2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs

tolosenc

It's here! It's here! It's finally here!

16 remain, 1 will win. I'm going with a pick that's a little off the wall, Washington to beat St. Louis in the Finals.

1st Round
Chicago vs Minnesota - (Chicago in 4)
Anaheim vs Detroit - (Detroit in 7)
Vancouver vs San Jose - (Vancouver in 6)
St. Louis vs LA - (St. Louis in 6)

Pittsburgh vs Islanders - (Pittsburgh in 5)
Montreal vs Ottawa - (Montreal in 7)
Washington vs Rangers - (Washington in 5)
Boston vs Toronto - (Toronto in 7)

Which leaves a second round of (my selections bolded):
Chicago - Detroit
Vancouver - St. Louis

Pittsburgh - Toronto
Montreal - Washington

Thoughts?

COYW

tolosenc wrote: »

It's here! It's here! It's finally here!

16 remain, 1 will win. I'm going with a pick that's a little off the wall, Washington to beat St. Louis in the Finals.

Thoughts?

I am going for the following in the 1st round:

1st Round
Chicago vs Minnesota - (Chicago in 5)
Anaheim vs Detroit - (Anaheim in 6)
Vancouver vs San Jose - (Vancouver in 5)
St. Louis vs LA - (Blues in 6)

Pittsburgh vs Islanders - (Pittsburgh in 6)
Montreal vs Ottawa - (Montreal in 7)
Washington vs Rangers - (Rangers in 5) (I'm seriously confidence about this; we are playing really good hockey lately. :cool:)
Boston vs Toronto - (Toronto in 6)

Overall, it's hard to look past the Pens in the East. MrJoeSoap will probably be able to tell us better but I believe the Islanders are a bit of a bogey team for them. I still expect the Pens to progress. I will go for a Pens V Anaheim final. I think Anaheim can beat Chicago over 7 games, just.

As a Ranger, I think we will get by the Caps and the winner of the Habs v Sens clash but that'll be it. I just can't see us beating the Pens over a series. LGR!!!

cena

I really can't see my ducks going pass the red wings. I do hope they do and maybe face the rangers that I would like

MrJoeSoap

COYW wrote: »

I am going for the following in the 1st round:

1st Round
Chicago vs Minnesota - (Chicago in 5)
Anaheim vs Detroit - (Anaheim in 6)
Vancouver vs San Jose - (Vancouver in 5)
St. Louis vs LA - (Blues in 6)

Pittsburgh vs Islanders - (Pittsburgh in 6)
Montreal vs Ottawa - (Montreal in 7)
Washington vs Rangers - (Rangers in 5) (I'm seriously confidence about this; we are playing really good hockey lately. :cool:)
Boston vs Toronto - (Toronto in 6)

Overall, it's hard to look past the Pens in the East. MrJoeSoap will probably be able to tell us better but I believe the Islanders are a bit of a bogey team for them. I still expect the Pens to progress. I will go for a Pens V Anaheim final. I think Anaheim can beat Chicago over 7 games, just.

As a Ranger, I think we will get by the Caps and the winner of the Habs v Sens clash but that'll be it. I just can't see us beating the Pens over a series. LGR!!!

I wouldn't go so far as to say the Isle's are a bogey team, but I'm not as confident as I possibly could be going into that series. The regular season series saw the Penguins win 4 out of 5, but there were some moments that worried me. And the Isles single victory was a washout even with the Penguins at full-strength. That said, the "full-strength" in January vs that of today is a completely different animal, and the recent acquisitions have been firing on all cylinders lately. I can't wait to see the likes of Morrow, Iginla and Jokinen in a playoff series.

