East
1. Rangers (109 pts) v. 8. Senators (92 pts)
Hard to accept that the Rangers are really this good, since, you know, they're the goddamn Rangers. But, luckily for them, they're playing perennial playoff ****tards Ottawa in round one. New York in 5
2. Bruins (102 pts) v. 7. Capitals (92 pts)
This should be marginally more entertaining that the NYR-OTT series, but assuming Tim Thomas recovers from his late season struggles, Boston should take this without too much ado. Boston in 5
3. Panthers (94 pts) v. 6. Devils (102 pts)
Jesus H. Christ. Here I was, ready to finally pick against the Devils in the first round, because they always blow it, but they draw the goddamned Panthers. Death to the Southeast. New Jersey in 6
4. Penguins (108 pts) v. 5. Flyers (103 pts)
Thunderdome. Absolute mother****ing Thunderdome. This should easily be the most entertaining series of the first round, and possibly the entire playoffs. Pittsburgh in 7
West
1. Canucks (111 pts) v. 8. Kings (95 pts)
Ahh, time again for every NHL fans favorite pasttime, hating on the Canucks. This is a tough draw for the lovable *******s of the Northwest, and my personal first round upset pick, because, seriously, **** Vancouver right in the ear. Los Angeles in 6
2. Blues (109 pts) v. 7. Sharks (97 pts)
St. Louis? St. Louis won the Central Division? Perhaps the Mayans were right. This **** will not stand, man. They have to face a team full of playoff vets in San Jose, but their otherworldly goaltending this season ought to see them through to the second round. St. Louis in 6
3. Coyotes (97 pts) v. 6. Blackhawks (101 pts)
Man, who knows what you're gonna get from Chicago any given night. Sometimes, they look like the old Red Army, sometimes they look like someone strapped some skates on a bunch of goddamn third graders. Consider this a protest pick against the Coyotes' continued existence. Chicago in 4
4. Predators (104 pts) v. 5. Red Wings (102 pts)
The biggest challenger to the PIT-PHI series in awesomeness, the Red Wings looked like they were gonna run away with the Central until a late season collapse aided by key injuries. Those injuries have (mostly) healed, and that will carry them through to round two. Detroit in 7
East champ: Pittsburgh
West champ: Detroit
Stanley Cup champ: Detroit
That's right. I'm going full homer.
"My nation is the world, and my religion is to do good." --Thomas Paine
"The subject of onanism is inexhaustable." --Sigmund Freud
NYR vs. OTT New York in 4
BOS vs. WSH Boston in 7
FLA vs. NJ New Jersey in 5
PIT vs. PHI Pittsburg in 6
VAN vs. LA Vancouver in 6
STL vs. SJ St. Louis in 6
PHX vs. CHI Chicago in 5
NSH vs. DET Detroit in 6
East: New York Rangers
West: Vancouver Canucks
Stanley Cup Champions: Vancouver Canucks
I'm calling a rematch of 1994. This time, however, good will triumph over evil.
Also, isn't there some weirdness in the rules that we need to fix?
If Tehben spits eggs at you, jump on them and throw them back. ~ Belgium Doesn't Exist! ~ Eventis: Catastrophic database failure free since March 19, 2012 Eventis AD&D 6th Age Campaign: Chapter 1: Into the Widlerness, Chapter 2: Brotherhood of the Wolf ~ New! Star Trek: Eventis
From Ben Kenobi:
Originally Posted by Ben Kenobi
If Tehben spits eggs at you, jump on them and throw them back. ~ Belgium Doesn't Exist! ~ Eventis: Catastrophic database failure free since March 19, 2012 Eventis AD&D 6th Age Campaign: Chapter 1: Into the Widlerness, Chapter 2: Brotherhood of the Wolf ~ New! Star Trek: Eventis
NYR vs. OTT: New York in 5
BOS vs. WSH: Boston in 6
FLA vs. NJ: New Jersey in 6
PIT vs. PHI: Pittsburg in 7
VAN vs. LA: LA in 7
STL vs. SJ: St Louis in 6
PHX vs. CHI: Chicago in 5
NSH vs. DET: Detroit in 5
East: New York Rangers
West: St. Louis
Stanley Cup Champions: New York Rangers
Because - why not? I'm mostly favouring with personal bias more than anything else.
NYR vs. OTT New York in 5 - I'd like Ottawa to win, but they're just outclassed here.
BOS vs. WSH Boston in 5 - I'd like Washington to win - no, wait, I'd actually like Boston's team bus to drive off a bridge into the Potomac - but neither seems likely.
