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2012 NHL Hockey Playoff Predictions

April 8, 2012 Leave a Comment

Last year I posted my 2011 NHL Hockey Playoff Predictions, and I ended up going 7-1 in the first round. I came up with Vancouver playing Boston in the finals, but my finals prediction ended up failing. Still, a pretty good showing.

With the playoffs getting set to start on Wednesday, it’s time to give my predictions for this year’s playoffs. Everything after the first round is a bit of a crapshoot because of the way the NHL reseeds the teams before the next round. But, whatever… here we go:

Round 1 – Western Conference

Los Angeles Kings (8) vs Vancouver Canucks (1)

Last year I voted with my head when I picked my beloved Kings to lose to the Sharks. Well, this year, I’m going with my heart. I think Jonathan Quick is going to steal this series for the Kings.

Winner: Kings in 6 games

San Jose Sharks (7) vs St Louis Blues (2)

If you would have told me at the beginning of the year that the Blues would have been within 1 game of winning the Presidents trophy as the best overall team in the league, I would have ruptured something laughing at you. But, here we are. All I can say is, good luck Sharks. Wait, I hate the Sharks. It’s going to be fun watching them live up to their annual playoff disappointment!

Winner: Blues in 5 games

Chicago Blackhawks (6) vs Phoenix Coyotes (3)

The Coyotes goalie has been INSANE recently and I have a feeling the Blackhawks are going to have a tough time getting pucks behind him. Never bet against a hot goalie.

Winner: Coyotes in 6 games

Detroit Red Wings (5) vs Nashville Predators (4)

I think these are the two teams that nobody in the west wants to play right now. It’s nice that only one of them will make it through to the second round. Nashville is a gritty team and their power play is one of the best. Detroit is just getting back a bunch of healthy players. This is the series to watch in the west in the first round. It’s going to be a great one.

Winner: Predators in 7 games

Round 1: Eastern Conference

Ottawa Senators (8) vs New York Rangers (1)

Last year I picked the Rangers in the #1 slot to get upset by Washington. It was my one error in last year’s opening round. I made the biggest mistake. I bet against the hot goalie. Dumb. This year is different though. Lundquist isn’t standing on his head like last season. I think this is going to be a really tough, high-scoring series. And, as much as I’d like to say we’re gonna see another 8 knock off a 1, I just can’t.

Winner: Rangers in 6 games

Washington Capitols (7) vs Boston Bruins (2)

Tim Thomas has kinda come back down to earth after his amazing season/playoffs last year and Washington finished the regular season strong after playing pretty mediocre most of the year. But sadly for the Caps, they’re goalie situation is a mess.

Winner: Bruins in 4 games

New Jersey Devils (6) vs Florida Panthers (3)

Congrats to the Panthers for finally making it to the playoffs. Enjoy the next few games. They’re the only ones you’ll be playing in the playoffs this year.

Winner: Devils in 4 games

Philadelphia Flyers (5) vs Pittsburg Penguins (4)

Holy crap, it’s like Christmas in April. If you don’t already have a DVR, go get one. Now. These teams hate each other. This series should be the most entertaining of the first round. Hell, maybe of the entire playoffs. I know there’s not usually many fights in the playoffs, but I’m gonna say this series breaks that rule. Oh, and for my prediction, I’m going with goalies on this one.

Winner: Penguins in 7 games (man, I hope it goes 7 games)

Round 2: Western Conference

Kings vs Blues

The Kings played the Blues really tough this year. But, I still think the task may be a bit too big this time around.

Winner: Blues in 6 games

Predators vs Coyotes

I think the Preds are gonna wear down the Coyotes and score a bunch on the power play.

Winner: Predators in 6 games

Round 2: Eastern Conference

Devils vs Rangers

This should be a pretty fun series to watch. In the end, the Rangers are gonna be too much for the Devils

Winner: Rangers in 5 games

Penguins vs Bruins

Let me just say, I think this series is going to decide who wins the cup this year. I’m going to go with the Penguins to light up Tim Thomas for a bunch of goals. If I’m wrong and the Bruins win this one, you can switch my picks to Bruins to repeat.

Winner: Penguins in 6 games

Western Conference: Round 3

Predators vs Blues

This should be a pretty good series. I think it’s going to be a really close one. I’m gonna go for the upset here.

Winner: Predators in 7 games

Eastern Conference: Round 3

Penguins vs Rangers

The media circus around this series should be an absolute blast! How about this for a great finish: game 7, overtime, in New York… Crosby scores and immediately points at Tortorella on the bench who’s head explodes.

