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Yearbook's 2008-09 Eastern Conference playoff predictions.
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
1) Hartford (Andrew) CTR #17
vs.
4) New York Rangers (Charlie) CTR #23
There seems little hope for GM Charlie when he has three players and only one a scorer to over come an eight point deficit. With the Havlat’s cancelling out Charlie would need Kane">
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Articles Yearbook's 2008-09 Eastern Conference playoff predictions. Eastern Conference Atlantic Division
There seems little hope for GM Charlie when he has three players and only one a scorer to over come an eight point deficit. With the Havlat’s cancelling out Charlie would need Kane, Fedorov and Samuelsson to outscore Koivu, Hartnell, Ryder, Chara and Campbell. Last season saw the biggest upset in league history when Glen beat Andrew, out-manned 6 to 3 in the first round. These kinds of things can apparently happen, we just don’t see them often enough to believe in them repeating. Prediction: Hartford (Andrew) 26-18 Hartford (Andrew) For the dream to come true – A Chicago and Boston finals could do it for Andrew. He can win round one, and easily round two if meeting Jr or Glen without Carolina in. Even with Carolina in against Glen, Andrew would be ok. Could Chicago beat out Detroit and San Jose in the NHL playoffs? Well that is this dream. Getting Chicago into the semis and going to the finals with his two Bruins could be enough if the other Big Bruin based teams like Philadelphia (Scott) and Calgary (Jr) are gone by the finals. New York Rangers (Charlie) For the dream to come true – A huge upset to start the playoffs is always fun. Chuck is expected to lose to Andrew by 8 points in the first round. Charlie would then also need Chicago to go to the finals, matching up with Washington and having a three player finals, enough to beat Ovechkin or Semin off another team. Charlie could have a solid four man second and even third round team so this dream is one that can be realized. In round two, his four man team would be good enough against Jr getting him out of the Atlantic. Long shots win in the NHL, and less often in the NHLP, but not often, although in dreams we have to think they do and can happen. Chicago and Washington is the dream. 2) Atlantic City (Glen) CTR #27 GM Jr has the highest ranking CTR is this weak Atlantic Division and will be good enough to get by GM Glen if he can get the man-games from Calgary. This series is clearly one that can swing if Calgary is 4 and out while Carolina gets the 7 game series for Glen. With Jr having four players in the Calgary-Chicago series, a short Flames win will not help Jr move on, while any Flames loss will mean no cup hopes anyhow, win or lose round one. Glen here is in the same boat as Jr, just a different series. Glen who is a 5 point underdog has 4 players in the Carolina-New Jersey series and will need more than the Yearbook predicted 6 games from that series, or a very short 4 or 5 game Calgary-Chicago series to have a hope to win. The Yearbook is predicting Jr to get 20 points in the Calgary series and Glen 15 in the Carolina series, so there is the 5 point difference in this match-up and depending on series lengths that can change. Prediction: New Jersey (Jr) wins 26-21 Atlantic City (Glen) For the dream to come true – Carolina Hurricanes went to the NHL finals and won just a couple years ago. Glen’s best hope is they run again. He’d need to get by Jr in round one, a mild upset at best and then let Staal take over. Glen would need Atlanta (Ryan) to likely lose out along the way as he too has a big Cane team, a Category four to be exact. With 5 Eastern players, if Carolina and Philly could somehow make the semis, we’d take a Richards in the finals with a longer shot coming out of the West, like an Anaheim where no competition would be found from the other NHLP teams. New Jersey (Jr) For the dream to come true – Match-ups of Boston with Calgary, Chicago or Columbus would give Jr at least two guys in the finals. Of course the dream best rests with a run in Calgary. Getting by the first round with Calgary likely assures Jr doesn’t stop until they do. That means he wins the cup when they just get there. It would be a memorable run for sure, as Jr is a NHL Flames fan, so this run would be extra special for certain. They are in tough in round one and haven’t played well down the stretch, but that makes it all the more fun when the dream occurs. If Calgary can get Jr a few rounds, maybe a Boston, Recchi final with a longer shot from the West, say Columbus could also make this dream real. He’ll likely need the Boston NHLP teams to fade out, but they are expected to anyhow according to the Yearbook so Jr can be the one to win it all with Boston. Atlantic Division Finals