FLA vs. NJ New Jersey in 5 - That's enough fun for Florida. Time for real teams to play now.
PIT vs. PHI Pittsburg in 6 - I wouldn't be shocked if Philadelphia wins, but I think Pittsburgh will pull this one out and cruise the rest of the way through the East. How awesome would it be, though, if Pronger was healthy and doing his best to decapitate anyone that skated past him?
VAN vs. LA Vancouver in 6 - Quick will make this closer than it should be.
STL vs. SJ St. Louis in 5 - San Jose resumes their familiar role as playoff punching bag.
PHX vs. CHI Chicago in 6 - Chicago should steamroll them, which means it will be pretty close. Having Phoenix win would actually be a great F you to Glendale and the league when they relocate next year.
NSH vs. DET Nashville in 6 - Nothing against Detroit, I just think Nashville's a bit better this year.
East: Pittsburgh
West: Vancouver
Stanley Cup Champions: Vancouver
"The French caused the war [Persian Gulf war, 1991]" - Ned
"you people who bash Bush have no appreciation for one of the great presidents in our history." - Ned
"I wish I had gay sex in the boy scouts" - Dissident
NYR vs. OTT: New York in 6
BOS vs. WSH: Boston in 7
FLA vs. NJ: New Jersey in 6
PIT vs. PHI: Philadelphia in 6
VAN vs. LA: Vancouver in 5
STL vs. SJ: St Louis in 6
PHX vs. CHI: Chicago in 6
NSH vs. DET: Detroit in 7
East: Boston
West: Chicago
Stanley Cup Champions: Chicago
Go Blackhawks
Keep on Civin'
RIP Baron O
EAST
NYR vs. OTT: New York in 6
BOS vs. WSH: Boston in 7
FLA vs. NJ: New Jersey in 6
PIT vs. PHI: Pittsburgh in 7
WEST
VAN vs. LA: Vancouver in 7
STL vs. SJ: Sharks in 6
PHX vs. CHI: Hawks in 6
NSH vs. DET: Nashville in 7
East: Pittsburgh Penguins
West: San Jose Sharks
Stanley Cup Champions: San Jose Sharks
Totally from the heart, but Antii is playing well again - let me dream
And indeed there will be time To wonder, "Do I dare?" and, "Do I dare?". t s eliot
NYR vs. OTT: New York in 5
BOS vs. WSH: Boston in 5
FLA vs. NJ: New Jersey in 7
PIT vs. PHI: Pittsburg in 7
VAN vs. LA: LA in 7
STL vs. SJ: St Louis in 6
PHX vs. CHI: Chicago in 7
NSH vs. DET: Nashville in 6
East: Pittsburg
West: St. Louis
Stanley Cup Champions: Pittsburg
Last edited by Garth Vader; April 10, 2012 at 11:18.
Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi Wan's apprentice.
Kontiki, you are aware that the Sharks were in the conference finals the last two years, right?
And indeed there will be time To wonder, "Do I dare?" and, "Do I dare?". t s eliot
Yep. They put up a helluva fight in those two series, too.
"The French caused the war [Persian Gulf war, 1991]" - Ned
"you people who bash Bush have no appreciation for one of the great presidents in our history." - Ned
"I wish I had gay sex in the boy scouts" - Dissident
So how are they a playoff punching bag?
"My nation is the world, and my religion is to do good." --Thomas Paine
"The subject of onanism is inexhaustable." --Sigmund Freud
NYR vs. OTT: New York in 6
BOS vs. WSH: Boston in 6
FLA vs. NJ: New Jersey in 6
PIT vs. PHI: Pittsburgh in 7
VAN vs. LA: LA in 6
STL vs. SJ: St Louis in 5
PHX vs. CHI: Chicago in 6
NSH vs. DET: Detroit in 6
East: Boston
West: Chicago
Stanley Cup Champions: Chicago
Last edited by demonbinder; April 11, 2012 at 19:47.
NYR vs. OTT Ottawa in 6
BOS vs. WSH Boston in 5
FLA vs. NJ New Jersey in 4
PIT vs. PHI Pittsburg in 7
VAN vs. LA LA in 6
STL vs. SJ San Jose in 6
PHX vs. CHI Chicago in 5
NSH vs. DET Detroit in 6
East: Boston
West: LA
Stanley Cup Champions: LA
Going for something different
Former President, Vice-president and Foreign Minister of the Apolyton Civ2-Democracy Games as 123john321
I don't even have the energy to fake it this year.
Go Hawks!
