’Koivu doesn’t get quite so much attention because there is less asked of him than of Haas. Minnesota has a bit better team, so they give up fewer shots, and tend to score a bit more than LA. As long as Olli continues to play consistently good in net, his team should be able to do enough to win games.


For LA, I think it is clearly Timo Haas. He has played outstanding in net for the Panthers. Minnesota, I think they need to beat Haas, so for them I’m going to say Sebastian Strange. The key to beating LA is beating Timo Haas, I don’t think anyone would argue with that. Haas has played very well for them, and I think he is the biggest single reason they are in the Finals. Minnesota, on the other hand, will have to beat Haas if they want to win. Their forwards will need to really dial up their intensity if they want to beat the red-hot Haas. I chose Strange, but I could have just as easily chose any of their goal scorers. Strange is the biggest name, so he is probably most likely to step up. I think this is the matchup. Haas versus the Minnesota goal-scorers. Whichever plays better will likely win the cup.

Bonus question: Who scores the Cup-winning goal?
Sophia Bennett