NHL Round 2 Playoff Predictions

So uhm, yeah, that round 1 didn't go the way I had hoped. Here goes with round 2:

Eastern Conference

Philadelphia Flyers vs New Jersey Devils
My Prediction: Philly in 6
Wife's Prediction: NJ in 5

New York Rangers vs Washington Capitals
My Prediction: Caps in 6
Wife's Prediction: NY in 7

Western Conference

Phoenix Coyotes vs Nashville Predators
My Prediction: Yotes in 6
Wife's Prediction: Yotes in 7

St Louis Blues vs LA Kings
My Prediction: Kings in 6
Wife's Prediction: Kings in 6

There you go.  So with Vancouver out, I'm a bit torn on who to root for.  This really is a sucky year for teams I follow.

NHL Playoff Predictions 2012 -- Round 1

It's that time of year again, time for my yearly blog post mentioning my NHL playoff predictions. Here goes. And of course, as with previous years my wife's predictions are given as well (we have a completely not elaborate scoring system and the winner at the end of the playoffs gets bragging rights).

Eastern Conference

NY Rangers vs Ottawa Senators

My Prediction: NYR in 4
Wife's Prediction: Sens in 7

Boston Bruins vs Washington Capitals

I'm biased on this series, as I hate the Bruins, but I really think this one has the making of an upset. Caps won't go far past round 1, but I really think they have the potential to surprise an overachieving B's club.

My Prediction: Caps in 7
Wife's Prediction: Caps in 7

Florida Panthers vs NJ Devils

My Prediction: NJ in 6
Wife's Prediction:NJ in 6

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Philadelphia Flyers

Man, this one is just going to be a war.

My Prediction: Pens in 7
Wife's Prediction: Pens in 5

Western Conference

St Louis Blues vs SJ Sharks

My Prediction: Blues in 5
Wife's Prediction: Sharks in 5

Phoenix Coyotes vs Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago worries me. They are definitely my dark horse for the west, I wouldn't be surprised to see them surprise people and go far.

My Prediction: Chicago in 6
Wife's Prediction: Phoenix in 6

Nashville Predators vs Detroit Red Wings

Back around Jan/early Feb Detroit was my pick to win it all this year. I dunno what's going on there, but they've really stumbled of late. And I know what Nashville is capable of in the playoffs, there's a definite risk here of having a goalie steal a series. I hope Detroit wins, but don't be surprised if Nashville makes it through.

My Prediction: Preds in 7
Wife's Prediction: Preds in 7

Vancouver Canucks vs LA Kings

This is the year. See you all in June when Hank raises the cup.

My Prediction: Canucks in 5
Wife's Prediction: Canucks in 5

The Rome Hit & Suspension

NHL fan-friends, make me understand the Rome suspension.

How is the Rome hit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUYqTE3cnuQ

different from say, this classic hit by Scott Stevens that was largely hailed as one of the great plays of that series:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8up-tkxZ4r8

Okay the NHL is different now. New rules have been put in place (this season) to try and curtail concussions. But this means that in only 8 years a play that would've been the highlight of the night, and put you into the hall of fame, is now something that will get you kicked out of the NHL finals, and vilified as being one of the dirtiest players to hit the ice.

I agree, Rome's hit was late. According to the NHL rulebook, interference is called when a player is: "Moving laterally and without establishing body position, then making contact with the non-puck carrier is not permitted and will be penalized as interference". Okay, I buy that. Rome did move laterally into Horton, he didn't have established body position. Having said that however, watch the Rome replay, he's actually moving in for the hit as Horton is making the pass, it just took that extra second for the contact to be made.

But, why a match penalty?

Again, according to the rulebook "A match penalty shall be imposed on any player who deliberately attempts to injure or who deliberately injures an opponent in any manner." So presumably the reasoning is that Rome *intended to injure* Horton. I don't buy this. Rome's hit was late, but he didn't raise his elbow. His feet left the ice, but only after the hit (he didn't "jump into" Horton). I guess the referees saw it differently.

So then, why the suspension?

Historically the NHL has had one of the worst reputations for being completely inconsistent with suspensions. Sometimes players will get no suspension, others will get several games for similar plays. Some of the common variables that reportedly are involved include whether or not there was intent to injure, whether the infraction was premeditated, and the big one -- whether or not the player is a repeat offender. Going down the list, I already commented that it did not seem to be an intent to injure. Given the play transpired in the span of a couple seconds it's difficult to see how this could have been premeditated. And finally, Rome has never been suspended in his NHL career.

