Final Thoughts on 2010-11 NHL Season: I liked Boston more when its teams sucked

In 1986, the Boston Celtics won their third and final NBA Championship of that decade. It was the same year I was only becoming introduced to professional sports on television, but it would still be a couple more years before I really began following basketball. Instead, the city of Boston, to me, became synonymous with suffering in 1986 for two different sports. After all, maybe you recall what happened to the city's football team earlier on or their beloved Red Sox later on in the same year of that Celtics title I just mentioned. You couldn't help but feel sorry for entire city, and it's little wonder that such embarrassment cemented Beantown's place as a home for sports tragedy in my mind. (If that word choice seems inappropriate to any reader, I might remind you of what else occurred that year. [NOTE: It only dawned on me the day after posting this that the date of this posting was in fact the 25th anniversary])

Fast-forward a decade-and-a-half, and a new century has truly ushered in a remarkably different fortune for Boston. While last year's Stanley Cup for the Blackhawks marked the last championship necessary to allow me to say I've seen all four of my favorite teams reach the tops of their respective mountains, those titles were spread out over the course of a quarter-century. And now in a matter of a decade, "The Cradle of Liberty" has accumulated three Super Bowl victories, two World Series titles, an NBA Championship, and this year, finally, a Stanley Cup. I was fully aware of this entering the final round of this year's NHL postseason, which perhaps factored into me picking against the Bruins each and every single round (you know, in addition to being among the others who were doubting Tim Thomas, and also remembering that picking against Boston has treated me well the past couple years).

But there's little other reason for me to be bitter. After all, every Blackhawks fan can find some satisfaction in knowing that a perennial rival has once again suffered a devastating loss—further worsened by the worldwide embarrassment of that city's hooligans looting and pillaging. To Vancouver's credit, the better residents promptly sought to make things right.

Hockey brings out some passionate and visceral emotions from the fans who hold the sport closest, so it's indeed very possible that this year's victory might be sweeter to many Boston residents than any of those other championships earned thus far in this 21st century. Or it might just be further fuel for Massachusetts' ever-growing number of douchebags. Either way, what's done is done, and in many ways, this is one year I'm going to want to forget.

NHL Stanley Cup Final Predicitions: A drought's about to end

In just a couple weeks, one of those video game depictions is going to come true and a long-suffering franchise will finally be raising Lord Stanley's Cup. This is the first Bruins team to even reach the Finals in more than two decades, and it's been almost 40 years since the team's last championship in 1972. But at least Beantown's tasted victory before, unlike Vancouver, where the team has never been declared champions ever since entering the league in 1970.

So once again, we'll presumably be presented with some rather spirited and raucous crowds in both cities as these two supposedly long-suffering (last year's beloved Blackhawks had a nearly half-century wait between Cups) franchises compete for one last series win.

The big winner in this, of course, would have to be the NHL. Considering that the alternatives last round included the markets of San Jose and Tampa Bay, the ratings could have been a lot scarier. Instead, an appearance from the Canucks is surely the best shot a Canadian team's had at the Cup in quite some time, and most anything involving Boston is almost always good for television.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Conference Finals Predictions: Obviously not my year

After one round, we were without my hometown defending champs. And now one round later, we're without either of the two clubs I'd had originally picked to be playing for the Cup this year. What we're left with is four teams, not one of which I can find a real rooting interest for. But at least only one can win, so I suppose that whatever silly objections I might have I will still be able to take some comfort in that three will end up being eliminated.

At the rate I'm going, you can probably assume this year's Finals will be the exact opposite of whatever I predict here.

Final Thoughts on 2010-11 Chicago Blackhawks: Rest in peace, Jimmy

Not that it hasn't been pointed out thousands of times or makes the excuse feel as though it would serve any real purpose, but it's hard to repeat after winning the Stanley Cup. Marian Hossa was coming off three straight years in which he played for teams with seasons that lasted all the way into June, so I can forgive him for missing some time during those regular seasons.

