Justin Williams remembers every game of the Carolina Hurricanes' 25-game grind through the 2006 playoffs. He knows all about the blood, sweat and exhaustion necessary to raise the Stanley Cup.

That's why he realizes the NHL playoffs aren't usually as easy as the Los Angeles Kings have made them look so far. Although Williams and his teammates have prepared for lengthy series in every round of the postseason, but they haven't even had to play a Game 6 yet.

"If you told anybody, let alone us in the dressing room, that we'd have a place in the finals as an eight seed, I would have only told you that you were crazy if you said it took 14 games," Williams said.

"But we're here for a reason," he added. "We've battled our tails off here the whole season, and things have come together here. We go into every series thinking it's going to be seven (games). It's just so far, they haven't worked out that way."

Los Angeles went on a 12-2 rampage through the Western Conference playoffs, earning a date with the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup final. Game 1 is Wednesday in Newark.

The Kings' surge is a novel experience for everybody, including Williams and two teammates who faced him in the 2006 Cup final. Williams scored the final goal of Game 7 for the Carolina Hurricanes, beating Jarret Stoll, Matt Greene and the rest of the Edmonton Oilers - the only eighth seed to make the final round before Los Angeles.

Stoll remembers the shock and elation of that 24-game run by the unheralded Oilers, only to be crushed by a loss in Game 7.

"It was a great ride, but the ending leaves a sour taste if you don't win," said Stoll, who scored in overtime last month in the Kings' series-ending win over President's Trophy-winning Vancouver. "When you're going through it, you realize that you don't know if you'll ever get that opportunity again. Some guys play their whole careers and don't get the chance to do what we're doing now, so I'm definitely grateful to be there again."

Greene also picked up that perspective as a 22-year-old Oilers rookie, playing in 18 postseason games during their run. Greene realizes those Oilers and the current Kings don't share much except their seed: Edmonton's run was a stunner during a season in which the Western Conference's top four seeds all lost their first-round series, while Los Angeles was an underachiever that finally realized its enormous potential while knocking off the West's top three seeds.

"I think a lot of people felt we had the potential to do it this year, where those (Edmonton) playoffs were a surprise," said Greene, the stay-at-home defenseman whose steadying influence has been enormous for the Kings.

The Kings had their second full practice Saturday since eliminating Phoenix, going through mostly team drills and beginning preparations for the Devils. Los Angeles lost both of its regular-season meetings with New Jersey, but both games were very early in the season.

The Kings aren't apologizing for their success, and they don't believe their relatively clean run through the first three rounds will hurt them in the finale. Los Angeles hasn't faced much adversity so far, yet the Kings have won two pressure-packed overtime road games to finish off series against Vancouver and Phoenix.

"We've been very fortunate to be on top of our game, play well, and finish teams off when we had the chance," Williams said. "As a result, we're getting a ton of rest, and it's clearly going to be beneficial for us."

Brodeur back in finals at age 40: With Martin Brodeur nearing his 40th birthday and entering the final year of his contract, this season at first had the look of a last hurrah for the New Jersey Devils' goalie great.

Well, the hurrah part was right.

It's been one hurrah after another, reaching a high point Friday night. Brodeur made 33 saves to help the Devils defeat the rival New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime in Game 6 to advance to the Stanley Cup finals against the Los Angeles Kings.

After the Devils missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 1996, no one might have been put under the microscope more than Brodeur. Longtime president and general manager Lou Lamoriello certainly had questions to answer after the early-season stumble under new coach John MacLean, but Brodeur was the focal point after a so-so season nagged by injuries.

Now at 40, he's back after outdueling Henrik Lundqvist in the first Eastern Conference finals between the teams since their memorable showdown in 1994. New York won that one in seven games with Stephane Matteau scoring the series-clincher in double overtime.

Rookie Adam Henrique did the honors for New Jersey on Friday night with a shot from just about the same spot where Matteau scored, from the right edge of the crease.

"It's been a lot of fun this season, playing on a really good team, and I'm enjoying this ride," Brodeur said. "And I know what I can do, try to compete as hard as I can every night and try to give these guys a chance to win hockey games. And they've been scoring a lot of goals for me in the playoffs so far, and it's been great."

Brodeur was the difference in the Devils' wins in Games 5 and 6, when the Rangers controlled most of the play in the final two periods.

"He was outstanding, all playoffs," Devils forward David Clarkson said. "He kept us in games, stood on his head. It's amazing to see what he's doing right now and our bench just feeds off it."

Brodeur was at his best Friday with the game tied 2-all in the third period. He stopped a power-play shot by Brad Richards while prone on the ice and made a save on a shot by Artem Anisimov from between the circles. He also used his stick to poke check the puck off Anisimov's stick on a semi breakaway and again used his stick to deflect a pass from the boards by Carl Hagelin in the final minute of regulation just before it got to Marian Gaborik on the edge of the crease.

"Actually, it was fun," Brodeur said. "But at the end of the day, we were in a position that the next goal is going to win. So in my head, the overtime started in the third period. And that's the way I approached the third period coming in. So every save was important. Every shot that we took on Lundqvist was important."

Lamoriello enjoyed it, too. Any win over the Rangers is a good one for Lou.

"It was two competitive teams that worked very hard at their game and paid a price for success," Lamoriello said in a phone interview with The AP on Saturday. "This was a very competitive series. Put aside the rivalry, it was a competitive series."

He scoffed when asked about Brodeur performing so well at 40. He pointed out that some 30-year-old people act like they are 50, and vice versa. He said the same holds true for athletes, adding athleticism and genetics also play a part.

"(Brodeur) is just a real thoroughbred athlete," Lamoriello said. "He loves the game. His mind is 100 percent there and he feels good. It's Mariano Rivera."

Brodeur refused to compare this Devils team to the ones that won Cups in 1995, 2000 and '03, or to the one that lost the Cup in seven games to Colorado in 2001.

"Every team writes its own story," the Montreal native said. "I was fortunate to be part of great teams that had success, and I was part of great teams that didn't have success. ... It's not just a one-man show out there. A lot of guys are contributing, and there's a good feeling. But until you finish out these playoffs, we'll see then."

The Devils were given Saturday and today off while the coaches worked on their game plan.

"They have played well at home and away and we just have to take a step back," Lamoriello said. "We haven't seen much of them except the games on TV."

Blues CEO stepping down: St. Louis Blues CEO Mike McCarthy is stepping down, not long after new ownership finalized its purchase of the franchise.

McCarthy is a founding partner of SCP Worldwide, which purchased the team and the Scottrade Center in June 2006 and moved to St. Louis full time in September 2010 to assume the role of CEO with responsibilities primarily on the business side.

McCarthy said in a statement that with the ownership on "solid footing" he was comfortable returning home.

Tom Stillman, a beer distributor, headed an all-local ownership group that purchased the team earlier this month.