I am a HUGE proponent of this following fact: Who you play is a huge factor on whether or not you can win a Stanley Cup. Maybe it's because here in Philly we were fortunate enough to have someone else beat the Dynasty Canadiens when we won our two Cups in the 70's.

Match-ups matter. There is no avoiding it. Don't think for a second teams don't think this is true as well. Were I a conspiracy theorist I would note how in the past few days the NJ Devils destroyed the Canadiens then barely showed up to play the Flyers. Now, of course I don't buy the Devils threw the game. Also, the Flyers have gone 5-1 against NJ this year. So the Devils may not want to play them anyway...

However there are some really odd stories in the NHL this year. Teams who have other teams numbers...

A few examples:

The Capitals have been dominant...yet they don't have winning records against 3 of their possible opponents.

New Jersey is 3-1 versus the Caps., Ottawa is 2-1 versus the Caps. (one more game to play), Montreal is 2-2 versus the Caps.

Pittsburgh has lost all 6 games to NJ this year and split with Ottawa.

Follow this to know how odd match-ups can be...

Ottawa is 5-0 against Buffalo...Buffalo is 3-1 versus Boston, and 4-1 versus Montreal. Yet Boston is 4-2 against Ottawa and Montreal is 5-1 against Boston.

Out West...

Detroit is 3-1 against San Jose and Vancouver. 2-3 against Chicago with one more meeting. Chicago has a winning or even record against all the current Western Playoff teams, except they are 3-1 aginst Phoenix.

So here is how the Match-up Cup works:


How do we determine who wins the series?

I will give the series victory to the teams who are leading the season series. If the teams are tied in the series I will base the victory on the last game the two teams played. A few season series are yet to be finished, so that could change things.

This is supposed to be for fun...and to give you an idea if the matchups are breaking well for your team.
Ready?


Round 1

Caps defeat Bruins
Pens defeat Canadiens
Sabres defeat Flyers
Devils defeat Sens

Sharks defeat Avalanche
Hawks defeat Kings
Detroit defeat Canucks
Coyotes defeat Preds

Round 2

Devils defeat Caps
Pens defeat Sabres

Wings defeat Sharks
Coyotes defeat Hawks


Conference Finals

Devils defeat Pens
Coyotes defeat Wings

Stanley Cup Finals

Coyotes Win Stanley Cup
The Coyotes Defeated Devils 4-3 on Jan 14

Join the Discussion: » Comments » Post New Comment

» Last Night of Picks. Playoff Prevews and UFA Previews start tomorrow

» Wednesday's Picks

» Picks For Tonight's Games New Projected Final Standings. What Will Happen?

» Don Granato Out in Buffalo

» Final Spots in the East Wide Open. Matchups Pending...Mon's Buzzcast