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NHL Playoff Preview 4/12/16
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Just removed from March Madness, 16 NHL teams start the most grueling playoff in sports in a quest to take home the Stanley Cup. This season has featured a tight pack of playoff teams, where the playoff picture could be shaken up every night, so this year’s playoff should be exceptionally exciting! Here are my predictions for what will go down on the road to the Cup over the next two months:
Eastern Conference
Conference Quarterfinals
(1) Washington Capitals vs. (W2) Philadelphia Flyers
Pick: Capitals in 6
Although Philly somehow won two out of four games against the Caps this year, they don’t have near enough depth or firepower to win four. However, this series will go to game six because the Flyers are the type of team who excel at wearing down their first round opponent with physicality and determination.
(2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (3) New York Rangers
Pick: Penguins in 6
Simply put, the Penguins are the hottest team in hockey right now. Without Evgeni Malkin, who may return for this series. Factor in Ryan McDonaugh’s injury, and you have a prime recipe for revenge, as New York has knocked Pittsburgh out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs the last two years.
(1) Florida Panthers vs. (W1) New York Islanders
Pick: Panthers in 6
The Islanders ‘won’ the lottery of missing the Pens and the Caps in round one, but unfortunately for them, they will go up against the most fearsome hockey team that no one is afraid of. The Panthers are young (except for 44 year old wonder Jaromir Jagr) and extremely deep, a good combination for the postseason, and they will ultimately conquer the Islanders in six games, because, uh, I like the number six right now…
(2) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (3) Detroit Red Wings
Pick: Red Wings in 6 (!)
This is the playoff battle that features two cars, one is beat up and motionless, and the other is slowly creeping up to it in reverse. With captain and superstar Steven Stamkos, and key defenseman Anton Stralman out for the series with injuries, the Bolts are the first car, while the Red Wings are the second, having lost their last two games of the year with wildly inconsistent play in the month of March. My pick is the car that’s moving, be it ever so slowly.
Conference Semifinals
(1) Washington Capitals vs. (2) Pittsburgh Penguins
Pick: Penguins in 7
This will be the best series in the Eastern Conference, and the winner will win go to the Cup. The Penguins are playing lights out hockey right now, and they will only get better when Evgeni Malkin returns for this series. The Caps finished the regular season with the President’s trophy, but I don’t anticipate them conquering their playoff woes against a hot Pittsburgh team that won the season series.
(1) Florida Panthers vs. (3) Detroit Red Wings
Pick: Panthers in 6
Unfortunately, Pavel Datsyuk’s final game with the Detroit Red Wings will be a loss that sends the Panthers moving on the Eastern Conference Finals. The Panthers have too much depth, and the Wings have been playing far too inconsistently to realistically have a shot in this series. Expect Detroit to put up a good fight though!
Conference Finals
(1) Florida Panthers vs. (2) Pittsburgh Penguins
Pick: Penguins in 6
After surviving a full seven game series with Washington, taking down Florida will be easy in comparison for the Penguins. The Panthers have a good goaltender, and good depth at both defense and forward, but their lack of playoff experience will really catch up to them against the talented, deep, and experienced Penguins. Pittsburgh will return to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 2008-09.
Western Conference
Conference Quarterfinals
(1) Dallas Stars vs. (W2) Minnesota Wild
Pick: Stars in 4
Even if Tyler Seguin doesn’t return from his Achilles injury this round, the Stars should have no problem dispatching the struggling Wild. Minnesota enters the playoffs having lost their previous five games, and captain Zach Parise’s production will be limited due to back pain. Dallas has way to much firepower in their top two lines for the Wild to even make this series close.
(2) St. Louis Blues vs. (3) Chicago Black Hawks
Pick: Blues in 7
This is the year that the Blue finally break out of the first round of the playoffs. Their roster shakeup has worked well this year, as they finish with the third best record in the NHL, and Brian Elliott has played exceptionally well. Patrick Kane’s historic year has helped overshadow Chicago’s down season, as they’ve struggled with consistency and team discipline (Duncan Keith will miss game one of the series to finish his suspension). However, the Black Hawks have too much playoff experience and talent to go down quietly, so this will make for an excellent series.
(1) Anaheim Ducks vs. (WC1) Nashville Predators
Pick: Ducks in 5
Like the Penguins, the Ducks started off the season at a slow pace, and then exploded in December, rocketing up the standings and finishing to finish first in the Pacific Division. They bring a deep, experienced team to the playoffs, an excellent combination, and Nashville has neither. This series won’t be worth staying up for.
(2) Los Angeles Kings vs. (3) San Jose Sharks
Pick: Kings in 6
Poor Sharks, getting stuck with playing the Kings for the third straight year. Even though Jonathan Quick hasn’t been as dominant this season, the Kings still have more than enough firepower across the roster to handle San Jose, who have plain old rotten luck when it comes to the Playoffs.
