Puck Daddy has an excellent feature up previewing the Calder Cup Finals matchup between the Hershey Bears and Texas Stars, which begins tonight in Hershey.
Greg Wyshynski interviews two hockey experts in his preview, among them Hershey Bears backer Marty Vance.
Vance shed light on the finals mismatch that history would suggest:
The Hershey Bears already come in to these finals as the most storied franchise in AHL history. They just completed the single greatest regular season in league history, posting a regular-season record of 60-17-3. They are the defending Calder Cup Champions; they’ve now played in four of the last five Calder Cup finals. This franchise has 61 playoff appearances in their 72 seasons. They’ve won 301 playoff games and they’ve lost 254. They’ve won 65 series and they’ve lost 50. They captured 10 titles; hell, they’ve even lost 11 others. The quintessential AHL franchise? You bet.
Their opponent? The Texas Stars. Well, these Stars, they don’t have a history. In this, their inaugural season of play, they find themselves in the Calder Cup Finals, facing arguably the greatest team in AHL history.
It’s Drago vs. Balboa. It’s David vs. Goliath. It’s USA vs. Estonia. It’s Hawks vs. Flyers. It’s the 2009-2010 Calder Cup Finals.
If you’re a sports fan and that doesn’t even mildly excite you, I’m not sure what will.
Be sure to follow Vance on twitter, as he will be updating throughout the game from Hershey.