But as it relates to how I did once the playoffs began, I amazingly finished with the exact same mark I had last year—although with one less in the number of series with exact number of games. The important part, of course, is how my picks stacked up to the "experts":
1. (1) YOURS TRULY: 12-3 (5)
2. (2) Scott Piankowski, Puck Daddy: 11-4 (4)
4. (7) Ross McKeon, Yahoo: 10-5 (2)
6. (7) E.J. Hradek, ESPN: 10-5 (1)
7. (5) Erin Brown, CBS Sports: 9-3 (6)
7. (9) Barry Melrose, ESPN: 9-6 (6)
9. (10) Matthew Barnaby, ESPN: 9-6 (5)
10. (6) John Buccigross, ESPN: 9-6 (3)
6. (7) E.J. Hradek, ESPN: 10-5 (1)
7. (5) Erin Brown, CBS Sports: 9-3 (6)
7. (9) Barry Melrose, ESPN: 9-6 (6)
9. (10) Matthew Barnaby, ESPN: 9-6 (5)
10. (6) John Buccigross, ESPN: 9-6 (3)
10. (11) Pierre LeBrun, ESPN: 9-6 (3)
12. (12) Sam McCaig, Yahoo: 9-6 (2)
13. (13) Greg Wyshynski, Yahoo: 8-7 (2)
14. (14) Matt Romig, Yahoo: 8-7 (1)
15. (15) Wes Goldstein, CBS Sports: 7-5 (1)
17. (17) Dmitry Chesnokov, Puck Daddy: 6-6 (2)
19. (18) Darryl Dobbs, Puck Daddy: 5-10 (2)
20. (20) Mike Hurcomb, CBS Sports: 3-9 (1)
We obviously lost a couple of guys along the way, but that seems to be how it goes. The transition between rounds in the NHL worked for this site a little better than the NBA thanks to the Commish's decision to hold off starting the conference semifinals until all opening round series had finished, but I don't know why the CBS blog just inexplicably called it quits.
So once again, I went 12-3 and my only slip-ups along the way proved to be the San Jose Sharks actually growing a pair to oust the Red Wings and the Cinderella Canadiens with a pair of their own—those being two consecutive upsets of teams that were widely believed to be finalists.
To my credit (as I mentioned in these playoffs), I did predict an eighth-seeded Montreal team knocking off the top seed. But Boston wasn't that No. 1, and so things instead ended up like they did. But just for shits & giggles, here's a look back at how my predictions from the beginning of the year stacked up after everything played out (NOTE: I apologize if this ends up with sloppy spacing, but Blogger's HTML is in one of its moods despite numerous attempts to correct the ugliness [couldn't possibly be my fault, of course]):
Opening Round Playoffs
#8 Canadiens over #1 Bruins in 6 games
#2 Capitals over #7 Devils in 7 games
#3 Flyers over #6 Sabres in 5 games
#4 Penguins over #5 Hurricanes in 6 games
#1 Sharks over #8 Wild in 6 games
#2 Blackhawks over #7 Stars in 6 games
#3 Canucks over #6 Flames in 7 games
#5 Ducks over #4 Red Wings in 6 games
Conference Semifinals
#2 Capitals over #8 Canadiens in 4 games
#4 Penguins over #3 Flyers in 6 games
#5 Ducks over #1 Sharks in 6 games
#2 Blackhawks over #3 Canucks in 7 games
Conference Finals
#2 Capitals over #4 Penguins in 7 games
#2 Blackhawks over #5 Ducks in 6 games
Stanley Cup Final
Washington Capitals over Chicago Blackhawks in 6 games
So to my credit, I did have six of the eight first-round winners right and nailed a Blackhawks-over-'Nucks conference semifinals ... and that's pretty much it. But yeah, the Cup runner-up jinx is neat. I'm wondering if I should make this a tradition.
Which reminds me that I'll of course have further thoughts on this whole Blackhawks-winning-the-Stanley-Cup thing when I do my Final Thoughts for their season later on thisweek month. It's all still just sinking in.
I would argue that those three series that I was wrong about were undoubtedly the most shocking ousters of these playoffs that thus eliminated last year's champions, another perennial contender that was the previous year's champions, and the team with the regular season's best record and biggest star. That would seemingly be ratings death, but instead Chicago and Philadelphia proved to deliver outstanding numbers.
And while last season's climactic Game Seven certainly has not been forgotten, there's a certain sense that the Patrick Kane overtime goal that ended this year's Final in Game Six was quite appropriate. Both teams had been doubted by many for the goaltending concerns they'd had all year long, but the Flyers were only able to juggle and get lucky enough to hold off the inevitable until a moment of skill (that blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot from Kane) was just that much faster than Leighton could get his stick down.
The puck didn't snap back into the net with the typical authority we associate with game-winning—Cup-Winning—goals, but because it marks the end of the season in addition to the game, it's fair to feel a certain sense of "Is that it?"
But so it is. So it wonderfully, gloriously is.
Which reminds me that I'll of course have further thoughts on this whole Blackhawks-winning-the-Stanley-Cup thing when I do my Final Thoughts for their season later on this
I would argue that those three series that I was wrong about were undoubtedly the most shocking ousters of these playoffs that thus eliminated last year's champions, another perennial contender that was the previous year's champions, and the team with the regular season's best record and biggest star. That would seemingly be ratings death, but instead Chicago and Philadelphia proved to deliver outstanding numbers.
And while last season's climactic Game Seven certainly has not been forgotten, there's a certain sense that the Patrick Kane overtime goal that ended this year's Final in Game Six was quite appropriate. Both teams had been doubted by many for the goaltending concerns they'd had all year long, but the Flyers were only able to juggle and get lucky enough to hold off the inevitable until a moment of skill (that blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot from Kane) was just that much faster than Leighton could get his stick down.
The puck didn't snap back into the net with the typical authority we associate with game-winning—Cup-Winning—goals, but because it marks the end of the season in addition to the game, it's fair to feel a certain sense of "Is that it?"
But so it is. So it wonderfully, gloriously is.
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