Curse of the Underdog.

I don't often write about sports, but lately I've had a few requests, and seeing as sports is a huge part of my life, I thought I'd comply.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love hockey. It is by far my favorite sport to watch. Most of this simply comes with my being Canadian and hockey being an enormous part of Canadian culture. With this said, I have an opinion about this years Stanley Cup outcome.

As most of you probably know already, The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 in the 7th game of the Stanley Cup Final. What you probably don't know (but most of my close friends can attest to) is that since the day Edmonton beat Detroit in the first round, I called them making it to the finals, and tragically, losing.

I am neither clairvoyant nor a prophet, but apparently, I am superstitious because I believe in a curse. A curse that has plagued the NHL for 4 consecutive Stanley Cups. The Curse of the Underdog.

2002 - The Carolina Hurricanes were ranked 3rd in the East only because they were top of their Division. Technically speaking, their 91 points on the season should have put them in 7th place in their conference. After surprising New Jersey, Montreal and Toronto, they went on to lose to the Detroit Red Wings in 5 games.

2003 - The Anaheim Mighty Ducks, ranked 7th in the West with 95 points, swept the powerhouse Red Wings, beat the Dallas Stars in 6, then swept the Minnesota Wild only to lose in the 7th game of the Stanley Cup Finals to the New Jersey Devils.

2004 - The Calgary Flames, ranked 6th in the West with 94 points, upset the top 3 teams in their conference (Vancouver Canucks (3rd), Detroit Red Wings (1st), San Jose Sharks (2nd)) respectively only to lose in 7 games to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the finals.

2005 - No NHL season.

2006 - The Edmonton Oilers, ranked 8th in the West with 95 points take out the Red Wings, the Sharks and the Mighty Ducks on their way to losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in 7 games.

I am not lying about predicting this outcome. I will not make any outlandish claims regarding calling the Hurricanes making the finals, or even that I called any scores of games played. However, once Edmonton beat the Red Wings in that 1st series, I knew they would make it all the way to the Finals then lose simply because of the Curse. There was no way around it. People might comment that there was no way for me to know that Edmonton would lose in the final game. Or that curses don't exist. Or that I have herpes...I mean don't have herpes. But try as you might, you could never prove me wrong considering my friends will back me up as far as my making predictions and the actual facts will back me up as far as the outcomes go.

Indeed. Beware the Curse of the Underdog.