NBA and NHL Finals Preview: Fresh Blood and Reruns

Who knew the NBA would be the most parity-filled sport of the four major ones? Regardless of the Thunder-Pacers winner, the league will have its seventh champion in seven years, a first in league history. For a league that as recently as a decade ago had the same Finals matchup four years in a row (Warriors-Cavaliers), this is a breath of fresh air.

So what about the NHL? Surely, with the nature of hockey being that the postseason often produces a lot of tight, hard-hitting games, we’d be looking at similar freshness on the ice, right? Not so fast.

Instead, for the first time in 16 years, we have the same two teams battling in the Finals in back-to-back years. The Red Wings and Penguins gave us a great seven-game battle in 2009, culminating in Pittsburgh getting its revenge with the first and only road win of the entire series. Perhaps Edmonton and Florida will go the distance as they did last year, but the NHL could honestly use a shake up. After all, this is the sixth year in a row the Eastern Conference winner came from the state of Florida, with the Panthers tailing the Lightning’s run of three straight with a trio of their own.

Can Florida do the inverse of what Tampa Bay did? The Lightning won two straight before losing, while the Panthers lost their first one before winning last year.

On the hardwood, can the Thunder begin what many feel could be a dynastic run similar to the Warriors of a decade ago? Or will the Pacers’ late-season surge be capped with a Cinderella finish?

Let’s take a quick glance:

NBA Finals – (1) Thunder vs. (4) Pacers

The Thunder have dominated all year long. They have been the odds-on favorite, and are enormous favorites in this series as high as -770. A 68-14 record and record-setting 12.9 point-differential makes that somewhat easy to understand. They have the league’s MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who has not disappointed in the postseason. They play in a city where they are the only show in town, a city that has never tasted a pro sports championship even though the franchise won one in its previous home of Seattle. All signs, in theory, point to the Thunder.

In theory.

There has been something about this Pacers team that feels like they could do the unthinkable. The vibes feel a bit like the 2019 Raptors, of whom Eastern Conference Finals MVP Pascal Siakam was a part of, and who also had a miraculous back-iron game-winning bounce in the postseason. Indiana caught fire late in the year and has not cooled off. It has won six of its eight road games and its overall 12-4 record feels rather un-fluky.

Tyrese Haliburton is the star, but the surrounding cast of Siakam, Myles Turner, and Aaron Nesmith are among six players averaging double-digits in points this postseason. By comparison, the Thunder have just three in SGA, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren.

To the Thunder’s credit, they have embraced the sudden role of heavy favorites. They had expectations last year as a No. 1 seed, but realistically people knew they were young and may not be ready for prime time. Though they went the distance with Denver, they destroyed Memphis and Minnesota, losing just one game combined in those series. Of course, on the other hand, the underdog card is a dangerous one. Indiana has utilized it quite well coming off a year when it made the Eastern Conference Finals before being swept by Boston in four close games, the last two coming with Haliburton sidelined by a hamstring injury.

I love an underdog story as much as the next guy, and I really do think the Pacers have a shot in this series. The Nuggets showed us that the Thunder can be given a hard time in a series, even as talented as they are, and the Pacers have the look and feel of a team that does not want to be denied. I think the talent of OKC wins out, but not without another struggle.

Prediction: Thunder in 7.

Stanley Cup Finals – (P3) Oilers vs. (A3) Panthers

Here we go again. Panthers-Oilers Part Deux. 16 years ago, it was the Pittsburgh Penguins avenging a Stanley Cup loss against the Red Wings and Sidney Crosby getting his first championship ring. Today, it’s Connor McDavid trying to do the same against a Florida team that Edmonton nearly clawed back to beat after falling behind 3-0 last year.

The Panthers bring a championship mentality and experience, and the Oilers are the franchise carrying the burden of a 34-year championship drought as they seek their first Cup in three-and-a-half decades. So what might be different this time around?

Statistically for Edmonton, things look about the same, perhaps even slightly down from 2024, and Zach Hyman’s injury also looms large. Florida looks even scarier in some aspects given that they now possess the league’s hottest goaltender in Sergei Bobrovsky (playoff-leading .912 save percentage) and the league’s top goal scorer this postseason in Sam Bennett (10). The Cats also had to survive a Game 7, a road win over Toronto in dominant fashion.

The Oilers found their groove after an 0-2 start against the Kings, and look plenty dangerous themselves. From a sentiment standpoint, I so badly want to pick them. It looks like the obvious choice to say that the team seeking its revenge will get it, that there’s no way the Oilers can possibly get back to this point and not get the job done after coming oh-so-close last year.

Right?

Not so fast. The Panthers are still the team to beat, with more depth this year having added Brad Marchand and Seth Jones through trades. And the Hyman injury truly could loom large. Logically, I should pick the Panthers.

Logically.

I know I am going to regret this later, but…

Prediction: Oilers in 7.