But looking back at this year, it was a struggle all season long just to compete. And while the team went out with an unbelievable bang that was oh-so-close to being an an accomplishment of historic proportions, there won't be any Blackhawks hockey this summer.

I suppose that gives me more time to figure out how I'm going to get the team's radio broadcasts when I'm living in Austin and the puck next drops for the team, but this year was a slowly painful realization that his year's squad just quite simply was nowhere near as good as what we had last year.

I knew this year's run wouldn't be the same when the guy I watched most of last year's playoffs with, Jimmy, passed away from lung cancer on April 20.

Round Two NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Predictions: As long as we're talking about jinxes

I knew in the back of my mind while creating my first round NHL playoffs predictions that mentioning my record from the past two seasons would probably come back to haunt me, and sure enough, I tanked on my predictions bad enough to ensure that I even if I get every other remaining series correct I'll still finish at least one game worse than the record in each of the previous two years. Nice.

This second round begins in stark contrast to last year for other reasons, and while I'll get to the end of the beloved Blackhawks' season in a separate post very soon, this year's Washington Capitals team is in a much better place than where they were last year when I was making picks for this round. With both the pesky Canadiens and Penguins eliminated (despite my having picked both to be alive), the Caps indeed seem to me to be flying a little more under the radar in the East after so many pundits declared the Bruins the presumptive favorite to emerge from the conference. So, at this stage in the game, I'm still effectively standing by my pre-season prediction of a Detroit-Washington Stanley Cup Final—although we'll see if both those teams are still alive next round.

As for who I'm rooting for, that's very much up in the air. I'll still be following, for sure, but right now I'm entirely certain that any of the eight teams remaining is going to be able to generate even half the enthusiasm I displayed during Chicago's one series.

Still, the playoffs go on.

Round One NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Predictions: The start of summer, playoff hockey and ice cream

The key to finishing atop the leaderboard at the end of NHL postseason prognosticating can typically rely on sniffing out the inevitable opening round upsets. I've finished a more than respectable 12-3 each of the last two years I've done this—one game worse than the best in 2009 and and one game better than the runner-up last year—often more attributed to going against the majority on one series or another in the first round. This year seems to have more underdog appeal than usual—and not just because the beloved Blackhawks are the absolute lowest seed in the West. (That certainly helps though.)

Before I get to everybody else's picks as well as my own, it's also somewhat custom to quickly look back at how the actual playoff bracket looks compared to what I had predicted at the beginning of the season. This year, I improved to correctly calling almost half the league's final standings in each division with 14 out of 30 spots nailed. While I only have two of the actual seeds correct, I had once again had seven of the eight Eastern Conference playoff teams right and improved to six out of eight in the West. And technically, both my Conference and Stanley Cup Finals are both still possible—dare I say likely?

Well, let's get to how this first round might go first: 

The Blackhawks' Fourth Quarter: Backing in is better than backing out

It was a rather peculiar finish to the season, what with having been in the middle of an eight-game winning streak during the last update and still having the possibility of postseason life not be determined until the very last game of the year—a couple hours after it, actually. But as crazy as yesterday was for the Blackhawks, the team's going back to the playoffs and they'll have to defend the Cup the hard way: being the eight-seeded team in the Western Conference and conceding home ice advantage in any series they play (unless one of those three teams in the Eastern Conference that didn't earn 100+ points this year somehow makes it to the Finals).

I look back on how yesterday unfolded and see the Vancouver Canucks on the schedule next now, thinking that how else would I really want things to have ended up? Would having moved up to a fifth seed and getting Anaheim in the first round really have been preferable? I realize that just as the many bandwagon evacuees have reminded me, the Blackhawks got rid of many of those lovable role players that played their pivotal roles to perfection last postseason. And without those guys, how in the world are you going to mess with the collective heads of the Canucks again this year?

