Tag: Hockey

UML Hockey

Last year I made an attempt to follow my old college’s hockey team. UMass Lowell is a Division 1 team playing in the Hockey East division. After years of boycotting I finally let myself be a fan again. It didn’t really work out. I listened to a few games on the radio here and there but I never made it to the Tsongas Arena to see a game in person.

I will try again this year.

The first game is tomorrow. If I have the links right, this should be the radio broadcast. If that link isn’t working I will try to get it off of the team’s schedule page, which is here.

As always, the Boston Bruins will get most of my hockey focus, but they don’t start their regular season until the middle of next week. UMass Lowell is playing in Anchorage tomorrow and Sunday nights. We’ll see if I can tune in.

Three Dates to Save

I was just wondering if there was any chance that the Boston Bruins training camp might coincide with some time off from work that I have already booked. Nope. Camp begins on the first day back from my vacation. No dice.

The other day I asked Jen if there was any chance she’d go see some live hockey with me this year. I don’t think I have a Bruins game in me after Covid. Not yet at least. That’s a smidge too much crowd, though when I stop and think of it the crowds will be a lot smaller than the crowds at Disney World were in January, specifically the fireworks show at Hollywood Studios. Still, not an NHL game. I was thinking of UMass Lowell.

I just Googled UML’s schedule. I knew there were two games against the kids school, University of Vermont, and they were both home games for UML. Those would likely be my first choice for games to see in person, unless BU or BC are lighting the world on fire, in which case I’d probably picked one of those as my first game back. Then I noticed that there is a third Vermont game. It’s on the road in Vermont. It’s Sunday December 3rd at 4:00pm. My step son is still a student at UVM and my step daughter is a graduate who still lives in Burlington. Once, pre-Covid, we tried to go to a game in Burlington but the plans fell through at the last minute.

Is it possible that the December 3rd game is now the front runner for my first hockey game post-pandemic? Maybe Jen and I could book time off for the next day so that we don’t have to worry about getting home late and working the next morning?

These are important things to ponder. Very interesting. I put all three UML/UVM games onto my Google calendar, just in case. We’ll see what happens.

NHL Predictions Wrap Up Post

The Vegas Golden Knights have won the Stanley Cup! Rejoice, as that means the friggin Florida Panthers lost. Does Florida losing make me feel better about the epic, colossal choke the Bruins gave us in the first round? No. No it doesn’t. Not even a little bit. It does feel good though. Spiteful and vindictive and just good.

So it’s time to wrap up my predictions posts for the year. One more series to add to the total. Where did I stand before the final? Where did the accompanying coin flips stand before the final?

Before the final I had picked the winner correctly in seven out of 14 series (7/14). The coin flip picked the winner correctly in five out of 14 series (5/14). In the final, the coin and I both picked Vegas so we were both correct. That means I finished with more wins than losses, babie! Eight out of 15 (8/15)! That gives me a winning percentage of 53.3%. Not terribly good, but not terribly bad either. You might say my predictions were mediocre and I would be okay with that. As long as I’m over 50% I feel okay. As for the coin flip, six out of 15 (6/15) is pretty freakin’ terrible. Statistically speaking a coin flip should average out at about 50%, right? I guess the sample size of 15 is just too small to meet that expectation. The result of 40% is pretty awful, but not too awful. I guess. As long as I did better, that’s all I need from this experiment.

So now we wait until next year. We go through the draft and the free agency period and see what trades happen and rookie camp and training camp and finally back to opening day in October. Here’s hoping the Bruins redeem themselves next season. They have a lot to answer for after that horrible, nightmare of a choke. I’m still pretty pissed off.

NHL Stanley Cup Final Predictions

You know something? This NHL playoff season has sucked. Suck Suck Sucked. My predictions have sucked, but they always suck. This year the teams and the matchups suck. It’s like the universe has been letting teams advanced based mostly on how little I care about them.

How did my third round predictions work out? Badly. As usual.

Eastern Conference, Whalers vs Panthers: I fucking hate the Florida Panthers. I hate the Whaler-canes too, but I hate Florida even more. As if that nazi prick Desantis weren’t disgusting enough, now the Panthers advance to the Cup Final? Fuck them. I picked the Whale, of course, and I guaranteed they would lose. Pricks. That makes me six out of 13 for the post season, which drops me below 50%. Asshats. The coin flip picked the Whale too so it is now five out of 13. Suck.

