Stanley Cup Playoff Pick'em 2010

[joncha]

Hawks
Flubber
BK almost not losing

[Ben Kenobi]

Jrabbit:

Toews is God. No fooling.

[Asher]

Considering as I made no picks after the Canucks got bounced

Loser.

Top three is Flubber, JRabbit/Ming

That tells me that Oilers fans are smartest followed by Chicago fans.

Idiot.

[Asher]

Great game -- very scary. No quit in those Flyers. Captivating.

Congrats, Flubber. Well chosen, sir.

Q: Did Toews actually deserve the Conn Smyth, or is that just some kind of "we love you" vote?

Toews has been ****ing amazing all year. Olympics and in the playoffs, too.

He's just ****ing insane.

22-years old. He's already captain of an NHL team. He's won a World Jrs championship, World Men's gold, Olympic Gold, Conn Smythe Trophy, and the Stanley Cup.

22 ****ing years old.

[Asher]

He was also named top forward of the Olympic Tournament...

[ColdWizard]

Toews has been ****ing amazing all year. Olympics and in the playoffs, too.

He's just ****ing insane.

22-years old. He's already captain of an NHL team. He's won a World Jrs championship, World Men's gold, Olympic Gold, Conn Smythe Trophy, and the Stanley Cup.

22 ****ing years old.

But does he have an IIHF World Championship? :serb:

[Asher]

Yes. He won it at age 19 in 2007.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_IIHF_World_Championship

[-Jrabbit]

I might have given it to Niemi or Byfuglien.

-Niemi played well under the bright lights, had a couple shutouts, and showed great resilience with most of the world doubting him openly. I don't know how his stats (.910, 2.63, 16-6) stack up with established standards, but considering his lack of experience, I thought his performance was pretty impressive.
-Big Buff was a constant force and like last year, was at his best in the playoffs -- very productive, always forcing the opposition to gameplan around his presence. and 5 game-winners.

Toews is a fine choice, though. No complaints. He tied the franchise record for points (29) and is clearly all that and a bag of chips.

You can probably make a case for Kane or Sharp (+10) as well. (BTW, that last shot by Kaner was laser-precise. Hard to see even on slo-mo replay...)

[Flubber]

Considering as I made no picks after the Canucks got bounced, I should hope you did better than I did.

Top three is Flubber, JRabbit/Ming

That tells me that Oilers fans are smartest followed by Chicago fans.

Huh-- The only two declared Flames finished first and 4th-- with a two pooler total equal or greater than any other two poolers out there

[Asher]

I would have given it to Niemi or Byfuglien.

-Niemi played well under the bright lights, had a couple shutouts, and showed great resilience with most of the world doubting him openly. I don't know how his stats (.910, 2.63, 16-6) stack up with established standards, but considering his lack of experience, I thought his performance was pretty impressive.
-Big Buff was a constant force and like last year, was at his best in the playoffs -- very productive, always forcing the opposition to gameplan around his presence. and 5 game-winners.

Toews is a fine choice, though. No complaints. He tied the franchise record for points (29) and is clearly all that and a bag of chips.

You can probably make a case for Kane or Sharp (+10) as well. (BTW, that last shot by Kaner was laser-precise. Hard to see even on slo-mo replay...)

The consensus with Niemi is the Hawks won despite him. He was merely adequate, definitely no conn smythe.

Byfuglien put up good numbers, but he had very sheltered icetime. A cursory look at stats like zone draws shows he was put on the ice almost exclusively when the puck was in the offensive zone, and almost never when in the defensive zone. He had a ton of powerplay time also, virtually no PK time.

Toews got picked not for his electrifying offense, but the intangibles. Leadership, faceoff percentage (highest in the playoffs, IIRC), his offense in rounds 1-3 was incredible, his defensive reliability, etc. He was an all-around fantastic hockey player.

[-Jrabbit]

I have no argument with Toews winning the award. He's a total rock out there, works hard to set up his linemates, plays all special teams and seems to win every big faceoff. It was definitely a team win, so it's totally appropriate that the captain take home the hardware.

Long may he wave.

[Ming]

The consensus with Niemi is the Hawks won despite him. He was merely adequate, definitely no conn smythe.

While I would agree it wasn't a conn smythe performance, I think you are being a tad harsh. He played great. Considering how that position was considered the big weakness of the club, he was outstanding. The Hawks won with Niemi, not despite him.

[-Jrabbit]

Interesting insight on Byfuglien BTW.

[Flubber]

I would have given it to Niemi or Byfuglien.

-Niemi played well under the bright lights, had a couple shutouts, and showed great resilience with most of the world doubting him openly. I don't know how his stats (.910, 2.63, 16-6) stack up with established standards, but considering his lack of experience, I thought his performance was pretty impressive.

They actually don't stack up at all well. --.910 is pretty average for an NHL starter-- Heck twenty-three keepers exceeded that mark in the regular season-- I thought that overall Niemi did the job-- was solid enough etc but in no way was he MVP calibre

The problem then was "who was?"

Toews was an "obvious" choice-- Captain, leader and the best PPG average of anyone in the playoffs-- I can see it-- BUt he wasn't clear-cut to me at all given how he did get neutralized for a while in the finals and his overall MINUS one in the playoffs is not awe-inspiring

Buff-- only 16 points-- nuetralized by Pronger for several games and a MINUS 4-- he was an impact guy at key times but MVP??


My choice would have been Duncan Keith -- 17 points and a plus 2 with 28:11 per game on the ice. I think when it comes down to it he was the most valuable player to his team of any Blackhawk

[Asher]

While I would agree it wasn't a conn smythe performance, I think you are being a tad harsh. He played great. Considering how that position was considered the big weakness of the club, he was outstanding. The Hawks won with Niemi, not despite him.

The goals against average in a finals hasn't been this high in many years. Philly's offense isn't that good.

That the Hawks can score is bunches is why the team won. I may've been a bit harsh, I don't think Niemi was terrible or cost them any games single-handedly or anything. He was just an adequate goaltender.

I concur with Teh Flubbs that Keith would've been an excellent choice also. Hell, I'd give it to him just cause he lost the 7 teeth.

His post-game interviews was the most Canadian I've ever seen a player. Missing 7 teeth and talking with the lisp because of it, yammering on about his youth, etc.