(N)Ice Post.

(N)Ice Post

By Luke Langlois

Did you know that officially declaring something makes it true? I am officially declaring war on Holden. The goal? I will prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that my sports predictions were far worse than his. Now, if you have read Holden’s post on the NBA rankings, you would know that a victory for me seems unlikely. Yes, Holden was quite wrong. But I broke rule #1 of playoff hockey; it’s unpredictable. Today, I would like to revisit the post that I wrote “predicting” the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

As a reminder: this is the bracket that I created. This does not reflect the current round of the playoffs (which you should watch). Let’s start with what I got right.

1. The Dallas Stars did indeed eliminate the Nashville Predators in six games.
2. I correctly predicted that the St. Louis Blues would eliminate the Winnipeg Jets in six games.
3. San Jose eliminated the Vegas Golden Knights in seven games. The hockey genius over here called it.
4. On that note, I did correctly predict the Western Conference Finals matchup!
5. The New York Islanders eliminated the Pittsburgh Penguins in FOUR games, a perfect sweep. I predicted that this would happen in six games, but I’ll give myself credit for this.
6. The Boston Bruins eliminated the Maple Leafs in seven games, which matches up with my bracket.

I did get quite a few matchups correct, even down to the game count. Statistically, I got more correct than most people. But I got a couple of matchups glaringly wrong, which devalues just about everything I got right. Here’s what I got wrong:

1. The Calgary Flames did NOT eliminate the Colorado Avalanche in six games. The Avalanche eliminated the Flames in five games. This was one of the many upsets by a Wild Card team.
2. The Washington Capitals did take the Carolina Hurricanes to seven games, which matches my bracket. Unfortunately, I figured that the Capitals would be able to take the game seven on home ice. They did not. The Hurricanes won game seven in overtime, 4-3. So, that was not all that bad. I only got it wrong by one goal, right?
3. If this were not a written post, I would let out an audible sigh here. Remember when I was saying Tampa Bay was just too good to not win it all? As a naive child once said, “. . . it is my FIRM belief that Tampa Bay is just TOO GOOD!” Yeah, that was me. Tampa Bay had one of the best regular seasons in the history of the NHL. Tampa Bay had a goal differential of +103. As a refresher, that means they cumulatively outscored their opponents by 103 goals. But suddenly, hockey started meaning something for them again. They could no longer cruise to win their games. The Tampa Bay Lightning were not receptive to this message. They got swept by the Wild Card Columbus Blue Jackets in what could be seen as the largest upset in the history of the NHL.

If you did not notice a common theme among the teams that got upset in the first round, they were ALL #1 seeded teams. This year marks the first year in NHL history that each division winner was eliminated in the first round. Anyhow, that’s enough of what I got wrong. Allow me now to update you on the current matchups going on.

1. In a shock to many, the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the New York Islanders in four games to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. If you went back a bit, you would know that New York just swept Pittsburgh in the first round. Apparently, it was a fluke. This Islanders team was the first since the 1993 Buffalo Sabres to get swept after completing a sweep.
2. The St. Louis Blues beat the Dallas Stars in double overtime in a seven game series. A win is a win, but it easily could have gone either way. As a reminder, St. Louis was dead last in the NHL in December. Good job, Blues.
3. Many people expected a LOT from the Columbus Blue Jackets after their bulldozing of the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the Boston Bruins made relatively quick work of Columbus, defeating them in six games. Boston is currently leading Carolina three games to none. The winner of this series will advance to the Stanley Cup Final. Perhaps the city of Boston will be able to end their long-running championship drought.
4. The San Jose Sharks, pleasing the home crowd, took down the Colorado Avalanche in seven games. They are currently facing the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference Finals.

How many upsets have occurred in the NBA playoffs so far? One. How many upsets occurred in the first round of the NHL playoffs? MANY! Tune in to the NHL playoffs before it’s too late. Trust me. Watch these games.

Editor: AJ Patencio