I've done quite a bit of statistical research into the playoffs (since the 04-05 lockout) today. Some findings that may be of interest to some:

• Of the seven Presidents Trophy winners, only two have reached the Stanley Cup Finals. The only Stanley Cup winners were Detroit in 2007/2008.
• Four of the seven Presidents Trophy winners have been beaten in the Conference Quarter-Finals
• All seven non-Presidents Trophy winning teams who won the opposite conference have won in their quarter-final matchup.
• However, none of the seven above teams have made the Stanley Cup Finals
• Only two of the fourteen teams to have won their conference have won the Stanley Cup
• The last seven winners have been well spread, four from the West and three from the East.
• The average regular season finishing position (conference) is 3.14. People who like the number Pi might enjoy this stat.
• Five of the last seven winners, also won their division that season.
• Both Chicago and Pittsburgh (both 75%) have a far greater win percentage this season than any teams from the previous seven seasons. Detroit in 2005-2006 had a regular season winning percentage of 70.73%
• Chicago have a points-per-game record of 1.60 this season, well above the previous highest of 1.51 set by Detroit in 05-06. The Penguins have a 1.50 average.
• The last seven teams to have won the Stanley Cup have been ranked 8-3-2-4-1-2-2 in their respective conferences.
• Their opponents have been ranked 6-1-7-2-2-4-8 in the respective opposing conferences.

MrJoeSoap

And if I'm to put my arse on the bacon-slicer, my predictions are:

Chicago vs Minnesota - (Chicago in 5)
Anaheim vs Detroit - (Anaheim in 5)
Vancouver vs San Jose - (San Jose in 6)
St. Louis vs LA - (St. Louis in 6)

Pittsburgh vs Islanders - (Pittsburgh in 7)
Montreal vs Ottawa - (Montreal in 5)
Washington vs Rangers - (Washington in 5)
Boston vs Toronto - (Boston in 6)

Maybe if a few more get their predictions in before tomorrow night, we can have a mini predictions league?

(And finally, let it be said now that I will be posting like a lunatic on this thread over the next month and a half. Would be great if lots of others would join me!)

smackbunnybaby

Here we go!

1st Round
Chicago vs Minnesota - (Chicago in 6)
Anaheim vs Detroit - (Anaheim in 7)
Vancouver vs San Jose - (San Jose in 5)
St. Louis vs LA - (St. Louis in 5)

Pittsburgh vs Islanders - (Pittsburgh in 5)
Montreal vs Ottawa - (Montreal in 4)
Washington vs Rangers - (Washington in 7)
Boston vs Toronto - (Boston in 5)

2nd Round
Chicago vs Anaheim
San Jose vs St. Louis

Pittsburgh vs Montreal
Washington vs Boston



Full Disclosure, I'm a long time Penguins fan with a soft spot for Blackhawks and Bruins.

scottmcb04

Chicago vs Minnesota - (Chicago in 5)
Anaheim vs Detroit - (Anaheim in 6)
Vancouver vs San Jose - (Vancouver in 7)
St. Louis vs LA - (LA in 6)

Pittsburgh vs Islanders - (Pittsburgh in 6)
Montreal vs Ottawa - (Montreal in 6)
Washington vs Rangers - (Washington in 7)
Boston vs Toronto - (Toronto in 6)

heading out to vancouver tomorrow so no 4 and 5 o clock mornings this year for me:)

Masked Man

Wild going to shock the world

MrJoeSoap

Masked Man wrote: »

Wild going to shock the world

Stuck a free €5 bet on them at 40/1 for the craic. It was an 8th seed Western team that won last year, after all.

Also threw two small bets on the Penguins (7/2) and Bruins (9/1).

tolosenc

I can't wait for the absolute meltdown that would happen in Chicago should Minny actually win tonight.

Izy

anyone growing a playoffs beard ???

i did it the year the penguins got to the final in 08 but when they lost it to the wings I thought it brings them bad luck and then sure they won it the next year :eek:

no beard growing since and all sort of bad luck for the team in the playoffs :rolleyes:

lot of sleepless nights ahead!!!

Last years MVP made some balls of a play to hand the Blues a win. brilliant atmosphere in St.Louis for the game...

i personally think the Pens will beat the isles handy, new to the playoffs in recent years they wont know what hit them... same happens for most new teams.

My heart says Pens all the way!!!

tolosenc

Izy wrote: »

anyone growing a playoffs beard ???

i did it the year the penguins got to the final in 08 but when they lost it to the wings I thought it brings them bad luck and then sure they won it the next year :eek:

no beard growing since and all sort of bad luck for the team in the playoffs :rolleyes:

lot of sleepless nights ahead!!!