Apolyton's Grim Reaper 2008, 2010 & 2011
RIP lest we forget... SG (2) and LaFayette -- Civ2 Succession Games Brothers-in-Arms
Sorry, I guess I should have put in sarcasm tags on my last post. 0-4 to Chicago in 2010. 1-4 to Vancouver last year. I watched last years' series. Both of Vancouver's previous opponents (Chicago and Nashville) put up way more of a fight.
Plus, keep in mind their (lack of) playoff success prior to the last two years.
"The French caused the war [Persian Gulf war, 1991]" - Ned
"you people who bash Bush have no appreciation for one of the great presidents in our history." - Ned
"I wish I had gay sex in the boy scouts" - Dissident
NYR vs. OTT New York in 6
BOS vs. WSH Boston in 5
FLA vs. NJ New Jersey in 6
PIT vs. PHI Pittsburg in 7
VAN vs. LA Vancouver in 6
STL vs. SJ St. Louis in 6
PHX vs. CHI Chicago in 5
NSH vs. DET Nashville in 6
East: New York Rangers
West: St. Louis Blues
Stanley Cup Champions: StL
PHX getting no love at all.
Go Hawks.
The OT at APOLYTON is like watching the Special Olympics. Certain people try so hard to debate despite their handicaps.
Baron O RIP.
So I suppose we should agree on rules.
Two points for each series winner, predicted before the start of each series.
One bonus point for correctly picking the number of games, provided that you selected the right winner.
Two bonus points each for picking the each conference champ and the Stanley Cup Champs.
If anyone disagrees, speak up now, so I can hear you out before telling you to go **** yourself, this is my thread.
"My nation is the world, and my religion is to do good." --Thomas Paine
"The subject of onanism is inexhaustable." --Sigmund Freud
Even though I can't be bothered to make any random guesses this year, I think that the bonus for the Stanley Cup Champs should be 3 points.
Yes, yes, I see you point.
Now go **** yourself, this is my thread.
(If someone gets the Cup right, then they also must have had at least one conference champ right as well)
"My nation is the world, and my religion is to do good." --Thomas Paine
"The subject of onanism is inexhaustable." --Sigmund Freud
(Oh, quite right, very reasonable. Never mind).
NYR vs. OTT New York in 5
BOS vs. WSH Boston in 6
FLA vs. NJ New Jersey in 6
PIT vs. PHI Pittsburgh in 7
VAN vs. LA Vancouver in 5
STL vs. SJ San Jose in 6
PHX vs. CHI Chicago in 7
NSH vs. DET Nashville in 6
East: Pittsburgh
West: Nashville (I can hope, right?)
Stanley Cup Champions: Pittsburgh (But I won't push my homer luck too far.)
The Preds better get out of the first round, at least -- I work with both Hawks and Wings fans, so if Nashville have a poor showing I won't hear the end of it for a year.
If Tehben spits eggs at you, jump on them and throw them back. ~ Belgium Doesn't Exist! ~ Eventis: Catastrophic database failure free since March 19, 2012 Eventis AD&D 6th Age Campaign: Chapter 1: Into the Widlerness, Chapter 2: Brotherhood of the Wolf ~ New! Star Trek: Eventis
NYR vs. OTT: NY in 6
BOS vs. WSH: Bos in 6
FLA vs. NJ: Fla in 6
PIT vs. PHI: Pit in 6
VAN vs. LA: Van in 6
STL vs. SJ: StL in 6
PHX vs. CHI: Chi in 6
NSH vs. DET: Nsh in 6
East: Pit
West: Chi
Stanley Cup Champions: Pit
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your signature to help him gain world domination.
]NYR vs. OTT: OTT in 6 just need to pick an upset
BOS vs. WSH: Boston in 6
FLA vs. NJ: New Jersey in 5
PIT vs. PHI: Pittsburg in 5
VAN vs. LA: LA in 7
STL vs. SJ: SJ in 6
PHX vs. CHI: Chicago in 6
NSH vs. DET: Nashville in 6
East: Pitt
West: SJ
Stanley Cup Champions: Pitt
Because - picking some upsets in an attempt to score high--- I'll win the thing or finish last (likely the latter)
Last edited by Flubber; April 11, 2012 at 19:16.
You don't get to 300 losses without being a pretty exceptional goaltender.-- Ben Kenobi speaking of Roberto Luongo
I considered picking a different cup champ than either of my conference choices to increase the chance that I got some points.
Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi Wan's apprentice.
‘To everyone in Canada outside of B.C., you’re welcome,’ Kings tweet after beating Canucks
VANCOUVER—The war of words in the Vancouver Canucks-Los Angeles Kings series has started.
On Twitter.
