SAN JOSE, Calif. -- This just about sums up how badly the San Jose Sharks wanted a chance to play in the Stanley Cup finals:

Following the Sharks' Western Conference finals-clinching win over the St. Louis Blues, forward Joe Thornton was asked on NBCSN if he had a preference -- Pittsburgh Penguins or Tampa Bay Lightning -- for the next opponent.

"I'll play them both if they want to dress 40," Thornton answered.

He would, too. And the way the Sharks are going, they might make a series of it.

Fortunately for the Sharks, who finished the Blues in six games, they'll only get one of those two teams -- and that opponent will be coming off an intense seven-game series.