Predictions Indicate Sharks Beat Montreal In 2008 Stanley Cup Finals

Experts predicted that the San Jose Sharks will win the 2008 Stanley Cup Final beating the Montreal Canadiens in 7 games.

The 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs began with 4 of the 8 matchups going to a deciding 7th game. Pittsburgh defeated the Sens in 5 games and Jose Theodore put up a wall against Minnesota in 4 games. The Penguins creamed the Rangers and Carey Price's helped Montreal defeat Philadelphia in the East. Detroit solved Theodore to edge out Colorado in 7 games and the Sharks defeated the Stars in 6 games.

The Eastern Conference Finals were one of the most exciting series of the 2008 Playoffs. Saku Koivu's return helped Montreal edge out Pittsburgh. In the West, San Jose crushed Detroit who won the Presidents' Trophy in the regular season but couldn't make it in the playoffs.

San Jose made things difficulty for the Montreal Canadiens, with Thornton leading the way. Montreal held off a San Jose victory in games 5 and 6 with excellent offensive plays by Alex Kovalev. Kovalev led the NHL with 24 points throughout the playoffs. The Sharks had an early 3 goal lead in game 7 and won their first Stanley Cup.

If the Pittsburgh Penguins can manage to keep most of their young talent together that they have now, they will be unstoppable for years to come. Some say that the Penguins could win at least 4 or more Stanley Cups in the next 5 to 6 years, including this year. Some say that the Montreal Canadiens have the best chance to end an almost 15 year Stanley Cup drought for Canadian teams, which have been finalists the past 3 years. However, there is a lot of work ahead before that can seriously be contemplated and the West is going to be tough to defeat.

As for the Penguins are concerned, there could be a strong finish in 4 against Ottawa but the series isn't over yet. The Sharks and the Flames are both playing phenomenally tight but the Sharks will most likely come out in 7 in the west, the Sharks will come out over Dallas in 6, and in the East, the Pens will go on Habs. In all probability, in the Cup Finals the East will take it in 6.