Tag: 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!

2013 Stanley Cup Finals Predictions

As always, before I make my prediction for the upcoming playoff round, let me recap my predictions from the previous rounds.

Considering that I correctly predicted the winner of 11 out of the 12 series in the first two rounds, the third round looks like I did a crap-tastic job.  In the Conference Finals I picked:

Boston over Pittsburgh.  Boston won.  I was right.  Oh thank the hockey gods and all that, I was right.
Los Angeles over Chicago.  Chicago won.  I was wrong.

Those damn Blackhawks.  They brought my winning percentage down!  I’m now a measly 12 out of 14.  Thanks to friggin’ Chicago my percentage dropped from about 91% all the way down to 85%.  The pukes.

I guess I’ll just have to move on and keep living life, day by day.

Right, on to the prediction for the Stanley Cup Finals!

Like there is any doubt who this Boston native is going to pick.  Hey, did you notice I changed the image in this page’s header?  What is it, you ask?  Well it’s just the ice at the TD Garden.  I took that pic just after warm ups on 3/15/2008.  The Bruins hosted the Flyers that day.  Gee… so who is Robbie picking in the finals?  I have a tough decision here.  Should I wear my black Bruins jersey tomorrow (because it’s better and it almost fits… sort of) or should I wear the white one (which is too small, but is the same color that the Mighty Boston Bruins will be wearing in game one tomorrow night)?

What was I talking about?  Oh yeah, predictions!

The Blackhawks vs The Bruins.  Chicago has been awesome this season.  Remember the way they started the season?  Damn, that was impressive.  They came back to the pack somewhat, but they still won the West and the President’s Trophy, easily.  They are an amazing team.

Sounds familiar, right?

The Penguins are an amazing team too.  On paper they beat up the Bruins in every measurable way.  Who won that series?  It kinda reminds me of another series, about two years ago, where the Bruins faced a President’s Trophy winner.  What happened in that series?  Well the Bruins beat the Canucks in seven games and won the 2011 Stanley Cup.  Yeah, sounds similar.

Let’s be honest here.  Given all of the strengths in the Blackhawks line up, they should beat the Bruins.  They really should.  Fortunately for Boston, you can’t go by that.  The Pittsburgh series proved that beyond a doubt.  If that series had been closer I might be ready to give up on my home town team, but the Bruins dominated the entire series.  Game one was close most of the way, but the Penguins just came unglued and acted way out of character.  The Bruins got under their collective skin almost immediately.  Game two was a joke.  Game three was better, game four was awesome, but was it ever really in doubt?  Was the series ever really in doubt from the moment Crosby poked Rask, or Malkin picked a fight with Bergeron?

The similarities are clear, and the Bruins came out on top before.  It will be more difficult this time, but there is no reason to think that they cannot do it again.  Rask is on fire like never before.  Two goals in four games against the highest scoring offense in the playoffs.  That’s an inhuman performance.  The Bruins defense was outstanding.  The offense came through when it was needed.  They were just amazing.

The Blackhawks were amazing too.  The Blackhawks are definitely good enough to win this series.  The Bruins, however, look like a machine that cannot be stopped.

I’m picking my Bruins.  I’m picking my Bruins to win the Cup for the second time in three years.  The Bruins will beat the Blackhawks.  It’s going to be ugly.  It’s going to be painful.  It’s going to be brutal.  For us, the fans, it’s going to be uber stressful.  The team, and the fans, are up to the challenge.

Go Bruins!
Go Bruins!
Go Bruins!

2013 NHL Conference Finals Predictions

Before I start, a warning. There might be a certain feeling of smugness emanating from this post. Just letting you know ahead of time.

As always, let me start by recapping the previous round.

In the second round I picked:

The Penguins over the Senators. The Penguins won. I was right.
The Bruins over the Rangers. The Bruins won. I was right.
The Blackhawks over the Red Wings. The Blackhawks won. I was right.
The Kings over the Sharks. The Kings won. I was right.

Does anyone else see a pattern here? A thread that consistently runs through the four picks I made prior to the second round? Oh, I see it now. I picked them all correctly. Yes, I got them all. Wow. Usually the second round is the one that kills me, but this year I was four for four. Let’s also gaze back at my first round predictions. Well, what do you know. I picked seven out of eight first round winners. That makes me 11 out of 12 for the playoffs so far. Golly gee, I almost look like some one who knows what he’s talking about, eh?

That probably ends now, because I think I am going to pick both underdogs. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

Now for my third round predictions!