Western Conference, Golden Knights vs Stars: I feel almost redeemed here. I picked Vegas. I thought they were going to sweep but they blew two games and made it look like a series before winning in six. They bring me back to 50% at seven out of 14. Thankfully. The coin flip picked Dallas and lost yet again. That’s five out of 14 for a pathetic 35.7%.

So that leaves the final, and I am guessing based on my statement in the Eastern Conference Final recap you can guess who I am going to pick.

Stanley Cup Final Round, Vegas Golden Knights vs the Fucking Florida Panthers: Can you guess who I am picking? Go on, guess. Vegas. Hockey Gods willing, they’ll win it in four, but I can’t be that lucky. The coin flip was heads, so it picks the higher seed, and that is Vegas. We’re both picking the Western Conference champs because Florida sucks. Fuck Florida. Fuck them right in their fucking ears.

If Vegas wins, I will have picked more than half of the matchups correctly. If Vegas loses I will have picked more than half of the matchups incorrectly. Given the results of the first three rounds, I can pretty much bank on Vegas losing because hockey as a living entity hates me almost as much as I hate Florida. Fucking Panther pricks.

I Hate the Florida Panthers

After reading that the Florida Panthers advanced to the Stanley Cup Final last night I wanted to take a brief moment to remind everyone that I friggin’ hate them.

I asked Google Bard to write a short blog post about how the Florida Panthers are dicks. It gave me some crap about how they play dirty. It had a bunch of stats but I hate the team too much to verify them all and then post it here. Stupid scruples. I also asked Google Bard to write a short blog post about how no one wants them to win the cup. It gave me something that said how much fun they are to watch and how skilled they are but how no one wants them to win the cup because they are too skilled and too much fun to watch.

Thanks for nothing, Google Bard.

Still, I don’t need AI to tell me why I hate the Florida Panthers. I have that first round choke by the Boston Bruins to remind me… and it will remind me forever and ever. Fucking Bruins. Fucking Panthers. Hopefully Vegas wins the West tonight and they bitch slap Florida with a four game sweep in the final. Pretty please.

NHL Third Round Predictions

The Eastern Conference Finals started last night so I am a day late. Don’t worry, the game one results won’t change my prediction.

My first round predictions were good. I picked 6/8 series correctly. My coin flip was less good. It picked 3/8 series correctly.

My second round pics were horrible. Let’s review.

Maple Leafs vs Panthers. Fuck you, Leafs. I am 6/9 now. The coin picked Florida because it’s an asshole. The coin is now 4/9.

Whalers vs Devils. I picked the Devils and they lost because they hate me. I am now 6/10. The coin picked the Whale. Asshole. The coin is 5/10.

Stars vs Kraken. I picked the Kraken even though I knew they were going to lose, and they did. I am 6/11. The coin also picked the Kraken. It is 5/11.

Golden Knights vs Oilers. The coin and I both picked Edmonton and we were both wrong. I am now 6/12 and the coin is 5/12.

Well, after getting all four series wrong in the second round and having my Western Conference pick (Edmonton) get bounced the way my overall pick (Boston) was bounced in the first round… at least I am still doing better than the coin flip.

This is the least interesting conference finals in my lifetime. I honestly don’t give a shit about any of these teams and I flat out fucking loathe both Eastern Conference teams. I would say the only team I have even the slightest interest in rooting for is Vegas and that’s just barely.

Okay, let’s set down the official picks for the third round.

Eastern Conference, Whalers vs Panthers: I absolutely hate both of these teams. I don’t give a flying fuck which one wins. If I have to pick one though, I would pick the Whale, which guarantees they will lose. The coin flip (heads for higher seed, tails for lower) picks the Whalers as well.

Western Conference, Golden Knights vs Stars: I am not a Dallas fan in the slightest. I recall once rooting for Vegas for about five minutes so I guess I am picking Vegas in the interest of having something worth rooting for even though I could give a flying leap. The coin is a dick (as previously mentioned) and it picked Dallas.

So there you go. I am at 50% over all, six correct picks in 12 series, and the coin is a smidge under 50%, five correct picks in 12 series, and my Stanley Cup Final match up pick is the Carolina Hartford Whalers vs the Vegas Golden Knights. Big fucking deal. Boring.

I Suck at Hockey

In my second round NHL Playoffs predictions post I wrote this:

Traditionally my picks are awesome in the first round (fuck you, Bruins) and awful awful awful in the second round so take this at your own risk, m’kay?

Me

If Seattle loses tonight’s game seven against Dallas then I will have picked all four second round series wrong. All of them. Zero out of four correct.

I suck.