April 11, 2010

2010 NHL Playoff Pickem: The dust has settled, the lines are drawn, get your picks in for this year's race for the Cup...

posted by MeatSaber to fantasy at 07:35 PM - 50 comments

Here's the deal: Pick the winners of the 8 first round matchups, and the number of games each series will go. You'll get 2 points for a correct team, and 1 point for the correct # of games. The matchups are as follows:

East - Washington vs. Montreal, New Jersey vs. Philadelphia, Buffalo vs. Boston, and Pittsburgh vs. Ottawa

West - San Jose vs. Colorado, Chicago vs. Nashville, Vancouver vs. Los Angeles, and Phoenix vs. Detroit

Picks must be in by the start of the first game on Wednesday, April 14th. So get your picks in early...

posted by MeatSaber at 07:40 PM on April 11, 2010

Warshington in 5
New Jersey in 5
Buffalo in 6
Pittsburgh in 7

San Jose in 4
Chicago in 6
Vancouver in 5
Phoenix in 7

posted by NoMich at 07:42 PM on April 11, 2010

Caps in 5
Devils in 7
Broons in 6
Pens in 6

Sharks in 6
Hawks in 5
Nucks in 5
Wings in 6

posted by MeatSaber at 07:49 PM on April 11, 2010

Washington in 4
New Jersey in 5
Buffalo in 5
Ottawa in 7

San Jose in 4
Chicago in 7
Vancouver in 5
Phoenix in 6

posted by tommybiden at 07:59 PM on April 11, 2010

Washington in 4
New Jersey in 6
Buffalo in 7
Pittsburgh in 4

San Jose in 6
Chicago in 4
Vancouver in 6
Detroit in 5

posted by grum@work at 08:10 PM on April 11, 2010

Washington 5
New Jersey 6
Buffalo 5
Pittsburgh 5

San Jose 6
Chicago 5
Vancouver 4
Detroit 5

posted by holden at 10:34 PM on April 11, 2010

Caps in 4, Devils in 6, Bruins in 7, Pens in 7

Sharks in 5, Blackhawks in 4, Kings in 6, Coyotes in 5

posted by boredom_08 at 01:17 AM on April 12, 2010

Washington in 4 (I won't make that mistake again)
New Jersey in 5
Boston in 6
Ottawa in 7

San Jose in 5
Chicago in 5
Vancouver in 6
Detroit in 5

posted by owlhouse at 02:37 AM on April 12, 2010

Caps in 6
New Jersey in 7
Buffalo in 5
Pittsburgh in 4

Colorado in 6
Chicago in 5
LA in 7
Detroit in 6

posted by ursus_comiter at 06:47 AM on April 12, 2010

Washington in 5
New Jersey in 6
Boston in 7
Pittsburgh in 6

San Jose in 5
Chicago in 6
Los Angeles in 6
Detroit in 6

posted by littleLebowski at 08:10 AM on April 12, 2010

Capitals in 4
Devils in 6
Sabres in 7
Penguins in 5

Sharks in 5
Predators in 7
Canucks in 5
Coyotes in 6

posted by bender at 09:39 AM on April 12, 2010

Washington in 5, New Jersey in 6, Buffalo in 6, Pittsburgh in 5

San Jose in 5, Chicago in 6, Vancouver in 5, Detroit in 7

posted by BoKnows at 10:35 AM on April 12, 2010

I'm going to summarize all of the picks (team + games) to determine a SpoFi average

I'm using a sliding scale to determine "average". If you pick the favourite (say, Washington) in 4 games, that's worth -4 (negative for favourite, 4 = 8-length of series). If you pick Montreal to win in 7, then your pick is worth +1. So if 5 people pick Washington to win in 4 games, 5 to win in 5 games and 1 to win in 6 games and 2 people pick Montreal to win in 7 games, the SpoFi average would be [(5*(-4))+(5*(-3))+(1*(-2))+(2*(+1))]/13 (number of picks). That would be ~ -2.77, or rounded up to -3, which is the same as Washington in 5 games.

posted by grum@work at 11:50 AM on April 12, 2010

Washington in 6
Philly in 6
Boston in 6
Pittsburgh in 5

Sharks in 5
Hawks in 6
Vancouver in 5
Detroit in 6

Grum, that confused me more then when i read about how the figure out passer rating.

posted by Debo270 at 12:42 PM on April 12, 2010

Grum, that confused me more then when i read about how the figure out passer rating.

