April 09, 2007

NHL Conference Quarters Pick 'Em: Here it is, kids.

posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 10:29 AM - 56 comments

THE GAME Pick winner and length of each series. Four points for a regulation win, three points for an overtime win, two for a shootout— wait, no! Sorry. Sorry. One point for each correct winner, the extra point for nailing the series length as well. No points for getting the series length right and the winner wrong. All or nothing. Whaddya think this is, the NHL? THE BONUS Pick the goaltender from each conference with the best GAA in the first round. One point for each. THE SUPER BONUS Pick the total number of overtime periods in the first round. Partial periods will be rounded up to one. Worth one point.

posted by DrJohnEvans at 10:30 AM on April 09, 2007

East: Buffalo over NYI in 5 NJ over Tampa Bay in 7 Rangers over Atlanta in 6 Ottawa over Pittsburgh in 7 West: Calgary over Detroit in 6 Anaheim over Minnesota in 7 Dallas over Vancouver in 6 Nashville over San Jose in 7 East Goalie with lowest GAA: Brodeur West Goalie with lowest GAA: Turco (of course, we all realize that should someone get injured and a back-up plays one low-scoring game, then, well - whoopie shit who has the lowest GAA.) Total number of OTs: 15

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 10:43 AM on April 09, 2007

East: Sabres over Islanders in 5 Devils over Lightning in 6 Thrashers over Rangers in 7 Sens over Pens in 6 West: Wings over Flames in 5 Ducks over Wild in 6 Stars over Canucks in 7 Preds over Sharks in 7 Lowest GAA (East): Brodeur Lowest GAA (West): Luongo Total no. of OT periods: 9

posted by holden at 10:57 AM on April 09, 2007

I'm all over this. I'd organize it too, but last year I stopped "working from home" half way through so all that free time I used to have is now gone, gone, gone. *sigh* BUF in 5. (Miller > NYI's third string) TB in 6. (My one longshot pick!) NYR in 6. (Lundqvist > Lehtenen) Gary Roberts PIT in 7. (Yeah, I'm a Leafs fan. Yeah, I'm predicting another OTT collapse) CAL in 7. (Gotta go with the Flames.) ANA in 6. (I'm really tempted to go with MIN. Got a feeling. But ANA weathered the Flames well last year and I think they'll do well against MIN). VAN in 6. (Luongo) SJ in 7. (Vokoun is the better goalie, but I think SJ will just grind NAS out). BEST GAA: Miller, Giguere TOTAL OTs: 19

posted by mkn at 11:08 AM on April 09, 2007

BUF in 6 NJD in 5 NYR in 7 PIT in 7 DET in 5 ANA in 5 VAN in 7 NSH in 6 GAA: Brodeur, Giguere OTs: 18

posted by rocket88 at 11:31 AM on April 09, 2007

Buffalo in 4 Tampa Bay in 7 Atlanta in 7 Pittsburgh in 6 Detroit in 5 Minny in 6 Vancouver in 6 SJ in 7 GAA: Miller, Luongo OTs: 20

posted by rumple at 11:44 AM on April 09, 2007

(of course, we all realize that should someone get injured and a back-up plays one low-scoring game, then, well - whoopie shit who has the lowest GAA.) Good call: should we put a minimum GP on that GAA? 2, maybe 3?

posted by DrJohnEvans at 11:45 AM on April 09, 2007

I say a minimum of 180 minutes in net.

posted by mkn at 11:50 AM on April 09, 2007

East: Buffalo in 4 NJ in 6 Atlanta in 6 Pittsburgh in 5 West: Calgary in 6 Anaheim in 7 Vancouver in 6 Nashville in 6 East Goalie: Brodeur West Goalie: Luongo Total number of OTs: 23 Thanks, Doc.

posted by SummersEve at 12:10 PM on April 09, 2007

180 minutes works for me!

posted by DrJohnEvans at 12:17 PM on April 09, 2007

Moi aussi.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 12:41 PM on April 09, 2007

