Two playoff rounds are over and only two remain. The four teams left are Pittsburgh, Tampa, San Jose, and St. Louis. There’s good reason to root for and against each of these teams (mostly against), but only two can make it past this round and onto the Stanley Cup Final. We here at WIIM love telling you how things will turn out before they happen, so we’ll get to the picks in a bit. First off, let’s go over how we did in the 2nd round.
Atlantic Division Final – Tampa Bay Defeats NY Islanders in 5
Did we predict that? Just three out of eight had the Bolts defeating the Isles. It didn’t help that by the time we picked that series, The Islanders’ game 1 victory had already happened. No excuses though (especially since I picked the Bolts so haha I rule)
How badly did we screw up? The only person who thought the series would go just five games picked the wrong team. Oops
Metropolitan Division Final – Pittsburgh Defeats Washington in 6
Did we predict that? Well, we predicted the six games thing right, but only 25% of us had the right team winning it. Again, I was one of the people who got it right, so I’m not making excuses for those jerks who were wrong.
How badly did we screw up? Caps in 5 was one of the predictions
Pacific Division Final – San Jose Defeats Nashville in 7
Did we predict that? We heavily favored the Sharks, so we got this one right. Just one correct prediction for number of games, but as far as everything went, it’s almost a detriment to the Sharks that it took them this long to finish off a team as feckless as the Predators.
How badly did we screw up? Eh, the Preds predictions were made on a “what I want to see happen” bet rather than a “I’m confident this will happen.”
Central Division Final – St. Louis Defeats Dallas in 7
Did we predict that? Hooooooly shit no we did not. Half the predictions were game seven predictions, but yeah we did not favor the Blues in this one.
How badly did we screw up? Not a single person bet on St. Louis.
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Overall Results – We got one out of four series right.
I’m not going to make excuses. I was personally 75% in this round so blame it on my contemporaries for steering you wrong in this one. I’m very sorry we jinxed the Stars though. I really do feel badly about that. Oh well. Let’s get to the next round.
Eastern Conference Final – Pittsburgh Penguins (2M) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (2A)
I’m cheering for a meteor to crash into North America so I don’t have to watch either of these teams win another series. Bolts in 7 I guess because no matter how much I hate another team, I will always hate Sidney Crosby more. – Teandcakeordeath
Pens in 6, because by picking the Pens I am helping the Bolts as my picks are usually wrong – Helmerroids
Penguins in 4 and then they win it all this year and next year so then we can open up the insufferable “are the Penguins a dynasty?” conversation because they won in 2009 and then had a back-to-back. – Uvgt2bkdnme
Pens in 7, and the city of Toronto floods with Steve Simmons’ angry tears. Phil Kessel will use them as the brine for homemade pickles, which will be made into relish for all the free hot dogs he’s going to give out at the Cup Parade. – Redwinger43
Results: 78% of us favored the Penguins in the matchup of the team that played super-hot coming into the postseason and then dispatched the President’s Trophy winners in six over the team that beat up on Detroit and the Islanders to get here. Confused Lightning fans everywhere wonder why they’re not favored. 6 games was the average guess.
Western Conference Final – St. Louis Blues (2C) vs. San Jose Sharks (3P)
San Jose maintains their red hot PP which is clicking at better than 30% in the playoffs. This proves to be the difference in what is expected to be an up-and-down, fast and physical series. San Jose finds its way into the first Cup Finals appearance in franchise history. – Prashanth
Sharks in 6, at least one team is going to overcome their narrative of choking this post season so I’m picking the Sharks – Helmerroids
Sharks in 6 because picking the Blues would make me want to gouge my eyes out while picking the Sharks would only make me projectile vomit. – Uvgt2bkdnme
Results: Sharks take a really tightly-contested vote for the Western Conference, beating out the Blues just 5-4. Again, the majority picks six.
Who do you want to see win the Cup most?
| Blues | 330 |
| Sharks | 224 |
| Penguins | 51 |
| Lightning | 111 |
