Whoopi Goldberg loves both the Devils and Rangers

She's usually the one in "View" on the television screen, but tonight's Game 7 doubleheader will no doubt lead Whoopi Goldberg to watch some TV herself. She's an avid hockey fan who names both the Devils and Rangers as her favorite teams.

Whoopi -- and let's not mess with last-name formalities here -- got a turn to hoist the Stanley Cup when New Jersey won it in 2003. Whoopi also narrated the team's official DVD that postseason. 

That's explains the Devils. But the Rangers?

"I love the Devils and the Rangers," said Whoopi during a recent break from her work on ABC's "The View" morning show. "[Rangers center] Scott Gomez is one of my guys. He's a really great young man."

Whoopi admitted her talk mates on "The View" haven't found their hockey groove, even with the thrills of this year's first round. But she only needs to move one set over at ABC studios to talk pucks and power plays with "All My Children" soap opera actor Thorsten Kay, who roots for the Detroit Red Wings and blogs about it for NHL.com.

Goldberg also gets her hockey fix connecting with Hall of Famer Phil Esposito, plus retired Maple Leafs great Doug Gilmour. But she reaches even farther than the careers of those two players to explain her awe for hockey as a sport.

"The players are like modern-day gladiators," said Whoopi. "They are dressed in full gear, plus they have to backward, forward, sideways on skates performing moves you might expect from Ginger Rogers in one her movies co-starring with Fred Astaire."

Whoopi did  some dancing herself when asked if the Rangers can pull off an upset in their series against Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals and if the Devils can win out versus Carolina.

"What happens, happens," said Whoopi, who along with her television work is planning bring a stage version of "Sister Act" to Broadway next year after a run in London.  "That's what makes this time of year so great. You don't know what's going to happen."