The NHL hasn't had its conference leaders meet in the Stanley Cup final for more than 20 years. The last time it happened brings another comparison to light.
There are only two teams in these Stanley Cup playoffs that are still undefeated.
The Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes are both 6-0 in this post-season heading into Thursday's action. They swept their first-round opponents and won the first two games of their second-round series.
Both teams also finished atop their respective conferences in the regular season.
With how dominant they've been in the regular season and playoffs, it's no surprise that BetMGM has them as the top two favorites to win the Stanley Cup (Colorado at 2.60/+160 odds and Carolina at 2.80/+180 odds).
That leads to the question: when was the last time the Eastern Conference and Western Conference leaders in the regular season met in the Stanley Cup final?
It happened in 2000-01, before the Salary Cap Era began in 2005-06.
And the Avalanche were in it.
Representing the East were the New Jersey Devils, and the Avs came out of the West. Colorado went on to win the series that went the distance, beating New Jersey 3-1 in Game 7.
Colorado's roster had multiple players who became or still are NHL executives, such as Joe Sakic, Rob Blake and Chris Drury. Players who became coaches are Patrick Roy, Adam Foote and even assistant coaches Alex Tanguay and Dan Hinote.
There's yet another resemblance between this year and the 2001 post-season.
In that list of Hall of Famers and retired NHL stars was defenseman Ray Bourque.
Bourque, then 40 years old, famously won his first Stanley Cup with the Avalanche that season after going more than two decades of being one of the best defensemen of that generation and not getting his hands on the trophy.
He was actually a critical piece of Colorado's back end, even at that age. In that final series, he averaged a mighty 26:13, with not one game going to overtime. Furthermore, he averaged 28:32 of ice time in those playoffs.
Bourque's storyline draws a comparison to this year's Avalanche, which also has an aging blueliner on the roster who spent much of his career as one of the best D-men of his era, especially offensively.
That would be 41-year-old defenseman Brent Burns, who remains without a Stanley Cup in what is now his 22nd NHL season. His only Cup final appearance was with the San Jose Sharks in 2016, when the Pittsburgh Penguins won their first of back-to-back titles.
Nonetheless, Burns will be hoping to get the fairytale ending to his career as Bourque did, while the Avalanche and Hurricanes will look to recreate history and get back to the Stanley Cup final.
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