It’s a bit weird to put our your second round predictions after the round has already started, but that’s the position we found ourselves in thanks to a quirk in the NHL schedule that started Isles-Bolts before Ducks-Preds was even finished. Although, if we were smart like John_Connor, we could have done this on Tuesday:
Nailed it. pic.twitter.com/kS3Y9PmKi5
— Winging It In Motown (@wingingitmotown) April 28, 2016
Nice.
At any rate, we’re not going to let something like a series already having gotten underway stop us from wowing you with our knowledge and prowess. Yeah, about that…
First Round Results
First, let’s look at how we did in our first round predictions.
Dallas defeated Minnesota in six games
Did we predict that? – We sure did! 100% of us picked the Stars. We only had four people guess correctly on the number of games it would take, but that’s because Dallas’ defense is dumber than expected.
How badly did we screw up? – Two people guessed sweep. Nobody said seven games.
Nashville defeated Anaheim in seven games
Did we predict that? – Hell no! 80% of WIIM had the Ducks not choking away this series and the same percent guessed it would be over quicker than seven.
How badly did we screw up? – Not a single person had Nashville in seven. I can’t believe that we had people expecting the Ducks to win a game seven.
St. Louis defeated Chicago in seven games
Did we predict that? – Nope. Blackhawks votes beat out Blues votes 7-4. However, more than half of us agreed this one was going to go seven.
How badly did we screw up? – Two nameless folks had the Hawks in five. I won’t share their identities because I purposely didn’t collect names with predictions to protect them.
San Jose defeated Los Angeles in five games
Did we predict that? – Oh god no. We were more than halfway certain this one was going to be Kings in seven.
How badly did we screw up? – Even 100% of the people who correctly picked the Sharks thought it would take seven. Three of us felt the Kings would finish it off before the series went to six.
Washington defeated Philadelphia in six games
Did we predict that? – 100% picked the Caps and more than half of us got the games right on at six. High-five for WIIM!
How badly did we screw up? – We didn’t. Nobody said sweep and only one person said it would take seven games.
NY Islanders defeated Florida in six games
Did we predict that? – Another 7-4 vote in the wrong direction doomed us on this one. Most of us thought it would go the distance as well. .
How badly did we screw up? – Somebody picked the Panthers to sweep.
Pittsburgh defeated NY Rangers in five games
Did we predict that? – We heavily favored the Penguins, but twice as many people said it would take six as those who had it ending in five.
How badly did we screw up? – The worst one here had Rangers in six.
Tampa Bay defeated Detroit in five games
Did we predict that? – No we did not.
How badly did we screw up? – The one of us who nailed this series right on has to live with the horrible pain of having been right.
– – –
Overall Results: We kind of suck at this
Ok, so all that’s behind us now. It’s time to look forward to the Division Finals! As a note, we collected all of these answers during the day on Thursday, so we knew the result of Isles/Bolts game 1, but were not aware of how the Caps & Pens series started.
Central Division Final: Dallas Stars (1) vs. St. Louis Blues (2)
DAL in 6. I will forever loathe the Blackhawks for making me want good things to happen to the Blues. It feels good to be back to normal – Graham
Dal/Stl. – Dallas in 6 Even Tony X will appreciate watching David Backes cry when he can’t catch up with Dallas’s offense OR any fresh puppies for his pre-game snacks. – AppState Nick
Results: Every single one of us picked the Stars. Half picked 6 games and the other half picks 7. Sorry, Dallas.
Pacific Division Final: San Jose Sharks (3) vs. Nashville Predators (7)
Sharks in 6 because I don’t trust the Preds to hang on – Teandcakeordeath
SJ in 5. Really, who cares? – Graham
Results: Sharks took 75% of the predictions here. Low side of six games was the average.
Metropolitan Division Final: Washington Capitals (1) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (2)
Pittsburgh’s quick breakouts prove to be the perfect counterattack to Washington’s aggressive forecheck. This series is less about Crosby and Ovechkin and more about Carlson/Niskanen vs. Letang. Which D-corps can successfully empower their forwards? – Prashanth
I can’t pick the Pens, I just can’t do it. I trust Holtby to steal a game or two no matter how hard the Caps try to collapse – Helmerroids
WSH in 7. Alex Ovechkin scores the GWG in Game 7 and sportswriters all over Canada struggle to find another person to apply their “he can’t win” narrative to. – Graham
Results: Just two people took the Penguins in this series with 7 games being the most-popular vote. Caps in 6.
Atlantic Division Final: Tampa Bay Lightning (2) vs. NY Islanders (7)
TB in 6. In the battle of one-line teams, Tampa advances because Steven Stamkos comes back for Game 5 and boosts his value by 19%. – Graham
Isles in 5 to show just how bad the Wings were – Teandcakeordeath
The Islanders keep finding ways to make things happen, even if some of those ways involve the refs. – Helmerroids
NYI in 6. Wish Stammer was playing against Tavares, so both teams could get a good look at two guys who will be parading around the Marinara Bowl in 2017 wearing Wings sweaters. – AppState Nick
Results: Isles narrowly beat out the bolts. Again we averaged out to 6 games.
