NHL Play Off Prediction thread
- Thread starter Gil T.Azell
- Start date
There is a definite anti-Red Wings bias in this thread. I've noticed several people have consistently picked the Wings to lose in every round, only to be proven wrong every time. So the fact that these same people are picking the Pens to win only reinforces my belief that the Wings will be victorious. But at least they're consistent in picking the losing team to win.
Wings in 6. Osgood is the better of the two goalies (better GAA than Fleury). Wings have the #1 defense in the NHL. And what do the Wings have this year that the Pens had last year? Marian Hossa! Crosby is a great player but he's definitely overrated. Some in the sports media (like Don Cherry) fawn over this guy like he's the best player in hockey.
Nothing personal, but that's some pretty mixed-up logic on which to reinforce your beliefs.
Osgood's second round didn't include the most brutal goal-scorer since Wayne Gretzky. Plus, of the teams Detroit faced, only Chicago was a high-scoring team. Anaheim and Columbus were not. Just remember, their GAA may be different but their Wins are equal.
He may not be the best forward in the league, but there are only two guys that come even remotely close to challenging him. And as the other Garak said above, one of them also wears black and gold. Hossa's a great player, but he's not even remotely in that league.
Pittsburgh in 6 -- mainly because they are healthier. If the Wings were completely healthy, my heart would still be with Pittsburgh, but my head would give the slight edge to Detroit (in 7).
Then again, saying "someone in 7" is saying it's basically a toss-up, which I think it would be -- even with a healthy Detroit.. I only give the slight edge to a healthy Detroit simply because they won it last year.
Pittsburgh has improved drastically since last year's finals -- even without Hossa. A team is much more than the sum of it's individual players, so it isn't as easy as saying "Pittsburgh minus Hossa can't be as good". The Pens are playing a different style of Hockey this year. They have offensive tools who weren't used to their fullest potential last year -- and I'm not only talking about Sid and Geno, but the whole team.
Losing Hossa did mean losing a good talent, but Pittsburgh has more than made up for that talent loss with a much more aggresive playing style.
So -- yeah -- Crosby is playing the best hockey of all the players who made the playoffs, including Ovechkin. Whether he's better than Ovechkin overall will be for history to decide once they are both done playing hockey -- although since Sid is a center and Ovie is a winger, it's hard to compare them straight-up.
Ovechkin is probably the better goal-scoring talent, but Crosby is the one who makes his whole team better. If I were playing a pick-up game, I'd want Ovechkin on my team. If I were building an NHL franchise with an eye towards winning the Stanley Cup, I would want Crosby.
Then again, saying "someone in 7" is saying it's basically a toss-up, which I think it would be -- even with a healthy Detroit.. I only give the slight edge to a healthy Detroit simply because they won it last year.
Pittsburgh has improved drastically since last year's finals -- even without Hossa. A team is much more than the sum of it's individual players, so it isn't as easy as saying "Pittsburgh minus Hossa can't be as good". The Pens are playing a different style of Hockey this year. They have offensive tools who weren't used to their fullest potential last year -- and I'm not only talking about Sid and Geno, but the whole team.
Losing Hossa did mean losing a good talent, but Pittsburgh has more than made up for that talent loss with a much more aggresive playing style.
I suppose we can debate the "Crosby is over rated" argument until we are blue in the face, but the fact (yes, fact) remains that he is definitely the best player in the playoffs this year (more consistent than Malkin, who has been cold at times).
So -- yeah -- Crosby is playing the best hockey of all the players who made the playoffs, including Ovechkin. Whether he's better than Ovechkin overall will be for history to decide once they are both done playing hockey -- although since Sid is a center and Ovie is a winger, it's hard to compare them straight-up.
Ovechkin is probably the better goal-scoring talent, but Crosby is the one who makes his whole team better. If I were playing a pick-up game, I'd want Ovechkin on my team. If I were building an NHL franchise with an eye towards winning the Stanley Cup, I would want Crosby.
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How much better has Crosby played since Billy "Greybeard" Guerin showed up?
I'd rather have Guerin on my team than Hossa any day of the week.
