Playoff Prediction Project, 2012
Jonathan Willis
April 11 2012 04:09PM
The first round of the playoffs starts tonight, and once again the writers of the Nation Network are getting together to predict who they feel will win each series in the first round.
Last year, Lowetide walked away with this thing, correctly predicting the winner in 14 of 15 series. He hasn't consistently rubbed that in every single time I've talked to him, but I expect that to change when he wins it all again this year. This year, we have 15 writers participating, and their picks are as follow:
| Writer | Wesbite | VAN/L.A. | S.J./STL | PHX/CHI | NSH/DET | NYR/OTT | BOS/WSH | FLA/NJD | PIT/PHI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Angus | Canucks Army | VAN, 5 | STL, 4 | PHX, 7 | NSH, 7 | NYR, 6 | BOS, 7 | FLA, 7 | PIT, 6 |
| Justin Azevedo | Flames Nation | VAN, 6 | STL, 5 | CHI, 5 | NSH, 6 | NYR, 5 | BOS, 7 | N.J., 5 | PIT, 6 |
| Cam Charron | Canucks Army | L.A., 6 | STL, 6 | PHX, 7 | NSH, 5 | NYR, 7 | BOS, 5 | N.J., 4 | PIT, 7 |
| John Cullen | Canucks Army | L.A., 6 | STL, 7 | PHX, 6 | NSH, 7 | NYR, 5 | BOS, 6 | N.J., 5 | PIT, 6 |
| Thomas Drance | Canucks Army | L.A., 6 | STL, 7 | CHI, 6 | DET, 6 | NYR, 5 | BOS, 7 | N.J., 6 | PIT, 5 |
| Ryan Fancey | Leafs Nation | VAN, 7 | S.J., 6 | CHI, 7 | NSH, 7 | OTT, 6 | BOS, 5 | N.J., 6 | PIT, 7 |
| Danny Gray | Leafs Nation | VAN, 5 | S.J., 6 | CHI, 6 | NSH, 7 | NYR, 5 | WSH, 7 | N.J., 4 | PHI, 7 |
| Jason Gregor | Oilers Nation | VAN, 6 | STL, 5 | CHI, 6 | NSH, 7 | NYR, 6 | BOS, 7 | N.J., 7 | PIT, 7 |
| Patrick Johnston | Canucks Army | VAN, 6 | STL, 7 | CHI, 6 | DET, 7 | NYR, 6 | BOS, 7 | FLA, 5 | PIT, 6 |
| John Lofranco | Leafs Nation | L.A., 7 | STL, 6 | CHI, 6 | DET, 6 | OTT, 7 | BOS, 6 | N.J., 5 | PIT, 7 |
| Lowetide | Oilers Nation | VAN, 5 | STL, 5 | CHI, 6 | NSH, 6 | NYR, 5 | BOS, 6 | N.J., 5 | PIT, 7 |
| Marda Miller | Canucks Army | VAN, 7 | S.J., 7 | PHX, 7 | NSH, 7 | NYR, 6 | BOS, 7 | N.J., 6 | PIT, 7 |
| Matt Stephen | Leafs Nation | VAN, 7 | STL, 6 | CHI, 6 | DET, 5 | NYR, 4 | WSH, 7 | N.J., 5 | PHI, 6 |
| Jonathan Willis | Oilers Nation | VAN, 7 | STL, 6 | CHI, 7 | DET, 6 | NYR, 5 | BOS, 5 | N.J., 6 | PIT, 6 |
| Kent Wilson | Flames Nation | L.A., 7 | S.J., 7 | CHI, 5 | DET, 7 | NYR, 6 | BOS, 7 | N.J., 6 | PIT, 6 |
The consensus picks, in order of certainty, are as follow:
- New Jersey over Florida, New York over Ottawa, Boston over Washington, Pittsburgh over Philadelphia, all 13-2
- Chicago over Phoenix and St. Louis over San Jose, 11-4
- Vancouver over Los Angeles, 10-5
- Nashville over Detroit, 9-6
If you'd like to play along, please feel free to enter your picks below; I'll count them up and add them to the spreadsheet as long as they're in before the end of the second period of tonight's Pittsburgh/Philadelphia game. It's just for fun, but it's always an enjoyable contest.
Now, for an update on our just-for-fun-but-also-prizes contest: we'll be announcing the winners of the Nation Network Hockey Pool on Friday morning, and contacting them individually shortly thereafter to award prizes. Our esteemd leader, Baron Wanye von Gretz IV, came up in a big way and that's something to be thankful for. Just remember - you can be grateful and harassing at the same time, so be sure to pop down below and either encourage/LOUDLY DISCOURAGE him to live up to his promise to post naked pictures of himself should the Oilers win the draft lottery. I don't want to sway the outcome; feel free to do either: encourage or *LOUDLY DISCOURAGE* him.
