Tag: 2014 NHL Playoff Predictions

2014 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Predictions Wrap Up

Sometimes I almost know what I’m talking about, don’t I.

In the first round of the playoffs (are they still called the quarterfinals or are they now called Division semifinals? Who knows) I correctly picked the winner of seven out of eight series. In the second round I correctly picked the winner of three out of the four series (friggin’ Bruins). In the third round I picked the winner in two out of two series. How’d I do in the Stanley Cup Finals?

What do you think? It was a complete no-brainer. The Bruins might have had a chance over the Western Conference winner. The Penguins, if they had their shit together, might have had a chance over the Western Conference winner.

No other team from the Eastern Conference even had a prayer. The only thing that surprised me about the Rangers vs Kings series is that the Kings didn’t sweep. They must have forgotten to eat their Wheaties that day because I can’t imagine any other factor that could have resulted in a Kings loss. Sure the games were mostly close and there was a lot of overtime. Did it really matter? I don’t think so. I find it easier to believe that L.A. was messing with us by letting New York stay close than to believe the two teams were a good match up.

So in summation I picked the winner in 13 out of the 15 series. That puts me at an 86.6% success rate. I would have traded it all to see the Bruins drink from the cup again, but it was not to be.

As for the Bruins, after the events that lead to Shawn Thornton’s massive suspension last season, is it really a surprise that the team is moving on? Yes he’s a great character guy and everyone loves him, including me, but he has some seriously negative baggage to carry around now. The Bruins want to be thought of as big and bad and mean, but they don’t want to have anything to do with anything Matt Cooke-esque and sadly, for one night last year… for one fleeting moment, Shawn Thornton was Matt Cooke-esque. I believe in my heart that he was a huge part of our success in the recent past, but after what happened last year I agree that Shawn Thornton has to go away. I’m sorry about that. I love the guy as much as any Bruins fan does, but he has to go away.

2014 NHL Stanley Cup Finals Predictions

Yippee, Bruins free NHL. Urgh.

Doesn’t it just suck that I have been super accurate in my predictions this year and one of the only pics I got wrong was on my favorite team? Jerks.

I correctly picked the winner in seven of eight first round series, and three of four second round series (friggin’ Bruins).

How’d I do with the two third round series?

I picked the hated Rangers over the more hated Canadiens. The Rangers won. I got it right.
I picked the Kings over the hated Blackhawks. The Kings won. I got it right.

So 7/8 in the first round plus 3/4 in the second round plus 2/2 in the third round gives me 12/14 overall for a winning percentage of 85.7%. Not bad, I guess. The only team I cared about happened to be one of the two I got wrong. (stupid Bruins).

This brings us to the Stanley Cup Finals. Before I make my pick, let me say that since the start of the season it has been a foregone conclusion that the only teams in the East with a prayer of beating the West were the Bruins and the Penguins. Are either of those teams in the finals? No? Can you guess who I’m picking?

Kings vs Rangers. The minute the Bruins lost I transferred my hockey allegiance to the Kings. That is irrelevant. The only way I could have possibly picked an Eastern Conference team in this match up would have been if the Bruins were the Eastern representative. For any other match up, I would pick the Western team. The West has been so good this year that they’ve made the East look like a youth league. I’m picking the Kings. I’m just really glad I get to pick a team I don’t hate.

There you have it, hockey fans. The dork who has been right 85% of the time this year is picking the Kings. Place your bets (but only if you’re dumb because I honestly have no clue what I’m doing)

2014 NHL Conference Finals Predictions That I No Longer Care About

Yippee.

I picked seven out of eight series in the first round.

In the second round I picked:
The Rangers over the Penguins. I got it right.
The Blackhawks over the Wild. I got it right. You suck, Matt Cooke.
The Kings over the Ducks. I got it right.
The Bruins over the Canadiens. I got it wrong. Choke. Epic choke. Enjoy that President’s trophy. Way to tank like assholes in games six and seven. Way to not even show up to elimination games. The last two games of the series were so bad that it wouldn’t surprise me if some of the players had money on the game. Injuries, sure, but that was just pathetic.

So I don’t give a shit about anything else.

I got three of four in the 2nd round, which brings me to 10 of 12 over all. That puts me at 83.3% which is probably the best I’ve ever done, at least since I started writing them down ahead of time. The Bruins are out of it though, so who gives a flying leap.

This sucks.

Conference Finals predictions:
Canadiens vs Rangers. I loathe them both. I pick the Rangers because they are the lesser of the two hates.
Blackhawks vs Kings. I guess I’m a Kings fan now.

Really, three of the four remaining teams are on my eternal hate list. Nice. I am so interested in the remaining results. That was sarcasm. This sucks. I might never watch another game again.

2014 NHL Semifinal Predictions

The Kings won game seven! For the forth time in NHL history (and the fifth time in North American professional sports history) a team rallied back from a 3-0 series deficit in a best of seven to win the series. The Sharks CHOKED! It’s beautiful! Now the Bruins are not the most recent team to choke that epically! WOOHOO! Thanks Kings, but even more thanks go to the Sharks! Yes!

Now let’s recap my first round predictions, and let me just say… Nice!

Boston vs Detroit. I picked Boston (duh) and Boston won.
Tampa Bay vs Montreal. I picked Montreal and have yet to stop vomiting and Montreal won.
Pittsburgh vs Columbus. I picked Pittsburgh but hoped to be wrong and Pittsburgh won.
New York vs Philadelphia. I picked New York and have yet to stop vomiting and New York won.

Looks like I was perfect in the East.