NYI in 6 NJ in 6 ATL in 7 DET in 7 ANA in 6 VAN in 5 ... holy crap, Nashville and San Jose are matched up? Nice. I'd like to see as much of that series as possible. NSH in 7. East: Brodeur (it just makes sense) West: Kiprusoff (despite losing the series: super-duper low-scoring wins for DET, with a couple Hasek meltdowns and CGY blowouts) OTs: 16

posted by DrJohnEvans at 12:44 PM on April 09, 2007

East: Buffalo over NYI in 5 NJ over Tampa Bay in 7 Atlanta over NYR in 6 Ottawa over Pittsburgh in 5 West: Calgary over Detroit in 6 Anaheim over Minnesota in 5 Vancouver over Dallas in 7 Nashville over San Jose in 7 East Goalie: Miller West Goalie: Giguere OTs: 8

posted by NoMich at 12:45 PM on April 09, 2007

Buffalo over NYI in 5 NJ over Tampa Bay in 6 Rangers over Atlanta in 6 Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 7 West: Detroit over Calgary in 6 Minnesota over Anaheim in 6 Vancouver over Dallas in 6 Nashville over San Jose in 5 East Goalie: Brodeur West Goalie: Backstrom Total # of OTs: 17

posted by emoeby at 12:51 PM on April 09, 2007

Buffalo over NYI in 4 NJ over Tampa Bay in 5 Atlanta over NYR in 7 Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 6 Detroit over Calgary in 7 Anaheim over Minnesota in 6 Vancouver over Dallas in 5 San Jose over Nashville in 7 East Goalie: Miller West Goalie: Luongo Total # of OTs: 4

posted by grum@work at 12:59 PM on April 09, 2007

NYI over BUF in 7 NJ over TB in 6 NYR over ATL in 5 PIT over OTT in 4 DET over CAL in 5 ANH over MIN in 4 DAL over VAN in 6 SJ over NSH in 5 East goalie: Lundqvist West goalie: Hasek Total # of OTs: 8 Thanks for setting this up DJE.

posted by The Crafty Sousepaw at 01:13 PM on April 09, 2007

East: Buffalo over NYI in 4 NJ over Tampa Bay in 6 Rangers over Atlanta in 7 Ottawa over Pittsburgh in 5 West: Detroit over Calgary in 6 Anaheim over Minnesota in 5 Dallas over Vancouver in 7 Nashville over San Jose in 5 East Goalie with lowest GAA: Brodeur West Goalie with lowest GAA: Hasek Total number of OTs: 7

posted by apoch at 01:17 PM on April 09, 2007

Islanders in 7 (Sabres get burnt by the President's Trophy curse) Tampa Bay in 6 (doing the "what I don't want to happen" pick) New York Rangers in 7 (Holik sucks!) Ottawa in 5 (sorry Bettman) Detroit in 5 (sorry Friesen) Anaheim in 4 (we they are the moron Neidermeyer brothers) Dallas in 6 (welcome to Playoff hockey, Luongo) Nashville in 6 (even if Forsberg's foot just totally falls off) Goalies: Lundqvist & Giguere 19 overtime periods.

posted by MrFrisby at 01:17 PM on April 09, 2007

dear mister frisby, i am intrigued by your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter. hugs and kisses, jeff

posted by Jeff Friesen at 01:24 PM on April 09, 2007

EASTERN CONFERENCE No. 1 Buffalo vs. No. 8 N.Y. Islanders: Slugs in 6. No. 2 New Jersey vs. No. 7 Tampa Bay: Devils sweep. No. 3 Atlanta vs. No. 6 N.Y. Rangers: Shanahan chokes again, but Rangers take it in 7. No. 4 Ottawa vs. No. 5 Pittsburgh: Knock down drag out brawl that goes to Ottawa in 7. WESTERN CONFERENCE No. 1 Detroit vs. No. 8 Calgary: Wings stomp the Flames out in 5. No. 2 Anaheim vs. No. 7 Minnesota: Ducks go Wild and win in 6. No. 3 Vancouver vs. No. 6 Dallas: Luongo chokes in his playoff debut. Dallas in 6. No. 4 Nashville vs. No. 5 San Jose: Tootoo gets in tootoo much trouble and cost the Preds. Sharks in 7. East Goalie: Brodeur West Goalie: Hasek Total OTs: 8

posted by wingnut4life at 01:57 PM on April 09, 2007

P.S. DJE Rocks.