Winner: Penguins in 7 games

Stanley Cup Finals

Predators vs Penguins

You may not think so, but I think this would be a really entertaining final. In the end, I’ll have to go with playoff experience to come through.

The Champs will be: Penguins in 6 games

So there ya go. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Oh, and if you have your own predictions, leave ‘em here, too.

 

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2011 NHL Hockey Playoff Predictions

April 12, 2011 8 Comments

As a fan of the LA Kings, this has been a really entertaining season to watch. The Western Conference has basically been in ‘playoff mode’ for the past few months. For a while there were something like 8 teams separated by less than 10 points. Completely nerve-wracking as a fan. But also, completely awesome!

With the playoffs starting tomorrow, I wanted to put together a quick post about my predictions for this year’s playoffs.

Round 1: Western Conference

Vancouver Canucks (1) Vs Chicago Blackhawks (8)
It’s great that the defending champs squeaked in to the playoffs… The bad part is, they get to face the top team in the league. Sadly, the first round is all the Blackhawks are going to see.

Winner: Canucks in 5 games

San Jose Sharks (2) Vs Los Angeles Kings (7)
For the first time in history, 2 teams from California are playing each other in the playoffs. As much as I love the Kings, with their recent injuries and their recent lack of ability to score goals, I just can’t see them getting past San Jose. (I hope I’m wrong on this one!)

Winner: Sharks in 6 games

Detroit Red Wings (3) Vs Phoenix Coyotes (6)
The Coyotes are one of the most impressive teams this season. Finishing 6th in the West is a HUGE accomplishment considering they have only one player who scored 20 goals this season. Unfortunately for them, the Wings are a playoff hockey machine.

Winner: Red Wings in 6 games

Anaheim Ducks (4) Vs Nashville Predators (5)
With the Ducks in the playoffs, this marks the first time that all 3 California teams have made the playoffs in the same year. Both of these teams are tough, tough teams. I think these guys are going to beat each other up in a grueling series that I expect to see multiple overtime games.

Winner: Predators in 7 games

Round 1: Eastern Conference

Washington Capitals (1) Vs New York Rangers (8)
I think the Caps are a much better team this year than they were last year. They cut back on the run-and-gun style and play a much better brand of defensive hockey that should take them far… Unfortunately for them, I think they are going to have a difficult time scoring against the Rangers who’s goalie is an absolute monster. Upset time!

Winner: Rangers in 6 games

Philadelphia Flyers (2) Vs Buffalo Sabres (7)
This is a toughy. Philly is really strong, but in the goalie department, it’s hart to bet against Ryan Miller in Buffalo. If this was strictly a goalie game, I’d go with another upset here. But, I think Philly’s overall team is going to be too much for Buffalo to overcome.

Winner: Flyers in 6 games

Boston Bruins (3) Vs Montreal Canadiens (6)
How lucky are we that these two teams that hate each other SO MUCH [remember this hit?] get to play each other in the first round? Man I love playoff hockey! I think this is going to be the most entertaining series. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s going to be a very long one.

Winner: Bruins in 5 games

Pittsburgh Penguins (4) Vs Tampa Bay Lightning (5)
Sidney Crosby missed 41 games (half the season) and still lead the Penguins in scoring. Makes you wonder where this team would have finished had be been healthy all season. Unfortunately for the Penguins, I think the’re going to get the opportunity to go hang out with Crosby pretty soon.

Winner: Lightning in 6 games

Western Conference: Round 2

Vancouver Canucks (1) Vs Nashville Predators (5)
I’m predicting a few lopsided victories in this one.

Winner: Canucks in 5 games

San Jose Sharks (2) Vs Detroit Red Wings (3)
I think this is going to be the best series of the 2nd round. And, I think this series is going to send the Sharks faithful in to a deep depression. Once again, their regular season greatness is going to come up short.

Winner: Wings in 6 games

Eastern Conference: Round 2

Philadelphia Flyers (2) Vs New York Rangers (8)
This should be another entertaining series, but I think the Flyers are going to prove to be too much for the Rangers and their goalie just isn’t going to be able to save their bacon this time.

Winner: Flyers in 6 games

Boston Bruins (3) Vs Tampa Bay Lightning (5)
I’ve been rooting for both of these teams all year (I had both goalies on my fantasy team), so this is going to be a fun series to watch (for me, anyway). I think Tim Thomas is going to steal the show this time around.

