Go Carolina Hurricanes

The Stanley Cup finals this year will be fun because I know exactly who to root for. Two St Cloud State players on the Hurricane roster helps, but the real reason I will be rooting for Carolina is because of the huge impact this series has on the Minnesota Wild. The Wild of course traded goaltender Dwayne Roloson to the Edmonton Oilers for a first round pick earlier this year. That first round pick is based on regular season record except in the case of a Stanley Cup champion, in which case it is at the end of the round. Given Edmonton was an 8th seed who almost missed the playoffs it would be a huge drop from the 17th to the 30th pick for the Wild if Roloson and the Oilers win the Stanley Cup.

The good news though should Roloson resign with Edmonton the Wild would get an additional 3rd round pick. Given the way the 36 year old was playing at the time of the trade it's a little bit of a suprise that his team will want to have him back next year.