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2009 stanley cup finals

Chris — Sun, 31 May 2009 00:45:59 +0000

I redeemed my self in the conference finals, nailing both of them. Now it all comes down to this. Do or die. And...

...it pains me to say it, but I think Detroit is going to win - again! Ugh. At least this time, I wouldn't be annoyed as I usually would. Detroit and Michigan have fallen on some serious hard times - have you seen the empty seats at the Wings' home games during these playoffs? Maybe winning it all would make this financial meltdown a little bit more bearable for those in Detroit.

round three – conference finals

Chris — Sun, 17 May 2009 21:08:45 +0000

Wow, I was I way off, going 1-3 in round two's predictions. Let's see if I can redeem myself in the Conference Finals:

East
Pittsburgh vs Carolina

West
Detroit vs Chicago

I'm really unsure about that Pens-'Canes series. Carolina aren't called the "Cardiac 'Canes" for nothing. They definitely have the ability to surprise everybody.

on to round two

Chris — Fri, 01 May 2009 01:13:44 +0000

In the first round, I went 6-2; stupid Devils and Rangers. At any rate, it's the second round and these are my predictions.

East
Vancouver vs Chicago
Detroit vs Anaheim

West
Boston vs Carolina
Washington vs Pittsburgh (although I'd rather see the Pens win)

playoffs, round one

Chris — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 01:50:45 +0000

I love this time of year. Here’s the first round matchups and my predictions are in bold.

East
Boston vs Montreal
New Jersey vs Carolina
Pittsburgh vs Philadelphia
Washington vs New York Rangers

West
San Jose vs Anaheim
Detroit vs Columbus
Vancouver vs St. Louis
Chicago vs Calgary (still hoping for the Flames to win)

now what will i watch in high definition?

Chris — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:04:41 +0000

Experience is apparently the difference-maker and is probably a prime factor in the Red Wings' Stanley Cup victory. Whenever possible in the series, the old men from Detroit took early leads and then sat back and played safe and boring (but effective) hockey. It clearly frustrated the (normally) high-flying run 'n' gun youngsters from Pittsburgh. This win also marks a couple of firsts; Lidstrom becomes the first European-born captain to lead his team to a Cup and Cleary will be the first Newfoundlander to have the opportunity to bring Stanley to "The Rock".

I guess the city of Detroit might benefit from this as well. As one of my former roommates from university pointed out:

its very tough economic times( Michigan is ranked the second worst state next to Louisiana) and a city mayor under perjury charges. This state and the city of Detroit needs a very positive thing

While I don't know of any statistical data that backs that up, it's obvious that Detroit is very much becoming a ghost town, and there were a lot of empty seats in Detroit during this year's playoffs.

You have to give the Pens some credit, though. Their pluckiness almost made up for their lack of experience.

conference finals

Chris — Tue, 06 May 2008 00:06:11 +0000

I'd like to forget that the previous round happened, since I went 0-4 in my predictions. Where did I go wrong? Well, the media will probably blame 20 year-old phenom Carey Price, but the Habs' high-flying offence that scored with the greatest of ease during the regular season, began to falter in the Boston series and went completely M.I.A. in the Philly series. The Rangers, and especially Colorado became infirmaries. The Sharks failed to live up to expectations again; I doubt Ron Wilson will be there come the fall.

So now it's down to four teams. It's the playoffs and anything can (and will) happen, but I'll go with the following predictions, in bold, as per my usual:

Eastern Conference Finals
Pittsburgh vs Philadelphia

Western Conference Finals
Detroit vs Dallas

Now is the time when I start to employ the "Captain Canuck" factor. Since 1893, all of the teams who have won the Stanley Cup had a Canadian team captain except for one team; the 1999 Stanley Cup Champion Dallas Stars' captain, Derian Hatcher, was an American. Detroit is the only team remaining whose captain is not a Canadian. We'll see if the "Captain Canuck" factor continues to hold up.

Although the NHL playoffs don't start up again until this Thursday, there's still plenty of other hockey to watch. The Kitchener Rangers are bound for the Memorial Cup which is being hosted here in Kitchener, ironically. And Team Canada looks strong in this year's IIHF World Championship.