Winner: Bruins in 5 games

Western Conference Semifinals

Vancouver Canucks (1) Vs Detroit Red Wings (3)
I think this is a series that could easily see some games with scores like 5-4, 6-3, etc…

Winner: Canucks in 6 games

Eastern Conference Semifinals

Philadelphia Flyers (2) Vs Boston Bruins (3)
This is another series I’m really looking forward to. I think this may be a really physical series with a lot of bumps and bruises. I’ll go out on a limb and say the home team wins every game in this series… except the last one.

Winner: Boston Bruins in 6 games

Stanley Cup Finals

Vancouver Canucks (1) Vs Boston Bruins (3)
This isn’t about playing it safe. This isn’t about just riding the top team in the league all the way through the playoffs. But, Vancouver is a pretty amazing team. This season they scored the most goals (262) and allowed the fewest goals (185) of any team in the league. Curse of the president’s trophy be damned!

Skating with the Cup: Vancouver Canucks in 5 games.

So that’s my predictions. Agree with me? Think I’m crazy. Leave a comment and tell me who YOU think is going to win.

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Las Vegas Bowl

December 21, 2008
Las Vegas Bowl

I still have never been to a pro football game, but yesterday I did go to my second ever college game. The first game I ever went to was Michigan Vs USC in the Rose Bowl. I think the year was 1979, but I’m not sure. Last night was the Las Vegas Bowl at Sam Boyd Stadium. Even though it was cold, we had a great time.

We were lucky enough to get free tickets to go with a group of friends. We all met up at a bar about a mile from the stadium. We had a quick beer and then decided it would be better to leave our cars at the bar and walk to the stadium rather than trying to fight the traffic. So we bundled up for the cold and got to walking. We made it to the stadium and were in route to our seats as David Hasselhoff was singing the National Anthem. We missed him singing, but stepped out of the tunnel just in time to see the fighter jets do a fly-over just at the end of the song. Wow, that was awesome to see!

We made it to our seats, which of course were on the exact opposite side of the stadium from where we entered, just in time for the kickoff. Our seats, as you can see from the photo below, are basically right on the 50 yard line.

Las Vegas Bowl

The guy who gave us the tickets was rooting for Arizona. Since I couldn’t have cared less who won, we too cheered for Arizona. This was especially fun since we were sitting on the opposing team’s side of the field. Though, the groups right in front of us and behind us were also cheering for Arizona as well. At one point one of the receivers on Arizona’s side made a really nice catch and my buddy mentions to me, “That guy is from Las Vegas.” The kid in front of us, maybe 13 or 14 years old, turns and says, “Yeah, that’s my cousin.” He was pretty stoked and was having a great time. It was pretty cool to see.

We did get pretty lucky. It was quite cold and we had to stay bundled up for the entire game, but at least it didn’t get windy. Had the wind kicked up, the cold would have been unbearable for a sissy like me and I’d have been headed back to the bar. But instead, we stayed for the entire game and celebrated Arizona’s 31-21 victory over BYU with the crowd of 40,047 people.

And before I go, here’s our friend Jason at the game.

I remember my first beer, too.

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Hockey season is upon us

October 9, 2008
kingsthirdjersey

Once you start seeing the Halloween costumes and candy showing up at the stores, that can only mean one thing. It’s almost Halloween! Oh wait, that wasn’t my point. Hockey, yes, Hockey season. That’s where I was going with this. WOO HOO! It’s hockey season!

Normally I sign up for a fantasy hockey heam with the guys from the office and that helps to keep me focused on how teams are doing all season long. This year, somehow I’ve ended up in 3 fantasy hockey leagues. Apparently I’ll need to follow the games even closer this year. I’ll probably end the season knowing what each player eats before each game.

With hockey season opening today, I was thinking what do I have to look forward to as a Los Angeles Kings fan. Well, most likely: mediocrity. I’m not expecting a lot out of the Kings this year. They still don’t have a true #1 goalie, and the bulk of their guys are really young. This isn’t a horrible thing. It just doesn’t bode well for this season. I firmly believe that the Kings are a solid goalie and 2 seasons away from being a solid team in the west. However, until that time I have 2 wishes for the Kings;

  1. Make the playoffs
    Even if they don’t go deep in the playoffs, making the playoffs would be a great step in the right directions. However, if that can’t happen, see #2.
  2. Finish dead last
    If you aren’t going to make the playoffs, shoot for the bottom. That way you get the best chance at getting the #1 pick in next season’s draft.

There is one other hope I have for the Kings this year. In November when you reveal your new “3rd jersey”, please make it not SUCK! I think it’s time I buy a new Kings jersey, and I’d like to pick up one of the 3rd jerseys assuming they are nothing like that monstrosity of a 3rd jersey you came out with a few years back. Seriously, that thing was horrible.

