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The Official 2012 NHL Stanely Cup Finals Thread

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#21
MJ5150 said:
Honestly, I don't see the Pens winning this series. The Flyers know how to take Malkin out of the game and distract the other Pens. The Flyers can play tough and physical, which the Pens have a problem dealing with for 60 minutes, let alone four or more straight games.

It was nice to see the Pens finally beat the Flyers at CONSOL, so I'm not completely giving up on the Pens chances.

-Mike
Click to expand...

I hope I'm wrong, but if forced to put money on it, I'd probably pick the Pens as well. But I WAS kind of surprised that all 8 of ESPN's prognosticators picked the Pens. I could see it if the Flyers were playing the Rangers in the first round, because the Rangers have owned us this year. But we've played well against the Pens the the last couple years (4-1-1 last year; 4-2 this year). But the Pens have beaten the Flyers the last two times they met in the playoffs. Should be a hard-fought series either way.

Here are my picks:

NYR > Ottawa
Boston > Wash.
NJ > Florida
Pgh. > Phila.

Van. > L.A.
St. Louis > San Jose
Chi. > Phoenix
Nash. > Det.

The 4 vs. 5 matchups in each Conference were the hardest for me to decide on my picks.
 
#24
1st round Predictions:

NY Rangers over Ottawa in 6
Boston over Washington in 7
New Jersey over Florida in 5
Philadelphia over Pittsburgh in 6

Vancouver over Los Angeles in 5
St. Louis over San Jose in 4
Chicago over Phoenix in 5
Nashville over Detroit in 6
 
#25
For the first round, I'm going to predict straight chalk - home teams wins each. No analysis - just blind faith that that the teams that won more games in the regular season are going to win more in the post-season.

I haven't watched enough action in the Western Conference but Vancover has certainly racked up the points this year.

When I've seen the Rangers play, I thought they looked like the team to beat, but their style of play is so tough on the players, that I don't think they have that much of a better shot than Boston, Philly, Pittsburg. At least one sportsbook has the Pens as the favorite at 7/2 with the Rangers and Canucks right behind then the Blues and the Bruins.
 
#26
Eastern Conference

#1 NYR vs #8 OTT- New York. I don't know how long they will last in the playoffs before they flame out, but King Henrik and the boys have sure looked good for stretches this year. I think Ottawa's resurgence this year was purely a fluke.
#2 BOS vs #7 WSH- Washington. Gotta stick with Vokoun and Alex O. to take out Boston because I'd hate to see what would happen if Thomas and the Bruins got rolling in the playoffs like they did last season.
#3 FLA vs #6 NJD- New Jersey. I think they are able to pull it off on MB's shoulders alone.
#4 PIT vs #5 PHI- Philly. Sorry Mike, I just don't know how well the boys in gold and black can handle a seven game series against the Flyers all things considered.

Western Conference

#1 VAN vs #8 LAK- Vancouver. Really only taking chalk to take chalk here. Plus, if LA knocks them out, how will we ever avenge last season's disappointing end?
#2 STL vs #7 SJS- St. Louis. This is honestly the hardest series for me to pick, mostly because we destroyed the Blues this year. They seemed to play great for stretches, but couldn't put it together against us. But I despised SJ before tonight, and the dirty play the other night sure didn't help them in my book.
#3 PHO vs #6 CHI- Chicago (as much as I hate to say it) will take the series here. They've been tough to play against and really showed how hard they would fight the other night in Detroit, even after the game lost meaning to them.
#4 NSH vs #5 DET- Nashville. With the new additions, the team is really clicking and that showed in the way we took it to Detroit in "hockey town" last week. Who has to advertize something like "hockey town" anyways? If it really was "hockey town," wouldn't people from all over know it without it having to be shoved down their throats? Plus, this was the first year we trumped them in the standings.