Crosby has to do so much more in the defensive end than Ovechkin it's not even a fair comparison.
Call me greedy, I'd take 'em both.
Give me Pittsburgh in 6.
Something about game 7 in Detroit scares me.
Yes -- The Penguins ask so much more of Crosby than "just go out there and score goals" -- which I admit Ovechkin can do better than anyone. Crosby, however, is the better defensive player of the two.
It really is so hard to compare them since their roles are so different.
I agree. A NHL GM would be thrilled and lucky to have either.Call me greedy, I'd take 'em both.
I whole-heartedly agree.
The only way I will be happy to see a game 7 is if Pittsburgh forced it by winning game 6.
I'm a Penguins fan first, and a hockey fan second. If Pittsburgh wasn't in the finals, the hockey fan in me would want to see 7 straight OT games. But since The Pens are playing, the Penguin fan in me wants to see 4 straight 4-1 wins by Pittsburgh.
Ovechkin brings an excitement and enthusiasm to the game that is missed, I think. Look at him when he scores a goal. It's like it's his first goal and he's not sure he's going to ever score another. While Don Cherry rags on him for that, I think it's neat to see and I think it pumps his teammates up as well.
That's why I prefer Guerin as Crosby's RW. Guerin has often been cited as a calming force for Sid, someone to give the young captain advice. But Guerin also plays a much more rounded game with Sid than Hossa did. With Hossa, it was all about feeding the puck to him. With Guerin, there's much more cooperation and versatility.
Wouldn't it be fun if Jagr returned to the Pens and played alongside Crosby and Malkin?
Pens in 6
I didn't like his silly "My stick's too hot!" routine, but thought that the outcry over it was pretty damn ridiculous. It lasted about two seconds, and all of his bashers made it sound like he had gone and mooned the Lightning and slashed their tires.
Other than his understandably enthusiastic celebration of a major milestone, his celebrations aren't too bad. He's actually less showy about it than a great many NHLers over the years.
Got to go with Detroit in 6. You aren't the most dominate team since, well, pretty much the mid-90's running on luck. The wings are built around a culture of winning. They've been amazing and shut everyone down all season, they've shut everyone down in the last three rounds, I think they will shut down the Pens.
I'd rather see Pittsburgh win, though.
I'd rather see Pittsburgh win, though.
Pittsburgh in 7 games. I hope it happens, and I would love to see the look on Hossa's face if the Pens do win it.
Sports Illustrated did a survey of the NHL players and asked them who they thought was the best player in the League. The only condition was that they couldn't vote for a teammate. Arguably, no one is in a better position to judge "who is the best player in the NHL" than the players themselves. So who were the Top 6 NHL players as voted on by the players themselves?
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1155624/index.htm
1 Ovechkin
2 Lidstrom
3 Malkin
4 Datsyuk
5 Iginla
6 Zetterberg
Sidney Crosby was tied for 8th.
Also notice that 3 of the Top 6 are Red Wings.
There was a players' poll that Crosby DID win however. ESPN polled the players and asked "who is the biggest complainer on the ice?" The winner: Sidney Crosby.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?page=0809playersurvey
So who were the Top 6 NHL players as voted on by the players themselves?
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1155624/index.htm
1 Ovechkin
2 Lidstrom
3 Malkin
4 Datsyuk
5 Iginla
6 Zetterberg
Sidney Crosby was tied for 8th.
Also notice that 3 of the Top 6 are Red Wings.
There was a players' poll that Crosby DID win however. ESPN polled the players and asked "who is the biggest complainer on the ice?" The winner: Sidney Crosby.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?page=0809playersurvey
This tells me that players' assessment of a someone's ability was influenced by their liking or disliking of that person's personality.
Half of the league doesn't even come into contact with the guy during the regular season, so how could they even form a personal opinion about him either way? It's not like he's universally despised. He is a whiner, but that doesn't mean that the survey was rigged against him.
And Ovechkin got 51% of the player vote. So even if Crosby is disliked, what does that say when over half the players in the league all picked the same guy as "best in the NHL?" Part of their coordinated anti-Crosby conspiracy?
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