The Everything NHL Thread

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West
R1 - The Blackhawks are the team to beat in my eyes and I don't think the Wild stand a chance. Not enough firepower and Ryan Suter can't play against both lines of Chicago's top 6. Detroit lucked out with a good match up against Anaheim, IMO. The Red Wings have been in win or die mode for a couple weeks now and I think that'll be enough to get them past an overachiever like the Ducks. I see Nucks and Sharks going either way but I'll lean Sharks because of Brent Burns, power forward. Kings and Blues will probably end up being close, too, but I'm just completely unwilling to put faith in Brian Elliott long term.

R2 - I think the Hawks will roll over the Wings in 5, even though it pains me to say that, thanks to a disparity in rest and travel - and not to mention better depth. Howard will do his best to steal a game or two, though. Sharks over Kings is probably a ballsy call but maybe, just maybe, Antti Niemi outplays Quick as the difference.

West Finals - Chicago benefits from lighter rounds 1 and 2 and beats whoever they face here, Sharks or otherwise.

East
R1 - Penguins are stacked, Islanders are not... should be a fun, but short, series. The Sens, like the Wings, have been in win or die mode whereas the Habs clinched and then relaxed. Karlsson returning will be a big boost to this team, perhaps what's needed to push Ottawa through. I was really tempted to pick the Rangers but I want to see offensive hockey win out from an entertainment perspective so I'll be cheering hard for Ovie & co. Boston owns Toronto, I don't care how badly the Bruins have played lately... the Leafs are just happy to be here.

R2 - Matt Cooke v Ottawa in a series, yes please. I expect the Penguins' depth to win out against the Sens. Picking the Caps is less me believing in Washington and more me believing that Boston won't have it all pieced together in time after playing an easy series against Toronto.

East Finals - I just really want this match up to happen to renew the whole Crosby / Ovechkin thing. Like the Blackhawks, I think the Penguins can beat anyone in the conference in a series.


Cup Final
Hawks in 7. Please let the best two teams play each other for the Cup, kthx.

General Comments: My picks have some pretty apparent trends that, in general, reflect my thoughts on the playoff teams. The top seeds are clearly the best teams of their conferences and my prediction for short round ones + final appearances for both Chicago and Pittsburgh back that up. I think the 2 seeds overachieved but also drew less than ideal match ups early as both 7 seeds are dangerous. It seems like the 3 seeds underwhelmed in weak divisions over the full 48 game season... each has the potential to do well or flame out early so I picked one 3 seed to do well and one to fail. I'm also pulling for a lot of these match ups.. if they happen, they'll be enjoyable to watch for various reasons and story lines.

Edit: I just realized I picked perennial playoff underachievers SJ and Washington to go to their conference finals. Oh boy...
 
waiting for predictions that don't include either the Hawks or the Pens














what, don't look at me, I'm not that stupid
 
Fuck yussssss. What a winner.


Shaw's smasher, tosser 3/4 down the ice, and the sexy soft slinger into the net.

We made it hard on ourselves. But I knew Wild wouldn't be a breeze. Aka, unpredictable playoff hockey.
 
I simply couldn't take my eyes off that game, there was so many chances and great saves made, it was truly an exciting match. Wonder if things would've been different if Backstrom was in net. Anyway Blues win! :D MY fav team in the west as of now.
 
What a game! Blues-Kings might be the best series. Quick with the giveaway after he stood on his head the entire game lol. Alex Steen was all over the ice. He has developed into quite a player.
 
Playoffs started yesterday but no one posts on smogon during vacation so whatever. No analysis except for my own.

Chicago vs Minnesota

Chicago in 6.

Anaheim vs Detroit

Anaheim in 6

Vancouver vs San Jose

Vancouver in 7. Apparently people forget that we had Ebbett as our second liner against the Sharks and no Kesler and Roy.

St Louis vs LA

LA in 7

Pittsburgh vs NYI

Pittsburgh in 6

Montreal vs Ottawa

Montreal in 6

Washington vs NYR

NYR in 7

Boston vs Toronto

Boston in 7
 
Penguins never fail to disappoint.
Something that just struck me, if the pens win the cup, what if Pascal Dupuis wins the Conn Smythe, that would be just amazing. :D
 
As you all know, I am the unofficial hockey seer of smogon.com

I correctly picked LA to win the cup last year, and this year I will make another bold prediction that will ultimately end up being 100% correct

If you don't want the Stanley Cup Finals to be spoiled, dont click on the spoiler tag.

