I don't like airports.

	HIT THE ICE by Michael Fischer
	TOONS ON ICE Hockey (www.toonsonice.com)

I don't like arriving two hours before my flight takes off. I don't like ticket counter lines. I don't like the stale, hospital linoleum aura of the terminal gates. I don't like molding my 6-foot-4 body, comprised largely of ectomorphian legs, into an accordion like state to accommodate airplane seats constructed to fit the specifications of Darren Robert Pang...when he was six. I don't like shutting off my CD player for twenty minutes to take off and twenty minutes during landing. I can't imagine how two double A batteries and The White Stripes CD could possibly affect the takeoff and landing of a computer guided jet aircraft. I don't like the guy with the perfect hair and square jaw who comes on the television monitor to explain the safety features of our metal tube with wings. And I don't want to sit next to the high maintenance, veteran flying, businessman who has the flight patterns and FAA regulations memorized and has chose the option of voicing them aloud.

I don't like any of it and I avoid it whenever possible. This year's Stanley Cup final has afforded me that option. I am road tripping the quest for Lord Stanley's Cup.

NHL 2Night discontinues once the the playoffs are whittled down to two teams. SportsCenter coverage on ESPN increases, which renders NHL 2Night almost irrelevant. So, while I lose my host duties, I help the network out with an assortment of odd jobs. I go to the morning skate and accumulate soundbites from the players, prepare a news-of-the-day package for SportsCenter, host a 2-3 minute live shot for ESPNEWS late in the afternoon, and interview one of the stars of the game immediately after it ends for airing on the 11 p.m. ET SportsCenter. I also carry around Steve Levy's vat of makeup. This procedure began at last year's final and I hope continues for years.

Last year, it was Colorado and New Jersey. An airplane series. This June, it's Detroit and Carolina. And while for some it is another airplane series, for me it's a road trip series. Connecticut to Michigan to Carolina to Connecticut. At least that's my initial itinerary. Perhaps, Arturs Irbe, Kevin Weekes, or Jeff O'Neill will affect that plan, but for now that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I left Connecticut on Saturday morning and headed for the Midwest. Even when you think you are far away from hockey, you are reminded of the passion of the game's great fans. Driving along Interstate 90 in the middle of New York, I spotted a New York license plate which read BRODEUR. At first, for about three seconds, I actually thought, "Hey, its Marty Brodeur!!" Three seconds later, after pressing the accelerator to the floor mat, I realized two things: 1) Martin Brodeur PROBABLY doesn't live in New York state and 2) He PROBABLY doesn't drive a Chevy Corsica. But, it still injected me with a bit of energy passing the three 20-something hockey fans with the Devils hats.

It reminded me how much I feel NHL players and athletes as a whole do not comprehend that the entire reason for their lifestyles of the rich and famous is COMPLETELY as a result of people like I saw in the Corsica. I am neither rich nor famous, but I completely fathom that the reason I can get my expanded cable package is because there is a certain segment of the population that makes hockey a part of their life, enjoys watching the highlights and likes to read about the characters of the game. And if changing any and all future flat tires for the rest of your days was the only way my gratitude could be properly articulated, I would gladly say, "Thank you sir, may I have another." I really mean that. I mean, I am a complete moron who talks hockey and wears makeup. Everything I have I owe to people who love sports, specifically hockey.

These are the kinds of thoughts one accumulates during long, solo car rides across America. I knew I had reached Ohio not from the "Welcome to" sign, but from two billboards. One read "FIREWORKS NEXT EXIT" and the other one states "BEEF JERKY OUTLET EXIT 220."

I drove 8 hours to a suburb of Cleveland to visit an old college friend for a few hours, drove on to Tiffin and stayed the night in the shadows of my alma mater, Heidelberg College. I woke up Sunday morning and played in a benefit golf tournament scramble for the Heidelberg College soccer team (our team shot 59 to win), and drove the 90 minutes to Detroit where I sit now at the Marriott Renaissance Cener downtown, looking across to Windsor, Ontario, and the giant, pink neon sign that reads CASINO. The first leg of the trip is complete and the work now begins covering the conclusion of civilization's greatest hockey tournament. We leave for Raleigh, N.C., after Game 2. If I see a BLAINE LACHER license plate on the way, the first order of grits is on me.

...the Stanley Cup finals.