GM Andrew will cruise onto the Division finals where he should be left with two Bruins. If NHL Chicago wins in the first round, Andrew will have 4 players remaining and overpower Jr on his way to the Semis. Jr on the other hand will be the favorite if Calgary can win round one, then out numbering Andrew 4 players to 2. The Yearbook is predicting Andrew will have his two Hawks but clearly this will be what determines the series, Chicago or Calgary? Prediction: Hartford (Andrew) CTR #17 wins the Atlantic Division Gulf Division Two of the NHLP’s top ten teams, according to the CTR, meet in this tough first round battle. This division was tough all year with the CTR #2, 3, and 9th ranked teams and Miami will be in tough to win in round one. GM Charlie has a lot of fire power for a change and 19 points is expected from his big three players, Carter, Elias and Kane. Charlie did well here to get 6 players in and 5 of the 6 are of the top four NHL seeds. For Marcel his team is a remarkable come back story and also the defending NHLP Champions. This team was written off and came roaring back up the CTR to finish in the top 10. To win Marcel will need to hold off Chuck’s big three. Marcel’s top three are predicted to get 13 points, 6 full points less than Charlie’s top three players, and that is the series right there! The New Jersey series is a wash here as well as the Chicago-Calgary series, where neither GM is getting an upper hand. Where Marcel can gain points on Charlie is a shorter series in Philadelphia and a long series in Boston or Washington. This is a whole new world for the GM who complains about absolutely everything, GM Charlie, to be a high ranking team on the Cup Threat Rating chart and we don’t see him blowing it in round one. Prediction: Miami (Charlie) Wins 28-25 Miami (Charlie) For the dream to come true – The New Jersey Devils vs. the Chicago Blackhawks gives Charlie a 4 man final and the cup. He is favored in the first round but would need Scott to beat Jr or the Wings out of the playoffs in round one. That would open things up for Charlie and he’d walk with the Devils and Hawks to the finals after that. It could happen. Both teams have goalies that have won the cup, so if they got hot, what a rush it would be for Chuck to finally be able to shut up the people who continuously print he is a brutal GM and continues to prove it year after year to them. We think Chuck could win it all with Chicago and Philly as a second choice, but Detroit, Kronwall is likely useless in this dream, for he’d be a crazy underdog against Jr in the second round. But hey, this is a dream and who says Dallas (Jr) will even make round two... Florida (Marcel) For the dream to come true – New Jersey and either Chicago or Calgary could easily do it. Wow, what an unexpected turn of events that would be! Marcel was not even expected to win a series this year and in this dream, goes on to win the cup back to back years. He needs to get by Charlie, but this is close at 3 points, so it can easily be done, especially with Charlie thinking the entire world is out to get him. Now Marcel would need Detroit out, or Scott to pull the massive upset and knock out Jr. In this dream, anything can happen. In the Semis Marcel would like either Calgary or Chicago and New Jersey against Washington or Boston, all possible. The Boston-Washington combo with either Calgary or Chicago could do it late, giving Marcel two players in the finals. 2) Dallas (Jr) CTR #2 How bad would this be for GM Jr to lose to the lowest ranked team to make the NHLP playoffs? Getting in at #43 and having to play the #2 team in the entire NHLP is a big task and one that GM Scott can’t be looking forward too. Is Jr’s team really #2? We’ll, he heads into the first round with 4 Red Wings and 2 Devils. If you could pick four players off one team and two off another to make your team this year, what teams would you pick? Detroit would likely get a lot of fours!!! If Jr wins round one, can anyone stop this team while Detroit is alive? Likely not! That is what makes this round so scary and yet so exciting when in Jr’s position. His cup dreams can be spoiled by a team as bad as CTR #43! What the fuck is Minnesota in the playoffs for? Jr does have 6 players to the Gull 5, but with 4 Wings, a 4 game sweep would be disastrous. Giving the Wings 5.5 games, Jr is a 5 point favorite in this series. In a 6 game series in New Jersey Jr is set to get 10 more points, so Scott will need two fast series to have a chance, at least one sweep. If that happens, the Gull can scavenger up enough here, regardless of how bad it does look on paper, to score the 20 points to beat Jr out if he gets less. The entire NHLP will be rooting for an upset here if NHL Detroit doesn’t get upset themselves. Prediction: Dallas (Jr) wins 25-20 Dallas (Jr) For the dream to come true – Can it get any easier to win the NHLP Cup? Hell, this isn’t a dream, it is very much reality, that GM’s don’t want to think about. If Jr does the expected in round one, can this team be stopped if Detroit goes to their second straight finals? Four Wings say no one can beat this team of Jr’s. So this dream is one you lay in bed at night and get all tingly about. It ain’t hard to see at all baby. Not this team. Not a team of four Wings. They just need to do the work and let the cards all fall into place round by round. CTR #2 for a reason! Minnesota (Scott) For the dream to come