But I'm getting ahead of myself here. For the moment, let me reflect on the last 20 games and then finally get these fucking taxes filed:

The Blackhawks' Third Quarter: Time's a-wastin'

For the short while I've been doing these quarterly updates, all four of the Bs have ended up making the postseason. And while I suppose it was inevitable that the ending to one team's regular season would really mean the end of the entire year for them, I never would have imagined it might be the Blackhawks—just one year removed from having won the Stanley Cup, no less.

And sure, while the 'Hawks are sitting in second place in their division at the moment I type this (and have also won four in a row), it's that time of the year when the newspaper begins publishing the standings according to the conference rankings that would determine playoff seedings. And today, the Blackhawks would currently be in ninth—on spot short of qualifying.

Now admittedly, only five points separate the No. 4 Phoenix Coyotes from the No. 11 Anaheim Ducks, so there's certainly the possibility that a strong fourth quarter to the season could catapult the Blackhawks considerably higher in the playoffs.

But at the same time, it's also feasible that with three-quarters of the season having gone by with often mediocre hockey, the defending champions might be hanging up their skates after the 82nd game and not playing again until next year's campaign begins.

The Blackhawks' Second Quarter: Outside looking in

It's hard to hate on the many in Chicago who've seemingly hopped off the bandwagon as quickly as they jumped aboard last June. After all, the biggest act in town still is (and always will be) the Bears, and despite the pessimism there, that team's in the playoffs. And the Blackhawks' traditional winter sports roommate at the United Center, the Bulls, are off to a far better start to their own season. At least there's playoff talk there.

So much like the first quarter to this season, the Blackhawks' second quarter of their Stanley Cup title defense has felt pretty lackluster. I'm trying to keep in mind how much roster turnover was involved heading into this season since I was generally a fan of most every move general manager Stan Bowman made to put the team under the salary cap. Additionally, it just seems like too convenient of an excuse to pin all the blame on new faces for the team as to why the champs are underperforming this year. Surely, fingers should also be pointed at some of the returning veterans that have underwhelmed as well.

But the bottom line remains that the 'Hawks are no longer the scrappy little bunch that's fighting for respect. Now that they came out on top of the league last season, every opponent has seemingly brought their best game when facing the champions. That's something that's not likely to change any going into the second half of this season either.

The Blackhawks' First Quarter: It isn't just Kaner that's hungover

I can't say that the expectations this season were nearly as high for the Blackhawks, even with a Stanley Cup to defend entering this year. As noted in the predictions coming into this season, nobody really liked this team's chances to repeat. A lot of that probably had to do with the heavy roster turnover, but there's also just the simple fact that repeating as champions in the National Hockey League is something that doesn't happen all that often.

Still, the Hawks came out of the gate in quite the sluggish fashion to begin the 2010-11 campaign, and you name the excuse, most everybody will have cited it. In addition to the new faces, there was the short break following the Cup win, the simple number of games they had to begin this year (no other team in their division has played 20 games yet), and of course, the injuries that are basically unavoidable in any hockey season.

So now one-fourth of the way through this season after winning it all, there's still a great deal about this team that remains to be determined. After getting the annual "circus trip" off to an encouraging start last night, here's how the first quarter of the title defense began.

2010-11 NHL Predictions: Where's the love?

Wow, well wasn't that a way to start the baseball postseason yesterday? I mean, I know the Braves don't play until tonight and—oh, what's that? The puck drops tonight too?

Indeed, it sure does. But we've still got a few days before the U.C. opens its doors and there's a little redecorating to be done. And speaking of redecorating, that could apply to this year's Blackhawks roster, which is wildly different from last year's. For those of us who have been following the team for a while now, such moves were imminent. But this being Chicago and all, a lot of the late arrivals to the bandwagon are still failing to understand why so many players had to be shipped elsewhere. I've already had two such friends say "they never really got into the hockey thing anyway." And if you look around at some of the other predictions for this season elsewhere on the internet (ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo, CBS Sports, and Puck Daddy's East & West picks), nobody likes Chicago's chances for a repeat. Of course, why should they? No team's successfully defended the Cup since the Red Wings did it back when a different Democrat was president.

So will my obvious bias send me out on a limb to support my hometown team?