But apparently the play was "dirty" enough to warrant being suspended for the duration of the Stanley Cup finals. I'm hard pressed to think of any instance of this happening in the entire history of the NHL. The last time a player was suspended in the finals was when Pronger clotheslined Dean McAmmond. This was a play where there was clear intent to injure, and Pronger was most definitely a repeat offender. His suspension? 1 game. So extrapolating: a split second play with no premeditation, by a player who's never been suspended before was 4 times as bad as a clear hit to the head by a player who's been suspended and had run-ins with NHL disciplinarians throughout his career. Huh?

Please, make me understand.

Edit: Some interesting links

• http://www.canuckz.com/2011/06/07/aaron-rome-suspended-4-games-nhl-lacks-consistency/ -- FTA: "A reminder to everyone who often forget this, but head shots that aren’t from the blind side are legal in the NHL, as long as it is with your shoulder." Which the Rome hit was (shoulder)
• http://www.torontosun.com/2011/06/07/rome-suspension-strong-statement-by-nhl
  
• http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2011/06/horton-hit-should-canucks-rome-be-suspended.html FTA: has a poll asking for people's thoughts on if the suspension was appropriate with four choices ranging from "too lenient" to "too strong", and at the time of this writing the poll is almost completely evenly split between all four choices.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAKE27l7ZzA The McGinn hit on Rome in the SJ series. This was a hit from behind, with McGinn not recieving any suspension at all.
  

Round 3 Predictions

Boston vs Tampa Bay

My Prediction: Boston in 6
Wife's Prediction: Tampa in 6

Vancouver vs San Jose

My Prediction: Vancouver in 6
Wife's Prediction: Vancouver in 7

Round 2 Predictions

And round 2 is up:

Eastern Conference

Washington Capitals vs Tampa Bay Lightning

My Prediction: Tampa in 6
Wife's Prediction: Tampa in 7

Philadelphia Flyers vs Boston Bruins

My Prediction: Flyers in 7
Wife's Prediction: Flyers in 6

Western Conference

San Jose Sharks vs Detroit Red Wings

My Prediction: Wings in 6
Wife's Prediction: Sharks in 7

Vancouver Canucks vs Nashville Predators

My Prediction: Canucks in 5
Wife's Prediction: Canucks in 5

PS - round 1 predictions results were a little off from last year, but using the scoring system the wife & I usually use (2 points for predicting the winning team, 1 for the number of games) the scores are 12 for me, and 9 for her. :)

NHL Playoff Prediction 2011 Version

It's that time of year again, time for me to actually post something in my blog. :) Since the only thing that I ever put in here is hockey predictions, here goes. Again, as in years past my wife made her predictions as well.

Eastern Conference

Washington Capitals vs New York Rangers

My Prediction: Washington in 6
Wife's Prediction: NY in 7

Philadelphia Flyers vs Buffalo Sabres

My Prediction: Philly in 6
Wife's Prediction: Buffalo in 6

Boston Bruins vs Montreal Canadiens

My Prediction: Montreal in 7
Wife's Prediction: Montreal in 6

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Tampa Bay Lightning

My Prediction: Tampa in 5
Wife's Prediction: Tampa in 7

Western Conference

San Jose Sharks vs Los Angeles Kings

My Prediction: Los Angeles in 6
Wife's Prediction: Los Angeles in 6

Detroit Red Wings vs Phoenix Coyotes

My Prediction: Wings in 5
Wife's Prediction: Coyotes in 7

Anaheim Ducks vs Nashville Predators

My Prediction: Ducks in 7
Wife's Prediction: Preds in 5

Vancouver Canucks vs Chicago Blackhawks

My Prediction: Vancouver in 5
Wife's Prediction: Vancouver in 7

2010 NHL Playoff Predicitons

Well it's time for my yearly blog post. About the only time that I post on here anymore is NHL playoff time where I post my predictions. Just like previous years both myself and my wife are making predictions and competing for marital bragging rights. On to the predictions:

Eastern Conference

Washington Capitals vs Montreal Canadiens

Damn damn damn. I was really hoping Philly would finish in 8th in the east, as I wanted Ovie and the Caps to get a bit banged up before moving on. This one is a huge mismatch. Should be short.