Anaheim vs Dallas. I picked Anaheim and Anaheim won.
San Jose vs Los Angeles. I picked Los Angeles and Los Angeles won on San Jose’s epic choke.
St Louis vs Chicago. I picked Chicago and have yet to stop vomiting. Chicago won.
Let’s pause here to notice that out of seven series mentioned so far, I picked them all correctly.
Colorado vs Minnesota. I picked Colorado and……. Minnesota won. DAMN IT! Game seven even went to overtime. I was one series away from a perfect first round! DAMN IT!

That’s seven out of eight for 87.5%. Stupid Avs losing in overtime. Jerks.

Now on to round two!

Bruins vs Canadiens. A return of the greatest rivalry in NHL history! The Bruins and the Habs! This is THE series as far as I’m concerned. The biggest challenge Boston could have (given the way the Penguins have been falling apart) in their quest to win the East. Obviously I am picking the Bruins, but it’s going to be an ugly series and it is going to go seven. Go Bruins!

Penguins vs Rangers. I think the Penguins are by far the better team on paper, but they were given a huge scare by lowly Columbus. The Rangers needed seven games to advance, but I just feel they have their act together while the Pens are ripe for collapse. I am picking the Rangers in this series even though picking New York makes me physically ill.

Blackhawks vs Wild. Nice job blowing my perfect first round, Wild. You suck! I hate Chicago, but Chicago is going to win. Obviously I am rooting for Minnesota, but Chicago is going to win. Sorry.

Anaheim vs Los Angeles. The battle for California part two. I am obviously rooting for the Kings here, especially after the way they came through in the first round. My gut says Anaheim destroys them, but I am going with my heart over my head and picking LA.

So if my predictions work out we will have a Boston/New York and Chicago/Los Angeles conference finals.

Go Bruins!

2014 NHL Quarterfinal Predictions

Hello, and welcome to the first of the 2014 NHL Playoff Prediction Posts.

Is it still called the Conference Quarter Final Round, or is it now the Divisional Semifinals?

I haven’t paid nearly as much attention to the NHL this year as I usually do. Bruins, yes. The rest of the league, not really. Why? Because I’m still friggin’ furious over the lock out last year, that’s why.

In terms of my playoff picks, it doesn’t matter because they are all blind guesses anyway. Having said that, here are my picks for the first round match ups.

Bruins vs Red Wings. If you’ve read this post so far, then you know who I’m picking. There are caveats this year though. The Red Wings gave the Bruins a tough time. They are one of those teams that are really fast on their skates that give the Bruins and their punishing physical style fits. They are similar to Montreal in that respect, although not similar to Montreal in their black hearted evil. Add to that the Red Wings are starting to get healthy and you have a nervous little match up for my Bruins. Then there is the jinx. The Bruins won the President’s Trophy. The award given to the team that finishes the regular season with the best record overall. Congratulations, Boston! Of course the team that wins the President’s almost never wins the Stanley Cup. If you believe in such superstitions, then you can conclude that the B’s are screwed. It doesn’t matter to me though, I am picking the Bruins in this series.

Lightning vs Canadiens. It breaks my hear to say this, but Montreal is going to win this series. It looked like a decent match up, right up until the moment Tampa Bay’s goalie went out with an injury. That leaves their chances at nil and null. (that’s computer nerd speak for slim and none) Sorry, Tampa Bay. I’ll be rooting for you. I just won’t be expecting positive results. Sorry.

Penguins vs Blue Jackets. Moving on to the idiotically named Metropolitan Division (does that mean Boston, Montreal, Toronto, ext, ext are not Metropolitan places?) This is another series where I will be rooting against my pick. Pittsburgh is a disaster right now. They sucked their way into the post season. They are a total mess. They are ripe for the upset. Unfortunately, Columbus just sucks. Don’t get me wrong, I love them and are totally rooting for them. I just think that the Penguins could put out a roster with only 15 players and still win in four. I’m picking the Penguins even though I feel dirty and disgusting doing so.

Rangers vs Flyers. This looks like it might be a fun series to watch. Record wise, the teams are a pretty even match. Head to head in the regular season they were even. The Flyers really turned it on after the Olympics and are probably an easy team to pick, but I think the Rangers are good enough to take this one. Despite being from Boston, I will pick New York.

On to the Western Conference, where it is safe to say that all eight teams are better than the entire Eastern field with the exception of Boston and maybe Pittsburgh.

Ducks vs Stars. The Ducks are a million times better than the Stars. They also do not have Tim Thomas on their roster. That’s one rational reason to pick them and one irrational, petty reason to pick them. That means I pick them. Tim Thomas can go spend the rest of the season at home, the same way he spent the last year of his contract with the Bruins at home. Boo Hoo.

Sharks vs Kings. This is an easy, albeit irrational, pick for me. Rule one in making my playoff predictions is always bet against San Jose. Rule two is, for Western match ups, never bet against the Kings. Done. Los Angeles wins this one.

Avalanche vs Wild. A match up of Ringo Starrs. They’re both just happy to be here. I want to pick the Wild for the same reason I wanted to pick Columbus. It just seems like the cool pick. Not this time though, I am picking the Avs.

Blues vs Black Hawks. I hate Chicago. After last season I hope they get swept. Unfortunately, the Blues have been a suck-fest over the last couple of weeks. Can they just flip the switch and be awesome again? I’d like to hope so but… no. I am picking Chicago and it makes me want to puke.

There you have it kids, my 2014 Quarter Finals Predictions. May the best team from Boston win!