I agree, I didn't explain it very well. It's a much easier thing to see graphically. I'll try to whip something up in Google Docs later.

posted by grum@work at 01:03 PM on April 12, 2010

Washington in 6

Philly in 6

Sabres in 7

Penguins in 4

Sharks in 6

Preds in 7

Canucks in 5

Wings in 5

posted by rumple at 02:48 PM on April 12, 2010

Washington in 5 New Jersey in 6 Buffalo in 5 Pittsburgh in 4

San Jose in 7 Chicago in 5 Los Angeles in 6 Detroit in 5

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 02:51 PM on April 12, 2010

Washington in 4
NJ in 5
Boston in 7
Pittsburgh in 4

San Jose in 5
Chicago in 7
Vancouver in 6
Detroit in 5

posted by billsaysthis at 03:09 PM on April 12, 2010

Washington over Montreal in 5 (NHL has a secret agreement to let Canadiens win at least 1 playoff game.)

New Jersey over Philadelphia in 5 (With much on the line Sunday, Flyers looked like they were going through the motions.)

Boston over Buffalo in 6 (With Rask and Miller in goal, this may be the first series in which all games go to OT at 0-0 or 1-1.)

Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 5 (I'd say 4, but Penguins might decide to take a night off for one game.)

San Jose over Colorado in 7 (Sharks finally get past the first round, but barely)

Chicago over Nashville in 5 (Nashville puts up a good fight, and nothing is easy for Black Hawks.)

Vancouver over Los Angeles in 7 (Kings play hard, not like the "princesses" of yesteryear.)

Detroit over Phoenix in 6 (Unless the fix is in, cream rises to the top.)

posted by Howard_T at 04:18 PM on April 12, 2010

Wash in 5 (No chance Habs. And they know it.)
Philly in 6 (upset city!)
Buffalo in 7 (take the under. Not exactly a group of fire wagons.)
Pitt in 5 (Ottawa. So... Blahhhhhhhh.)

Colorado in 7 (I like upsets this year and San Jose are a bunch of chokers.)
Chicago in 7 (this one is way closer than most think. I think.)
Vancouver in 5 (I think the Canucks have a deep run in them)
Phoenix in 7 (total toss up. Each could conceivably dominate the other depending on how well they are playing.)

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 07:03 PM on April 12, 2010

Wash in 6

NJ in 6

Bruins in 6

Pitt in 5

Colorado in 7

Chicago in 5

Vancouver in 5

Detroit in 7

posted by tselson at 07:39 PM on April 12, 2010

Washington in 7 (Halak and the smurfs will make this a series)

Philadelphia in 6 (Not an upset in my eyes, the Devils are snakebitten by the Flyers. NJ's big guys, ie Rolston, Zubrus, Clarkson, need to step up for the Devils to win this series)

Buffalo in 4 (Gotta pick a sweep, and Miller's the man to do it)

Ottawa in 6 (no rational for this pick at all, just going against the grain)

San Jose in 5 (they don't choke until the second round)

Nashville in 7 (Preds finally get a playoff opponent not named Red Wings or Sharks. A division rival that they have have been beating up on for several seasons may just be what they need to get to the second round)

Los Angeles in 6 (Luongo has the curse of the gold medal on him)

Detroit in 7 (yotes turn back in to a pumpkin at midnight)

posted by MrFrisby at 03:52 AM on April 13, 2010

Washington in 4 Philadelphia in 7 Boston in 6 Pittsburgh in 5 Colorado in 7 Chicago in 6 Vancourver in 6 Detroit in 6

posted by apoch at 05:18 AM on April 13, 2010

Wash in 4
NJ in 5
Boston in 6
Pitt in 5
SJ in 6
Chi in 6
Van in 7
Pho in 7

posted by kokaku at 12:32 PM on April 13, 2010

Washington in 5 New Jersey in 6 Buffalo in 5 Pittsburgh in 4

San Jose in 4 Chicago in 6 Vancouver in 6 Detroit in 5

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

posted by tahoemoj at 02:05 PM on April 13, 2010

Funny how that formatted.

posted by tahoemoj at 02:06 PM on April 13, 2010

Funny how that formatted.

It does that.
The easiest way to fix it is to click on "edit", do nothing, and then "Save Changes".
It seems to revert to the proper format.

posted by grum@work at 03:13 PM on April 13, 2010

BTW, someone should scour the TSN/Sportsnet/TheScore/HockeyNews/CBS/ABC/NBC/FoxSports/newspapers for predictions from the "experts". Only list them if they have team AND # of games.

posted by grum@work at 03:27 PM on April 13, 2010

Most of the "expert" picks will be out tomorrow, I think. ESPN has LeBrun and Burnside picking alternating series right now, and Yahoo has some picks up, but most sites wait till the first day to post predictions...

