These are my opinions and I do not mean to offend anyone, just trying to create some content to make playoffs more interesting, enjoy! (Hopefully I got the matchups correct ) #1 Kings v #8 Ducks At the seasons start when the Owners and GMs were set, LA was at the top of everyone's preseason list. At Bidding's end, not much had changed. Now at the end of the season @SJUSoccer9 and @NeNe Rhymes own the best record in the league, not much surprise there. What is there to say about HWOOD? They were expected to be the best and they reached that expectation and maybe even exceeded some peoples expectations with 124 points on the season. With those 124 points they claimed the president trophy, but the only trophy SJU wants know is the cup. After several seasons of great regular season play SJU's teams have yet been able to make that deep playoff run and win Lord Stanley's Cup. He owns a modest 7-5-2 record in the playoffs and not even registering a point a game. His GM has made one deep run back in season 17 but came up just short in a game 7 against who else, but the LA Kings. This tandem looks to overcome their playoff woes and have good reason to optimistic. This squad that they have assembled is incredible and there is no question why they are the president trophy winners with the lineups that they can throw at other teams. With top talent up front with SJU, Space Jam, and @Lundqvist 30 NY with great role players like @Proud Gay Dad to bang the body this team is scary in every aspect of the game. They Have the great Mark Knight and 2 very solid goalies that should not have to face many shots in this first round. They just have to be good enough to win, but I am sure they will be at the top of their games. Especially @xIx Mac xIx who had an unreal regular season going 35-6-4 and will likely take home some hardware regardless of the outcome in the season 22 playoffs. To be honest, I did not even realize that Anaheim was in the playoff race let alone the playoffs. This team had fallen into shambles after @o WjD O and the boys bailed out a couple weeks ago, but I give a ton of credit to @ZincyPooh for helping turn this shipwreck around. They won 41 won games on the season and as an 8 seed they are clearly the underdog headed into this match-up against the president trophy winners. They have a a handful of players that could be capable of upsetting the top seed, but these guys will have to play unreal and be on top of their game. @Flash Chance had a great season going 19-8 with 85 points as the teams leading scorer and with guys like @Internet Hockey and GM @Bouch 26 up front anything is really possible if these guys play to their potential. Theres no doubt this team has the forwards to put the puck in the net, but do they have the defense and goaltending to keep the puck out of their own net? They have 6 d men that I do not really think will be difference makers for the ducks but you never knows. The goaltending side of things are a little more promising where they have Owner Zincy in net who had a great year going 17-8-1 , he also holds a 3-0-1 record in the playoffs with a .9GAA. It is a small sample size, could it be a sign of things to come? Probably not. The Kings are just too strong of a team all around and I don't believe that the Ducks have what it takes to beat them. The Ducks look like they may struggle on defense facing a tough group of forwards who cycle well, so the Ducks defensive structure and breakout will be a huge factor in these games if they want to pull this one out. In the end I think the Kings take the series in 5 games. MVP- Proud Gay Dad #2 Stars v #7 Oilers Media man and Oilers owner @Brisan66 finished off season 22 as the 7 seed in the West and is probably not too happy with that, as he has owned teams in the top of the standings over the past couple seasons. This Brisan team is missing its usual @RoWsKi l5l to steal him several games a season so maybe that was the case for this Oilers team. They did finish with a solid 46 wins on the season and have some of the usual faces on the team with @Gary Garoo @GolSki40 @XxxTHEBENGALxxX still under Brisans wing and GM @GB521 still by his side. This team has some talented individual players and those aforementioned players that have experience playing together as well. Much like other repeat owners, Brisan has yet to get over the hump and play in the Stanley Cup Finals over the past couple seasons. He was extremely close last season losing a heart-breaker. Now, in the west, Brisan is looking for revenge and is ready to play for the cup. This team, much like Dallas, has a ton of talent up front with GB and @Fr33kOnTheStix to name a few, but also have some depth on the back end. This defensive core has a good amount of talent, butno superstars. This is by no means a classic 2 v 7 match-up, as this 7 seed has a great deal of talent and experience playing in big games. Freek has experience in big games over his virtual hockey career but has played just 5 playof games, going 2-3 over that span. With no Rowski, the Oilers turn to @Lambsy17 who had a breakout season with SJS last season and has earned the trust of Brisan in his post Rowski era. Wining the Central earned the Stars the #2 Seed and a date with the Oilers. Dallas is run by Panda and the original @xxThe GreaT 48. This team has been through a great deal of changes and seems to be a well balanced team with Briere being one of the best in the business upfront and @MattMurr being one of the best on the back-end. Briere is joined a great supporting cast in @DaNextOne and @Mole11 who had a solid season going 11-3-2. Supporting MattMurr is non other than @NugeTV. Nuge was signed to the highest contract in the league at 10 mil matching Odies 10 mil contract with Buffalo. When I look at this team I see a very top heavy team, with 1 great offensive line with Murr and Nuge on defense, which would appear to be a very good looking game 7 line if the series were to get that far. The weakness seems to be the depth on the 3rd line for the offense and defense and the goal tending look suspect as well, but with 2 good lines in Dallas, each line has to win both games and the series is over so it may spell trouble for Brisan and the boys. @SeverableRapter started 49 games this season and will be the starter headed into the playoffs. He saved just 66% of shots and let in a little over 4 goals a game while going negative on the season. This sets off red flags in my eyes and I think EDM could have a field day with this guy in net. With both teams having some top end talent on forward it comes down to keeping the puck out of the net. Who will be able to do that better? With Murr, Nuge, Panda, and Watergun being the top 4 in Dallas it could be hard to