souper


The New England Wolfpack has been in the finals 4 times over the last 6 seasons, winning 2 of them. I think this shows an advantage and a disadvantage for their team. First, they've been here before and know what it takes to turn potential into a championship. They've got methods that have been tried and tested over the seasons. However, the fact they've been in the finals so many times recently suggests that their window of contention should be coming to a close. They've been in many finals and their core is likely beginning to age out, making way for a new generation of contenders. The Los Angeles Panthers are one of those teams rearing for contention, and having a team hungry for a long-awaited win will have a lot of motivation to get that cup, which might just trump the mindsets of the Wolfpack who, if they lose, will still have a couple cups under their belt so it's not as big a deal to lose out now.


I'm fairly biased here but it also gives me a unique perspective: I think Texas would've been a big contender for the cup. Going into the playoffs they were on a big winning streak and kept it up through the first round, sweeping their opponent. Second round they won 4-1, and they've been getting progressively deeper into the playoffs the last few seasons. It won't be long now until they are able to close out the deal, especially with several of their players peaking right now. It's a shame they couldn't make it to the finals, but they lost to the current favorites, the Panthers, so if they win its not a huge hit to the ego to ha e only lost to the cup winners.