posted by MeatSaber at 03:58 PM on April 13, 2010

Washington - 5
New Jersey - 6
Buffalo - 7
Pittsburgh - 7

San Jose - 5
Chicago - 6
Vancouver - 7
Detroit - 5

posted by Demophon at 08:45 AM on April 14, 2010

East
Washington in 4
New Jersey in 5
Buffalo in 6
Pittsburgh in 6

West
San Jose in 5
Chicago in 4
Vancouver in 6
Detroit in 7

posted by Jeffwa at 08:46 AM on April 14, 2010

Now that the Leafs are out, there's nobody left to cheer against. Except these teams:

Montreal in 6
Philadelphia in 5
Buffalo in 7
Pittsburgh in 4

Colorado in 6
Chicago in 5
LA in 7
Phoenix in 6

posted by DrJohnEvans at 10:08 AM on April 14, 2010

Is anyone going to start the other game that we usually play around here during the playoffs? The one where we rank the teams? I can't remember what it's called though. Sorry.

posted by NoMich at 12:28 PM on April 14, 2010

WASH in 4
PHI in 7
BOS in 7
PIT in 5

SJ in 6
CHI in 5
VAN in 5
PHX in 7

At least that's the way I see it goin' down in the first round.

posted by Spitztengle at 12:31 PM on April 14, 2010

It does that. The easiest way to fix it is to click on "edit", do nothing, and then "Save Changes". It seems to revert to the proper format.

That is funny. Thanks for the tip.

By chance though, does anyone know the html code for a line break or whatever that would be called?

posted by Spitztengle at 12:33 PM on April 14, 2010

Some picks by the "experts"...

ESPN
Yahoo!
CBS Sports
The Hockey News

posted by MeatSaber at 01:08 PM on April 14, 2010

The html code for a line break is [br], except replace the [] with <>.

posted by grum@work at 01:49 PM on April 14, 2010

Okay, here are the SpoFi (26 picks) and Expert (15 picks) results in summary form:

SpoFi-Average
(based on weighted system)
Washington in 5
New Jersey in 7
Buffalo in 7
Pittsburgh in 5
San Jose in 6
Chicago in 6
Vancouver in 6
Detroit in 7

SpoFi-Costanza
(opposite picks in every series, team and games)
Montreal in 6
Philadelphia in 4
Boston in 4
Ottawa in 6
Colorado in 5
Nashville in 5
Los Angeles in 5
Phoenix in 4

SpoFi-Mode
(most common pick in every series)
Washington in 5
New Jersey in 6
Boston in 6
Pittsburgh in 5
San Jose in 5
Chicago in 5
Vancouver in 5
Detroit in 5

SpoFi-Outsider
(least common made pick in every series)
Montreal in 6
Philadelphia in 5
Buffalo in 4
Ottawa in 6
Colorado in 6
Nashville in 7
Vancouver in 4
Phoenix in 5

Expert-Average
Washington in 5
New Jersey in 7
Buffalo in 6
Pittsburgh in 6
San Jose in 5
Chicago in 6
Vancouver in 6
Detroit in 6

Expert-Costanza
Montreal in 6
Philadelphia in 4
Boston in 5
Ottawa in 5
Colorado in 6
Nashville in 5
Los Angeles in 5
Phoenix in 5

Expert-Mode
Washington in 5
New Jersey in 6
Boston in 6
Pittsburgh in 5
San Jose in 5
Chicago in 5
Vancouver in 5
Detroit in 5

Expert-Outsider
Washington in 6
Philadelphia in 6
Boston in 7
Pittsburgh in 4
San Jose in 7
Nashville in 7
Vancouver in 7
Detroit in 7

posted by grum@work at 04:30 PM on April 14, 2010

SpoFi:
Washington wins 96.2%
New Jersey wins 73.1%
Buffalo wins 57.7%
Pittsburgh wins 88.5%
San Jose wins 80.8%
Chicago wins 88.5%
Vancouver wins 76.9%
Detroit wins 69.2%

Based on standard deviation from average:
Easiest series to pick - Washington/Montreal
Hardest series to pick - Buffalo/Boston

Experts:
Washington wins 100.0%
New Jersey wins 60.0%
Buffalo wins 86.7%
Pittsburgh wins 100.0%
San Jose wins 100.0%
Chicago wins 93.3%
Vancouver wins 80.8%
Detroit wins 100.0%

Based on standard deviation from average:
Easiest series to pick - Phoenix/Detroit
Hardest series to pick - New Jersey/Philadelphia

posted by grum@work at 04:35 PM on April 14, 2010

Wow. Very nice, grum.

posted by NoMich at 05:45 PM on April 14, 2010

Jesus, grummy. Kewl.