true – This is a team of misfits! With Scott having 1 of 8 playoff teams the past two years, anything is better than nothing. To knock out Jr in round one likely is a good enough ending for this dream, but it gets better...a St Louis run to the finals. Hey, Edmonton did it, Anaheim did it. Wait, they were 8th place seeds. St Louis is number 6 and they are hot, the hottest NHL team since February 18th. Even though Boyes by himself can be the difference here, one hell of a lot of things have to go right for the Gull, for them to squeal for their first NHLP Cup. A short first round series in Detroit but winning a second round series, means getting more than St Louis in, but also Boston, Chicago, Columbus and NY Rangers. This is CinderMiracle. A St Louis and Boston finals without the Couple strong NHLP Boston teams in and this can really happen. The Power of the Gull. You boyes, that’s right, you “Boyes” would never hear the end of this dream. Gulf Division Finals It does appear that two of the best NHLP teams are set to battle for the Division title in the Gulf. If no upsets occur anywhere, Dallas will have all 6 through to face Miami who will have everyone but Carter. Both teams have 2 Devils so it isn’t that series that will decide who wins the second round and goes to the semis from the Gulf. If Detroit wins in round one, Jr will be a favorite unless Charlie loses no one. We don’t see that happening and we must assume Detroit is going to at least the Semi-finals this season. This will mean Jr will be winning the Gulf. Prediction: Dallas (Jr) CTR #2 Wins the Gulf Division Northeast Division 1) Halifax (Shawn) CTR #31 GM Glen goes into the playoffs already out-gunned 6-4 and that usually tells you the outcome of the series right there. Both Henrik Sedin’s are in this series and cancel each other out, leaving Glen with three players against the other Sedin, equally as good a scoring Daniel, and four others including Markov and Tanguay of Montreal, Pavelski and Laich. Glen does have Iginla, Homstrom and Vermette, but is a 5 point underdog if Markov was playing and healthy. Without Markov this is a one point series and much more scary for the NHLP’s first over-all point getting team. We don’t think Markov is playing at all making this almost a pick’em series. Glen is predicted to get 7 points from Iginla, so any less will mean likely losing. If Iggy can squeak out 9 or more, Glen would actually be the favorite, so a longer series there will be needed. Glen can’t really gain from any shorter series, except Vancouver. Shawn’s series are already short in Montreal (5), San Jose (5) and Washington (5.5). It is close, but with a sure bet tie-breaker added in for a safety net, Shawn should be OK. Prediction: Halifax (Shawn) Wins 21-20, Without Markov, (and 25-20 With Him) Halifax (Shawn) For the dream to come true – An All-Canadian Cup Finals. Wow. Montreal and Vancouver for the NHL Cup would mean a Championship for Halifax, the first NHLP team from Canada to win since Edmonton in 1992. It has really been that long even though the NHLP has 10 of 48 teams from Canada (next year could be 11 Canadian teams if Alaska moves to Hamilton to join the other team already in Hamilton). This dream doesn’t have to be that precise, as an all-Canadian final, hell, no one is beating Shawn if Vancouver is there and this team makes the NHLP finals. We say this because Halifax has both Sedins. Shawn has dreams of Montreal and San Jose or Vancouver and Washington, even Washington and San Jose could find a way to make this team win it all. The second round could be the sticker and in all likelihood, not go Shawn’s way if Washington is still there. Shawn can get through, but he just needs the right teams in and maybe just Columbus and the Rangers out in round one to have enough to go to the Semis where he is then carried by Montreal or Vancouver. Ottawa (Glen) For the dream to come true – This is a really hard dream to see coming true. It isn’t the one point underdog in the first round that has this dream hard to believe, it is the only one-player in the finals, best case scenario that kind of sucks. Iginla would be enough once the right teams, like Jr’s New Jersey team are out but come on Glen. You have to give us some material to work with! Henrik Sedin could win it all for Glen in this dream, for in round one he’d be knocking out the biggest Vancouver team in the league, Shawn with both Sedins. The best Glen can do is a three man second round team, so he’ll need Washington out and likely San Jose gone to make winning second round possible. After this…can you believe I spend hours on this shit thinking about the - what ifs? Fuck it, Glen woke up. 2) Boston (Ryan) CTR #22 Just like the NHL match-up and very likely with the same result Montreal and Boston go at it in the first round of the playoffs. According to the ever-so-accurate Yearbook predictions, this is by far the most lopsided first round match-up. For the defending Champion Marcel this is a very ugly showing. He had what is called, “Cup Hang-over” and just didn’t have the drive this year to try and win the Cup, content on last year’s