Random (yet related) thoughts on code, music, hockey, internet culture, gaming and the human condition
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.
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.
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)
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)
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.
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.
Now that the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs are in the books, let’s see how accurate my predictions were. I correctly chose Montreal, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Colorado, Detroit and San Jose to win their first round matchups. Dallas and the Rangers were surprises, resulting in me going 6-2. Allow me to present my predictions for the second round in bold.
East
Montreal vs Philadelphia
Pittsburgh vs New York Rangers
West
Detroit vs Colorado
San Jose vs Dallas
The first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs is almost complete, with only a handful of series lingering (go Flames!). At this point, the sports writers and commentators whip out what I call “the historical ass chomper” statistic – inevitably history should come back to bite a given team in the ass.
Take, for example, this article on TSN’s website and this one from the CBC which set the stage for Game 7 of the Habs–Bruins series.
The CBC article notes that:
In over 80 years of existence, the Bruins have never come back from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits, while Montreal as a franchise has never seen a 3-1 lead fall out of its grasp.
The Canadian Press on TSN.ca reports a plethora of those “historical ass chomper” stats such as:
- NHL teams have trailed 3-1 in a best-of-seven series 224 times and have come back to win the series 20 times, or nine per cent of the time.
- Since the NHL introduced the best-of-seven format in 1939, the home team has won 76 of the 120 playoff series that have gone to seven games, or 63%.
- Boston in 0-3 in Game 7s played away from home.
- Montreal is 10-8 all-time in Game 7s, while Boston is 9-7.
Mathemtically, Montreal should take the series tonight. My opinion is that this makes the setup of the game more exciting. If your team’s on the benficial side of the stat, you as a fan feel confident in your team’s ability to lock up the series. On the other hand, you appropriate some sort of feisty underdog mentality in the case where history’s teeth are mere seconds away from taking a chunk out of your team’s collective gluteus maximus. But like most thing’s in life, nothing is a sure bet. This stat may be a resonable predictor; stats are supposed to be because that’s the whole reason for statistical analysis – duh! But stats don’t govern willpower, team chemistry, morale, mitochondrial performance in athlete’s cells and the many other factors that influence the outcome of a game. However, stats are easier to digest in the pre-game show. Now excuse me while I seek cover from Montreal fans who’d prefer that I shut up at this point in time.
It all starts tonight. The first day of the NHL playoffs signals the beginning of one of my favourite times in any given year. Here’s the first round matchups and my predictions are in bold.
East
Montreal vs Boston
Washington vs Philadelphia
Pittsburgh vs Ottawa
New Jersey vs New York Rangers
West
Minnesota vs Colorado
Detroit vs Nashville
San Jose vs Calgary (still cheering for the Flames)
Anaheim vs Dallas
Even if you’re not a hockey fan, you’ve probably heard about Florida Panthers forward Richard Zednik. Maybe you’ve even seen the footage; either the complete scene or the less-gruesome clip. Either way, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Zednik’s carotid artery was partially severed by teammate Olli Jokinen‘s skate accidentally. Zednik will be fine and is slated to be released from the hospital in the upcoming days.
What annoys me is that the media will make a huge issue about this. Even worse is when people who don’t follow hockey condemn the sport for being violent and barbaric. These same people showed up when Todd Bertuzzi sucker-punched Steve Moore. While there’s no denying what Bertuzzi did was wrong, it does take some knowledge of hockey to be able to step back to see why the event occured. Non-hockey followers won’t understand why an isolated incident like that happened. They also won’t understand why the NHL isn’t scrambling to change equipment regulations in the wake of Zednik’s injury.
Nineteen years ago, Sabres goalie Clint Malarchuk had his jugular sliced by a skate blade during a collision in his crease. I was thirteen years old when that happened – I recall watching the game and the incident as it unfolded. It was gruesome and I remember that immediately afterwards, all players on teams that were part of the TMHA were instructed by our coaches and trainers to purchase neck guards. Come to think of it, when we played teams from other cities and towns in Ontario and Quebec, all of their players were wearing neck guards, too. Neck guards have been mandatory for minor hockey ever since. Although no incidents of cuts necks occured in minor hockey since the neck guard mandate, I can remember an incident occuring before the mandate either. Are there no cut necks in minor hockey because of players wearing neck guards, or is it because if such an accident were to happen, it truly would be a freak accident? An argument in favour of spacious reasoning such as this is captured perfectly in the “Much Apu About Nothing” episode of the Simpsons:
Homer: Not a bear in sight. The Bear Patrol must be working like a
charm.
Lisa: That’s spacious reasoning, Dad.
Homer: Thank you, dear.
Lisa: By your logic I could claim that this rock keeps tigers away.
Homer: Oh, how does it work?
Lisa: It doesn’t work.
Homer: Uh-huh.
Lisa: It’s just a stupid rock.
Homer: Uh-huh.
Lisa: But I don’t see any tigers around, do you?
[Homer thinks of this, then pulls out some money]
Homer: Lisa, I want to buy your rock.
[Lisa refuses at first, then takes the exchange]
Canucks forward Kevin Bieksa had his left calf lacerated by a skate blade earlier this season. While a serious injury, it wasn’t life threating in the same way as Zednik’s injury. It’s hockey, folks. Skates have blades on them. You can’t wrap the players up full-body protection and skate blade-related injuries are few and far in between. Hopefully those who aren’t hockey fans cease to chime in on this, since they only show up when necks are cut in hockey games, and that only appears to happen once every twenty years.
To add, I haven’t purchase a neck guard since Zednik’s injury and have no plans to do so.