The Penguins vs The Bruins.  Oh crap.  I was afraid of this.  I really didn’t think the Bruins could beat the Rangers and wouldn’t you know it they won pretty easily.  Is there any chance we could be that lucky again?  The Rangers were a good team.  The Penguins are a friggin’ insanely awesome team.  No one in their right mind is going to seriously predict that the Bruins can win this series.  That means I’m out of my mind because that’s just what I’m doing.  Granted I’m a homer and no one reads these posts anyway so it’s not like some high roller in Vegas is bouncing around in his chair waiting for me to hit Publish so he can see what that fat red head in Massachusetts thinks about anything (even though I am 11 out of 12 this year).

The Bruins have a clear edge on defense, and in toughness, and maybe in goaltending too.  Unfortunately that’s not going to cut it against the all-star team known as the Penguins.  Still, I’m banking on Bergeron and Chara and Tuukka and Torey Freakin’ Krug to carry us to the Stanley Cup Finals.  Jaromir Jagr will, when faced with his old team, find his scoring mojo and that will inspire Tyler Seguin to not suck anymore and Milan Lucic will be so sick of seeing Pierre McGuire’s face between the benches that he will start pounding all Pittsburgh players into the ice and Matt Cooke will make a move to stand up to the mighty Looch only to catch sight of Marc Savard in the stands pointing at him with the most evil smile ever seen on his face which will distract him just long enough for Shawn Thornton to hit him so hard that his mother ends up in the hospital and the destruction of Cooke will scare the Penguins so completely that they will roll over and play dead just like the Rangers did.

Hey… it could happen.

The Blackhawks vs The Kings.  Great.  Now what do I do.  The two teams I was rooting for in the West are both in the Conference Finals.  So who do I pick?  The Blackhawks have been the favorite since this awful abortion of a lock out shortened almost season began.  The Kings though… they were my team last year when the Bruins went out in the first round.  Part of me wants to pick Chicago simply due to the possibility of a Boston/Chicago original six match up in the finals.  Still… the Kings were my team last year, and Quick looks pretty much unstoppable right now.  There, Jonathan Quick decides it for me.  I’m picking the Kings.

The four teams that are left in the playoffs right now are also the last four teams to win the Stanley Cup.  I am predicting that the trend will continue and the two teams that advance to the Stanley Cup Finals will be the two most recent Cup winners.

Go Bruins

Go Kings

Go Bruins more

2013 NHL Semifinal Predictions

Before I move on to my 2nd round predictions, let us recap my first round predictions.

As always, these are based on nothing more than gut.  There is no actual research involved in the making of my NHL playoff predictions.  Basically, Robbie is guessing.

In the first round I picked:

Penguins over the Islanders.  The Penguins won.  I was right.
Senators over the Canadiens.  The Senators won.  I was right.
Rangers over Capitols.  The Rangers won.  I was right.
Bruins over Maple Leafs.  The Bruins won.  I was right.
Blackhawks over Wild.  The Blackhawks won.  I was right.
Ducks over Red Wings.  The Ducks lost.  I was wrong.
Sharks over Canucks.  The Sharks won.  I was right.
Kings over Blues.  The Kings won.  I was right.

I should play the freakin’ lottery, right?  That’s seven correct out of eight.  Someone is pretty good at picking the first round, and it’s me.  Damn straight.

The second round, however, is where I usually look like an idiot.

Here are my second round predictions:

Penguins vs Senators.  How about those Ottawa Senators, eh?  They showed those heavily favored Canadiens how it was done.  Let me tell you a story… Jen and I were sitting in a bar at Mohegan Sun waiting for the doors to open for the Rush concert last Thursday.  At a table next to us was a Rhode Islander and two guys from Montreal whom he’d just met for the first time moments before.  They started talking hockey.  One of the Montreal guys gave some horseshit story about how he was a hockey fan first and a Canadiens fan second, and how he doesn’t hate or root against any team because he just loves the game and blah blah blah and he’s sitting with a Bruins fan in a bar in New England and just wants to play nice out of fear he’ll get beaten up so he’s all up with people and lovey dovey and yadda yadda yadda.  He went on to say how he never had anything against the Senators and how there was no real rivalry between Ottawa and Montreal prior to the series.  “But there sure is now!” he says.  Later that night the Senators eliminated the Canadiens.  It was glorious.  Congratulations Ottawa, you have won your way to the second round where you will be blown off the face of the Earth by the Penguins.  Huzzah and all that!  Pittsburgh wins this series.

