Stanley Cup gangs

In the Western Conference Finals, the west coast gang finally prevailed over the midwest gang. In overtime in Game 7, the Los Angeles Kings finally knocked off the Chicago Black Hawks.

And let's get real. When it comes to real gangs, LA and the Windy City are a couple of the gang- bangingest places in the country. Over a hundred different varieties in Chicago, and LA last checked in with 80+. Sometimes a different gang on every street in certain neighborhoods.

While the mostly white boy gangs (sometimes referred to as NHL teams) from their respective cities were busy skating around trying to shoot a puck in the net -- chances are not much has changed on the home fronts. Last time I looked, real gangs weren't that much into hockey.

The NY Rangers prevailed in the Eastern Conference finals. Few saw that coming. Maybe Pittsburgh, Boston, or Montreal, but the Rangers playing for the Cup? Really?  Then again, the Big Apple doesn't have that much of a gang problem. At least not anymore. Since former Mayor Mike Bloomberg stepped aside and stopped his jihadic turf war on over sized soft drinks, things seem to be relatively peaceful in the boroughs.

So after all the games, goals, saves, penalties, and overall spectacular plays in the first three rounds of the playoffs, what are we left with?

Teams from the two largest markets in the US slugging it out for Lord Stanley's cherished cup. It's doubtful too many people from Pennsylvania all the way west to Nevada will get overly excited over this Final match-up. In other words, all the folks in a couple time zones from Canada to Mexico, and that's a lot of folks, probably could care less who wins. Between any NY and LA matchup for a title, it's pretty tough for common folks to get behind a sentimental favorite, ya know?

Consider the travel miles the teams will face. From NY to LA is roughly 2500 air miles. Depending on the prevailing winds at the time -- that's at least a 5 hour flight. From the time the players and coaches leave home to go to the airport, get on the plane, fly cross-country, disembark, and find their ways to hotels -- it's probably at least an 8 hour deal.

Given the Stanley Cup Final format is 2-2-1-1-1, with the first two games being in LA, obviously both teams have to fly back to NY for games 3 and 4. Should the series go 7 games, entirely possible, they'll have to fly back to LA, back again to NY, and back one more time to LA. No matter how you slice it or dice it -- that would be a whole lot of air miles.

Sure, NHL players are probably the most all-around highly conditioned athletes of any sport. But combine the physical beatings they've taken in all the games over the season, throw in three rounds of an even more brutal playoff gauntlet, and now they have to go get beat up some more, while possibly flying 4 or 5 times from coast to coast? Even if they get a day or two off between games, somewhere along the line, jet-lag has to be a factor. These guys are supertough -- but they're also human.

Then again, though the Rangers have to make the initial flight, both teams face the same travel scenario after the first two games, depending on how long the series goes.

And it's a good thing there's planes involved that typically fly around 500 MPH. Can you imagine if this was the old old days? No planes? They had to travel by train? How long would each trip take?

I dunno, but the players would be plenty rested up by the time they got there each time. Bored silly, no practice for days, and likely hung over from too many trips to the bar car, but dammit, they'd be rested. And if it went the full 7 games, with a train having to go cross-country five times, the Stanley Cup Finals might not be over until well into July.

At any rate, here's rooting for the Rangers. The Kings won the Cup just two years ago, and its been 20 years for the Rangers. Besides, folks in LA have enough to root for. The dominance of the Lakers. The stable ownership of the Clippers. The fast moving traffic on the freeways during rush hour, or pretty much any other time for that matter. And of course, the gangs will still be there. Hmm. On second thought, nevermind.

And how would yours truly celebrate another NY Ranger Stanley Cup victory? With a 32 ounce cup of Coke. Sorry, Mr. Bloomberg, but your gang of one war on pop was a really dumb idea.