Edmonton's ability to find a way past the juggernaut Winnipeg Aurora powerhouse that has dominated the west for seasons now is arguably the most impressive feat in the postseason to this point. Philly had it out great in the ECF, but Winnipeg's sheer strength of roster has been a force of nature for years now. So huge ups to Edmonton for finally slaying the dragon.


All things given, give me playoff and finals experience over hungry but fresh players. There's something so potent about how much that experience when it matters really MATTERS. There's definitely something to be said about how much young blood fresh on the adrenaline high of making it to their first collective shot at the cup, but when it gets down to the wire... experience trumps all.

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The thing that no one wants to talk about is intangibles.

So let's talk about the only thing that matters this time of year: what team has the best names?

Philadelphia's roster is filled with some of the absolute best names you've ever heard in the modern history of the league (see: post-FHM). BASE PACK, for starters (joke intentional) is probably the best example of simple but effective when it comes to naming convention and the stats are no joke either. Beyond just BP there, the Forge boast Cale Salad, Nibbles the Squirrel, Ricky "Tricky" Koivu, and the ghost of Tony Soprano. That starting five alone puts Philly towards the top of playoff teams in terms of the name bowl.

By comparison, Edmonton really truly only boasts two great names. EGGWARD ELRIC, who has proven a force in the post-season, but more importantly--Justin Time, the holy grail in terms of simple but effective naming convention. His parents knew exactly what they were doing when they did that.

So if Philly wins the name bowl, do they win the cup? Personally, it's hard to deny the strength of that roster, but I'll still be pulling for Justin Time to pull off a miracle of his own.

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Find me a better fucking hockey club than the United States of Funmerica. Hockey culture: on top. Hockey skill: on top. Hockey pathos: doing mostly fine. Hockey ethos: unmatched. Hockey logos: debatably towards the top of the tournament. The strength of roster is completely undeniable. The team culture is about as unmatched as it gets, consisting of rewatches of all of the greatest American action movies starring all of the greatest American action stars. Commando. Predator. Hard Target. Red Scorpion. All of the classic American action stars. Between having the best goalie in the league standing tall between the wickets there at the back of the ice and boasting some of the most talented forwards in the league today bashing bodies and dishing pucks to each other, it's hard to say one way or the other whether or not they're truly the best team in the tournament, but this reporter is putting his entire Roth IRA fund on the USA to win the gold this year.