Cup. It is true that you ease off, and guys like Charlie and Scott will contest to it after their wins, while maybe for the very exceptionally rare GM like Andrew who never let’s up, but you do ease off the year after winning it all (Editors Note- Please remove GM Charlie’s name from example listed previous sentence. We have checked and he has done dick-shit in 9 NHLP seasons unless ‘letting off the gas-petal’ after getting destroyed the year before was the purpose of him in the example in which case, good choice of GM Charlie being used). After winning, you let up. Marcel had two playoff teams and although he can win one series this year, he is predicted to lose them both and be a second round by-stander one year after winning the Cup. A 12 point underdog here, there just seems no way he can pull it out. What is in doubt though, is GM Ryan’s second round team. With three of his teams in, all favorites to win round one, Ryan is looking at having Ovechkin, Michalek, Kesler and Bernier in round two and will it be enough to win the division? Prediction: Boston (Ryan) Wins 25-13 Boston (Ryan) For the dream to come
true – A Vancouver and Washington final would be a dream come true for
Ryan, ending his 7 years of bad NHLP luck - as every GM knows, any lady that can
bake a cake like that, is no-where near bad luck outside the league, so all is
not lost for GM Ryan. He’d likely
need Glen to win in round one, or Montreal out, which should happen, and this
dream starts to take shape, one ingredient at a time.
If Vancouver can’t get to the finals, just Washington getting there or
them meeting Columbus or San Jose are all cup winning dreams.
If Washington doesn’t go, this dream becomes a nightmare in a hurry, so
GO Montreal (Marcel) For the dream to come true – I’d of expected this from Marcel in the first 13 years. This team is a miracle waiting not to happen. This dream starts with Ovechkin getting hurt or no points in round one, while Daniel Sedin gets about 10 points against St Louis. Now we are talking dreams here so why not? In round two Marcel needs all three his players and playing Glen without Iginla. If he can get out of the division and still have Sedin, now a Vancouver run could do it, but if he can get support from Montreal or Carolina and we are talking favorite in the finals. Good luck. Northeast Division Final GM Ryan in Boston is heading to the second round with Ovechkin, Michalek, Kesler and Bernier if the favorites all win, meaning facing Halifax, GM Shawn with Both Sedins, Pavelski and Laich. This would be way to tough to call this soon, but because this is what we do, we think GM Shawn will be about a 2 point favorite and come out of the Gulf as winners. Thank goodness this best-guessing means nothing for GM Ryan, because that is a pretty good second round team to lose if it ever did happened. The wild cards between these two should be the first round winners. Will Shawn come out with Montreal and can Columbus pull a first round upset for Ryan? Either of those teams winning will definitely make that GM the winner. Prediction: Halifax (Shawn) CTR #31 wins the Northeast Division
Southeast Division 1) Washington (Andrew) CTR #12 GM Matt had one hell of a rookie season and although this is his only playoff team, making it in on the final day of the regular season, he has nothing to hang his head about. Matt went for it in two other divisions, only to miss the playoffs. Winning GM’s will give him credit for his attempt, even though it is hard to see at the moment that what he did was the right thing. The NHLP GM’s had better be cheering for Matt to win in his first NHLP playoff series, for the Washington Capital’s are not only good, they are PREDICTED TO WIN THE NHLP CHAMPIONSHIP THIS SEASON. That is right! GM Andrew winning his fifth cup is the Yearbooks prediction. It starts here in round one, likely his toughest battle and maybe where it could all go wrong for the veteran. Andrew is a 2 point favorite in this series with Boyle and Sharp who have been injured the last two weeks of the season, making this a potential closer series than he’d like if injuries play a part. Sundin and Wellwood give Andrew support for the big guns Backstrom and Thornton who should eventually carry the team. Where Matt can win this series will be in Montreal where Kovalev and Plekanec are only predicted to get 6 points between them in 5 games against Boston. If Montreal can make this a 6 or 7 game series, the outcome could mean an upset and a first round out for the Yearbook’s Predicted Cup Champs in Washington. A shorter series in San Jose will also work in Matt’s favor. The entire league will be cheering for the youngster if they hope to win the cup themselves. Prediction: Washington (Andrew) Wins 26-24 Washington (Andrew) For the dream to come true – There is nothing to dream about. He wins the Cup! Cincinnati (Matt) For the dream to come true – Beating Andrew in round one is the easy part of this dream, for he is already there, only a 2 measly point underdog. Taking out Chad without San Jose or Scott without Boston will go smoothly, so this is a big part of the dream if it does happen. The Rookie needs finals like Montreal and Vancouver or Calgary to be a favorite in the finals. A Philly or New Jersey final with Vancouver or Calgary could also do it. Matt really needs Montreal to win in round one. Missing this slices his chances, even though he can still have a 4 man second round with Philly, New Jersey, Vancouver and Calgary all winning. Those four teams all making the semis, a possibility, however long, would mean a two person final and a shot at being the first rookie GM to win a cup since Norm in 1993. 