Fate may be playing a role in the Stanley Cup Final.

If you believe in things like fate, or destiny, then this Stanley Cup Final is the one for you. The Tampa Bay Lightning find themselves in a position to potentially win the second Stanley Cup in their franchise's history, however the Chicago Blackhawks and Brad Richards stand in their way. The last time the Tampa Bay won the Cup was back in 2004 when Richards was still a member of the Lightning's roster and neither the Lightning or Richards have recaptured hockey's holy grail since. Richards spoke with NHL.com and shared his feelings on going back to the final against the only team with whom he's won a Cup.

"Yeah, either way I think it was going to be a little strange, going into the Final against a lot of people I know," said Richards. "Probably more in New York, (because) in Tampa I don’t know the players all that well but some of the staff. I grew up there and won a Cup there and I spent eight years of my career there. It’s going to be a pretty special moment." "There’s going to be a lot of different feelings. It will be special," he added. "I still have a lot of great friends there in the organization. I’m very happy that it is back on track and doing what they’re doing down there. It is going to be special, but I want to win one, so we’ll worry about friendships later."

Not only did Richards win a Cup with Tampa Bay he was arguably the reason they won Cup registering 26 points in 23 playoff games on his way to winning the Conn Smythe. It will be very interesting to see what role the man responsible for bringing Tampa their only Cup will play in potentially denying them a second taste at glory. Image courtesy Key Stone Press.