Also, I'm calmly awaiting our beloved commissioner, skydivedad, to formally announce the results of the season-long Puckathon player pool.

HEY GRUMMY!! GUESS WHERE I FINISHED!!!

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 06:14 PM on April 14, 2010

Nice work, grum, but always remember what is said about statistics and statisticians.

There are liars, damned liars, and statisticians -- but we can't include grum in that category.

posted by Howard_T at 06:48 PM on April 14, 2010

K, betting window's closed. Good luck everyone. I love this time of year...

posted by MeatSaber at 07:06 PM on April 14, 2010

Here's the picks in a spiffy table, all proofread and everything. If anyone happens to see a mistake, lemme know...

NameSeries 1GamesSeries 2GamesSeries 3GamesSeries 4GamesSeries 5GamesSeries 6GamesSeries 7GamesSeries 8Games
MeatSaberWAS5NJD7BOS6PIT6SJS6CHI5VAN5DET6
NoMichWAS5NJD5BUF6PIT7SJS4CHI6VAN5PHO7
tommytrumpWAS4NJD5BUF5OTT7SJS4CHI7VAN5PHO6
grum@workWAS4NJD6BUF7PIT4SJS6CHI4VAN6DET5
holdenWAS5NJD6BUF5PIT5SJS6CHI5VAN4DET5
boredom_08WAS4NJD6BOS7PIT7SJS5CHI4LAK6PHO5
owlhouseWAS4NJD5BOS6OTT7SJS5CHI5VAN6DET5
ursus_comiterWAS6NJD7BUF5PIT4COL6CHI5LAK7DET6
littleLebowskiWAS5NJD6BOS7PIT6SJS5CHI6LAK6DET6
benderWAS4NJD6BUF7PIT5SJS5NSH7VAN5PHO6
BoKnowsWAS5NJD6BUF6PIT5SJS5CHI6VAN5DET7
Debo270WAS6PHI6BOS6PIT5SJS5CHI6VAN5DET6
rumpleWAS6PHI6BUF7PIT4SJS6NSH7VAN5DET5
Ying Yang MafiaWAS5NJD6BUF5PIT4SJS7CHI5LAK6DET5
billsaysthisWAS4NJD5BOS7PIT4SJS5CHI7VAN6DET5
Howard_TWAS5NJD5BOS6PIT5SJS7CHI5VAN7DET6
WeedyMcSmokeyWAS5PHI6BUF7PIT5COL7CHI7VAN5PHO7
tselsonWAS6NJD6BOS6PIT5COL7CHI5VAN5DET7
MrFrisbyWAS7PHI6BUF4OTT6SJS5NSH7LAK6DET7
apochWAS4PHI7BOS6PIT5COL7CHI6VAN6DET6
kokakuWAS4NJD5BOS6PIT5SJS6CHI6VAN7PHO7
tahoemojWAS5NJD6BUF5PIT4SJS4CHI6VAN6DET5
DemophonWAS5NJD6BUF7PIT7SJS5CHI6VAN7DET5
JeffwaWAS4NJD5BUF6PIT6SJS5CHI4VAN6DET7
DrJohnEvansMTL6PHI5BUF7PIT4COL6CHI5LAK7PHO6
SpitztengleWAS4PHI7BOS7PIT5SJS6CHI5VAN5PHO7

posted by MeatSaber at 07:21 PM on April 14, 2010

Don't get used to seeing my name up so high.

posted by NoMich at 09:40 PM on April 14, 2010

Dagnabit, I missed my annual thread appearance. Oh well. Still gonna go through the motions despite being late.

Pens in 5 - Crosby & Co. can't lose in the first round, can they? Caps in 5 - Plekanec should shut his mouth. Buffalo in 6 - Little scoring vs. no scoring. Devils in 7 - Boucher shouldn't be able to win a series, despite the regular season dominance by Philly.

Kings in 7 - The Crown Royal is working its magic... Sharks in 5 - Picking the sharks is the textbook definition of insanity. Hawks in 6 - Preds one injury away from oblivion. Wings in 5 - Champs don't get chumped by the frosh coming to the dance.

posted by garfield at 12:41 PM on April 15, 2010

Go Habs!

posted by tselson at 10:45 PM on April 15, 2010

Just a reminder...the breaks between rounds are usually only a day or two. I'll try to get a thread up for each round as soon as possible, but be ready once each round is over to get your picks in for the next round...right, garfield?

posted by MeatSaber at 11:39 PM on April 17, 2010

roger that.

posted by garfield at 01:12 PM on April 19, 2010

I was off by one game but I still picked the right winner!

Damn I hate being right.

posted by MrFrisby at 03:43 AM on April 23, 2010

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