Before the season began, in ESPN The Magazine's NHL preview issue, during the regular season on NHL 2Night, and in this space in our playoff preview, my contention has been that the Red Wings would win the Stanley Cup. In my mind, there is not a more intellectual, comprehensive, stylistic team IN ALL OF SPORTS. They have the highest athletic IQ of any team in North American major professional sports. Their coach is retirement age with a teenager's excitement. And the players have so many reasons to play hard and win: 1) Ownership has done everything possible to support Red Wings players with smart, committed, talented and experienced teammates, no matter what the cost. Detroit began the regular season with the NHL's largest payroll. They don't want to let the boss down. 2) Dominik Hasek and Luc Robataille have never won a Cup, Chris Chelios and Brett Hull have just one, and winning three is a category-separating achievement for Steve Yzerman, Niklas Lidstrom and Co. 3) They are supposed to.

I love everything about the Carolina Hurricanes. I like their coach, I love the way Erik Cole, plays, I love to watch O'Neill shoot a puck, I love to watch Bret Hedican skate, I love to watch Ron Francis pass and think, I love how Rod Brind'Amour wins faceoffs, I love the cheerleaders and I love the way their fans never stop screaming for 60 minutes. Who would have thought that Carolina's crowd would be more energetic than Toronto's? While Maple Leafs fans were rattling their jewelry during a Leaf's rush up the ice, Hurricane fans swig their suds and scream like a trucker at a Garth Brooks concert. And you should hear the men.

I can't wait to drive through that beautiful state, observe the tailgaters, and feel and hear the 60-minute, human energy ball that is the Hurricanes crowd. The two best playoff crowds this NHL postseason have been the Islanders and the Hurricanes. The Islanders were 3-0 at home and the 'Canes are tied with the second-best home winning percentage overall and have the best home winning percentage in the playoffs among teams that have played more than three home playoff games. The Raleigh crowd is awesome.

That being said, I don't think the Hurricanes will win a game. The comprehensive skill level disparity is significant. The Wings do the big things and the little things. Their last two games against Colorado were their best of the playoffs and they will begin The Final swinging from their heels. The Canes are no tremendous slouches. They beat the defending conference champs, an inspired team with a possible MVP goalie and a 100-point, high-salaried Toronto squad. They beat Curtis Joseph, Jose Theodore and Brodeur. They deserve to be here. They are truly a team with a complimentary group of men understanding the greater good. It's just that they are about to come head to head with an all-time assortment of savvy and skill. The Wings have won three playoff series thus far. One in seven, one in six, and one in five. The only one missing is a sweep. It will be the capper in one of the NHL's most dominating seasons, from beginning to end. A whirlwind tour which saw them control the regular season, win a playoff series against teams in four different time zones, and win the championship with an exclamation point sweep.

Then I'll jump in my car and enjoy the ride home. Mobile, free, thinking about the upcoming free-agent season that begins July 1, and looking out for a personalized license plate that reads PUPPA.

1. Steve Yzerman, Detroit Red Wings: He's the man. He'll likely lead the Wings in playoff scoring when it is all said and done. He definitely leads them in overcoming pain and injury. When commissioner Gary Bettman announces this year's Conn Smythe winner next week he will say the name "Steve Yzerman."

2. Dominik Hasek, Detroit Red Wings: His five playoff shutouts is an NHL record. However, his team has controlled almost every game and his responsibility to be great was few and far between. But, he is the bow on this incredibly competent team from owner, to GM, to coach, to players.

3. Arturs Irbe, Carolina Hurricanes: A .947 save percentage coming into the series. He is why the 'Canes here. They are ALSO here because of Kevin Weekes and we WILL see him in this series.

4. Erik Cole, Carolina Hurricanes: A rookie? Are you kidding me? Of course, he is no 18-year-old rookie. He is a man, not a boy and he has figured this thing out. Barring injury, he will play a long time in this league because he plays it physically and with purpose. A real throwback. He'll get bigger and stronger and better.

5. Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings: Watching Nick play brings me joy. Talk about a comprehensive player. Skating, shooting and passing, no defenseman is his peer. He doesn't take stupid penalties. His talents and on-ice responsibilities might be the most important and valuable to the Wings.

Summer reading
As promised, here is a list of hockey books you and your fellow readers e-mailed to me. Thanks for all the suggestions and enjoy a summer of Reading, Road Tripping , and REM. I imagine there are many great books not on this list, but this is what you have sent me thus far. If you don't see one on here that you feel should be, e-mail me, and when I get back from the finals I'll include another list in my year-ending column in late June. I have not read all the books on this list, but I'll start with the one that is still No. 1 on my all-time hockey book list, Home Ice. I hope I discover one as moving and inspiring this summer. Peace.