With the NBA/NHL Finals starting in the tail end of this week and my love for both sports I just had to dedicate this column space to some Rapid Fire Rants preview of both the NBA Finals and the NHL Finals as well as offer my predictions on the winners of both series between the Spurs/Heat and Kings/Hawks respectively.
So with that being said, on we go with another week of rapid fire rants from yours truly....
Kings look to end Rangers luck
For as good as the New York Rangers were in the Eastern Conference Playoffs, their improbable run to the Stanley Cup Finals involved a lot of luck as much as it involved the stellar goaltending of Henrik Lund-qvist.
New York barely escaped the lowly Philadelphia Flyers and their horrible goaltending in Round One before they managed to upset the Penguins in the second round to face off with the Montreal Canadiens.
In the Eastern Conference Final the Rangers took out Carey Price in Game One and still struggled to knock off a Montreal team that was using rookie Dustin Tokarski and still nearly forced a Game 7 if not for slim victories by the Rangers at home in both games as New York continued to rely on defensive tactics and their goaltending for much of the series despite holding a considerable edge over Montreal in between the pipes.
That type of advantage is not going to come New York's way in the Finals as the Los Angeles Kings bring a playoff resume that can't be questioned. An 8-1 playoffs record over three seasons leading up to the Finals is hard to ignore before you consider Los Angeles' top to bottom edge in all facets of the game.
More talented and better at playing the physical, stingy, tactics the Rangers employed during the playoffs (Vancouver fans really wish Alain Vigneault coached like this before getting fired), it is hard to talk about the Kings as anything but massive favorites to show the Western Conference's dominance over the East this season.
Anything can happen in the playoffs in hockey, and Los Angeles needed some miracles to knock off their opponents as well, but the Kings are more than a class above a Rangers team that has had to rely on tactics that just don't seem like they will work against a Kings team that would be more than willing to play the Rangers game just to prove that they are just as physical and defensively sound. Unless the Rangers get four world class nights from their goalie, don't expect this to go the Rangers way.
Ruttig's Rants Prediction: Kings in 5.
Spurs/Heat II
While the Stanley Cup Finals matchup is a high profile clash of New York Vs. LA, the NBA Finals meeting of the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs features a rematch that surpasses any build up that the NHL could have dreamed of as the veteran Spurs look to prevent Miami from winning three straight championships after falling just short of the finish line in Games 6/7 in Miami last year.
Becoming another victim of the NBA's 2-3-2 format, the Spurs couldn't steal a game in Miami to win the title and thanks to Ray Allen's famous three point shot the Spurs became the closest team in recent memory to win the NBA title without actually lifting the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
Now that the Spurs are the top seed the 2-3-2 format has been abolished, but they do come in as fsvorites in Vegas despite the Heat's back to back titles and the presence of the heir to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant as the best all-around player in the NBA in LeBron James who will be looking to "three peat" just like MJ and Kobe did to cement his legacy as one of the greatest playoff performers of all time.
James has came a long way since his days in Cleveland and after winning two titles along with the natural healing process of time there appears to be far less ill will towards him joining Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade in Miami instead of staying with his home state team in Cleveland to start the Heat's dynasty.
That doesn't mean the large majority of the basketball world will be pulling for the Heat as many who watched the Spurs fall inches away from the finish line in not one, but two of the greatest NBA Finals games to ever be played last season will be in the corner of the challengers instead of rooting for a Kobe/Jordan-esque three peat from LeBron James and company.
Regardless of what happens history will be made, but with home court advantage in Game 7 the Spurs have the ace in the hole should an inevitable scenario come into play, making them likely to spoil the three peat.
Hungry to win a potential final championship, 2014 looks like the Spurs moment. Spurs in 7.
