Eklund: Would you Change Your Picks... My Two Cents.

Ye of little faith. Stick with the Devils Ek, they will win this series.

Lol all but one going to 7? Please

Lol all but one going to 7? Please

Exactly... the Bruins will oust the leafs in 4 or 5.

Ye of little faith. Stick with the Devils Ek, they will win this series.
- Crushers68

Nah. If he changes his pick it's good for the Devil's.

NJ vs Vegas final!

San Jose is better than people think.... Why not say than you thought?

Bruins in 5,

I'm still saying B's in 6 or 7, but that 1st game?

Are predictions supposed to have “ifs?”

Lool 6 out of 8 series going to game 7?? You are delusional. Would be crazy if it happened.. but it wont.

The thing is... The Flyers didn't dominate game 2. The Pens still really out played them. The difference was goaltending.

The thing is... The Flyers didn't dominate game 2. The Pens still really out played them. The difference was goaltending.
- cranktheradio

You're assuming he actually watches and/or understands that hockey is more than just the final score.

saying Pens took their foot off the gas in game 1...so staying with Pits.

then stating Boston dominating game 1 follows the correlation that teams who dominate game 1s tend to lose the series?

I was flip flopping a little bit on the Ducks and Sharks series but I'm going to stay with Ducks in 4. Also Nashville is a lot better than I thought, I may change my pick there.

Picking the Devils to beat the Lightning was utterly moronic. There is zero chance the Devils win this series, let alone even win a game or two. I'll give them 1 game. Lightning in 5.

The thing is... The Flyers didn't dominate game 2. The Pens still really out played them. The difference was goaltending.
- cranktheradio

Disagree.
1) Murray looked the same in both games, game 2 was surely not his fault.
2) Elliot has looked unsteady, especially game 1 and the first half of game 2. Second half of the game 2 Elliot started tracking the puck better and swallowing rebounds.

The difference in the series so far is the Penguins buried their chances in game 1 and didn't in game 2. Vice versus for the Flyers.

So for once I actually agree with Ek on this one. If the Flyers didn't crap the bed with so many unforced turnovers and buried the chances...Pens would of won 4-2. If the Pens buried their chances then they still would of lost.

Whether you win 7-0 or 5-1, a win is a win. Series tied 1-1, all that matters.

Are predictions supposed to have “ifs?”
- Rinosaur

only if you want to cover all the bases

Leafs will be lucky if they don’t get swept.

Every series has gone the way I figured they would thus far.

Almost to a T.

Nas-5
Win-5
LV-5
SJ-6

The only One there that might be over quicker than I thought is the Battle of Cali.

Watching the Ducks flat out, frizzle-out hard against the Canucks with a game or two to go, when they really really needed the points.

The first signs to me of an aging core, And young players that just couldnt pull the rest of the wait.

The ducks were Gassed in Vancouver 2 weeks ago, and they're beyond gassed now.

Their legs just dont move the way they used to. Much slower. The 82 game season caught up to them quick.

Might be a sweep. Kanes found a new home. Could be bit of a quiet team climbing
through to the WCF, Everyones talking about LV and Win. What about San Jose?

The Leafs hadn't played a meaningful game in a month...Tonight will be very different...I am trying to find an old article I wrote where I did the research, but there is an amazing correlation that whenever a team absolutely dominates game 1 of the series they lose the series...It is just hard to get back to that emotional pitch..gotta find that article, but my pick is staying the same...
- Eklund

Oops

Picking the Devils to beat the Lightning was utterly moronic. There is zero chance the Devils win this series, let alone even win a game or two. I'll give them 1 game. Lightning in 5.
- Budi1782

It's possible they win 2. 1 home game where they just win and another where whoever the (frank) is playing goal stands on his head and they win a low scoring game, but still a 6 game ass kicking.

Well, 2 games in the books and Todd Hlushko is on 590 talking to Jack Edwards after the game and he's questioning the Leafs entire rebuild. After 2 playoff games and a 105 point season. It's always Leaf fans getting accused by the sports media in Toronto of being the fickle ones. Just ridiculous!

Just for poops-n-giggles, I did the 2018 playoffs as the old (AND MORE LOGICAL) 1-8 seeding, with division winners getting 1 and 2:
West:
Nash(1) vs Col(8) - no change
Vegas(2) vs LA(7) - no change
Jets(3) vs Sharks(6) - makes me rethink my Jets to the final...
Minnesota(4) vs Ducks (5) - Does Budreau's Ghost come a-knockin?

I think the Ducks fare better here than against SanJose

East:
TB(1) vs Devils(8) - no change
Wash(2) vs CBJ(7) - no change
Boston(3) vs Philly(6) - talk about mean
Toronto(4) vs Pits(5) - this one is all about speed. Would be fun to watch!

The reseeding is where it really makes more sense, as you are rewarded (rightly) for doing good in the regular season. For matchups that are the same I used my original picks. Behold, my predicitions of what could have been:

My West:

Nash(1) vs LA(7) - hard to say who wins this dud.
Ducks(5) vs Sharks(6) - deja vu

Nash(1) vs Sharks(6) ???

My East:

TB(1) vs Pits(5) - Take that turdbirds.
Wash(2) vs Boston(3) - New enemy, same result

TB(1) vs Boston(3) - Bruins get'er done.

I'll have a beer now.

"The reseeding is where it really makes more sense, as you are rewarded (rightly) for doing good in the regular season."

The problem with 1 - 8 matchups is that teams in the Metro are more evenly matched and faced tougher opponents more than the Atlantic that got to face Buffalo, Ottawa, Montreal, and Detroit and for the most part Florida. I am not a bitter Isles fan, at least not about this, but, if the Isles got to play those teams more, they may have been in a better spot to make the playoffs. The same can be said out West and this isn't just an off year; this is very common.

"The reseeding is where it really makes more sense, as you are rewarded (rightly) for doing good in the regular season."

The problem with 1 - 8 matchups is that teams in the Metro are more evenly matched and faced tougher opponents more than the Atlantic that got to face Buffalo, Ottawa, Montreal, and Detroit and for the most part Florida. I am not a bitter Isles fan, at least not about this, but, if the Isles got to play those teams more, they may have been in a better spot to make the playoffs. The same can be said out West and this isn't just an off year; this is very common.
- temmer29

I think what you are highlighting is a separate issue/short-coming of the way the league is set-up currently.

I totally agree; I'd rather the Caps don't play Pens/Flyers/Isles/Rags all year and get burnt out by playoff time. I really think it should be a home and away against every team...like the EPL. Seems the most fair.

Regardless, the way the league is set-up now, I feel that being rewarded for doing well in the regular season is even more appropriate.

Nashville's gift for being the league winner this year: a likely match-up against the 2nd best team in the West? Huh?

in 2016, 4 of the top 5 in the East came from the Metro (your Isles included). Their rewards? They all get to face off against each other, while the Isles, actually being 5th, got the WINNER of the Atlantic. Thankfully Florida wasn't ready, but what if that was TB this year?

the wild-card spots are almost a blessing the way this current format is set up, if certain divisions are actually much weaker (as you stated).

1-8 (disregarding how the teams actually came to be ranked 1-8) with reseeding is the only logical format that works at the moment. The league's desperation to incite interest is clear with this current "March Madness" type bs they introduced.