Stanley Cup Playoff Predictions, Revisited

Sooooooo, the Anaheim Ducks are in the Cup. I know, many of you are probably not enthused (funny how I'm talking like anyone actually reads this). I will, however, point out that I PREDICTED that the Ducks would be there. Yes, I know, the Ducks were the odds-on favorite to make the Stanley Cup Finals from the Western Conference, but still, I did predict it, as well as the team they would defeat in the Western Finals.

As for the Eastern Conference- my bad. I totally missed the mark on the Ottawa Senators due to the fact that they have choked every year since I can remember, so i figured "what makes this year any different?" And as far as the Buffalo Sabres are concerned, well, my condolences to anyone in the city of Buffalo who lost a family member to suicide or something like it the night of Game 5. I honestly thought they had it in them to win the Cup this year until I saw the way played against my New York Rangers in the Eastern Semifinals. Now, the Rangers were not a highly-regarded team going into the playoffs. Many even downplayed their sweep of Atlanta in the first round, and virtually wrote them off against the Sabres. The Rangers ended up playing a very good series though, winning two games, coupled with the fact that Buffalo got some extremely lucky breaks, and the last four games were all decided by just one goal. New York could have easily won that series, and it just would've sent the citizens of Buffalo spiraling into depression about 10-12 days earlier.

Now, what have we learned from the Stanley Cup Playoffs thus far?

1. I didn't do half bad picking the outcome of these playoffs at their onset. When posting my original predictions in April, I ended up picking the results of 10 of the 14 series correctly. Not bad, if I do say so myself.

2. You still can't trust the Sabres. (See above)

3. The Ducks are one of the best franchises in the NHL over the last five years, as odd as that may sound. Keep in mind, this team has made the Western Conference Finals for the past two seasons and three of the past four seasons (five years, as we are obviously eliminating the strike year), and the Cup in now two of the past four seasons. They have a bright future, with solid talent and a lack of a goofy logo and nickname (the Ducks winning the Cup is nowhere near as devestating as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, hockey traditionalists!).

4. The Detroit Red Wings continue to disappoint, as a regular season power only, similar to the Philadelphia Flyers and Toronto Maple Leafs of old, save the three titles since 1997, but not even a berth in the Cup since 2003.

5. The San Jose Sharks are still an enormous disappointment year in and year out, so they own the title of "Biggest Western Conference Choke Artists", but who now owns the title in the East, since the Senators now have a Stanley Cup berth under their belts? The Flyers cannot take that honor since they are in rebuilding mode. The Sabres have only recently returned to prominence, so they don't have consistent years of futility to back this title up. For lack of a better choice, the honor now goes to the New Jersey Devils. Yes, they are a team who has won a Cup in the past five seasons, but remember, that was a seven game contest against the, then-Mighty, Ducks, and the MVP was awarded to J.S. Guigere that year. The Devils have since shown futitly rivaling the Red Wings, even with the best goaltender in the league. They may lose Scott Gomez and Brian Raflaski this offseason though, which could end their current string of regular season success.

6. The Anaheim Ducks WILL WIN THE STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS. They showed a lot of heart and grit against the Red Wings, especially in Game 4 without Chris Pronger. Ottawa just isn't ready to handle a superior team like the Ducks who have played consistently well all season, and have played the tougher competition of the Western Conference all season as well. Expect a good series, but not necessarily a long one. The MVP will probably go to either Jean-Sebastian Guigere or Pronger.

STANLEY CUP FINALS: Anaheim Ducks over Ottawa Senators (4-1)