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Gateshead Millenium Bridge

751 days

by Heraldk in Photoblog

Gateshead Millenium Bridge

NHL Playoff Predictor 2011 Round 2

755 days

by Heraldk in Sports

The NHL seems to have a quicker turnaround this year between the first and second rounds, so I’m trying to get this post out in a hurry. The first round of the playoffs was about as exciting a round as I think I can remember. Several multi-goal deficits were erased, lots of OT, lots of game 7s… makes me wish I could’ve watched more of the games than I got to.

Here’s a quick recap of the first round:

Washington_Capitals 0.464 0.252 0.114 0.048 Philadelphia_Flyers 0.594 0.277 0.139 0.061 Boston_Bruins 0.703 0.421 0.257 0.136 Pittsburgh_Penguins 0.664 0.355 0.189 0.089 Tampa_Bay_Lightning 0.336 0.125 0.046 0.014 Montreal_Canadiens 0.297 0.123 0.047 0.016 Buffalo_Sabres 0.406 0.184 0.070 0.025 New_York_Rangers 0.536 0.263 0.139 0.063

Vancouver_Canucks 0.725 0.557 0.418 0.290 San_Jose_Sharks 0.555 0.313 0.130 0.064 Detroit_Red_Wings 0.566 0.259 0.086 0.035 Anaheim_Ducks 0.387 0.142 0.042 0.015 Nashville_Predators 0.613 0.293 0.119 0.055 Phoenix_Coyotes 0.434 0.145 0.047 0.017 Los_Angeles_Kings 0.445 0.150 0.077 0.034 Chicago_Blackhawks 0.275 0.143 0.081 0.038

The predictor goes 6 for 8 this year in the first round – losing on the NYR and PIT bets. The Penguins suffered the loss of Malkin and Crosby which they couldn’t really recover from (tough to lose those guys), but they made it a series. The rangers put up a good fight but couldn’t hold onto a couple of leads that should probably be games they win.
I was rooting for the Habs to upset the bruins, but that didn’t happen … and the Canucks managed to almost lose their series after taking a 3-0 lead.

So what do we have for the next round?

Washington_Capitals 0.610 0.260 0.100 Philadelphia_Flyers 0.407 0.232 0.093 Boston_Bruins 0.593 0.386 0.188 Tampa_Bay_Lightning 0.390 0.123 0.034

Vancouver_Canucks 0.726 0.535 0.371 San_Jose_Sharks 0.585 0.210 0.103 Detroit_Red_Wings 0.415 0.118 0.048 Nashville_Predators 0.274 0.137 0.063

The Bruins are still favourites out of the East to win the cup, but they’ve got a tough match ahead against the flyers. Meanwhile the Capitals have the edge on the lightning by a fair margin. In the West, the Canucks are heavy favourites again, but their success will depend on how they respond to the almost-first-round-collapse against the Hawks. Definitely Chicago was a tough first round draw though, and they have a very deep team so they should be up for it. San Jose has the edge against Detroit, but that series could probably go either way. It’s tough to bet against the wings. Probably the series to watch this round.

Herald

NHL Playoff Predictor 2011

772 days

by Heraldk in Sports

For previous years see 2008, 2009, 2010

I don’t think it should be a surprise to anyone that Vancouver is heavily favoured to win the cup this year. A couple of interesting notes:

Boston is the favourite out of the east this year, according to the simulator, despite sitting in 3rd in the East. This comes out of a having one of the best goals for/goals against ratios in the conference. They also benefit from a first round match against the Canadiens who have a low goals for total for the year.

Pittsburgh also surprises as being a second favourite in the East — also benefitting from a favourable first round matchup against the Lightning who have a very high goals against total for the year.

The West is a lot more ordinary in the ranking, with the favs being Vancouver, San Jose, and Detroit.