posted by wingnut4life at 01:59 PM on April 09, 2007

East: Buffalo in 5 Tampa Bay in 7 Atlanta in 6 Ottawa in 7 West: Detroit in 5 Anaheim in 7 Vancouver in 6 Nashville in 5 East Goalie with lowest GAA: Lehtenen West Goalie with lowest GAA: Hasek Total number of OTs: 6

posted by trox at 03:00 PM on April 09, 2007

WEST Detroit - 4 Anaheim - 7 Nashville -7 Vancouver - 4 EAST New Jersey - 4 NY Islanders - 5 Atlanta - 5 Ottawa - 7 Goalies East - Brodeur West - Hasak Overtimes - 12

posted by skydivemom at 03:48 PM on April 09, 2007

Buffalo in 5 (average score: 5-1) NJ in 6 (Devils score 10 total) NYR in 6 (Holik gets 20pim, 0 goals) Ottawa in 6 (Sid gets 1 goal 7asst) Detroit in 7 (Kipper keeps it close) Ana in 5 (Gigy lets in <8 goals) Dallas in 7 (Modano plays like a 30 year old) SJ in 5 (100pts in the Central don't mean that much) East Goalie: Brodeur West: Giguere 14 fun filled overtime periods Enjoy, everyone!!

posted by tahoemoj at 03:58 PM on April 09, 2007

You guys are going a little nuts on the amount of overtimes that will happen in this conference quarterfinals. I think. What's the record for the amount of overtime games in a conference quarterfinal year?

posted by NoMich at 04:01 PM on April 09, 2007

East (1)Sabres in 5 (7)Lightning in 6 (3)Thrashers in 5 (5)Penguins in 7 West (8)Flames in 6 (2)Ducks in 4 (6)Stars in 7 (5)Sharks in 6 Goalies: Fleury (East), Giguere (West) 7 OTs. Go Lightning.

posted by boredom_08 at 06:48 PM on April 09, 2007

Dear Jeff, It is tempting for me to charge you for my newsletter. I would like to have a certain series clinching puck that I hope you possess, but my newsletter is a free online publication. So feel free to add it to your favorites list. Here is an article I think you would find most intriguing. I hope I'm wrong, and you obliterate those dastardly Wings. Look after David Hale, best of luck to the both of you. Big sloppy wet kisses, Fritsy

posted by MrFrisby at 06:59 PM on April 09, 2007

Detroit in 4 Stars in 6 San Jose in 6 Ducks in 5 Sabres in 5 Lightning in 7 Thrashers in 6 Sens in 5 Hasek (West) Lehtinen (East) OT 9

posted by skydivedad at 07:29 PM on April 09, 2007

You guys are going a little nuts on the amount of overtimes that will happen in this conference quarterfinals. I think. What's the record for the amount of overtime games in a conference quarterfinal year? I figure a quarter of the games have a chance of going to overtime. Maybe less. And a few of those are likely to go beyond just the one OT period and, since we're counting the number of OT periods and not OT games, I figure the number isn't that far off.

posted by mkn at 08:02 PM on April 09, 2007

dastardly Wings posted by MrFrisby at 6:59 PM CDT on April 9 Hmmph.......

posted by skydivemom at 08:04 PM on April 09, 2007

Prince of Wales Conference Buffalo in 5 New Joisey in 6 New Yowk in 7 Pittsburg in 6 Clarence Campbell Conference Calgary in 5 Anaheim in 5 Nashville in 7 Vancouver in 6 Mika K in the West Marty B in the East 8 extra peroids will be played

posted by HATER 187 at 08:54 PM on April 09, 2007

Buff over NYI in 5 NJ over Tampa Bay in 6 NYR over Atl in 6 Pitt over Ottawa in 7 Calgary over Detroit in 7 Anaheim over Minnesota in 5 VAN over Dallas in 6 Nashville over San Jose in 7 East Goalie with lowest GAA: Brodeur West Goalie with lowest GAA: Giguere Total number of OTs: 12

