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One-on-One: Who will win the Stanley Cup?

Edmonton Oilers

BY JOSH NELSON

 

Yes, I know the Edmonton Oilers were just blown out a few days ago at the hands of the Sharks, but this team has what it takes to win the Stanley Cup this year.

Obviously, if the Oilers were to win the Cup, the big reason would be Connor McDavid. McDavid, at 20-years-old, is already a superstar in the NHL. The number one pick in the 2015 draft had 100 points on the season, which was 11 more points than Sidney Crosby, who had the second most.

Although McDavid is already one of the best players in the league, he doesn’t have a lot of playoff experience, which is where Milan Lucic comes in. Lucic has seen his fair share of playoff games and has the experience to help the Oilers get a Cup this year, as he won one in 2011 with the Bruins.

Not only are the Oilers a well-oiled offensive machine, but they also have a stellar goaltender to back them up as well. Cam Talbot has been a very solid goalie on the year with a 2.39 goals against average and a save percentage at nearly 92 percent.

Sammy is going to tell you that she thinks the Penguins are going to repeat as champions again this season, but I think it’s just way too hard to do that. Not even the Chicago Blackhawks could repeat.

Edmonton will be holding Lord Stanley’s Cup when all is said and done.

 

 

Pittsburgh Penguins

BY SAMMANTHA DELLARIA

 

The Pittsburgh Penguins are making the best case for winning back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships in the salary-cap era this year. Currently holding a dominating 3-1 series lead against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Penguins will raise Lord Stanley’s Cup by the end of the playoffs.

Their roster features the offensive prowess of Sidney Crosby, a two-time Stanley Cup champion, Olympic gold medalist and World Championship gold medalist all at the age of 29 – who’s got a better resume than that?

Crosby is still in his prime and had an elite scoring season as he tallied 44 goals in 75 regular season games. Despite suffering a concussion, Crosby’s offensive record was good enough to earn him the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy, given to the leading scorer of the NHL each season.

Goal scoring doesn’t matter if a team doesn’t have defense. Luckily for the Penguins, it is not a problem. The team’s defense begins with veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who has 54 playoff wins in his career. The defensive pairings of the Penguins are combinations of young and old players, including youngster Olli Maatta and the experienced Trevor Daley. This variety rounds out the defensive pairings with the spunk of the youth and the knowledge of the old timers.

Josh will try and tell you the Edmonton Oilers will win it all this year, but they are too young and too inexperienced. The Penguins have experienced players who know what it takes to win – they should remember, the Pens won it all last year.

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