1.
My first prediction was that Vancouver was a
"lock” to finish on top of the Western Conference which they have ended up doing
but I would hardly say it was a lock. St Louis sure made them work for it. Also
suggested Washington will probably do the same in the East and well, besides
the first fortnight of the season, they never looked like it. Half right.
2.
Up next was the Flyers finishing seventh
at best in the East. In the end they finished fifth but with the third
best record and without Chris Pronger for the most part. Much better than I
expected.
3.
Evgeni Malkin will not win the Art Ross or the
Hart Trophy this season. No spinning how wrong I have been with this one.
Malkin has finished the season 12 points clear of Steven Stamkos to clinch his
second Art Ross despite playing in seven fewer games. He is also widely considered a sure thing for
Hart Trophy. Stamkos probably the only realistic threat but with Tampa missing
the playoffs and the all round game of Malkin, I think I can safely say I have
struck out on this one.
4.
My fourth prediction was that the Pacific
division was going to be the toughest by far. Yeah I am really on fire hey.
Anaheim were ordinary and Los Angeles and San Jose never lived up to the
expectations I had for them. The Coyotes, Sharks and Kings make the playoffs
but they are the only teams in the West to do so without 100 points. The
Central and the Atlantic divisions could both mount claims for being the
toughest divisions this season.
5.
Up next was that Brendan Shanahan was going to
be super busy and my god has that been right. Next
6.
Teemu Selanne will get the 59 points required to
pass Jari Kurri as the leading point scoring Finn in the NHL. At age 41, he has
finished the season with 66 points, playing all 82 games and leading the Ducks
in points #wow
I’ll give myself 2.5 of these predictions right out of 6
which is pretty ordinary. Anyway I also suggested a few plays on Division
winners etc at the start of the season so lets see how they have panned out.
Washinton to win their division and although they took it
down to the last game they finished two points behind Florida. -1 unit
In the Northeast we took both Boston and Buffalo and the
Bruins end up getting the job done at $2.50. +.5 units
In the Atlantic I thought Pittsburgh would win but suggested
we take the Rangers as they were the good value at $5 and boy was that a good
move. +4 units
In the pacific we took the Sharks at $2.10, again this went
down to the final day but the Coyotes took the title. -1 unit
The other suggested bet that has been settled was the “super
division” in which we took both Washington and Vancouver. With the Canucks
finishing the regular season with the best record in the league we cash this
bet at $4.50. +2.5 units
So with all that done we finish 3.2 units up. There were
three other suggested bets that are yet to be settled, which are San Jose to
win the Western Conference final at $6, Pittsburgh to win the Eastern
Conference final at $7 and then the Penguins to win the cup at $11. Really
regretting the San Jose play but loving the Penguins plays and especially the
value.
New York (1) v Ottawa (8)
The Rangers have impressed all by finishing the regular
season on top of the Eastern Conference. They only weakness they have is the
power play which has been poor all season, luckily for them they come up
against one of the poorer penalty kills in the Senators. They appear to be
stronger in all areas yet the senators still won the season series three games
to one. The top line of Alfredsson, Spezza and Michalek has gotten it done all
year long, but in the playoffs secondary scoring is vital and that is the key
to this matchup. Will the likes of Foligno, Turris and Greening step up?
Playoffs is also a tough time to do it but against Lundqvist, I don’t think so.
Whilst that season series grabs your attention you don’t finish on top of the
conference unless you can deal with a team like the Senators comfortably. Rangers
in five
Boston (2) v Washington (7)
Florida (3) v New Jersey (6)
Pittsburgh (4) v Philadelphia (5)
If you can only choose one series to watch in the first round, let it be this one. These two teams plain hate each other and this series will be a war. The Flyers had the Penguins measure during the regular season winning four of the six meetings, with one of the losses coming in the last game of the season in which both teams had little to play for. However the Penguins weren’t always at full strength so that may be a little misleading. Unless Bryzgalov gets hot I think we have to expect that Pittsburgh will be able to score fairly regularly, as they did during the regularly season leading the league in goals and averaging 3.33 goals a game in the 6 meeting with the Flyers. The key matchup for me then is the line of Cooke-Staal-Kennedy against Hartnell-Giroux-Jagr. The top line for the Flyers will be heavily relied upon to match the output of Crosby and Malkin. With the Penguins having home ice you can be sure Staal will be shadowing Giroux everywhere for the first two games. Whoever wins that battle goes a long way towards winning the series. Penguins in six
Looking at the record of these two teams then this really is
a mismatch, but when the Kings traded for Jeff Carter they found some mojo and
have been very solid down the stretch. Forget the first half of the season,
playoffs is all about current form. The trouble is returning from another foot
injury and is no certainty to start game one, although it does appear likely.
Likewise Daniel Sedin is still uncertain for Vancouver and even if he does
don’t be surprised if the Kings make a run at him to “test him out” as they
have shown they are willing push the boundaries for the cause. The key matchup
in this series is in net, Quick is the best goalie in the West (the league?)
and he comes up against the top duo in Luongo and Schneider, yet somehow the
Canucks manage to turn this into a negative come playoff time. Luongo is so
worried about making a mistake because he might be replaced, that mistakes are bound
to happen. Vancouver should win in four but this will inevitably be a journey.
Canucks in six
St Louis (2) v San Jose (7)
I’m not surprised by this matchup but I am by the seedings,
what a season for both of these outfits. The Sharks appear to have all the
talent and depth yet the Blues have been getting it done since Ken Hitchcock
took over. For the Blues it is all about preventing goals with another super
duo in net, in Elliot and Halak, although because of this it’s far from certain
who will get the start. Elliot is carrying a niggle though, so advantage Halak
for game one? In the scoring department it is a case of scoring by committee
which is often seen as a negative but not for mine, it just makes them harder
to shut down. The Sharks will need to score two or three goals a game to get
the W and they do have some scoring depth in Couture, Pavelski and Marleau who
all scored 30 this season, throw in Thornton, Havlat and Ryan “Brain Fade”
Clowe and they may well be capable of getting those goals. However I am
inclined to believe they won’t. The Blues won all four meetings this season,
allowing just three goals, look for that trend to continue. Blues in five
The power play for both of these teams are awful, Chicago is
hoping the imminent return of captain Jonathan Toews will rectify that. I’m not
buying it. I think this is something that they have had 82 games to address. Should
Toews play game one, as good as he is, he won’t be even close to his sharpest
and won’t be able to make the impact they need to save their PP. With that said
their penalty kill is also dreadful and the Coyotes’ is much better. Doesn’t
hurt too that Phoenix have a significant advantage in net with Mike Smith. The
Blackhawks look to me like a team patching up one leak after another and the
master that is Dave Tippett will be able to exploit that in a heartbeat.
Chicago’s special teams are really bad, Toews is under done, Crawford is
fragile at best and the young players on the third and fourth lines look out of
their depth. Chicago probably are the better team but they would give anything
for another month to prepare for playoffs. Coyotes in four
Nashville (4) v Detroit (5)
So that about wraps it up, enough time to give my overall
tips again and I will stick with the Penguins to win the cup (no bias I swear),
but I am switching in the West with St Louis my tip to make it out of that
conference. Obviously lost all faith in the Sharks but just like the way the
Blues have been playing and think that an easier first round (jinx anyone?)
should set them up nicely. So anyway feel free to tweet me anything hockey
related during the playoffs and be sure to check out both #bucciovertimechallenge
and #playoffbeard for some fun as they obviously crank up this time of year.
Cheers
@mal68au
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