Around The Nation Today
- The three coolest goals from last year's Canucks
- Vancouver/Los Angeles Game 1 Preview
- Playoff time, baby!
- The hockey gods have done their part for the Oilers
- Five things as the Flames sign off
- Where do the Oilers go from here?
- An open letter to Ryan Kesler
- Cynycism, concussions, and the Canucks
- The two-way force that is David Booth
- The last team with three consecutive first overall picks
Fist. Ed.: C'mon, you have to do something more creative than "fist." You must work it into a sentence, like 'Gosh, I wish this was the FIST time the Oilers were outside the playoffs' or 'Among all non-playoff teams, the Flames finished FIST!' etc. Otherwise it's just hollow.
1st Round:
Vancouver 7, Blues 6, Hawks 6, Preds, 7
NYR 6, Bruins 5, NJ, 6, Pitt 6
A lot of the teams who come out of the first round are gonna be a tad tired, as a few of those match-ups are going to be intense battles.
Should make for an even more interesting second round.
1st: LA in 7; Blues in 6; Yotes in 7; Preds in 6
Pens in 6; Rangers in 6; Devels in 7; Bruins in 6
LA in 7 St.Louis in 6 Phx in 6 Nash in 7
NYR in 5 Bos in 4 Florida in 6 Pitt in 6
VAN/L.A. - LA, 7
SJ/STL - STL, 6
PHX/CHI - CHI, 6
NSH/DET - DET, 6
NYR/OTT - NYR 5
BOS/WSH - BOS 5
FLA/NJD (who cares) - FLA 7
PIT/PHI - PIT 7
Canucks - 6, Blues - 7, Hawks - 6, Preds - 7. Rags - 7, Bruins - 7, NJ - 5, Pens - 7.
VAN 5, STL 6, PHX 6, NASH 7, NYR 6, BOS 7, NJ 6, PHI 7
LA in 7 (though I don't actually believe this, but the oiler fan in me won't let me pick the canucks to win)
Stl in 6
Chi in 6
Nash in 7
NY in 6
Bos in 5
NJ in 4 (for the only sweep of round 1)
Phi in 7
Van in 6 Sj in 7 Chi in 6 Det in 6
Nyr in 5 bos in 6 Njd in 6 Pit in 7
VAN 6 STL 7 CHI 6 NSH 6 NYR 5 BOS 5 NJD 5 PIT 6
Van 7 Stl 5 Chi 6 Det 7 NYR 6 Bos 4 Fla 7 Pitt 7
Kings [6] - StL [6] - Phx [6] - Nsh [7]
NYR [6] - Bos [5] - NJD [6] - Pit [7]
West: LA in 7, STL in 5, CHI in 6 and DET in 7
EAST: NYR in 6, BOS in 5, NJD in 5 and PIT in 7
4 technical upsets in the 1st round!
VAN, 6 STL, 6 CHI, 5 DET, 6 OTT, 7 BOS, 5 FLA, 6 PIT, 7
NYR 5, BOS 7, NJD 6, PIT 7 LA 6, SL 5, CHI 6, DET 7 And EDM for many years to come.
LA-7, Phx-7, Stl-5, Det-6
NYR-5, Pitt-7, Bos-5, NJ-5
I'm a terribly lazy blogger. And that's saying something! Here are my picks.
VAN 6 STL 4 CHI 7 DET 6
NYR 7 BOS 6 NJD 5 PIT 6
Van in 6 St louis in 5 Nash in 7 Chi in 7 New york in 5 Boston in 5 Jersey in 4 Pitts in 7
Am I reading that right: 3/6 Canucks Army writers are predicting a Los Angeles victory?
L.A - 5 STL - 6 CHI - 6 NSH - 7
NYR - 6 BOS - 4 FLA - 5 PIT - 7
@Dunnonuttin
I was as surprised as you are.
Picking upsets* are more fun than being right (I'd be surprised at going better than 5 for 8), so I'm going with that.
West - Van in 6; SJ in 7; Chi in 5; Det in 5
East - NYR in 4; Wsh in 6; NJ in 5; Phi in 7
*Picking the Canucks to win on this site is going with an upset, even if the consensus is more due to extreme dislike than analysis, but Scott Reynolds at C & B covers both of those in his rationale for picking the Kings.
NYR in 5 BOS in 6 NJD in 5 PIT in 5
VAN in 7 STL in 7 PHX in 6 NSH in 6
LAK in 7, STL in 7, CHI in 6, DET in 6, NYR in 5, BOS in 5, NJD in 6, PIT in 6
@Jonathan Willis
Not as surprised to see someone pick FLA over NJD
Also,
Tried to post from my Blackberry was got the message of IP ban.
