Woah, what’s this? A new post well over a month after the last one? Guess so.

Hey everyone, I’m back once again. I won’t sugarcoat it; this is at least a week or so late. This post was originally going to be more about the process of moving that I had begun in April, but due to the sheer amount of things that have happened in the meantime, I’ve decided to give a minor update on how that’s been going and leave it at that. While it dragged on a lot longer than my family and I had initially expected, our house finally sold a couple of days ago. We are currently in the process of packing our belongings and the various items and mementos we’re keeping so that we’re out of here by this coming weekend. By the end of next week, the money from the sale will be in our possession, and we’ll finally be chilling. We did have a deal to move into a place by the end of May, but that deal fell through due to a couple of issues that are too complicated to explain here. However, we secured another deal, one which we all feel is much better (and cheaper), and we’re looking forward to living in a brand new apartment complex near where we currently live.

Throughout all of this, I’ve been leaning on the Lord for nearly every decision I’ve made, whether it revolved around money, my free time, or my rollercoaster-esque sleeping habits. Doing this has made me think far clearer and more rationally than I would have otherwise. It has also reminded me that no matter how turbulent the seas or rocky the roads are, trusting in Jesus as your savior and leaning on the Lord is an absolute must in life. One of the best parts of being a Christian is knowing that everything will be alright in the end. It may not seem obvious how in the immediate term, but it’ll all make sense in the long term. It’s because the Lord has a plan for everyone. Even you.

Now, let’s move on to the more important issue at hand. My last post was about many things, but the main thing I wanted to highlight was my NHL playoff bracket. Last year, I did pretty well. I picked the Florida Panthers to win the Stanley Cup (which they did), and overall, I had only gotten a couple of series wrong. It was one of the better brackets I’ve ever done, and this year felt similarly predictable. I picked Tampa Bay to beat Colorado in a rematch of the 2022 Finals, and I was sure that both of my teams, my hometown Oilers and the Stars, would be out quickly to their rivals in the Kings and Avalanche, respectively. I was also sure that the Lightning would dispatch the Panthers in yet another Battle of Florida due to the Panthers limping into the playoffs and some of their best players still appearing to be injured.

Yeahhhh… so literally none of that ended up coming true. To tell you the truth, my bracket this year is probably the worst I’ve ever done. Tampa Bay, my Cup pick, got absolutely trashed by the surprisingly healthy and dialed-in Panthers in only five games. The Kings did go up 2-0 on the Oilers but then lost four straight after an all-time terrible coaching decision by Los Angeles’ very own Jim Hiller in game three that shifted the momentum to Edmonton’s side. Colorado took a battered and bruised Stars team to 7, only to blow a 2-0 3rd period lead in game seven after former Avalanche superstar (and very brief) Carolina Hurricane Mikko Rantanen buried them with a hat trick. Speaking of Rantanen, he was traded twice this season. He went through one of the wildest sagas I’ve ever seen for a superstar player. I’m more than happy that the Stars ended up with him at the end of it all, even though they once again lost in the 3rd round and are now facing an impending salary cap crisis. At any rate, the first round was an absolute gongshow, and it featured some truly special hockey as usual, even though my bracket was utterly ruined by the end of it.

Long story short, despite everything, this year’s iteration of the Finals is seemingly the same as last year. The Oilers and the Panthers are here again, proving in these playoffs that they might just straight up be the two best teams in the league when it matters most. Over the last few years, they’ve both gone deep numerous times, with Florida now in their 3rd straight Finals, mirroring their cross-state rivals in Tampa Bay, who did a similar thing at the start of the decade. As for the Oilers, this is the first time a Canadian team has made it to back-to-back Finals since, funnily enough, the Oilers in the late ’80s. They were pretty good; they had this guy named Gretzky. He won a few things in his time.

Now, I said that these Finals are exactly the same as last year’s. That is true from the standpoint of it being the same two teams as last year, but truthfully, there are a few key differences. For starters, the Oilers are the hosts this time, while Florida were the hosts last year. While I don’t think home ice was a huge reason why last year’s series ended up going the way it did, I think it will this time around. Edmonton has been better at home than the Panthers in these playoffs, with their record being 6-1 compared to Florida’s record of 4-3. However, it is worth noting that Florida’s road record is also very good at 8-2. Like the Oilers until the Finals, they have started every series on the road and have proven over the last few years that playing on the road doesn’t scare them. In fact, it might even embolden them further, which is a scary thought when you consider just how good the Panthers are. If the Oilers are going to win this rematch, they need to make sure they continue to play well at home like they have been. The crowd in Edmonton is one of the loudest and most oppressive for opposing teams in the entire NHL, and they have used that to their advantage a lot.

Another thing to note is that while the teams are basically the same when it comes to their rosters, this year’s iteration of both teams are better than the ones that we saw last year. Edmonton still has the core of McDavid/Draisaitl/Nugent-Hopkins/Bouchard while also having added some solid defensive forwards in Kasperi Kapanen and Vasily Podkolzin. They also added Jake Walman on defense, and he has been incredible throughout these playoffs. Florida still has their group in Barkov/Tkachuk/Ekblad/Reinhart, but they’ve also now got Seth Jones on defense and the Rat King himself in Brad Marchand on their 3rd line. I still can’t believe Boston traded Marchand away to the very team that has owned them for the past couple of years; they have some truly disgusting management over there. The additions I have outlined above are key reasons for both why Edmonton and Florida are back in the Finals, as well as for why they were able to shred through almost everyone they played on the way there. The only teams that truly challenged either team were Los Angeles for Edmonton in round 1 and Toronto for Florida in round 2. Those were also the only series for either of those teams that went beyond 5 games. There wasn’t a lot of drama in these year’s playoffs, and it’s mainly because some teams were just flat out better than everyone else—specifically, the two in the Finals.

Now, what do I think is going to happen? Good question. While many are riding with the Oilers to come out as the victors this time, Florida could still easily repeat as champions. I don’t think there’s much separating these teams when it comes down to it, which is why making a prediction is so hard. However, I must, and so I will say that the Oilers will win in 6 games. They will likely split the first two games in Edmonton, as well as the first two in Florida. Edmonton will take the series lead in game five after a nail-biting affair, and they will close it out in Florida in 6. While I have been having these strange thoughts and even visions of Edmonton somehow getting the job done in 5 games, with two of them being utter blowouts, I think that’s my imagination running wild. Bottom line, this will probably be another fantastic series like last year’s was. But God, I hope Edmonton wins this time. I was alright with them losing last year for a couple of reasons, but after greatly surpassing my expectations this year and making it this far once again when practically everyone counted them out, you’d better believe I’m hoping they do it. If the Oilers won, they’d be following in their steps from 1985 and Sidney Crosby’s Penguins in 2009. Both teams had lost in the Finals the previous year to the Islanders and Red Wings, respectively, and then went on to get revenge the following year. The Oilers would also ensure, with a victory, that this city wouldn’t sleep for months. There would be so much alcohol consumed and so many fireworks, both literal and figurative, that it would turn this place into the biggest party Western Canada has ever seen. And man, wouldn’t it be something to see that?

Anyways, since game 1 starts in just over an hour, I’m going to go have a shower while listening to Close to the Edge by Yes for the 4th time in a row. And then, tomorrow morning, I’ve gotta attend jury duty. Time will tell if I get called or not. I’m going to try to get out of it, because the move is still happening and we gotta be out of our house by Saturday night. Oh well, God will take care of everything regardless. I know that.

God bless each and every one of you, and I’ll see y’all later. Go Oilers.