posted by fabulon7 at 09:07 PM on April 09, 2007

Buffalo in 5 Tampa Bay in 7 NYR in 6 Ottawa in 7 Calgary in 7 Minnesota in 6 Vancouver in 6 Nashville in 5 East goalie: Lunqvist West goalie: Backstrom OT periods: 21

posted by goddam at 09:34 PM on April 09, 2007

Buffalo in 5 New Jersey in 5 Atlanta in 6 Ottawa in 6 Detroit in 5 Minnesota in 7 Dallas in 6 Nashville in 7 GAA: Brodeur (East), Hasek (West) OTs: 13

posted by tennisguy at 11:07 PM on April 09, 2007

Yes, just to make it abundantly clear, we are counting individual overtime periods, not overtime games. I'd say you can count on an absolute minimum average of one overtime game per series, which is a minimum of eight periods for the first round. And the likelihood of further overtime periods decrease with the number of overtime periods play. I think it's a logarithmic curve. If that helps. Which it won't.

posted by DrJohnEvans at 12:19 AM on April 10, 2007

Yes. Actually I just figured that it appears that about 20% of NHL regular season games went to OT this year. Since these teams are more evenly competitve, I just guessed that you'll likely see 2 OT periods per series. Then I minused one. I like math.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:13 AM on April 10, 2007

Thanks for clearing that up, Doc. I'll stick with my number 8, though. Why not?

posted by NoMich at 08:25 AM on April 10, 2007

East: Buffalo over NYI in 5 NJ over Tampa Bay in 5 Atlanta over Rangers in 7 Ottawa over Pittsburgh in 7 West: Detroit over Calgary in 5 Anaheim over Minnesota in 7 Vancouver over Dallas in 7 Nashville over San Jose in 7 East Goalie with lowest GAA: Brodeur West Goalie with lowest GAA: Giguere Total number of OTs: 18

posted by wfrazerjr at 04:34 PM on April 10, 2007

I couldn't handle the anxiety, so I bought a ticket to the Preds game tomorrow (or today's game, depending on your time zone). It's playoff hockey time baby!

posted by MrFrisby at 11:28 PM on April 10, 2007

East Buffalo over Islanders in 4 New Jersey over Tampa Bay in 5 Rangers over Atlanta in 6 Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 7 West Detroit over Calgary in 6 Anaheim over Minnesota in 6 Dallas over Vancouver in 6 San Jose over Nashville in 6 East Goalie: Fleury West Goalie: Giguere* Total OT periods in first round: 10 *I still have this crazy feeling that Mike Smith is going to replace Turco in the series, and go nuts. He's my dark horse, but I'm too chicken to actually choose him.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 07:47 AM on April 11, 2007

East Sabres over Islanders in 5 Devils over Lightning in 5 Rangers over Thrashers in 6 Pens over Sens in 7 West Flames over Wings in 6 Ducks over Wild in 5 Canucks over Stars in 7 Sharks over Preds in 6 The Bonus Lowest GAA (East): Miller Lowest GAA (West): Kipper The Super Bonus Number of OT Periods: 17

posted by 86 at 07:52 AM on April 11, 2007

East: Buffalo over NYI in 5 NJ over Tampa Bay in 6 Rangers over Atlanta in 7 Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 6 West: Calgary over Detroit in 6 Anaheim over Minnesota in 5 Vancouver over Dallas in 7 Nashville over San Jose in 5 East Goalie with lowest GAA: Miller West Goalie with lowest GAA: Backstrom (Anaheim in 5 but Backstrom being the best keeper - good thing these picks aren't being checked for sensibility) OT periods - 19

posted by gspm at 08:02 AM on April 11, 2007

Lehtinen (East) Who's this? Jere Lehtinen was traded East, and he's moved between the pipes? OK, picks: East: * Buffalo in 6 * New Jersey in 5 * Rangers in 4 * Penguins in 7 West: * Flames in 7 * Ducks in 7 * Canucks in 5 * Predators in 6 East goalie: Lundqvist West goalie: Backstrom OT periods: 11

posted by qbert72 at 10:05 AM on April 11, 2007

DrJohnEvans did not pick for the Ottawa-Pittsburgh series.