Haven't posted in a long time and don't think I did anything IP ban-worthy.
Glitch?
VAN-5, SJ-7, PHX-6, NSH-6 NYR-6, WSH-7, NJ-5, PIT-6
VAN/L.A. - Vancouver, 6 games
SJ/STL - St Louis, 6 games
PHX/CHI - Chicago, 7 games (gosh, I hate having to pick them :P )
NSH/DET - Nashville, 6 games
NYR/OTT - Ottawa, 7 games
BOS/WSH - Boston, 6 games (hate, hate, hate.)
FLA/NJD- New Jersey, 6 games(probably my least educated guess as these are two teams I know the least about)
PIT/PHI - Philadelphia, 7 games
@Woodguy
what network are you on? I can post from my telus bb fine
@Woodguy
I'd assume so - I can't imagine anybody's blocking you.
LA 6, Nash 7, Stl 5, Chi 6
Nyr 5, Pit 6, NJ 5, Bos 6
Van 7, STL 6, Chi 6, Det 7, NY 5, Bos 5, NJ 6, Pity 7
I just tried from my bb as well, blocked as well.
LA 7 STL 6 CHI 6 DET 6
NYR 5 WASH 6 NJ 4 PHI 7
GO KINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You bet against your Flames?
...oh wait, nevermind.
LA in 7. Nashville in 6. Chicago in 5. St. Louis in 6
NYR in 5. Pittsburg in 6. NJ in 4. Boston in 7
VAN 6, STL 6, NSH 7, CHI 6
NYR 6, BOS 5, NJD 5, PIT 7
First round: Kings in 7 Blues in 5 Preds in 6 Hawks in 7 Rangers in 6 Devils in 6 Pens in 5 Bruins in 7
I hope this is the fist of many Pickems I win this year.
Kings in 6/Blackhawks in 5/ Predators in 7/Blues in 5/
Rangers in 6/Bruins in 6/Devils in 7/Penguins in 7.
LA-7 Blues-7 Chi-6 Det-6
NYR-6 Bos-5 NJ-6 PHI-6
Luongo is pulled 3 times Phoenix are relocated prior to game 5. Florida misses out on a game 7 by losing in OT in game 6. So they lose 32 million this year instead of 31,992,000
VAN 7 Sharks 6 Wings 6 Hawks 5 Pitts 6 NYR 4 Bos 6 NJD 4
Van (6), SJ (6), CHI (6), NSH (7), NYR (4), BOS (5), NJD (5), PIT (6)
Canucks in 5 Blues in 7 Hawks in 6 Preds in 5
Rangers in 5 Capitals in 7 Devils in 7 Penguins in 7
Interesting having the Cup plaque from the Bourque era Avs as the picture. A glimpse into Jarome's future?
VAN 5, STL 5, CHI 6, DET 7 NYR 7, WSH 7, NJD 5, PIT 4
LA in 6, STL in 7, CHI in 6, NSH in 7
NYR in 5, BOS in 6, NJ in 5, PIT in 6
VAN in 6 STL in 6 NSH in 6 PHX in 7
NYR in 6 BOS in 6 NJD in 5 PIT in 5
VAN in 5 STL in 6 CHI in 6 NAS in 7
NYR in 6 BOS in 6 NJD in 5 PHI in 7
i like NYR in 5 gms.....BOST in 6 gms....PITTS in 5 gms...NYJ in 6 gms...Kings in 5 gms...SJ in 7 gms...CHI in 6 gms.....NASH in 6 gms....just saying....& IAM hoping either the Bruins win cup again or Sidney Crosby & the Penguins win another cup.....just saying...let the playoffs begin......the Kings over Vancouver, im WILLING to happen. Screw the Canucks.
VAN-6
STL-6
Chi-7
NSH-6
NYR-5
BOS-7
NJD-7
PIT-6
that is all. Go LA kings and Go New Jersey so that I don't have to hear about Dale Tallon taking his team to the second round from DSF ;)(Although Tallon made some, what seem to be good moves, he assembled seemingly cast-offs that I think are playing over their heads. 18 otls)
Canucks in 6/ Blackhawks in 7/ Preds in 6/ Sharks in 7
Rangers in 4/Bruins in 5/ Devils in 6/ Pitt in 6.
Canucks in 4, Sharks in 6, Phoenix in 6, Nashville in 5
Pens in 6, Sens in 6, Caps in 7, Panthers in 6
Pittsburgh in 6 L.A in 7 Boston in 5 Detroit in 6 New Jersey in 7 St.Louis in 7 Nashville in 6 Ottawa in 6