That would leave the Conference Semis looking something like this in my scenario:

EC

New York vs. Washington
Philadelphia vs. New Jersey

WC

Vancouver vs. Chicago
St. Louis vs. Nashville


Edit: With my grandfathers being an alcoholic and seeing and hearing of the things they did, this video of Big Mac's triumph over alcoholism really struck something inside me:

http://www.section303.com/need-a-motivating-shot-in-the-arm-watch-this-15389
 
#32
Lazarus.Bird said:
I'm still shocked by the Flyers performance this year. I was one of the naysayers saying their offseason moves took them out of playoff contention. Now 82 games later they're one of the best teams in the league. Come on playoffs!
Click to expand...

Give credit where credit is due: Paul Holmgren fleecing of LA and Columbus GM's. From an article by Sam Carchidi Inside The Flyers:

Inside the Flyers: All the Right Moves
On a crazy day last summer, the Flyers traded stars Mike Richards and Jeff Carter to Los Angeles and Columbus, respectively. As it turned out, the players they received in those deals - Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn, Jakub Voracek, and Sean Couturier (selected in the draft) - have been far more productive. Here are the numbers heading into Saturday night's Los Angeles game (Columbus traded Carter to the Kings):

TRADED PLAYERS G A PTS. +/-

Mike Richards 17 26 43 +3

Jeff Carter 21 13 34 -12

Totals 38 39 77 -9

FLYERS

Wayne Simmonds 28 21 49 -1

Brayden Schenn 12 6 18 -7

Jakub Voracek 18 31 49 +11

Sean Couturier 13 14 27 +18

Totals 71 72 143 +21

/end article

And when you consider Braydon Schenn missed a chunk of the season.... the fleecing looks slightly worse considering Schenn looks to be hitting his stride. And consider two of those, Schenn and Couturier, seem to be perfect foils for Crosby and Malkin...
 
#34
strappa said:
i'm surprised to see everyone picking NJ over FLA

Brodeur is still good but has looked rather pedestrian at times.
He is not the goalie he once was.

I'm going with FLA in the first round.
Click to expand...

New Jersey went 14-6-0 against teams in the Southeast Division this year, Florida a miserable 8-7-5 against the Atlantic. New Jersey with 10 more wins overall, 25 GF better, 18 GA fewer, New Jersey +19 goal diff to a -24 for Florida.

Brodeur might not be the starter he once was, but Hedberg is there to pick up if Brodeur falters. Plus NJ still has some fire power.
 
#36
All but one team from the Central in the playoffs, only one team from the Northwest. I guess we know where the good hockey is being played in the western conference.

-Mike
 
#37
strappa said:
i'm surprised to see everyone picking NJ over FLA

Brodeur is still good but has looked rather pedestrian at times.
He is not the goalie he once was.

I'm going with FLA in the first round.
Click to expand...

Florida's good enough to win a couple of games, but I'm taking NJ too. Even though Brodeur's not at the peak of his game, Hedberg has played quite well, and the Devils have a ton of offense on demand. I don't think Florida's defense will be able to keep up over an entire series.
 
#38
East I have the Rangers, B's, Devils and the Flyers.
West Van, San jose, the yotes and I have to go detroit.
I have four upsets in the first round. Devils know how to pull it out with marty so I have to give it to them. My Flyers have had the pens number and I believe we can take them.San Jose is the same thing and they are not playing as good as they are capable and I beieve they will. Detroit I picking because when I picked against them in the past I always lose. LOL. They have the experience and untill nashville wins in the post season it's hard to think they will now with how young they are. So that is my pisks first round. I say every one you pick right gives you a point in the first round second round two points and so on. Most points win. LOL
 
#39
MJ5150 said:
All but one team from the Central in the playoffs, only one team from the Northwest. I guess we know where the good hockey is being played in the western conference.

-Mike
Click to expand...

And both the Central and Atlantic with 4 100 point teams. This current 3 point game system has got to be revamped, especially with the new low that got in this year. 38 wins for a division winner, only 32 of them ROW's.
 
#40
Well, they tried to fix the Division alignment and make things right, but the NHLPA won't sign off on it. Heck, it seemed like Detroit was the only team with a problem and many of the players liked it, but the NHL went with "We can't give them everything."
 
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