The NHL is down to just two teams. Unfortunately, the Tampa Bay Lightning are not one of them. While it’s perfectly okay to watch the Stanley Cup Final as a complete neutral, it’s also fun to pick a side and support them, even if it’s just temporary. Don’t worry, no one will judge you for it. Since the Dallas Stars were booted in the Western Conference Final, I no longer have a financial rooting interest in any of the teams left so I figured we should leave things up to democracy and let you, the readers, choose who Raw Charge will throw their support behind.
We’ll keep this poll up for 48 hours to give y’all a chance to answer it. For comparison, there is also a Twitter poll that ends at some point this afternoon. Vote there as well if you want (and if it hasn’t ended by the time you read this).
Before you vote, though, here are a couple of quick arguments in favor of each franchise. Remember, this is all in fun, no need for too much thought, it’s just something to kill a little time as we wait for the final round to get going. Game 1 isn’t until Saturday, June 8th at 8:00 PM EST. Seriously, we have the better part of five days until hockey gets back under way. Florida may need to hold a training camp to get ready for the final round as they haven’t played since Saturday.
Reasons why Raw Charge should jump on the Florida bandwagon
- If another team is going to win the Stanley Cup, why not one from the same state?
- There is some sort of false honor in losing to the team that eventually wins the Stanley Cup. Since the Panthers booted the Bolts in the first round, the least they could do is win the whole darn thing.
- Keep the Cup out of Canada. It was twenty years ago that a team from Florida (Tampa Bay) defeated a team from Canada (Calgary). The Lightning repeated the feat in 2021, taking down Montreal for the second of two in a row. Now it’s time for Florida to keep the streak going.
- Corey Perry losing in the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in five years would be hilarious.
- Connor McDavid going down as the greatest player in his generation but not winning a Stanley Cup would also be hilarious.
- Paul Maurice has been coaching in the NHL since he was 29 years-old when he broke in with the Hartford Whalers in the 1995-96 season. Twice he’s made it to the Stanley Cup Final (2002 with Carolina and last season with Florida). He seems like a nice guy who has a sense of humor, which is nice these days.
- Carter Verhaeghe can get his name on the Cup again. He was a rookie in 2019-20 when he won it for the first time, playing sparingly as a bottom-six forward. Now he can add his name for a second time as a meaningful part of the Florida offense. Not bad for a guy who seemed destined to be a full-time AHLer not so long ago.
- Kyle Okposo (1,051 regular season games) and Oliver Ekman-Larson (982 regular-season games) make for some pretty solid Old Guys Without a Cup. Granted, OEL is only 32 years-old, but 11 seasons in Arizona will really age a player.
- If Edmonton wins, the Lightning have a 2025 4th round pick deferred to 2026 as part of the Adam Henrique deal.
- It would be nice to see a team that plays really well in all facets of the game succeed and raise the Cup. In the playoffs, the Panthers are 4th in goals scored (3.24 per game), 3rd in goals against (2.29 per game), 6th in power play (23.3%), and 2nd in penalty killing (88.2%). They have spread out the scoring as seven players are in double-digits in points through 17 games.
- It would annoy the Canadian media if another sun-belt team wins a Cup before a Canadian team.
- Watching a fan base win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history is always fun as an outsider. Are there bandwagon fans that didn’t know icing from offsides a month ago? Sure, but there are also 30+ year fans who got interested in hockey as kids in South Florida when the Panthers came along who are now taking their children to games. After suffering years of mediocrity, and getting so close last year, to be able to win one would be super cool for them.
Reasons why Raw Charge should be on Edmonton’s side
- Seriously? Who wants to root for the Stinkin’ Panthers?
- He’s done everything an individual player can do in the game of hockey, so it would be nice if Connor McDavid could pull off the ultimate team achievement by leading his teammates in raising the Stanley Cup.
- It would be hilarious if Edmonton ended Canada’s Stanley Cup drought instead of Toronto or Montreal (although Winnipeg would have been the funniest).
- The Lightning can be proud to know they were a part of the victory by retaining salary in the deal that sent Adam Henrique to the Oilers from Anaheim.
- A win for Edmonton would deny a Tkachuk his name on the Stanley Cup.
- Watching offense is more fun than defense. Edmonton has four players with at least 20 points. McDavid is at 31 points in 18 games. Zach Hyman has 14 goals.
- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins played for a lot of very bad Oilers teams (it wasn’t until his sixth season in the league that he played for a team that won more than they lost). It would be the ultimate conclusion to his story if he could raise the Cup.
- Canadian writers would still find a way to be mad about something even if the Oilers win.
Go ahead and vote. We’ll tabulate the votes and announce what team we’re cheering for at the end of the week.
