[Sport] NHL Playoffs 2012: And the Conference winners are?

Another week, and another round of the NHL playoffs for this year are over and done. Who's made it through to challenge for Lord Stanley's cup? Well I'd be completely lying if I said that it's two teams that were predicted to be there at the start of the playoff season.

The Los Angeles Kings have continued their somewhat unexpected run deep into the playoffs. I say somewhat unexpected, because after seeing them dominate their first two series you really had to expect them to do well against the Phoenix Coyotes. Much as in those previous series however, I was disappointed with their opponents. I was expecting much stiffer opposition from the Coyotes than they provided, and in the end it seemed as though the Kings had it all pretty much their own way, winning the series 4-1.

That scoreline doesn't really tell the whole story though. Yes, on the surface it seems as though the Kings romped their way to victory. But from what I saw of the games they were hard fought affairs, with neither team ever really getting a stranglehold on things. The difference seemed, once again, to be the scoring ability of the two teams. Both goaltenders were in good form, but the Kings seemed to figure out how to score slightly more quickly than the Coyotes did. Once they jumped out to a two game lead, the Coyotes struggled to play catch-up.

The other series was also an interesting affair, and in the end I think that the longer schedule for the New York Rangers told on them. They looked the stronger team to me at the start of the series, but the New Jersey Devils gradually played their way back into the series and eventually triumphed. It seemed as though they needed to settle down in the first game few games but they only got stronger, whereas the Rangers seemed to tire as the number of games increased. The games were all close, physical affairs as well, which surely took its toll.

The second game in the series though featured the best goaltending that I've witnessed in the playoffs so far. Spectacular saves at both ends of the ice, and for all three periods. It was captivating.

So the Stanley Cup final this year has turned out to be the Los Angeles Kings against the New Jersey Devils. I'm not sure that many predicted that at the start of the playoffs, but both teams have played extremely well to get to this point. It should be a great set of ice hockey matches.