Last years MVP made some balls of a play to hand the Blues a win. brilliant atmosphere in St.Louis for the game...

i personally think the Pens will beat the isles handy, new to the playoffs in recent years they wont know what hit them... same happens for most new teams.

My heart says Pens all the way!!!

Plan is to shave tonight, and probably not again till at least Monday (yay bank holidays!), so maybe! Any time I watched a game this year, if it was live, we lost, if was recorded and I wore my jersey we lost, so I'll be doing neither of those!

Have Chrome Nanny set up to block me from as much hockey related content as possible tomorrow.

No sleepless nights for me, plus with this being exam season, that's not a bad thing!

Quick was excellent except for that though. It's going to be tough for LA to score this series, so he'll need to be super human again.

Pens should win handy enough alright. Pens and Caps are the two best teams in the East, and would make for an interesting Conference final! Ovi vs Sid!

Canucks need to make a statement tonight, but if we are to go all the way, Schneider will be MVP (if he plays like he did before he was sick and his hometown got blown up, he'll steal us at least 1 round).

Fiery mutant

Blackhawks v wild (Wild in 6)
Ducks v Red Wings (Ducks in 7)
Canucks v Sharks (Canucks in 6)
Blues v Kings (Blues in 5)

Penguins v Islanders (Islanders in 7)
Canadians v Senators (Senators in 6)
Capitals v Rangers (Capitals in 7)
Bruins v Leafs (Bruins in 6)

Wisco

Minnesota really gave Chicago a run for their money in Game 1- I was pleasantly surprised. Here's hoping for a victory in Game 2!
Looks like Backstrom is out again for game 2 after injuring himself in Game 1 warmup (the mysterious lower body injury), hope Harding can keep playing well despite not seeing much action this year.

corcaigh07

Leafs sucked against the Bruins last night, can't believe anyone thought they could win the series. Based on last night, they will be lucky to lose in 5.

Montreal V Sens on now, I have high hopes that this will be the best series of the first round.

COYW

Watching the Rangers @ Caps.

Caps started off really strongly and dominated most of the period with Hank in great form. Ovie has been really good for them. We came into the game more towards the end of the period and Hags got one, deflection off a Cap. So its 1-0 at the end of the 1st.

Really disappointed with the officials in this one. Some crazy penalty decisions against us. I never knew that exposing your back to a cross check was a penalty! Anyway, we out shot them 9-17, despite being on the PK for god knows how long. They are 3-1 up now. The official should get an assist for the last one.

tolosenc

tolosenc wrote: »

Plan is to shave tonight, and probably not again till at least Monday (yay bank holidays!), so maybe! Any time I watched a game this year, if it was live, we lost, if was recorded and I wore my jersey we lost, so I'll be doing neither of those!

I wore the goddamn jersey!

Lose tonight and we'll get swept, I think. Sharks are too good at home.

Izy

the KID is back tonite!!!

http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=668971&cmpid=pit-fb-penguins

MrJoeSoap

Izy wrote: »

the KID is back tonite!!!

http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=668971&cmpid=pit-fb-penguins

At this stage, he's had more comebacks than Madonna!

COYW

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

At this stage, he's had more comebacks than Madonna!

Watching my recording of the Sens @ Habs. Good game so far. Sens 1 up in the first.

Wow, just seen the knock that Eller took. What did people make of it? For me, he had the puck and was there to hit. I do not think that Gryba went in with the intent of targeting his head. Wouldn't have given him the game myself. The pass was the absolute definition of a hospital pass.

MrJoeSoap

COYW wrote: »

Watching my recording of the Sens @ Habs. Good game so far. Sens 1 up in the first.

Wow, just seen the knock that Eller took. What did people make of it? For me, he had the puck and was there to hit. I do not think that Gryba went in with the intent of targeting his head. Wouldn't have given him the game myself. The pass was the absolute definition of a hospital pass.

I agree with the panelists and Kerry Fraser here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83qHq-RgEGM

Dublinproud

After i just finished watching game one from last night...roll on tonight!

Really hope Price stinks the place out and Anderson stands on his head again!

Hope Eller is ok..facial and dental fractures,loss of consciousness...Yikes!

cena

anyone know where I can get playoff games

COYW

cena wrote: »

anyone know where I can get playoff games

Setanta are showing the Sens @ Habs at midnight. The Rangers @ Caps is on at 5.30 tomorrow.

cena

COYW wrote: »

Setanta are showing the Sens @ Habs at midnight. The Rangers @ Caps is on at 5.30 tomorrow.

more online i'm looking for. I don't have that channel

Izy

well guys, the KID is back!!!

WITH A BANG!!!

MrJoeSoap

Izy wrote: »

well guys, the KID is back!!!

WITH A BANG!!!

He sure knows how to make a comeback. P3 is nervy though...

COYW

I see Sid got two goals but the Islanders came back and got the win. Sets the series up nicely with the next two in Long Island.

lavine7

Fantastic win for SJ Sharks, well worth the late night/early morning!
Game 3 is pivotal though, lose that and momentum swings back to the Canucks.

COYW

Dorsett and Boyle back in for Krieder and Newbury for the Rangers. Good call, we need size and experience. Oh and less penalties. LGR!!

MrJoeSoap

COYW wrote: »

Dorsett and Boyle back in for Krieder and Newbury for the Rangers. Good call, we need size and experience. Oh and less penalties. LGR!!

Dorsett with an idiotic penalty. :P

COYW

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

Dorsett with an idiotic penalty. :P

Which one, the fall/attempt to fool the officials or the attempt to start a fight? This is going to be a one goal game. I keep having to remind myself that Nash is playing today.

aaronm13

Great win for the Hawks last night. Was really happy with the performance compared to their flat showing in game one. Hopefully keep the momentum going into game three tomorrow.

COYW

OT for the Rangers. 0-0. Another ridiculous call there at the end. Alzner put the puck directly out of play, no penalty for an unknown reason. I don't like the rule myself and we are woeful on the PP but still, it should be a penalty.

Awful performance in OT by the Rangers and the Caps got the winner on the PP from Green. They were on the PP for the whole of OT in reality. Torts left McDonagh on for 2 mins plus, genius or what, and he gave away a penalty by putting the puck directly out of play. On current form the Caps will win in four. Our offense is woeful. Richards is on the golf course and Nash is turning into Gabs, i.e. forgetting to skate. RANT OVER!

Izy

well the Pens should really won only for Flower who must have some sort of a play off trauma from last year... he basicly scored all 4 goals for the isles last nite... i know they were mostly lucky bounces but... onto the next one... we need orpik back and neal too, while orpik might be back tomoro noone seems to know whats wrong with neal...

still managed to get some money out of the game as i had the pens to win the first period by 2 or more at 5/1

tolosenc

lavine7 wrote: »

Fantastic win for SJ Sharks, well worth the late night/early morning!
Game 3 is pivotal though, lose that and momentum swings back to the Canucks.

San Jose should sweep.

Devastating loss. Canucks were utterly dominant from the start of the second period onwards. Jannik Hansen missed a shot at an empty net by inches about 30 seconds before the GTG. If he'd scored it'd be a different series completely.

scottmcb04

corcaigh07 wrote: »

Leafs sucked against the Bruins last night, can't believe anyone thought they could win the series. Based on last night, they will be lucky to lose in 5.

i think ya read too much into the fact that the leafs first playoff game for 8 years so there was heaped expectations on many boys that never played playoff hockey b4, the bruins are nothing special!

Bruins are more reliable than the leafs but there's something bout the leafs that makes them a team ya can't rule out!

Its playoff hockey, anything can happen!

Fiery mutant

If the Bruins keep playing inconsistently, then the Leafs won't have a problem winning this series. Been a very frustrating season watching this side, if I had any hair I'd pull it all out.

Doctor Jimbob

Feck off sharks :mad:

cena

Are ye all wearing your team jersey when they are playing

Izy

tshirt, but its not working really

i missed the first and third game and the pens won it both, watched the second one and they lost:eek:

not watching tonite and if they win i'm throwing my tv/laptop and phone out the window :cool:

tolosenc

Doctor Jimbob wrote: »

Feck off sharks :mad:

Big change in Vancouver this summer. Definitely the end of Vigneault, possibly Gillis too.

scottmcb04

harsh enough call there ended the canucks playoff earlier than every1 would have thought, even diehard sharks...

they played serious stuff in the third until they went 1 up, then sharks seemed to up it a bit, schneider dodgy enough on both gt and gwg... luongo hadnt reli done anything wrong in first 2 games...

montreal made a balls of their situation altogether, 2 up with around 9 left in 3rd lose it...

islanders and pens is an interesting series, plenty of goals, pens giving away alot of goals for a team with high hopes of getting the cup, horrible error by fleury for last goal of the night!

tolosenc

scottmcb04 wrote: »

harsh enough call there ended the canucks playoff earlier than every1 would have thought, even diehard sharks...

It's Kelly Sutherland. The guy who sent Daniel to the penalty box for being punched by Brad Marchand. Grossly incompetent, hopefully.

scottmcb04 wrote: »

islanders and pens is an interesting series, plenty of goals, pens giving away alot of goals for a team with high hopes of getting the cup, horrible error by fleury for last goal of the night!

The only reason the Penguins aren't a dynasty is Fleury's post season collapses. Any Pens fans want Luongo? :P

Rented Mule

Doctor Jimbob wrote: »

Feck off sharks :mad:

LMAO

The Canucks are done. They should blow up the entire roster. They have never had the heart to win it all. They have had the talent. It's almost (mind you I said almost) a shame at what has happened to this team over the past few years.

Rented Mule

tolosenc wrote: »

The only reason the Penguins aren't a dynasty is Fleury's post season collapses. Any Pens fans want Luongo? :P

Fleury was HORRIBLE last night. (Actually, both goaltenders were pretty bad. I can't remember a playoff match-up where both goalies were this bad.) I was literally laughing at my television watching Fleury in the nets last night.

My phone kept blowing up with text messages after each goal. His confidence was absolutely destroyed last night with those last two goals.

Time for a change of net-minders for Game Five in Pittsburgh. They may get by the Islanders, but they will never see the Eastern Conference Finals if they don't make the change.

tolosenc

Rented Mule wrote: »

The Canucks are done. They should blow up the entire roster.

Not an option, no prospects. Dump GM and coach, and retool. A different approach in a different division (read competitive), and who knows. Lindy Ruff is a name I've heard a fair bit.

Rented Mule

tolosenc wrote: »

Not an option, no prospects. Dump GM and coach, and retool. A different approach in a different division (read competitive), and who knows. Lindy Ruff is a name I've heard a fair bit.

Lindy would be an outstanding candidate for the Head Coach position.

The roster/contracts are another nightmare all together. There is plenty of talent there, but a lot of it you can't move. I'm going beyond the Luongo contract. There aren't many teams that are going to pony up a lot to help start a rebuild in Rain City. I'm not sure what the answer is for them at this point.

COYW

Massive game tonight at the Garden. If we win this, we'll take the series. Nothing more to say than LGR!!

tolosenc

Rented Mule wrote: »

Lindy would be an outstanding candidate for the Head Coach position.

The roster/contracts are another nightmare all together. There is plenty of talent there, but a lot of it you can't move. I'm going beyond the Luongo contract. There aren't many teams that are going to pony up a lot to help start a rebuild in Rain City. I'm not sure what the answer is for them at this point.

Luongo deal is done (his house went up for sale a couple of days ago, which to me suggests that a deal has been made). A lot of stupid NTCs will be the legacy of Gillis. The defense on the team is horrifically over-payed. Can see 2 of them being moved this summer.

MrJoeSoap

Rented Mule wrote: »

Fleury was HORRIBLE last night. (Actually, both goaltenders were pretty bad. I can't remember a playoff match-up where both goalies were this bad.) I was literally laughing at my television watching Fleury in the nets last night.

My phone kept blowing up with text messages after each goal. His confidence was absolutely destroyed last night with those last two goals.

Time for a change of net-minders for Game Five in Pittsburgh. They may get by the Islanders, but they will never see the Eastern Conference Finals if they don't make the change.

Vokoun getting the nod for Game 5. First time in almost 12 years the Penguins will start a playoff game without Fleury in nets (slightly misleading statistic, all the same). Will be tuned in to the remaining two or three games very closely, hopefully.