Bracket challenge prediction by Belfast Giants employee on point

Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt said earlier this week that the championship showdown between Vegas and the Washington Capitals was the "Stanley Cup Final that was never meant to be, right?"
Don't tell that to Mark Brooks, the commercial manager for the Belfast Giants of the Elite Ice Hockey League based in Great Britain.

Brooks, 29, picked Washington and Vegas as 2018 Stanley Cup finalists in his Stanley Cup Playoffs Bracket Challenge entry, a matchup selected by only 2.4 percent (22,155 brackets) of the 899,528 completed entries.&
The best-of-7 series is tied 1-1. Game 3 is at Capital One Arena on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS).
RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. Capitals series coverage\]
"Both Vegas and Washington have great setups and I felt this year was a strong chance for them to go deep in the playoffs," Brooks said after Game 1. "Washington, led by [Alex] Ovechkin, has had a good team for many years and can count themselves unfortunate not to have been in the Stanley Cup Final in recent years. Vegas, well, what a story!"
Brooks was in Las Vegas last summer, soon after the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft stocked the Golden Knights with players. He visited with Eric Tosi, vice president of communications and content for the Golden Knights. The two formed a relationship in 2011 when the Boston Bruins, for whom Tosi worked at the time, traveled to Belfast to play a preseason game against the EIHL All-Stars.

He liked what he saw from the Golden Knights, even in the early stages.
"Simply put, the Golden Knights are a team," Brooks said. "From my years of working in hockey for the Belfast Giants, I know how important it is to have a great group of guys who play for each other. Sure, they have standout players in [Marc-Andre] Fleury, [William] Karlsson, [James] Neal and [Jonathan] Marchessault, but it is very clear that Vegas are a close-knit team. Those guys are prepared to give 110 percent and put their bodies on the line for each other, night in night out."
Brooks, who started as a stick boy with the Giants when he was 12, has seen his fair share of hockey. The Giants are traditionally among the best teams in the EIHL and he watches as many NHL games as his schedule allows.
He plans to watch every game of the Final, which begins at 1 a.m. in Belfast.
"I am in for some late nights, early mornings," he said. "This Golden Knights vs. Capitals series is set up to be a classic, so it will be worth it!"
So who does Brooks have as his overall winner?
"Vegas!" he said. "Doesn't seem like such a crazy choice now, does it?"