Washington Capitals vs. Los Angeles Kings in 6 games
 
IMO St Louis is the darkhorse of the playoffs (in fact I believe I picked them to win the west). They got skill, size, grit, transition, defence, goaltending, and literally everything you want on a team. They finally got the LH dman to play with Pietrangelo, and Brian Elliot no longer has a .750 save %. As long as they can get some offensive consistency, they're going to be a juggernaut.
 
Over a full season, Dupuis was on pace for nearly a 50-goal season. Calling a Conn Smythe for him isn't as ridiculous as it might sound, it only took the guy 15 seasons or so to find his stride.
 
diaz is a fucking retard for the pass he made to eller

AND he makes an incredible amount of bad plays and turnovers afterwards. come on
 
DM said:
Over a full season, Dupuis was on pace for nearly a 50-goal season. Calling a Conn Smythe for him isn't as ridiculous as it might sound, it only took the guy 15 seasons or so to find his stride.
Click to expand...

I doubt he'd even be on pace for a 30 goal season if he weren't playing with a certain center.
 
Great game from the Caps tonight. The Rangers played great but we were able to keep them from getting quality shots while getting them for ourselves. Also, Holtbeast.
 
DM said:
Over a full season, Dupuis was on pace for nearly a 50-goal season. Calling a Conn Smythe for him isn't as ridiculous as it might sound, it only took the guy 15 seasons or so to find his stride.
Click to expand...

20 goals in 48 games prorates to 34 goals in a 82 game season. That's not really close to "nearly a 50-goal season".

New World Order said:
I doubt he'd even be on pace for a 30 goal season if he weren't playing with a certain center.
Click to expand...

Well he scored 25 goals in 2011-2012. Only 3 of those goals were assisted by Crosby who missed 60 games.
 
posting express regret at predicting habs to get through a round, not sure what i was thinking there


i am ok with my probably wrong LAK prediction though
 
Think that hit on Eller was clean but obviously you can see the result. Judging by replays, don't see any sort of charge or any intended hit to the head. Looks like primarily shoulder to body with a bit of head contact. Don't think he'll be disciplined.
 
Eraddd said:
Think that hit on Eller was clean but obviously you can see the result. Judging by replays, don't see any sort of charge or any intended hit to the head. Looks like primarily shoulder to body with a bit of head contact. Don't think he'll be disciplined.
Click to expand...

My biggest issue with all of these big hits is the amount of body armor that players get to wear now. Every hockey player is completely covered with hard plastic. There are several cons to all of this:

1) Players have no fear at all to block a shot because it won't hurt. Nobody likes watching games with boring teams clogging up the slot and blocking everything that comes to the net.

2) Players don't give a shit about throwing their bodies around like wrecking balls because they don't feel anything. I guarantee if they were wearing much softer pads then they wouldn't be throwing a lot of these hits because it would actually hurt themselves as well. They would be more likely to throw some hip checks or just push people to separate them from the puck. Remember why body checks are allowed? It's to separate a skater from the puck and not turn their brain into liquefied jelly.

I'm just getting tired of seeing these huge hits where there is incidental contact to the head and everything is fine because it wasn't the "principal point of contact." It's ridiculous. If they suspended every player that hit somebody in the head incidentally, then players would make a more concerted effort to make a clean hit to the body like they are supposed to do.
 
Synre said:
posting express regret at predicting habs to get through a round, not sure what i was thinking there
Click to expand...

I don't know man, 50 shots on goal in 60 minutes isn't enough? 10 takeaways to 1? I don't think the Sens can win 4 games this way. Or perhaps they can as long as Anderson > Price.

.. and they wont get major penalty every game.
 
If it is fifty of the type of shots that Montreal was getting for most of game one I think Ottawa will do it. Anderson's been facing huge amounts of shots for a long time (top 5 most allowed both years in Ottawa and his last year in Florida, top 10 the years in Colorado) and has been putting up amazing numbers the whole time. I would definitely be worried about allowing that many to get through if I was a Senators fan, but I think it's gotta be more about quality against Anderson... he doesn't let in weak goals often enough to get it done on volume.

I just don't think the Habs have the right offensive players to get the puck in the net enough to win if they don't get a bunch of power plays. They just seem more like the Capitals than the Penguins to me from a personnel perspective, going to have a hard time scoring in a playoff atmosphere.
 
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