Colorado Avalanche, Western Champion, vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, Eastern Champion - The series of games between these two teams will open tonight (3 p.m., Wednesday through Thursday) in Denver and establish the identity of the champion in the best hockey league in the world.
This is the third year in a row that Tampa Bay is reaching the final series.
Just like in the previous two years, her rival is considered a favorite.
But everyone remembers: In those two years the landings on paper did not prevent Tampa Bay from winning the championship.
Maybe even the opposite, she helped her get the coveted trophy.
If the Florida team, known as the Bolts, swings the Stanley Cup again this time, it will be an incredible streak that has not been seen in the NHL for more than three decades.
Since the league's salary cap was introduced many have thought that even two wins in a row in the Stanley Cup are imaginative.
Although the Lightning has already proven that anything is possible, the hurdle that awaits it in the final has all the tools to spoil the celebration.
The final series is played using the "best of seven games" method, with the home game in the seventh game - if the winner is not determined first - being in the hands of Colorado Avalanche.
After a very lukewarm start to the season (only 9 points in the first 10 games), Colorado recovered and ran over the regular season.
Tampa Bay, on the other hand, finished the pre-playoff stage with a rather mediocre result.
Western Champion, Colorado Avalanche, Photo: USA TODAY Sports
The Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup twice, but that was quite a long time ago - in 1996 and 2001. To repeat that feat again, they will have to stretch their scoring ability to the limit, trying to train strikers Nezim Kadri and Andrew Culiano, who were injured in the playoffs.
Kadri, an outstanding conqueror of Lebanese descent, is especially important.
Meanwhile, despite the injuries, this is his best season of his career.
Only about two weeks ago he was able to recover the NHL record in scoring points (Kadri delivered 3 assists in 2 minutes and 4 seconds), but two days later he was injured in the palm of his hand following a foul by an opponent.
As is customary in hockey, Kadri himself is far from an angel.
Two weeks before the incident that struck him, he collided with another team goalkeeper in what appeared to be a deliberate collision.
The opposing goalkeeper went off the field, and Colorado, who was an ace behind, won the game.
Tampa Bay Lightning.
On the way to a third consecutive win ?, Photo: Getty Images
For the first time since 2001, the final series will bring together the two nominees for the "Norris Prize," the award given to the best defender in the NHL League - Tampa Victor Hadman's Swede vs. Kyle McCar of Colorado.
Despite his young age (23 in total), McCar is a proven, one-of-a-kind asset that has promised and exists.
In his final year before moving to the best league in the world he was crowned MVP of the American College League, and in his freshman year he won the Calder Cup as a rookie of the season in the NHL.
In an industry where there is a clear division into defensive and offensive players McCar manages to combine the two worlds, and there are those who parallel his performance to the role of liaison in football.
Either way, when he is on the field, Avalanche always has a numerical advantage on offense.
In the summary of the regular season Macar was included among the 20 best scorers and among the 15 best assists of the league - an extraordinary achievement for a defender.
As for Tampa Bay, its strong defensive asset is at the gate.
Russian goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevsky has made a name for himself as an expert in crucial games.
"The more important the game, the better it plays," said Wayne Gretzky, the legendary former star who holds the unofficial title of "the greatest ice hockey player of all time."
Even Gabriel Landskog, the Swedish striker for Colorado, who will be forced in Kadri's absence to bear the brunt of the rift, admitted that Vasilovsky is the best goalie in the NHL.
Tampa goalkeeper By Andrei Vsilewski, Photo: USA TODAY Sports
When it comes to the final series of the best league in the world, it can not be otherwise.
To win, one must go through the best.
It is not known who will win in the end, but it is clear that June's hot sporting confrontation will actually take place on the ice.
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