Your First Round Results

Everything is going to be okay. I have a large bowl of ice cream in front of me. I'll have something on the end of the Penguins season sometime tomorrow. But for now, here are the your first round, and what a hell of a round it was, results.

Western Conference Final Prediction: Detroit Red Wings (1) vs. Dallas Stars (5)

It's no secret, my doubt in the Detroit Red Wings. If you'll recall my 2nd round predictions, while I did have the Wings getting through the Avalanche, I mentioned the possibility of them falling apart in the Western Finals. But then they came out and played so strong they had me choosing my words carefully as I recapped the 2nd round.

The Stars shocked us upsetting the Sharks in the 2nd round, especially myself. San Jose had been my Western Conference pick all season long. It was closely fought, with four games heading to overtime, including the deciding game which took 4 overtimes for the Stars to eliminate the Sharks.

This match-up is going to be all about who can enforce their style of play on the series. If the play is more open and higher scoring, the Red Wings are going to have the advantage. However if the Stars can muck it up a bit, slowing it down and making the game close, they've shown they can win those games. Thus far these playoffs the officials have shown that they are willing to let teams slow the games down, so I've got to believe when it matters in this series they'll keep their whistles in the their pockets. Marty Turco is a top five goaltender in the league. Osgood has been playing well, but I'm not sure he holds out. All in all, I imagine this one will be close, but I've got the Stars in 7.

Playoff Predictions Chart: Round 2 Recap

- update: turns out Barry Melrose did make second round predictions, though they hid in a corner of the internet. Fret no longer, they have been found. Pierre and Milbury are still MIA.

If the second round the NHL playoffs have proven anything, it is this: the Philadelphia Flyers will not yield to the robot invasion. And for that matter, neither will the Dallas Stars. Perhaps you remember that following the first round of the playoffs we all looked on in awe as the NHL 08 simulation went a perfect 8 for 8. In the second round? Penguins over New York Rangers. Called it. Detroit Red Wings over Colorado Avalanche. Called it. But as for the other two series, the mighty machine has faltered. I have a hard time celebrating the Dallas one though, as no one else from our chart called for the Stars to move on. However, notching one in our column, Jes Golbez of Hockey Rants did correctly surmise the outcome of the Canadiens v. Flyers series. It still holds a lead on the rest of us, but one thing has be proven: The machine can be beaten. In the words of my comrades from The Pens Blog: do it.

Looking at the second round, I finished 2 for 4. After rambling on how I was too biased to make an accurate prediction for my Penguins series against the New York Rangers, I not only called it, but made the correct games prediction, and correctly predicted which games both teams would win. I have no problem taking credit where credit is due, and I was on my game with that one. I also got the Red Wings vs. Avalanche series right, although I don't think anyone was too thrown off by what went down in that one. The Wings are rolling. Does that mean I'm taking back my doubt about them struggling in the Conference Finals? Well I haven't put my predictions in pen yet, but they've made a strong case.

Minus Golbez's call as stated above, we all dropped the ball when it came to the Canadiens vs. Flyers and Sharks vs. Starks match-ups. Not taking anything away from Philadelphia, but I think if Carey Price plays like he can in that series, Montreal isn't breaking out their golf clubs yet. As for the Sharks elimination, I'm genuinely surprised we all missed that one. I'm sticking to the excuse that I was merely staying true to my preseason Cup picks. What's your guys excuse?

Before I end this post, and we say goodnight to the second round of the playoffs, let me just repeat one thing. Neither Barry Melrose, nor Pierre Milbury made second round predictions. These are supposed to be the ambassadors of our sport. Anyone who has caught some playoff games knows one thing when it comes to the league and their voes. It's not the product. But maybe it's the packaging.

Round 2 Prediction Chart

Don't be surprised if the following week is rather silent here at EFotG, as I'll be preoccupied with the regular end of semester hodge podge of presentations, exams, papers and the like. However before I concede my week to scholarly pursuits it's my duty to get the 2nd round prediction chart up. It's been a bit problematic putting it together because it seems as if some of the "NHL experts" have elected not to post 2nd round predictions. As for the bloggers, those guys actually have their stuff together. Once again we've got the prognostications of Sean Leahy from Going Five Hole and the Yahoo! NHL experts blog, Kevin from Barry Melrose Rocks and NHL Fanhouse, Jes Golbez from Hockey Rants and, also, NHL Fanhouse, as well as Dr. Hockey himself, Mr. James Mirtle of his self-entitled blog and the Globe and Mail.

Now as for those other guys, I've looked high and low and it appears as if neither Barry Melrsoe, nor Pierre McGuire, nor Mike Milbury have made 2nd round predictions. How this is possible, I have no idea. Perhaps they are out there and I just couldn't find them. If not, though, this is definitely not acceptable behavior from those who are supposed to be the ambassadors of our sport. For shame.

NHL Season Mere Hours Away

Well the NHL kicks off tonight, and even though the season doesn't start for my Penguins until Friday (my desktop countdown reads 56 hours, 12 minutes, 08 seconds), it's hard not to be pretty jazzed (jazzed? really, Justin?) about tonight. I mean, even SportsCenter acknowledged the NHL's existence. It was for about 15 seconds in the last few minutes of the show. But still.

Anyways, at this point you've probably heard a thousand different predictions. If it's one thing people in sports media love to do, while neglecting their duty as reporters, it's make predictions. So I'm gonna try and tread that territory lightly (even though a certain someone did happen to pick the Ducks last October). Why? Well it's certainly not to avoid looking like a fool in 9 months, as nothing in my past seems to hint at me avoiding that. But more or less because this season, for the first time in a handful of years, the Penguins are seriously in the mix.

As a devoted fan who takes his role with the team entirely too seriously, I can't pick against them. And Lord knows I'm not gonna jinx anything by picking them either. So I'll keep my mouth shut about the entire Eastern Conference.

As for the West, well a week ago I was big on the prospects of the San Jose Sharks making it to the Cup final. Then I heard someone else pencil them in, which admittedly has kind of turned me off them. The Sharks were my thing, not the consensus pick. Not the half educated pick (Detroit Red Wings? Yeah, because they've played great in the playoffs the past few years). It was like hearing my sister listening to the Pouges. How do they know about the Sharks? The Sharks were my dark horse long before they were their pick. Oh well, I guess I'll stick with them, but if they don't get there, don't blame me. It's those bandwagon jumpers who jinxed it.

However, I will make one prediction, and for it I offer my most sincere apologies to Sidney Crosby, but I think he's got a legitimate shot at approaching 150 points if he stays healthy. Maybe not quite reaching it, but coming close.

And with that I'll shut my mouth, I've got 55 hours, 54 minutes, and 25 seconds to kill.