find goals. On the flip side, how much does defense matter if your goalie is your weakest link? I think Nuge will have to a gamechanger ( A real one ) to shut down the opposing forwards and not let EDM get good chances in and around Rapter. I think we will see an upset and EDM will take this series in 6. MVP- Lambsy Pacific (2) Calgary v Pacific (3) Arizona @brandovedo is just a season removed from reaching the Stanley Cup Finals and falling to Jay Rulez and the boys and he is ready to give it another go. With, what I think is a stronger all around team than he had a season ago. Brando built a team the pizza topping @Chivs01 and his crew of cross crease cheesers. This team has a solid group of forwards alongside Chivs with @Xx LoL xX 9 @Watman eh and @JamieP505 . This team looks to have one of the best forward core in this seasons playoffs and will be tough to defend against. The defense that Calgary has assembled is a solid group of guys lead by owner Brando and former Buffalo great @shuhead . These two guys should be the top pairing if there were to be a game 7 in the series, which I think there will be. The real strength in Calgary's game seems to be the chemistry aspect, with a lot of the forwards playing together for a good amount of time, they are able to make plays that other forwards may not make. The lack of depth in defense may pose in issue for Calgary in this series goes on, but should not be a huge problem. Lastly, the net-minders for Calgary are @l Crosscheck l and @lNl Oli 31 One is a more proven goalie and the other not so much. I have yet to see Oli play, but he has yet to play in a playoff game so he may get the butterflies early on, but more than likely he will only get maximum 2 starts so he will have to make the most of them. Crosscheck has some playoff experience , but has not fared too well. Stick and Fox back in the playoffs? Of course they are, these guys never miss the playoffs and always build contenders. These two have built yet another one great team, but this one looks a little different. They do not have the great @Spooer69 or the great @Kop11tar. But they do however have @Kopitar xX alongside them on defense. This team looks to be mainly constructed on a defense first basis as they are loaded on defense and should be able to match-up well against Calgary. Their offensive core is not too shabby either led by the Heatfan and Coopes duo. These two are one of the better offensive duos in the league and look to take advantage of Calgarys lack of defensive depth in the series. They also stole @Coffey x9 in bidding at 2 mil and who is easily a second liner and could most certainly play top line with the big boys. The only things that scares me are the goalies that Arizona has one their roster. @EatMyHersheyBar and @peasantpedro will have to play at the very top of their game in this series against a very potent Calgary offense. Although Arizona's goalies are not top notch, their defense should make up for the lack of goal tending, but will it? I think so, with 3 really good pairs it gives Arizona a chance every single game in the series and two average goalies that need to play good enough to not lose them games. Arizona's offense has 3 solid lines without any top end talent that Calgary has, but again all 3 forward lines for ARZ are good and defensively responsible and gives them a chance to win every game they play. The balance of the lines in Arizona and the experience Stick and Fox bring to the table with multiple cup wins, makes me believe that Arizona will be the winner of the series in 7 games. MVP- @ll Gibby12Yr ll Central (2) Blackhawks v Central (3) Wild With one of the most interesting stories of the playoffs, Minny comes into the game with just 12 rostered players. I am not sure how it happened, but this is a serious red flag. I cannot do an in depth write up on a team when I do not know who is playing sorry. On the flip side @Serpe x 13 does have a team so he gets a write up! Serpe did a fantastic job of turning this team around and creating a playoff team that will be hard to beat. The strength of this team seems to be goaltending and defense. When I look down the roster I do not see any names that jump out at me but Chicago has a very balanced lineup with good solid players rounding it out. The offense had a very solid year, lead by @lll McClain lll @l Volcom x 28 l @Dork x22 and stand out @EddieThEagleG20 who put up 71 points including a 30 goal season for Mr eagle. They have 6 very capable defense-man who know what they are doing which is a huge bonus come playoff time. To be able to roll out 6 guys who are able to break the puck out and shut opposing forwards down is what it takes to win in the playoffs and Chicago have several guys capable. With that being said, Serpe should not have to face too much rubber in this series but if he does he is capable of shutting the door as he is one of the better goalies around. Its hard to say what will happen in this series, but I would have probably taken Chicago regardless considering they have a very balanced team with a ton of solid players that have been around a while and know what they are doing. Baring some insane play by ECUs Minnesota, ChiTown will take this series in 5 games. MVP - Mcclain Thanks for reading and good luck to all the playoff teams!
Nice write up @StamToast. Yea the S18 1st round against The Peg team you were on was rough but after that series I was almost lights out. Going 5-1 after a trash 0-2 is respectable. Btw we play Edmonton in the first round not Arizona.
Why do you think that? You guys are the #2 seed and therefore play the second wildcard seed (#7). Calgary versus Arizona.
That's not how it works in real NHL. 1st seed Overall Pacific (LA) vs 8th seed (ANA) 1st seed in Central (DAL) vs 7th seed ARI 2nd seed Pacific (CGY) vs 3rd seed Pacific (EDM) 2nd seed Central (CHI) vs 3rd seed Central (MIN) This is how it should look.
Yeah, you're right. Confusion wasn't based on the NHL current playoff format. It is just particularly crazy because of how many points the Pacific division has over the Central. LA vs ANA (#1 [divisional leader] vs #1 wild-card] DAL vs ARI (#2 [divisional leader] vs #2 wild-card) CGY vs EDM (#2 in pacific vs #3 in pacific) CHI vs MIN (#2 in central vs #3 in central)
He is right, we had a last second game score entered which changed the position of EDM and ARI. Just waiting on a reset from Tris
Five of us were called up from Iowa, and we were all very happy to have this opportunity. Wez and DevilDog played great in their games, Pro Pine was solid, and Demon was outstanding. Four of us played in Game 3, and three of us in Game 6. Neither game was easy, every game felt like it could quickly be taken over by Chicago.
