Well, it took long enough, but I finally got an Eastern series right. Figures that it’d be the last one, since the only other one I got was the first.
| Doogie | Hoop | Matt | Gerard | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| 4-3 | 4-1 | 4-2 | 4-2 | 4-1 |
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| 4-3 | 4-3 | 4-2 | 4-2 | 4-3 |
| 2-0 | 2-0 | 1-1 | 1-1 | W-L |
| 2 | 0 | 6 | 6 | GO |
| 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | PS |
| 8-6 | 11-3 | 8-6 | 10-4 | W-L |
| 29 | 23 | 34 | 33 | GO |
| 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | PS |
I can’t win now, but my record of six perfect predictions is safe, at least. On to the main event.
You will notice a couple of distinct patterns here after two rounds:
| Doogie | Hoop | Matt | Gerard | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| 4-2 | 4-2 | 4-2 | 4-1 | 4-2 |
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| 4-3 | 4-3 | 4-2 | 4-1 | 4-3 |
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| 4-2 | 4-1 | 4-1 | 4-2 | 4-0 |
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| 4-2 | 4-3 | 4-2 | 4-2 | 4-0 |
| 2-2 | 2-2 | 2-2 | 3-1 | W-L |
| 12 | 12 | 10 | 11 | GO |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | PS |
| 6-6 | 9-3 | 7-5 | 9-3 | W-L |
| 27 | 23 | 28 | 27 | GO |
| 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | PS |
One, either I get a series perfectly or not at all: five of my six correct predictions were bang on the money. Two, I’ve pretty much nailed the West (a brain-fart in DET-PHX away from being perfect) and have no clue about the East (1-5, the only winner being the WSH-NYR gimme). So given that, take what I say about the West as gospel, and what I say about the East as utter nonsense.
You will also notice that Matt’s picks are once again late. Never trust a Campbell. [Edit: They're there now.]
I love Game 7s. Except when the team I pick to win a series loses three out of four.
| Doogie | Hoop | Matt | Gerard | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| 4-3 | 4-1 | 4-2 | 4-2 | 4-3 |
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| 4-1 | 4-1 | 4-1 | 4-0 | 4-2 |
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| 4-2 | 4-2 | 4-2 | 4-3 | 4-0 |
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| 4-2 | 4-3 | 4-3 | 4-2 | 4-2 |
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| 4-1 | 4-2 | 4-2 | 4-3 | 4-1 |
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| 4-3 | 4-3 | 4-1 | 4-1 | 4-3 |
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| 4-2 | 4-1 | 4-2 | 4-2 | 4-3 |
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| 4-2 | 4-3 | 4-2 | 4-2 | 4-3 |
| 4-4 | 7-1 | 5-3 | 6-2 | W-L |
| 15 | 11 | 18 | 16 | GO |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | PS |
Somehow, I picked three series perfectly and only got four right altogether. One of those was a total brain cramp (Really? Phoenix?), but the rest were such total crapshoots. Two were one-goal games, one in OT. Ah, well, enough of the excuses. Time to make up ground in round two. Somehow.
Welcome to the fourth annual SNN Predicts series of articles (fifth overall, if you count the 2004 version done on the forums, lost to the mists of time but notable for the fact that I went 0-4 in series involving the Flames), in which we act like we know what we’re talking about and make our (mostly) blindingly obvious predictions, with a shocking amount of success, considering some mainstream reporters usually wind up under .500 by the time the Stanley Cup is finally awarded somewhere around Canada Day. The East was actually remarkably stable this year, with all the positions pretty much staying the same through the final couple of weeks, despite a hard charge from Carolina down the stretch. Meanwhile, out West, seeds 4-9 were decided by putting all the teams into a blender, hitting “purée,” and seeing what came out: thus how Anaheim mysteriously wound up with home-ice advantage. Countdown to the first article pronouncing Vancouver “Canada’s team,” and urging Canadians to root them to “our” first Stanley Cup since 1993? Let’s say T minus ten days. (You will note that I jacked most of that intro from last year’s post. I figure why mess with a good thing?)
Editor’s Note: Matt’s picks are going up late, because he’s screwing the pooch really busy at work. So I present the other three, and will edit his in whenever he gets around to giving them to me. [Ed: And now they're up.]
Editor’s Note #2: Picks may be late, considering Round #2 starts tomorrow and I have a presentation to prepare for on Friday morning. I may write postmortems for all the series on the weekend or something, or I may get distracted by a shiney.
Alright, folks, here’s how we finished up:
| Doogie | Hoop | Matt | Gerard | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| 4-1 | 4-1 | 4-2 | 4-1 | 4-2 |
| 1-0 | 1-0 | 1-0 | 1-0 | W-L |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | GO |
| 8-7 | 11-4 | 7-8 | 8-7 | W-L |
| 36 | 28 | 35 | 36 | GO |
| 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | PS |
You may notice the extra row at the end. Because Gerard and I perfectly tied, the second tiebreaker had to come out, and I arbitrarily selected perfect series. Not because it gave me second place (that was a happy accident), but because it was the only damned thing I had left that I’d tracked.
That sixth game was an absolute classic. It’s a bit of a shame, in a way, that the final goal was a touch anticlimactic, with the delayed reaction of everyone in the building not named Patrick Kane. Then again, there’s something pure and enjoyable about Kane’s whoop of joy being the only sign that the ‘Hawks had just won the Cup for damned near five seconds. Still, the game itself was entertaining pretty much from start to finish: even when the ‘Hawks tried to sit on their lead in the third, they got a few quality chances, and did more by sound positioning than they did by playing that Godforsaken dump and chase that most teams do when they defend a late lead.
The goaltending was awful, sure (neither ‘keeper had a SV% over .900, and the series was the third-highest scoring Final of all-time), but overall, I can’t complain one bit about the quality of the series. What many in the hockey world –including three of us — expected to be a coronation turned out to be a heck of a series with a number of lead changes, history in the making (Briere’s 12 points, one off Gretzky’s record, and 30 points on the playoffs, besting Brian Propp for the Flyers record), and defining moments, the kind of series that wouldn’t have been possible a few years ago (remember the slogfests of the early aughts?). Plus, Game 6 was apparently the highest-rated NHL game since the mid-70s. It did the unthinkable and outdid the NHL’s dream matchups of the last two years in pretty much every way. It’s too bad the salary cap is going to ravage this Chicago team over the summer: I’d love to see more of this next year.
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