Conference Semifinals
(1) Dallas Stars vs. (2) St. Louis Blues
Pick: Blues in 6
Dallas’ terrific season will end in a bang as they crumple at the hands of the Blues. St. Louis has a better goaltender, better defenseman, and forwards that can match up with the Stars’ top lines. The Blues won four out of five meeting this season, and the Stars really had no answer for them. Unless Kari Lehtonen stands on his head, Dallas is doomed.
(1) Anaheim Ducks vs. (2) Los Angeles Kings
Pick: Ducks in 7
This Pacific time zone series will be worth staying up for! Both teams have plenty of postseason experience, depth, and top-end talent. The difference maker will be the momentum. The Ducks are riding into this series having demolished almost everyone in the month of March, and the Nashville Predators, while the Kings finished off the season in rather mediocre fashion. Except a lot of highlights from this matchup.
Conference Finals
(1) Anaheim Ducks vs. (2) St. Louis Blues
Pick: Ducks in 7
This will be yet another great series with two very evenly matched teams. Both teams have solid goalies, and a lot of depth, but the difference will be experience. The Blues have one player who has played in a conference or Stanley Cup final, and that is third line defenseman Robert Bortuzzo. The Ducks on the other hand are chalk-full of players who have won or played in the Stanley Cup finals, giving them just a slight edge to get them there for the first time since 06-07.
Stanley Cup Finals
Anaheim Ducks vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Pick: Penguins in 7
On January 18th, the Ducks traded Carl Hagelin to the Penguins for David Perron and throw in minor leaguer Adam Clendening. Both Hagelin and Perron struggled to start the year before ramping up their production with their new teams. In most categories, the Ducks and the Penguins are practically identical, all except these two players. While the rest of the Ducks made Perron better, Hagelin proved to be the catalyst that jumpstarted Phil Kessel, while also playing much better himself. This will end up being the X-factor in what will be an awesome series. Pittsburgh GM Jim Rutherford will finally win the hearts of his fans, having orchestrated the Hagelin trade and replacing Mike Johnston with Mike Sullivan as the head coach, and bring the Penguins their fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history.
Why Cupcakes Really Aren’t Good For You – 2/17/16
Now that the National Signing Day is over, and the offseason has officially begun, I would like to loudly complain about a piece of college football that really gets on my nerves and no one seems to care about: scheduling FCS opponents.
Let me take you back to Week 12: November is starting to age into December, and several Playoff contenders are gearing up for huge games. Ohio State gets ready to take on Michigan State, Baylor and Oklahoma State are preparing to play, and Oklahoma sets up to face TCU. The hype going into the weekend is tremendous as other contenders are playing lesser but still dangerous opponents, but Alabama is slated to play… Charleston Southern.
Now I consider myself a pretty hardcore sports fan, and I didn’t even know what Charleston Southern’s nickname was until I Googled it! (Their nickname is the Buccaneers, just in case you cared). What is up with that??!? Alabama fans can make the excuse that it is a well-deserved break from the rigors of the SEC schedule; I don’t buy it one bit. The SEC is usually hyped up, and not actually as challenging as everyone makes it out to be. Playing an FCS school in the middle of the conference schedule is simply a poorly disguised bye week and unfair to their next opponent who had to play an actual game the week before. And despite Nick Saban’s profanity-filled rant about how good Charleston Southern is, I would bet big money that the Tide studied a lot of Auburn film during their prep week for the Bucs.
Playing FCS opponents is becoming detrimental to college football, slightly less so since the birth of the College Football Playoff, but still dangerous. Games against FCS opponents generate lower ticket prices, lower TV ratings, and just plain boring football games that no one will watch, especially during the middle of the season when there are plenty of fascinating alternatives. And yet these cupcake games are scheduled because of money! The big school gets a win and a bye week simultaneously, and the small school gets a big paycheck and the one in a thousand chance of pulling a stunning upset. Occasionally the winning part for the big school backfires (see Appalachian State over #5 Michigan in 2007) providing immense entertainment, but these games happen about once a decade.
Overall, this setup is terrible for the college football world. Fortunately I have a solution that will prove to be better for teams, coaches, and fans. I have also provided a solution for the greedy money makers behind college football so that this system will get a slight chance of working:
Why not take a page out of the NFL’s book and schedule one preseason game against an FCS opponent at the end of August? The game would have no bearing whatsoever on regular season records, so it would really be a good tune up half for the starters and a great chance to finalize the depth chart for both teams. After a long summer, plenty of people would show up or tune in to see their team finally play a game, so the visiting FCS school will still receive a sizeable check.
This preseason game would go hand in hand with all-FBS schedules to create a college football regular season that would be about 3.5 times more interesting and meaningful. Every game can be watchable, since even MAC and Sun Belt teams pull upsets on a weekly basis, and we can more easily distinguish who really is a good team and who just got two weeks to prep for their next actual opponent!
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