Bruins vs Rangers.  Now we’re talking.  No it’s not Bruins vs Canadiens, but if you want a rivalry this is a pretty good one.  Boston vs New York.  I have to be honest, again, and say that I don’t see the Bruins surviving this.  They beat the Rangers easily a couple of times early in the season, but that was a different Bruins team.  There are two Bruins teams this year.  The one that played the first half of the third period last night in game seven against the Leafs, and the one that played the second half of the third period last night in game seven against the Leafs.  If the first Bruins team shows up the Rangers will win easily.  If the second Bruins team shows up it will be an awesome series and either team has a shot.  In a rare show of Bruins based optimism I am going to say the second team shows up and that this series is epic from start to finish.  I’m also going to say that the Bruins will win it, but I live in Boston so if I said anything else I’d be thrown off the Tobin Bridge.  Yes, I pick the Bruins, but they are going to need their A+ game for 60 minutes a night and I haven’t seen them do that yet.  My fingers are crossed.

Now on to the Western Conference.  Also known as the conference I hardly followed at all this year.

Blackhawks vs Red Wings.  I really didn’t think the Wings had it in them this year.  They are old and not nearly the team they used to be.  Still, they made it happen against the Ducks.  The Blackhawks however, do have it in them this year.  They have been the team to beat in the West since day one.  This is a great rivalry, and it should be a fun series to watch, but the Red Wings are going to be golfing when it ends, and the Hawks will be sharpening their skates for round three.

Kings vs Sharks.  California dreamin’ on such a winter’s day.  Yeah, dude, like surfs up down at the ice rink.  Okay, I’ll stop being that asshole.  I’m just really happy that these two teams are matched up because it allows me to safely bet against the Sharks.  99 out of 100 times, when I pick the Sharks they make me look stupid.  The first round was that one out of 100 times when they make me look smart.  The odds are no longer in my favor.  Likewise, I like the Kings.  Always have.  Now I can safely say that the Kings will defeat the Sharks and I don’t have to question my gut at all.  The Kings will win this series.

So if all goes to plan we’ll have Penguins/Bruins and Blackhawks/Kings conference finals.  See you in a couple of weeks, okay?

Go Bruins!

2013 NHL Quarterfinal Predictions

This is the time of year when I have some goofy fun making NHL playoff predictions.  This year?  I could give a crap.  I am still so pissed off about the lock out that the entire league has been boring to me.  I just don’t care that much about a league that doesn’t give a rats ass about its fans.

So this year I am just going through the motions.  I’ll watch the playoffs.  I’ll root for my Bruins, even though they spent the better part of the last two months playing as if they couldn’t give a rats ass about anything.  I’ll try to be engaged, but I’m not holding my breath.

Every year when I make my first round picks I preface it by saying that these are not based on anything other than my gut, and my gut is often wrong.  This year I mean that even more because in the abortion of a half-a-season we were stuck with, I barely noticed any of these teams at all.

So here goes.  Starting in the East.

Penguins vs Islanders.  Congrats, Long Island (soon to be Brooklyn).  You got back to the playoffs.  Now die quickly so the Pens can work on getting healthy.  Go Pittsburgh.

Canadiens vs Senators.  Obviously the Canadiens are going to kick the holy hell out of the Senators, but I am rooting for Ottawa here.  They are a shell of themselves, what with the 11,036 injuries (that’s a Tempest Fero reference, for those in the know) and all.  Because of this, they are the cinderellas of the East.  They should have fallen apart ages ago, yes the term “ages” is sarcastic in this 48 game bullshit of a season.  Still, I am going to pick them to hang on long enough to beat the team that I hate the most.  Go Ottawa.

Capitols vs Rangers.  Who gives a shit.  I completely hate them both.  Go Refs.  Urgh, but if I had to pick one… I guess the Rangers, but I hate them too much to say Go New York.

Bruins vs Maple Leafs.  Obviously, I’m picking the Bruins.  Unfortunately I am pretty sure they are going to lose, and their death will be not with a bang but a whimper (that’s a TS Elliot reference, for those in the know).  The team that prides itself on defense can’t hold a third period lead.  How many games do they have to throw away before people stop seeing them as contenders and start seeing them for the mediocre crap team that got off to a really fast start that they are?  I’ll give them the Go Boston, but don’t come crying to me when the Leafs knock them out in the first round.

Blackhawks vs Wild.  Congratulations, Wild.  You get to be destroyed by the Blackhawks.  Enjoy your four games.  Go Chicago.

Red Wings vs Ducks.  It sure is going to be fun watching the storied Detroit franchise get blown away by a Disney Movie.  Go Anaheim.

Canucks vs Sharks.  I am going against my better judgement and picking the team that always always always lets me down, and as a result I always always always swear I will never pick them again.  Yet I some how always do.  Go San Jose.  I think I just guaranteed you’ll lose, but I am picking you anyway.

Blues vs Kings.  The Kings didn’t let me down last year.  I’m sure they will this year, but hopefully not in the first round.  Go L.A..

There you have it.  My stupid, pointless picks for a stupid, pointless lock out season.

Go Bruins.