There are many theories about picking the Cup winner. The easiest to remember is this: NEVER BET AGAINST THE CHAMPS!

Brad Marchand won the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins when he was 23. He and the Bruins played for it again when he was 25 and 31. He wondered if he would ever return to the title round.

In the West, it's the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl. Got it? Good. Because it's what comes next that counts: there's a superstition that you should NOT touch those trophies or it's bad luck before the Stanley Cup Finals.

THE OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER AND THE FLORIDA PANTHERS The Thunder are rolling into the NBA Finals in historically dominant fashion. Oklahoma City destroyed Minnesota 124-94 to finish off the Western Conference Finals in five games.

Obviously he played with a lot of different people during that time, but it this fact is absolutely mind-blowing. An improbable hockey streak remains intact for another year A teammate of Jaromír Jágr has made the Stanley Cup Final in each of the last 45 seasons after Aleksander Barkov's Panthers clinched the East Wednesday.

NHL Stanley Cup playoffs roll on. Keep up to date in the conference finals with the latest bracket results and schedule.

SportsLine NHL analyst Scott Erskine gives his thoughts on the top picks in Thursday's Game 5 of the Western Conference Final between the Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers