Recommended Posts

Well, I'm shocked and terribly disappointed at my Rangers. All I can say is that I'm glad that Sean Avery won't win the Cup, and that this must come as a pleasant surprise for the NHL and their biased, pro-Ovechkin articles found on their website. What could have been a great Original Six battle between Boston and New York will now be between Boston and Carolina, with Washington and Pittsburgh (Ovechkin vs. Crosby and Malkin; the league must be in tears of joy for that matchup) as the second series.

I'm predicting for the conference semi-finals:

Eastern Conference

1. Boston Bruins vs. 6. Carolina Hurricanes - In five games.

2. Washington Capitals vs. 4. Pittsburgh Penguins - In six games.

Boston is looking too good for a team like Carolina to beat, and will likely steamroll them only with a bit of trouble. Pittsburgh looked very sharp in their series, despite a few stumbles, and the Capitals' shortcomings prove that they can be beaten with excellent goaltending. If Marc-Andre Fleury can put up a good series, and with the explosive Penguin offense (as they showed in the last game of the series coming back from three goals down), the Caps will lose.

Western Conference

2. Detroit Red Wings vs. 8. Anaheim Ducks - In five games.

3. Vancouver Canucks vs. 4. Chicago Blackhawks - In six games.

The Red Wings are a no-brainer, despite criticisms of Chris Osgood's season. He did win the Cup for them last year, and has continued to play well in three of the four games in the first series. Their complete offense and strong defense make even the surprising Ducks falter. The Blackhawks seem to be an underdog, despite their better showing in the regular season, but their talent can easily show why they did so well. We forget that the Canucks defeated a poor team in the Blues, one that had a miraculous journey from last place to eight, but remained a team that could be beaten easily. The Blackhawks faced a much better team in Calgary. The Hawks' key is their young talent. Inexperienced, but once they get going, as they did several times against the Flames, they are hard to stop. The Canucks won on the back of their penalty killing and Roberto Luongo. If the Chicago power play clicks, or the young guns such as Kane and Toews start firing in goals on even strength, it will be tough for the Vancouver offense to match the Chicago scoring. The wild card will be if the Hawks' goaltending can do well. Even if it is not spectacular, a solid performance will be enough to back a high scoring team. Because Vancouver relies on both penalty kill and Luongo, where if one fails, the other will have little effect in stopping Chicago, and thus why Chicago has the edge.

Last round I predicted correctly five out of the eight series (although my choice of St. Louis was more of a wish than a serious prediction, but I will not pretend that I knew better), with only one choice winning in the correct amount of games.

Even though i didn't get the games won correct i successfully guessed the winner for 7 out of 8 matches (i knew i should have chosen Anaheim over San Jose) , go me! :D

1. Boston Bruins vs. 6. Carolina Hurricanes - In six games.

2. Washington Capitals vs. 4. Pittsburgh Penguins - In seven games.

I would really love the 'canes win this series and with Staal and Whitney leading by example it's certanly a possibility, Ward also played very well (.938Sv% 2.11 GAA). But it's hard to bet against the Bruins. Thomas has better numbers than Ward (.946Sv%, 1.50 GAA) and the bruins scored nearly twice as many goals per game than the 'canes did.

The caps-pens series is gonna be fantastic to watch, no love loss between these two teams. I believe Varlamov will have another strong series here and the caps will advance in a close series.

2. Detroit Red Wings vs. 8. Anaheim Ducks - In five games.

3. Vancouver Canucks vs. 4. Chicago Blackhawks - In seven games.

The undoing of the ducks will be the penalty box. The wings are too good on the power play and they will ride that into the western conference finals. As for the 'nucks and hawks, im going go stick my neck out and say Vancouver in seven. I think Luongo will come up big when needed and he will be the main reason Vancouver go through.

...

Statistically speaking (so far in the playoffs) the Canucks and Hawks have been pretty much even in almost every category (faceoff percentage, goals for, goals against, shots on goal etc.), with Luongo having the edge in goaltending, Hawk's having the edge in PP and Canucks with the edge in PK.

  • 2 weeks later...

I'm quite delighted to see how my prediction turned out to be very true.

3. Vancouver Canucks vs. 4. Chicago Blackhawks - In six games.

I even managed to get the number of games correctly.

The Blackhawks seem to be an underdog, despite their better showing in the regular season, but their talent can easily show why they did so well. We forget that the Canucks defeated a poor team in the Blues, one that had a miraculous journey from last place to eight, but remained a team that could be beaten easily. The Blackhawks faced a much better team in Calgary.

Most analysts chose the Canucks as their pick to win this series, but they should have not been the underdog.

The Hawks' key is their young talent. Inexperienced, but once they get going, as they did several times against the Flames, they are hard to stop.

And they did get going, several times. The 'Hawks were able to destroy leads with proficiency, and their offense won them the series, albeit that the defense corps still proved their skill. Brian Campbell displayed his speed and puckhandling skills, while Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook stopped many chances.

The Canucks won on the back of their penalty killing and Roberto Luongo. If the Chicago power play clicks, or the young guns such as Kane and Toews start firing in goals on even strength, it will be tough for the Vancouver offense to match the Chicago scoring.

Kane and Toews scored five goals between them in the last game, and all of Kane's were even-strength. Willie Mitchell mentioned that he did not believe that Kane had any skill other than at power play. Additionally, the power play managed to give Chicago a healthy advantage.

The wild card will be if the Hawks' goaltending can do well. Even if it is not spectacular, a solid performance will be enough to back a high scoring team. Because Vancouver relies on both penalty kill and Luongo, where if one fails, the other will have little effect in stopping Chicago, and thus why Chicago has the edge.

Perhaps Khabibulin was not spectacular nor solid, but he was reliable. He never let in seven goals in one game, at least. Luongo's poor play and the failures of the penalty kill both contributed to allowing the Blackhawks win, because it is simple: Make mistakes, and the 'Hawks will take that mistake and score goals.

I'm hoping for Anaheim-Chicago, because I don't think the Red Wings deserve to win this year(or any year for that matter), and a Boston-Washington game, because the Hurricanes would sweep Pittsburgh or Washington but Boston playing Washington would make for an interesting semi-final.

Pens move on! Crosby showed who's the better player by showing up when the pressure was on. As much as I would hate to see Detroit move on, I am intrigued by a possible rematch from last year. Only this year the Pens win then laugh in Hossa's face :p

Last round I predicted the winner correctly three out of four times, with one series having the correct amount of games as well. That makes my playoff prediction record at 8-4.

Interestingly enough, if Detroit wins, they will face either their 2002 or 2008 opponent in the Stanley Cup Final.

Eastern Conference

4. Pittsburgh Penguins vs. 6. Carolina Hurricanes

Western Conference

2. Detroit Red Wings vs. 4. Chicago Blackhawks

Last round I predicted the winner correctly three out of four times, with one series having the correct amount of games as well. That makes my playoff prediction record at 8-4.

Interestingly enough, if Detroit wins, they will face either their 2002 or 2008 opponent in the Stanley Cup Final.

Eastern Conference

4. Pittsburgh Penguins vs. 6. Carolina Hurricanes in seven games.

Western Conference

2. Detroit Red Wings vs. 4. Chicago Blackhawks in five games.

Forgot the number of games!

If Detroit and Pittsburgh finish off both of their series by Wednesday, the NHL has set the schedule to begin the Finals nine days after the end of the Conference Finals. What absolute garbage. I remember one analyst pointing out last year (and it becomes true yet again) why the NHL fails to understand that they are not the NFL - They cannot let a period so long to fall between series as the Super Bowl does. The fans grow bored and will lose interest with such a long break.

With tonight's finishing of the Conference Finals, my record now stands at 9-5 for the playoffs, with the Detroit-Chicago series one I correctly predicted the number of games as well (the third of the playoffs entirely).

For the Finals:

2. Detroit Red Wings vs. 4. Pittsburgh Penguins - In six games

I believe we'll see the same result as last year.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Would be good to see Google also being forced to do the same. No promotion of Chrome on Google search. Stop installing into the app data of a locked down machine, etc
    • FileZilla 3.70.6 by Razvan Serea FileZilla is powerful Open Source FTP/SFTP client with many features. It includes a site manager to store all your connection details and logins as well as an Explorer style interface that shows the local and remote folders and can be customized independently. The program offers support for firewalls and proxy connections as well as SSL and Kerberos GSS security. Additional features include keep alive, auto ascii/binary transfer, download queue, manual transfers, raw FTP commands and more. FileZilla key features: Cross-platform support – Available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. FTP, FTPS, and SFTP support – Handles standard and secure file transfer protocols. Tabbed user interface – Easily manage multiple connections at once. Site Manager – Save and organize server connection details. Drag & drop support – Quickly transfer files by dragging them. Filename filtering – Include or exclude specific files using filters. Directory comparison – Compare local and remote directories. Synchronized browsing – Navigate in sync between local and remote folders. Transfer queue – View, manage, and prioritize file transfers. Speed limits – Control upload/download speed to manage bandwidth usage. Keep-alive system – Prevents timeouts during long transfers. Remote file editing – Open and edit remote files using local editors. IPv6 support – Compatible with modern networking standards. FileZilla 3.70.6 changelog: New features SFTP: Added compatibility flag to Site Manager to ignore invalid bits in file attributes flags received from non-compliant servers Bugfixes and minor changes SFTP: Updated to fzssh 1.3.0 Updated to libfilezilla 0.56.1 Removed autodetection of FTP server type governing the remote path syntax. Exotic server types now need to be set explicitly on the advanced page in the Site Manager Download page: FileZilla 3.70.6 | ~10.0 MB (Free, paid upgrade available) Links: FileZilla Home page | Documentation | FileZilla Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Browser vendors pen open letter to Microsoft saying "enough is enough" by Usama Jawad We have seen Microsoft resort to questionable tactics in the past to get more customers to use Edge, such as "bribing" people to use Edge, testing new behavior so that Edge loads automatically on startup every time, and pressuring OEMs to exclusively bundle Edge in Windows PCs. However, the company often receives pushback not only from customers but also from the Browser Choice Alliance (BCA). Now, the collective has penned an open letter to the Redmond tech firm to highlight its dissatisfaction with its practices. For those unaware, BCA is a coalition that touts several browser vendors as its members, including Google Chrome, Midori, Opera, Vivaldi, BrowserWorks, and Wavebox. Its latest open letter to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella emphasizes that "enough is enough" and that user choice on Windows should be respected. It claimed that the company is abusing its dominant position in the PC space to push customers to its first-party browser, even if they don't want to use it. To do this, it resorts to shady tactics, some of which we highlighted at the start of this piece. It says that Microsoft is making it very difficult for users to set their preferred browser across all touchpoints. This is problematic as PCs are becoming even more prevalent in the AI era, so user choice is being restricted across even more devices, further frustrating users (and competing browser vendors). As such, BCA has urged Microsoft to take the following actions to level the playing field: Allow browser suppliers to compete for preinstallation and default deals with Windows PC manufacturers End dark patterns targeted at users seeking to download and effectively use other browsers (including as system-level default) Bring back the ability for users to make switching default browsers simple and transparent with a “single click” change for all relevant file types and apps (including PDFs) Open all web links in the users’ selected system-level browser of choice Eliminate manipulative Microsoft-exclusive banners pushing Edge in Windows, including when users are searching for other browsers Stop using operating system updates to push users back to Edge Remove the restrictive configurations of existing S mode devices that block the usage of third-party browsers. It believes that all browsers should compete on merit, as this will drive innovation and healthy competition. Despite its strong wording and publication of the letter openly, it's unclear if Microsoft will pay any heed to the BCA and if this will result in any tangible downstream benefits. We'll likely find out in due time.
    • Boo! I was excited for this... Stargate SG-1 Star Michael Shanks Rallies Fans After Amazon Axes Revival, Says 'Now Is the Time to Say Something'
  • Recent Achievements

    • Conversation Starter
      mobandz earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • Apprentice
      fernan99 went up a rank
      Apprentice
    • One Month Later
      nothanks earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      B2Proxy earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Year In
      MadMung0 earned a badge
      One Year In
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      472
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      247
    3. 3
      Skyfrog
      79
    4. 4
      FloatingFatMan
      77
    5. 5
      Michael Scrip
      60
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!