This time of year, many talk about baseball season and who is better, the St. Louis Cardinals or the Kansas City Royals.  Others may talk about the Indy 500 or Coca Cola 600,  or probably the NBA Finals. I seem to be in the simple minority on this, but I live for the Stanley Cup!  For those that don't, know it's the Championship for hockey.

This year the Cup is between the New Jersey Devils from the East and Los Angeles Kings from the West.  These two teams have had improbable runs through the playoffs.  The Kings are the eighth and lowest seed out of the West, while the Devils are six seed out of the East.

I am excited to see what happens between these two teams, as it is not often the NHL is graced with having two of the biggest TV markets in the country on television battling it out.  This should be good for the game of hockey.

Missouri has seen its fair share of success in the sport, as the St Louis Blues won the Central Division and earned a #2 seed in the playoffs,  the Missouri Mavericks made the semi-finals of the CHL, and even MU won the MACHA title.  I bet you didn't even know MU had a hockey team.

My point is Missouri is starting to see hockey improve on the ice before our eyes, and I hope that it catches on a little more. To further my passion for the game today, I learned that one of my favorite players to watch, Nick Lidstrom, announced his retirement and I think he has been a big ambassador for the sport through commercials, video games, and other ways. I'm going to take the cue and try and promote it a bit more,  watch the Cup on NBC. For the record, my household is cheering for the Kings.

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