I was really pleased to hear that the Kings chose Dustin Brown as the team captain. He’s a young guy but obviously a player that the Kings are looking at to take them to the next level over the next few years. He’s a stud of a player and is going to be a force to be reckoned with this season.

Lace up the skates, put on the foil, drop the puck. It’s hockey season. Go, Kings, Go!

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Are you ready for some football?

September 7, 2008

Before I get started, Todd, I apologize. I promise not to write too many more times about football.

Today was the first Sunday of the regular football season. I spent the morning at the office finishing up a project. Once the football games started, I found myself checking scores and checking out how my fantasy football team players were doing. I have to be honest with you, I never would have thought I’d be this in to it, but I really am.

Later in the afternoon we went to play poker at a casino. Of course they had football games on the TVs and I spent a fair amount of time craning my neck to check the scores.

Don’t look now, but I think I’m becoming a football fan.

OK Todd, if you see another football related post from me this month, feel free to smack me. But as we get towards the end of the fantasy football season, you’ll have to allow me a follow-up post.

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Fantasy Football newbie

August 26, 2008

I’ve never been much of a football fan. But just about everybody I know is a big time football nut. So it makes it tough to hang around the water cooler when you don’t know a field goal from a 2 point conversion. OK, I’m not a complete dumbass, I know the rules and scoring of football and I watch enough Sports Center to know the teams and several key players, but if you asked me how a specific team did last year, I’d have no clue. This year, I’ve decided to take a much deeper interest in the game of football. What better way to do that than by joining a Fantasy Football league?

Our draft was set up for today at 4:00 PM. Over the past week I had done some research and even created a spreadsheet with tabs for each position and a ranking system that I had found online somewhere. I cross-checked some names, tried to keep an eye on the news for injuries and basically thought more about football in the past week than I have over the past 10 years.

By random draw, I ended up picking 11th in the first round out of 12 teams. In the second round I’d pick 2nd and then it would be a bit of a wait before I picked again in the 3rd round. As the time was getting close I double-checked that I had everything I needed. Then, it was go-time!

As players were getting picked I’d mark them off my sheet. The big names that I expected to be taken went right away. After a few short minutes I was on the clock and ready to make my first pick. My goal here, don’t make a fool of yourself. Don’t pick somebody that people are going to say “Dude, you could have got him in the 6th round…” Actually, to be honest, that was my goal for the entire draft, not just the first round. Just don’t be a complete idiot.

One thing that I realized I have going for me is that I have no pro team affiliation. I’m not a Chargers fan, I’m not a Raiders fan, I’m not a Patriots fan. As the draft was going on, you’d see certain teams picking guys off their favorite team just because they are on their favorite team. I think this is a huge mistake, but I’m a noob, so what do I know.

When all was said and done, I’m fairly pleased with my team. Our weekly team consists of 1 quarterback, 3 wide receivers , 2 running backs, 1 tight end, 1 kicker, 1 team defense, 1 defensive back and 1 defensive lineman. We also have 6 bench spots for a total of 17 draft rounds. Here’s who I picked by round:

1. Larry Johnson, RB
2. Clinton Portis, RB
3. Plaxico Burress, WR
4. Matt Hasselbeck, QB
5. Dwayne Bowe, WR
6. Jeremy Shockey, TE
7. Donald Driver, WR
8. Dallas’ Defense
9. Nate Kaeding, K
10. Jeff Garcia, QB
11. DeShaun Foster, RB
12. DeAngelo Williams, RB
13. Jerry Porter, WR
14. Nick Barnett, DL
15. Sammy Knight, DB
16. Deion Branch, WR
17. Arnaz Battle, WR

I’m fairly pleased with my team. Checking the match-ups for the first 3 weeks, Yahoo predicts I’ll have more points than my opponents each week. So that’s a good thing.

So, here we go. My rookie year as a Fantasy Football coach. How do you think I did draft-wise? Of the 17 picks I made, how many of them would you say were “good”, “OK”, “bad” or “horrible”?

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

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Camping dry run

July 27, 2008
tent.jpg

In a couple weeks, Me, Chris, Jake and Diane are heading to Clayton, Idaho (population 27) to see a concert. Insane? Yeah, maybe. So what, it’ll be an adventure.

For room and board we’ve secured a spot at a camp site. We’ve purchased a new tent and sleeping bags, we are all but ready to go!

