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.