In the moments after Los Angeles finished off a 4-2 victory in Game 1 on Wednesday night, a message was posted to the team’s official Twitter account taking a shot at Vancouver: “To everyone in Canada outside of BC, you’re welcome.”
The Canucks have drawn criticism during a successful couple seasons that has seen them capture the Presidents’ Trophy in back-to-back years and fall one game short of the Stanley Cup in 2011.
In October, CBC commentator Don Cherry added to the chorus by saying Vancouver was disliked because the players whine at officials.
The team is considered a strong Stanley Cup contender yet again and entered the series with Los Angeles as a heavy favourite.
Game 2 goes Friday night at Rogers Arena.
:sadnod:
Same Old Canucks
For 82 games, the Vancouver Canucks tried to prove to the hockey world they'd learned their lessons and had changed their ways.
Then, in the first game of the playoffs, the Canucks went out and seemed to prove only they're the same diving, head-snapping crew that collapsed against the Boston Bruins last spring and made them a detested hockey club in much of Canada and the hockey industry.
Indeed, after a 4-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on the opening night of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Kings' official Twitter feed @LAKings seemed to rub it in and seize upon Vancouver's reputation by tweeting, "To everyone in Canada outside of B.C., you're welcome."
Nasty, and probably unwise bulletin board material.
But also true.
Vancouver's lousy performance was the biggest and boldest headline of the opening night of these playoffs, although a couple of other stories were noteworthy:
--The Pittsburgh Penguins blew a 3-0 lead and lost to Philly in OT 4-3 on a misplay by star defenceman Kris Letang. Key to the Flyer comeback was a badly blown, missed offside play that result in Philly's first goal and started the comeback.
--Daniel Sedin wasn't available to the Canucks, adding a new layer of controversy to the late-season hit by Chicago's Duncan Keith that ended Sedin's regular season and now is compromising his post-season. Keith received only a five-game suspension, returned to the Blackhawks lineup before the season was over and will be in the lineup when Chicago opens the playoffs in Phoenix.
NHL hanging judge Brendan Shanahan was way too lenient on Keith's cheapshot,and now the league is looking bad while Sedin deals with the very concussion issues the Bettman administration claims it is trying to deal with aggressively.
--There was an ugly moment at the end of Nashville's taut 3-2 series-opening win over Detroit. Predators defenceman Shea Weber, feeling he'd been illegally hit by Henrik Zetterburg, first punched Zetterberg in the back of the helmet then grabbed the Red Wing star and smashed his head into the glass.
With the NHL having backed off on tough supplementary discipline calls in recent months, few expect Weber to receive any extra penalty.
In sum, three games on opening night and lots of controversy and bad feelings all around. Good start to the second season.
In Vancouver, the Canucks dropped their fifth playoff game in their last six outings, and second straight on home ice, dating back to the Cup final against Boston.
Led by Mike Richards, the Kings pounded on the Western Conference winning Canucks and outplayed them by a wide margin. Vancouver, meanwhile, took a host of bad penalities, including a five-minute hitting-from-behind foul on winger Byron Bitz in the tradition of ex-Canuck Raffi Torres that knocked Kyle Clifford out of the game and could receive further scrutiny from league officials.
It was a night when the Canucks seemed to get back into the cheap histrionics that made them so disliked throughout the hockey industry last spring and led to their downfall. Ryan Kesler, as usual, led the way with some embarrassing dramatics, first getting away with an interference call on L.A. goalie Jonathan Quick on Vancouver's first goal, a play Kesler sold to the officials with one of his patented head snaps for effect.
The refs seemed to understand they'd missed one, and shortly thereafter Kesler was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct for snowing Quick in his crease. Purely bush league stuff, the kind of things the Canucks weren't supposed to be doing anymore.
Later in the game, Kesler faked an elaborate tumble in the neutral zone that the officials ignored, then stuck his stick in Jarret Stoll's privates after the whistle.
No one seems to know why such a talented player gets involved in such nonsense, but Kesler made a strong statement on opening night that he intends to continue to try and get away with the same garbage that didn't work last spring against the Bruins. By the third, Alex Burrows and Henrik Sedin were diving again to try and draw penalties. The Kings, meanwhile, just played through it, with Richards delivering the punctuation mark on the night with a devastating open ice hit on Burrows.
Dustin Penner, he of the pancake injury, potted the winner late in the third to snap a 2-2 tie.
For Vancouver, all those penalties and all that nonsense was a big surprise. Unless the Canucks knock it off and fast, this could be a brief Stanley Cup playoff appearance rather than the beginning of another long spring run.
edit: dp
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