OK, not so fast. Let’s back up a little bit. When I said we purchased a “new” tent, that may have made it sound like there was on “old” tent that we are replacing. Not the case. Chris and I have been together for roughly 20 years. In that time we have been camping exactly ZERO times. This is not her fault at all. It’s entirely mine. She’s asked me to take her camping several times. My standard response usually has something to do with wondering where I plug in my laptop. So, what made me change my mind? I swear I have no idea. But, for some completely unknown reason, this actually sounds like an absolute blast!

Since this is going to be our first trip camping, and since this will be my first time setting up a tent in a quarter century, I thought it would be a good idea to set up the tent once before we get out to the middle of absolutely nowhere, possibly in the dark, so we’d at least have some sort of idea as to what the fuck we are doing. I’ll bet without reading any further you could already guess how things went down… Pause for a minute, make your guess and then read on…

Ready? OK, here we go… I pulled everything out of the box, started assembling everything, got one pole inserted in the tent and was having trouble getting the other inserted. Chris suggest laying down the first pole until we get both poles through the slots. We do this and everything works wonderfully. Then, Chris finds the instructions and we complete the installation of the tent in a matter of a couple minutes. Who knew they included instructions with these things… Idaho, here we come!

So, here ya go. A 6 person tent set up in our living room.

tent 

At least when we set up the tent in the living room, I know where to plug in the laptop.

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Softball, Social Distortion and Love

January 27, 2008

What a busy day yesterday! I got up and headed over to the park for the first softball practice. It was a perfect day for it. It wasn’t nearly as cold as it had been the previous few days and the park was basically empty so we had no trouble securing the baseball diamond to play on. About 18 of us showed up. For the first 30 or 40 minutes we were taking turns batting and fielding. When it was my turn to hit I realized that it was probably the first time I swung a bat in more than 10 years. After a few warm up swings I belted a few of them deep in to the outfield. That felt really good.

We broke up in to two teams and played a few innings. The other team ended up being stacked and they basically destroyed us. But we had a good time and got some exercise in the process. Win Win. We are supposed to hit the batting cages one night this week. I sure hope I can find a left handed bat.

More than anything, I’m just glad to be able to report that after hitting, fielding, running and throwing, I’m not injured. I am a little sore today after using some muscles that I haven’t used in quite some time. But other than that, I’m fine!

After baseball I came home and worked for a while and then took a nice nap in the afternoon. I don’t know if there is anything better than an afternoon nap. I seriously think they should be mandatory. After the nap it was time to get dressed and head over to the House of Blues to see Social Distortion.

Technically speaking this was our second time seeing Social D in about 45 days. They played 3 nights at the HOB back in December. We went and saw them in concert the same night as the Las Vegas half-marathon that we ran. Thanks to being overly exhausted and sore that night, we saw them do about 3 songs and then we had to head for the door.

For the show last night we met up with Jake and Diane (and Diane’s brother, Mark). We found a decent spot to stand near one of the bars and chilled out through the opening band. By the time Social D hit the stage, the place was absolutely packed. They sounded great and the crowd was really in to it.

One thing I did find funny, though. If you take a look at the average Social D fan at the show, they are pretty hard core. Both guys and gals alike are heavily tattooed and just a bit rough around the edges. But so much of Social D’s music, and especially their concerts, are filled with country music. I’ll bet if you ask all the fans in attendance, away from the show, if they liked country music, I’m sure you’d get way more “Hell No” responses than anything else. I dunno, to me, that’s funny.

But tonight we are heading out to the Mirage to see the Cirque Du Soleil show, Love. Our daughter is a Beatles fanatic and we are taking her to see the show for her 15th birthday. I’m sure she’s going to love it.

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Watching Football History

December 29, 2007

I don’t consider myself to be a football fan, though I do enjoy watching the game from time to time. But, the decision to watch the game tonight between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants was a no-brainer. The Patriots came in with a record of 15-0, one win away from a perfect 16-0 regular season. This is something that hasn’t been done in over 30 years. There is something special about watching historic games.

The Giants, who secured their playoff position had nothing to gain by winning today, so many people thought they would rest all their starting players. At the beginning of the game, it seemed the Patriots thought that, too. They got off to a slow start while the Giants came out with all their big guns firing. The Giants scored first and had the lead at the end of the first, second and third quarters. But, in the fourth quarter, the Patriots took over and scored twice to take the lead. The Giants would score with about a minute left in the game, but it was too-little-too-late.

The Patriots broke a bunch of records in the game, too. Most touchdown throws in a season by a quarterback, most touchdown receptions in a season by a receiver and most points in a season by a team.

It was an exciting game that had back and fourth action throughout. It’s no wonder that Football is the biggest sport in the country.

Congratulations to the Patriots. Good luck in the playoffs.

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