Congratulations to the L.A. Kings, 2012 Stanley Cup Champions

I don't consider myself to be an L.A. Kings fan, but I've never liked the Devils. Besides, the Kings brought a nice backstory into this year's Finals. Barely making the playoffs as the 8th seed in the West, then knocking off (in short order, mind you) the 1st seeded Canucks, the 2nd seeded Blues, and the 3rd seeded Coyotes makes for quite a Cinderella story. Add to that the fact that the franchise has never raised the championship banner in their 44-year history, and some might say the Kings were destined to win the Cup. Destiny or not, I enjoyed watching L.A. climb atop the NHL.

Equally enjoyable was watching two Michigan natives share in the spoils. Matt Greene (Grand Ledge) is no stranger to the Finals, falling to the Hurricanes in 2006 while with Edmonton (also seeded 8th, coincidentally). Scoreless in that series, Greene's two goals this year were of the significant variety. His first, a shortie against St. Louis in Game 1 of the Conference Semifinals, was also the game winner. His second goal was against the Devils in Game 6 and was the final goal scored of the game and the 2012 season. Pretty impressive.

In just his third NHL season, Rochester Hills' Alec Martinez has seen the Playoffs twice - both times with the Kings. Although he also had a relatively quiet post-season, from a scoring perspective, his lone goal was the game-winner in Game 3 against the Devils. This particular goal didn't sit well with Devils' netminder Martin Brodeur, the puck having gone in after repeated whacks from Martinez while it appeared to be pinned underneath Brodeur's pads.

NOTE: Believe it or not, I don't have any cards of either Greene or Martinez to include in this post. I'm also not about to lift scans from someone else, so you'll just have to use your imagination.

Now, a bit of an op-ed on an ugly incident from Game 6. You know, of course, that I'm referring to the check-from-behind laid on Rob Scuderi by Steve Bernier. After all of the negative attention being paid to disproportionate hits this year, what the hell was Bernier thinking as he vectored in on Scuderi? He wasn't thinking and was most likely overtaken by emotion and adrenaline, what with the Devils' hopes for a championship on the line in the opposing team's barn. Even so, that's no excuse to relinquish his awareness and, in my opinion, his actions ended up sealing the Devils' fate.