Jim Mcisaac/Getty ImagesZach Parise hopes to be the first American captain to raise the bigger trophy since 1999.The Stanley Cup finals begin tonight in Newark. You can impress your friends during Game 1 by dropping some of these nuggets of knowledge, courtesy of the N.H.L.
The Great No. 8s: As you may have heard, the Kings are the second No. 8 seed to reach the finals since the conference-based playoff format was introduced in 1993-94. The other was the 2006 Edmonton Oilers. Two members of this year’s Kings team played on that Edmonton team: center Jarret Stoll and defenseman Matt Greene.
College Reunion: Speaking of Greene, he was roommates with Devils captain Zach Parise when they were freshmen at the University of North Dakota in 2002-3. In an article in The Grand Forks Herald, their former teammate Andy Schneider said they were an odd couple.
“It was a pretty interesting dynamic,” Schneider said. “Matt is pretty outgoing. He’s loud and the life of the party. Zach was tame and a guy who was more about taking things in. Matt would always try to put Zach in funny positions he didn’t want to be in.
The Devils’ Travis Zajac was also teammates with Greene at North Dakota, in 2004-5. He is now a linemate of Parise.
O.H.L. Reunion: Devils Coach Peter DeBoer, Kings center Mike Richards and Devils forward David Clarkson won the 2003 Memorial Cup together with the Ontario Hockey League’s Kitchener Rangers.
Draft Reunion: The rosters of the two teams include five players who were selected in the first round of the 2003 draft: Jeff Carter (11th over all), Dustin Brown (13th), Steve Bernier (16th), Zach Parise (17th) and Mike Richards (24th).
U-S-A!: For the first time in N.H.L. history, both finalists have American captains. The Kings’ Dustin Brown, from Ithaca, N.Y., or the Devils’ Zach Parise, a Minneapolis native, will be the first American-born captain to hoist the Cup since Dallas’ Derian Hatcher in 1999. (There are more American players on the Devils’ roster — seven — than from any other country.)
Slo-ven-ia!: The Kings’ Anze Kopitar was the first player from Slovenia to play in the N.H.L. when he made his debut in 2006. He has since been joined by Jan Mursak of the Detroit Red Wings.
Period Production: The Devils have outscored their opponents in the first period, 23-9, during the playoffs. They have been outscored, 17-6, in the second period. The Kings, meanwhile, have outscored opponents, 13-4 in the third period.
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Jeff Z. Klein is the national hockey writer for The New York Times. He has written or co-written several books about the game, including “
Christopher Botta is a contributor for The Times and an N.H.L. analyst and podcaster for SNY. He is the founder of 
