If anyone is watching what is transpiring in the NHL playoffs, there is no proof that they are. Since the Nielsen ratings are minuscule for both ESPN and FOX, shocking things have happened.

Of course, why watch an exciting four-overtime playoff game when you can be one of 30 million people watching Ross and Rachel of Friends break up, only to make up? Or you could watch (no longer, thank God) the cast of Seinfeld act dumber than dumb, or view another gory episode of ER.

Still, this year’s Stanley Cup finalist from the Eastern Conference is going to be the weakest team since the Florida Panthers won in 1996. The teams remaining are the Washington Capitals and Buffalo Sabres, the four and six seeds, respectively. The only thing going for them is hot goaltending, which is going to be a mere pittance when one of them goes up against either the Dallas Stars or the “red machine” of the Detroit Red Wings.

Washington and Buffalo, during the regular season, averaged 91 points. Dallas and Detroit, 106. Enough said.

However, the Stanley Cup is rarely won by the best team of the regular season. In fact, since the 1967 expansion, the best team has won only 14 times — less than half the time. The last time was the New York Rangers in 1994. If there is any hope of winning the Stanley Cup, let it be that statistic, because neither matches up well with the Western Conference clubs. Both will be looking for their first title.

The only reason these teams are battling for the trip to the finals is because the top three teams in the conference were eliminated. Some scratch golfers could probably score more goals with a 7-iron than New Jersey, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia could with a hockey stick.

In the Western Conference, Detroit is definitely a well-oiled machine. A talented and deep team, they eliminated my beloved St. Louis Blues in the playoffs for the third straight season. The Red Wings are getting better after every game, which seems impossible since they rarely play poorly. In the regular season, they lost every game in St. Louis. During the playoffs, they swept the Blues. Everyone wants to write them off, and everyone wants to beat them badly. They seem to be the Green Bay Packers of the NHL, always playing one step ahead of the opposition.

Detroit is a team that saves its best for last, but they can be beaten if the opposition gets the first goal of the game. If the opposition falls behind by two goals, they’d better start preparing for the next game. What makes the Wings so good is that they capitalize on each mistake and are patient enough to wait for them. They have one weakness, the power play, which was awful in the St. Louis series.

The Dallas Stars had the best regular season record. Though they are a very good team, their chances are not great, especially needing to defeat Detroit to reach the finals. They had a losing record against Detroit. However, the regular season means nothing, and the Stars have home-ice advantage in the best of seven. This could prove meaningless because Detroit has only lost one of six road games during the playoffs.

One problem Dallas must solve is scoring. Since losing their top scorer, Joe Nieuwendyk, they have struggled getting goals. This will be a problem in close series with Detroit. Dallas has a great power play and awesome penalty killing, which are musts in the playoffs. They need to be at the top of their games against Detroit.

Dallas has also played a #7 seed and #8 seed — let’s see them play a #3 seed who is playing like a top seed!

One thing that Dallas must do is be disciplined, for two reasons. First, they have to stay out of the penalty box. Detroit’s power play is on the verge of clicking and the refs are calling everything from high sticking to tying the laces of a skate incorrectly.

Secondly, the Red Wings thrive on getting you off your game plan. They are like opponents in a karate ring; they are patient and alert, and when they see a weakness, they will kill you. When that happens, it is a test of faith to see if you crumble or stick with it It is much easier to crumble, just ask the Blues.

This year’s finals may be similar to the Colorado Avalanche-Florida Panthers Stanley Cup finals series of ’96. Florida, the Cinderella, ran out of gas against the ‘Lanche’ in four straight, after upsetting higher seeds during earlier rounds. It took a marathon of three overtimes in Game 4 for Colorado to get it done.

Or, it could be like the series in ’94, when a heavily-favored New York Rangers team took seven games to beat a less-talented and less-experienced Vancouver Canuck team. In both cases, the better team won, and that should be the trend this year as Detroit defends the Chalice in five games against the Buffalo Sabres.

Chad Drury is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Marshalltown.