2) Philadelphia (Scott) CTR #8 After one playoff team in the past 2 years GM Scott turned the tables on the competition and ended the season in everywhere. Being in, and building a championship team however, are two different things altogether, as everyone knows but Charlie. For GM Scott, this may be his best hope of winning it all, in a division where GM Andrew is already predicted to win it all. This is also where GM Chad has his only hope and potentially his only second round team. That is three GM’s with 9 Cups all hoping to get out of just one division. Chad has the numbers, 6-5 in players and in a series that is coming down to a potential tie-breaking pick. So the extra player is huge for Chadwick. No player in this series is expected to get over 5 points and 8 of the 11 players in this series are predicted to play in under 6 games. That being said, this series will likely being decided in the longer series category; Boston or San Jose. GM Scott has 3 Bruins against the same number of Sharks for 007. The Yearbook gives them both 11 points in those Series, so if either team goes beyond the 5 games we’ll likely see that GM win this battle. No matter who wins, they’ll need their full team in round two versus GM Andrew. Prediction: Pittsburgh (Chad) Wins 21-20 Philadelphia (Scott) For the dream to come true – It isn’t hard to see the Boston and Detroit final and the Cup win. Scott just really needs to get by the first round or two and maybe some minor help in disposing the strong Detroit team of Jr’s and the strong Boston team of Jr’s (Jr-Jr-Jr), but that can easily happen. Even if they are in the finals, this four man team is clearly good enough to beat them out anyhow. Round one won’t be easy and round two Scott would need likely San Jose or Vancouver out if he met Andrew. If he meets Matt, with Montreal gone Scott should be ok. After that - clear skies and a Flyer Cup. Pittsburgh (Chad) For the dream to come true – Once upon a time there was a Canuck who owned 3 Sharks, a Bear and who loved the Devil. Unless you have Galeophobia, what isn’t there to like about how this dream is starting? Three Sharks! Why isn’t this team already winning the cup? Throw in Boston or even New Jersey Devil in the finals and it all adds up to Jaws 3 for Chad. This team has enough to get Vancouver in the semis and matching up in the finals with Boston or NJ. These are all very real possibilities for 007-J3? Chad is in a battle in round one, where he is a favorite anyhow, so it is round two, against Andrew’s Washington team where this dream will be tough to realize. Chad best bet is just have Andrew just going out to Matt in round one, for Chad will want his Sharks and Canuck to stay around for help in the later rounds. Washington and Chicago going out, if he does face Andrew in round two, are enough to make this Chad’s third cup. That would be two more cups than Jr and “I came in after Jr” Chad added. All Chad has to do is get out of this Division with his Sharks... Chad - “I'm tellin' ya, the crime
rate in New York'll kill you. There's so many problems, you never feel like
you're accomplishing anything. Violence, rip-offs, muggings... kids can't leave
the house - you gotta walk them to school. But in Amity one man can make a
difference. In twenty-five years, there's never been a shooting or a murder in
this town.” Andrew - “Fascinating. Want a pretzel?” Northeast Division Finals When was the last time all the top four seeds won in the first round of the NHL playoffs? Well, although I know Jr can find the answer, I don’t know it off the top of my head, but I do know this; if they all win then the Southeast will have a 6-6 second round match-up if GM’s Andrew and Chad meet. Make no mistake about it; this is a strong division with some serious cup winning potential. GM Andrew is predicted to win this series and move onto the Semis and cup finals and eventually winning it all. That means no first round upsets and him having a full team of San Jose, Vancouver, Chicago and Washington. If Andrew misses a piece of this pie (seems unlikely when you think about it), he’ll likely be out as Chad should have San Jose, New Jersey, Vancouver and Boston if no upsets for a full 6 players. You know this is a strong division when, in reality, neither of these two teams might be in the division finals!!! It is Andrew the Yearbook likes this year. The Yearbook doesn’t believe upsets occur, or injures to flakes like Sharp and Boyle. If Sharp is still Sharp and Boyle’s is still Boiling Andrew is still winning this division. Prediction: Washington (Andrew) CTR #12 Wins Northeast |