WASHINGTON – The Tampa Bay Lightning have been Drew Hutchison’s pick to win the Stanley Cup all along and now they’re four wins away from the second championship in franchise history.
The Toronto Blue Jays right-hander is pumped about that for his favourite team, but he’s also been pretty prescient in predicting these NHL playoffs, going 2-0 in the conference finals and pushing his overall record to 11-3 in Sportsnet’s annual polling of Blue Jays playoff picks.
Hutchison, who is obviously sticking with the Lightning, can finish no worse than tied for first with Mark Buehrle, who’s 10-4 and has the Chicago Blackhawks sipping champagne from Lord Stanley’s mug.
Last year’s winner, first base coach Tim Leiper, is also 10-4 but has the Lightning winning and won’t be able to catch Hutchison. Brett Cecil is 8-6 while Liam Hendriks is 5-9.
Here are their picks for the Stanley Cup final:
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Buehrle: Blackhawks
Cecil: Lightning
Hendriks: Blackhawks
Hutchison: Lightning
Leiper: Lightning