Playoff Prediction Project, 2012

Jonathan Willis
April 11 2012 04:09PM

The first round of the playoffs starts tonight, and once again the writers of the Nation Network are getting together to predict who they feel will win each series in the first round.

Last year, Lowetide walked away with this thing, correctly predicting the winner in 14 of 15 series. He hasn't consistently rubbed that in every single time I've talked to him, but I expect that to change when he wins it all again this year. This year, we have 15 writers participating, and their picks are as follow:

Writer	Wesbite	VAN/L.A.	S.J./STL	PHX/CHI	NSH/DET	NYR/OTT	BOS/WSH	FLA/NJD	PIT/PHI
Jeff Angus	Canucks Army	VAN, 5	STL, 4	PHX, 7	NSH, 7	NYR, 6	BOS, 7	FLA, 7	PIT, 6
Justin Azevedo	Flames Nation	VAN, 6	STL, 5	CHI, 5	NSH, 6	NYR, 5	BOS, 7	N.J., 5	PIT, 6
Cam Charron	Canucks Army	L.A., 6	STL, 6	PHX, 7	NSH, 5	NYR, 7	BOS, 5	N.J., 4	PIT, 7
John Cullen	Canucks Army	L.A., 6	STL, 7	PHX, 6	NSH, 7	NYR, 5	BOS, 6	N.J., 5	PIT, 6
Thomas Drance	Canucks Army	L.A., 6	STL, 7	CHI, 6	DET, 6	NYR, 5	BOS, 7	N.J., 6	PIT, 5
Ryan Fancey	Leafs Nation	VAN, 7	S.J., 6	CHI, 7	NSH, 7	OTT, 6	BOS, 5	N.J., 6	PIT, 7
Danny Gray	Leafs Nation	VAN, 5	S.J., 6	CHI, 6	NSH, 7	NYR, 5	WSH, 7	N.J., 4	PHI, 7
Jason Gregor	Oilers Nation	VAN, 6	STL, 5	CHI, 6	NSH, 7	NYR, 6	BOS, 7	N.J., 7	PIT, 7
Patrick Johnston	Canucks Army	VAN, 6	STL, 7	CHI, 6	DET, 7	NYR, 6	BOS, 7	FLA, 5	PIT, 6
John Lofranco	Leafs Nation	L.A., 7	STL, 6	CHI, 6	DET, 6	OTT, 7	BOS, 6	N.J., 5	PIT, 7
Lowetide	Oilers Nation	VAN, 5	STL, 5	CHI, 6	NSH, 6	NYR, 5	BOS, 6	N.J., 5	PIT, 7
Marda Miller	Canucks Army	VAN, 7	S.J., 7	PHX, 7	NSH, 7	NYR, 6	BOS, 7	N.J., 6	PIT, 7
Matt Stephen	Leafs Nation	VAN, 7	STL, 6	CHI, 6	DET, 5	NYR, 4	WSH, 7	N.J., 5	PHI, 6
Jonathan Willis	Oilers Nation	VAN, 7	STL, 6	CHI, 7	DET, 6	NYR, 5	BOS, 5	N.J., 6	PIT, 6
Kent Wilson	Flames Nation	L.A., 7	S.J., 7	CHI, 5	DET, 7	NYR, 6	BOS, 7	N.J., 6	PIT, 6

The consensus picks, in order of certainty, are as follow:

New Jersey over Florida, New York over Ottawa, Boston over Washington, Pittsburgh over Philadelphia, all 13-2
Chicago over Phoenix and St. Louis over San Jose, 11-4
Vancouver over Los Angeles, 10-5
Nashville over Detroit, 9-6

If you'd like to play along, please feel free to enter your picks below; I'll count them up and add them to the spreadsheet as long as they're in before the end of the second period of tonight's Pittsburgh/Philadelphia game. It's just for fun, but it's always an enjoyable contest.

Now, for an update on our just-for-fun-but-also-prizes contest: we'll be announcing the winners of the Nation Network Hockey Pool on Friday morning, and contacting them individually shortly thereafter to award prizes. Our esteemd leader, Baron Wanye von Gretz IV, came up in a big way and that's something to be thankful for. Just remember - you can be grateful and harassing at the same time, so be sure to pop down below and either encourage/LOUDLY DISCOURAGE him to live up to his promise to post naked pictures of himself should the Oilers win the draft lottery. I don't want to sway the outcome; feel free to do either: ~~encourage~~ or *LOUDLY DISCOURAGE* him.

Around The Nation Today

Jonathan Willis is Managing Editor of the Nation Network. He also currently writes for the Edmonton Journal's Cult of Hockey, Grantland, and Hockey Prospectus. His work has appeared at theScore, ESPN and Puck Daddy. He was previously founder and managing editor of Copper & Blue. Contact him at jonathan (dot) willis (at) live (dot) ca.

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Reply #51 Tim in Kelowna April 11 2012, 07:26PM

+1 0 props

VAN in 7 STL in 6 PHX in 7 DET in 7 NYR 7 BOS in 5 NJD in 5 PIT in 6

Reply #52 TLHansum April 11 2012, 07:37PM

+1 0 props

VAN in 6, SJS in 5, CHI in 7, NSH in 6, NYR in 5, BOS in 6, NJD in 6, PIT in 5

Reply #53 D April 11 2012, 07:43PM

+1 0 props

LA in 7 STL in 6 CHI in 6 DET in 6 NYR in 5 BOS in 5 NDJ in 5 PIT in 5

Reply #54 shanetrain April 11 2012, 08:19PM

+1 1 props

Van 5 StLoo 6 Chi 5 Nash 6 NYR 5 Bos 5 NJ 4 Pitt 7

Oilers in playoffs in 2013/2014.

The world will not end this year.

Reply #55 Sean sampson April 11 2012, 08:24PM

+1 0 props

Sean Sampson wrote:

Fist. Ed.: C'mon, you have to do something more creative than "fist." You must work it into a sentence, like 'Gosh, I wish this was the FIST time the Oilers were outside the playoffs' or 'Among all non-playoff teams, the Flames finished FIST!' etc. Otherwise it's just hollow.

Yeah I suppose you're right it is hollow but then again we can't all be men of substance like yourself right? Who knew posting on your favorite website could feel so crappy! Thanks for the heads up though eh ill stick to reading your creative replies from now on.

Reply #56 Oilers4ever April 11 2012, 09:00PM

+1 0 props

Oh good.. looks like the Canucks have the refs in their back pocket again.. blatant goalie interference and yet the goal stands.. figures... the only way the Canucks stand a hope is by blowing the refs first... errrr I mean.... :) :)

Kings in 6 Preds in 5 Flyers in 6 Blues in 7 Bruins in 5 Devils in 6 Coyotes in 7 Rangers in 5

And yes I know its after the deadline.. but some of us work ya know!