Anchorage Daily News

This is how we know the seemingly endless buildup to the ECHL's Kelly Cup Finals has thankfully just about run its course: The politicians have weighed in.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford have made the traditional "friendly'' wager between suits from the respective states of the finalists, the Alaska Aces and South Carolina Stingrays.

If the Aces win the Cup -- the best-of-7 Finals open tonight at Sullivan Arena -- Sanford evidently has to cough up some she-crab soup, shrimp and grits for Palin. If South Carolina wins, Palin has to ship Sanford some king salmon -- no word if the fish has to be caught by The First Dude, who does some commercial fishing.

C'mon. Talk about an innocuous bet. These are hockey playoffs, which are all about commitment and belief, relentless determination and playing on the edge. In the words of NHL coach John Tortorella, "Safe is death.''

That's why Palin and Sanford need to raise the ante: Losing state secedes from the union.

Now that's playoff pressure.

At least the politicians are playing along. Check out the rhetorical face-wash from Palin, the erstwhile hockey mom: "I'll make no predictions, other than I expect I'll be trying the she-crab soup and shrimp and grits real soon.'' Smell the glove, Sanford!

Not to be outdone, Sanford chirped too: "I'm most excited about the king salmon that Sarah is going to be sending my way when the Kelly Cup is decided!'' Oh, and the gentleman from South Carolina wields a nasty two-hander!

(You know, not to put too fine a point on it, but Palin and Sanford are both Republicans, so does that mean they both hate the left-wing lock? That all their favorite players are right wingers? Just asking.)

In any event, at least Palin stands a chance of bagging some tasty snacks. When the Aces beat the Fresno Falcons in the conference finals in 2006 on their way to hoisting the Kelly Cup, then-Anchorage mayor Mark Begich received 50 pounds of chocolate covered raisins from the mayor of Fresno. The mayor of Duluth, Ga., home of the Gwinnett Gladiators, who the Aces beat in the 2006 Finals, sent along 50 pounds of peanuts.

Good thing there wasn't a fifth round of the playoffs that year, or no doubt the Aces would have faced a club from a broccoli-growing community.

Needless to say, it's beyond time to drop the puck on these Finals.

By the time the vulcanized rubber meets the rink tonight, the Aces will have endured eight days since sweeping the Las Vegas Wranglers in the National Conference finals. The Stingrays will have had seven days off since sweeping the defending champion Cincinnati Cyclones in the American Conference finals.

Fans of the respective clubs will have just about exhausted their supplies of venom for the opposing club and its fans -- OK, that's probably a stretch.

And I, evidently, will have been reduced to writing about politicians.

Even the players seem like they can't wait to finally get this party started. Every day has been the same for too many days now: Go to the rink, practice, go home, repeat. Sure, the time to rest and recuperate has been valuable for both sides, but it's also been a little like being trapped in limbo with the anticipation of actually playing a game hanging out there like the impossible dream.

Finally, though, it's game day. The Aces put their unbeaten home playoff record on the line. The Stingrays pull into Sullivan buoyed by their resiliency.

And a bounty of seafood hangs in the balance for the politicians.

Speaking of eats, given this extended hiatus between series -- and I never thought it would come to this -- I'm actually looking forward to a rink pizza.

This column is the opinion of Daily News reporter Doyle Woody. Find his blog online at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.

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