My Prediction: Caps in 4
Wife's Prediction: Habs in 7

New Jersey Devils vs Philadelphia Flyers

Not sure about this one. Philly's had an incredibly inconsistent season, but there's still a lot of talent on that team (though no goaltending). I think of all the teams in the east they are probably the most likely to be a dark horse that surprises everyone. Jersey has had a history in recent years of great regular seasons followed by short playoff runs. I'm sure most experts are picking the Devils, but I think this one could be an upset.

My Prediction: Flyers in 6
Wife's Prediction: Jersey in 5

Buffalo Sabres vs Boston Bruins

My candidate for snoozer series of the first round as both teams are extremely defensively-minded. Miller's been awesome all year, and I think in a series where goals will be at a premium, goaltending will be the difference. This could be a series were every game has a final score of 1-0 or 2-1.

My Prediction: Sabres in 6
Wife's Prediction: Bruins in 6

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Ottawa Senators

Ottawa has surprised pretty much everyone this season and had a great year. But they're playing the defending champs, and I don't see any reason why the Pens won't play like they're capable of playing. The Sens will be happy just making the post-season this year after everyone predicted disaster at the start of the year.

My Prediction: Penguins in 5
Wife's Prediction: Senators in 7

Western Conference

San Jose Sharks vs Colorado Avalanche

Ahh, April when the playoffs begin and we wait for the annual Shark choke. I don't think it'll happen this round, but I have little doubt that SJ won't be going deep yet again this year. Nabby's been average, and Thornton/Marleau still have yet to show they can get it done when it matters most. Colorado was the Ottawa of the west -- the team that absolutely stunned everyone by making the playoffs. They limped into the post-season, and Anderson's been mediocre since the Olympic break. I think the Avs may surprise the Sharks a bit, but ultimately this is a mismatch.

My Prediction: Sharks in 7
Wife's Prediction: Avs in 5

Chicago Blackhawks vs Nashville Predators

As a die-hard Canucks fan it pains me to say this, but Chicago is my pick to win it all this year. They've been outstanding all year long, Toews had an amazing Olympics (as did Kane, Seabrook and Keith), the only question is in goal, but Huet has been very strong in the final stretch. Nashville has had a great season, Renne has surprised many, but I just don't see an upset happening here.

My Prediction: Hawks in 5
Wife's Prediction: Hawks in 6

Phoenix Coyotes vs Detroit Red Wings

Now this is the interesting series of the first round. Phoenix has (arguably) overachieved all year, and finally realized the potential that a lot of people felt was there in the last few years. Bryzgalov is a possible Vezina candidate. Stepniak was a huge pickup for them at the deadline. And in spite of all the adversity over the ownership situation they've gone out and won, week after week, month after month. Detroit had a horrible start to the season, was decimated by injuries, and plagued by underachievement right up until the Olympic break. Then they came back, realized that they are the team that has been perrennial post-season players for almost two decades, and the team that has gone to the Cup finals in both of the last two years. The run they put on in March was magical. The big question mark is whether or not Howard can duplicate his regular season success in the post-season. I think this one's a lot closer than people think, and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see either team win it. I'm giving the slight edge to Detroit based purely on experience.

My Prediction: Wings in 7
Wife's Prediction: Yotes in 7

Vancouver Canucks vs Los Angeles Kings

Admittedly I most definitely did not want my boys to meet the Wings in the first round, and of the three possible candidates (LA, Det, and Nashville), LA was definitely my first choice. Having said that, LA has finally come into their own this year, and had a great season. There's a LOT of really, really good young talent on that team (Doughty might have been the best player on the Canadian olympic team, and Kopitar is a definite rising star), complimented by the likes of veterans like Smyth. I really hope my team doesn't underestimate them. On paper, there's no doubt who's the better team, Vancouver has arguably the best goaltender in the playoffs (though he didn't look it going down the stretch), an Art Ross trophy winner in Hank Sedin, and an incredibly balanced scoring attack (6 players with 20+ goals). Defensively there's some concerns (the injury to Mitchell is huge), but if we play the way we're capable, this one should be a nice tune-up for round 2.

My Prediction: Canucks in 6
Wife's Prediction: Canucks 6