Note--Written Sunday night: Scheduled to post Tuesday night (in case anything happens in between that makes this all look stupider than it did on Sunday)
Note on Note-- Having reviewed my picks I find that the one game left after Sunday when I left to sail on Washington State Ferries changed the team order in the West and caused me to pick an impossible result (this being the stupid part I was discussing above) So I have changed my original pick of Flames over Wild to Avs over Wild (which I feel much less good about)
Here are this years Hockey Playoff picks. This is a yearly battle between Andy and I, in which the winner gets a 6 pack of Guinness from the loser and both players feel like they should know a lot more about hockey by the 2nd round. Anyone else who wants to join in is free to post their picks here, but I probably won't buy them Guinness (as past history shows I'm pretty terrible at this).
Round 1 East:
Habs
Pens
Caps
Rangers
Round 1 West:
Wings
Sharks
Avs
Ducks
Round 2:
Habs
Caps
Wings
Sharks
Conference:
Habs
Sharks
Cup Winner:
Habs
(Goals in the Final Series: 25)
Notes: Montreal is back, and as the 2nd winningest team of championships (second only to the Yankees in all of American sport, just not so much lately) never count them out. The Sharks look great this year, playing very well at the end of the season with terrific goaltending. Usually this is the mark of a cup worthy team. Plus, I like to pick someone besides Detroit so that if they get bounced early I don't feel quite as bad, and if I they do go to the Cup Finals, who cares about this stupid thing, anyway.
From a homer perspective, Calgary or Anaheim in the second round are scarier to me than Nashville, but I've been wrong before. (A lot!)
Posted by ktismael at April 8, 2008 7:50 PMYou are loading in a port subject to the tropical load line mark and bound for a port subject to the winter load line mark. You will enter the summer zone after steaming one and one-half days, and you will enter the winter zone after six days. You will consume 29 tons of fuel, water, and stores per day. The hydrometer reading at the loading pier is 1.006, and the average TPI is 43. What is the minimum freeboard required at the start of the voyage?
FREEBOARD FROM DECK LINE
Tropical 71 inches (T) Summer 78 inches (S) Winter 85 inches (W)
Fresh water allowance 6 inches
Oh, wait. Were you talking about NHL playoffs? I remeber when I used to have time for NHL playoffs.
Sigh...
Posted by: Dave at April 9, 2008 3:29 PMA six pack? Are you sure you are really a MOSS, a six pack? Dare to dream, the responsible decision you made has produces disapointment for me and your father (Un and Da). We can take comfort that the bet was not for a six pack of Bud Lite.
Woody Hayes
Posted by: Woody Hayes at April 10, 2008 2:46 PMOkay ~ First, let me say I enjoy watching the Red Wings play a game of hockey. The only hockey I every watch is a Red Wings Game if I happen to come across it on the TV. (It is also one of only two sports that I watch.) But my prediction is the Red Wings will take home the Stanley Cup. I have no strategic analysis of the teams, the players or the coaches. I don't follow Round 1, Round 2 or Conference playoffs; I have no idea who has good players on their team, but when I hear on the news or read in the paper that the Red Wings have won I let out a little "Yippee ~ the Wings won again". So I want the Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup this year and every year ! ! ! !
Side note: the other sport I watch is NASCAR because my hubby likes to watch the races on TV... I always root for the M&M car to win!! Again, it has nothing to do with who is the better driver with the better car... I just like the M&M car ~ how can you go wrong when you are sponsored by chocolate ! ! !
Glad to see that you are getting along well, ish. If you ever get work on Ferries to Vancouver Island, you may run into my parents... they have retired and moved to Pender Island, BC... they run down to Washington for building materials every so often!
Here's my hockey philosophy: we should have gone back to the Original Six, and I don't give a damn what all the rest of those stadiums were going to do besides sit empty. Now, my rather rigid and elitist philosophy is certainly bolstered by being a native Michiganian, and therefore I wouldn't lose my hockey team under the New Regime. Downside for everyone is the season would be a whole lot shorter.
The other critical consideration - If you can't play hockey outside, on a frozen body of water, you don't get a hockey team. Ish, I'll give you that the Sharks had considerable promise this year, but the California part of the west coast doesn't freeze (see previous statement).
And while I've never watched hockey drinking rum, there's a very reliable, and very local source for Goselings . come home soon.
Posted by: BDS at April 17, 2008 4:20 PM"If you can't play hockey outside, on a frozen body of water, you don't get a hockey team."
I agree with BDS on this one!!!
Hey, we started this in college and we wanted to have a chance to drink good beer, and couldn't afford more than a 6-pack. I didn't suggest it was all that either of us drank.
I can sympathize with the Original 6 only plan, but ultimately I still think the sport is better for the first few expansions. Happy to have Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver. Pleased with Pittsburgh, New Jersey, and Minnesota (both times). Hell I'm even glad Colorado has a team. But I do agree the league suffers from too many times trying to create too much interest. A 16 team league would be a lot of fun, and they could shorten the season back to 60 games or so and we wouldn't be having the Cup Final in June.
I would however, support a ban of any hockey team from Florida. Seriously.
Posted by: ish at April 18, 2008 10:58 PM