posted by qbert72 at 10:20 AM on April 11, 2007

EAST - SnowBeltShivs in 4 - Dubie won't be able to stop this offense. Garden State Gnomes of the Underworld in 6 - Home Ice will win this for Lou's legions. Sather's Squad in 7 - In a series I think will be one of the closest in the first round, Hank is the difference. Ottawa in 5 - They step up and play like the sum of their parts would indicate. I think. WEST Flames in 6. Toughness wins this one. Anaheim in 7. Minnesota has one line. Anaheim has two. Vancouver in 4 - Sorry Turco. Sharks prove to be top predator in 6 - San Jose wins it for their long time goalie coach. Goalie East - Hank Goalie West - Bobby Lu Total OT periods - 9

posted by garfield at 11:46 AM on April 11, 2007

I don't know if I can watch this game anymore. Every time a player notices a stick within arm's reach, the arm clamps down to draw the hooking call. Every time a player notices a stick within a foot of their face, the head snaps back to draw the high sticking call. Every time there's contact on a moving player, that player goes flying to draw the trip/hook/interference. This is not hockey. This is bullshit. I hated what the game was before the rule changes, but I also hate what it's turning into. I love that the refs are calling the penalties, but I hate that the players re-adjusted to the system before the refs did. Ugh.

posted by DrJohnEvans at 09:24 PM on April 11, 2007

BTW current first-round playoff OT period count: 3 and counting.

posted by DrJohnEvans at 12:09 AM on April 12, 2007

Six OT's on day one. Who's nuts now, baby?! Or, if you prefer, "whose nuts now?"

posted by SummersEve at 04:08 AM on April 12, 2007

Oh, and what DrJohn said. I turned off the Pens-Sens game b/c of all the penalty calls late in the 1st. Note to the NHL: Constant, non-stop special teams hockey is more boring than clutch-and-grab. I'm not saying they should stop calling penalties, but it's way out of hand.

posted by SummersEve at 04:18 AM on April 12, 2007

Constant special teams and clutch-and-grab aren't the only two options for hockey, though. The NHL has to take the next step in enforcing the new rules: calling the diving and the holding-the-stick penalties. AND feel free to call the coincidental diving-hooking penalties. Those are fine.

posted by DrJohnEvans at 10:24 AM on April 12, 2007

I do support the NHL's very strict high-sticking calls. Vancouver got nailed with two of them in the 2nd overtime, and while the players complained that they weren't deliberate (lifting the stick that goes bad), they have to be called, regardless of when they happen. (Note: I wish this was in effect back in the spring of 1993. Damn you, Wayne Gretzky!) I do agree that the hooking calls are getting a bit...odd. There was one call on Sidney Crosby that I STILL can't figure out what he did wrong.

posted by grum@work at 11:53 AM on April 12, 2007

You're right, grum: the high-sticking calls are the least of my worries. And yes, that hooking call on Crosby was not a good call. And yes, that high-sticking call on Alfredsson was, although (a) it was totally flukey, and (b) I don't know how they pulled a double-minor out of it—the stick hit the helmet, not the face, didn't it?

posted by DrJohnEvans at 12:12 PM on April 12, 2007

I didn't mean they should go back to clutch and grab, I was just hinting that the cure seems to be just as bad as the disease. Go back to the keep-the-feet-moving rule and let them play some end-to-end hockey, and call coincidentals on the dives. Also, when did the stick become off limits? You should be allowed to play the stick with your stick, no? With all the power plays it looks like half-rink blue-line-to-clear. Highsticks are black-and-white so I'm okay with them. It's the judgment calls like hooking tht need to be examined.

posted by SummersEve at 03:19 PM on April 12, 2007

So much for picking Giguere. His GAA is a nice 0. Too bad his minutes played is too.

posted by mkn at 11:24 PM on April 16, 2007

Calgary over Detroit, boy is my ass all wet.

posted by HATER 187 at 09:07 PM on April 17, 2007

For those keeping score, we're up to 11 OT periods, with one game left in the first round.

posted by qbert72 at 07:50 AM on April 23, 2007

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