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2007 - 2008 NHL Playoffs

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2007-08 NHL Hockey PlayOffs

Well, that's it folks. Another one for the books. Detroit wins Stanley's Mug for the fourth time in eleven years and making that their eleventh time winning in total.

Our flakey prediction (Wings in 5...or maybe 6) with the 'maybe' in there is a bit less than fulfilling, but we did call the last team match-up way early and well, 'maybe in six' is still accurate! Ha! Thanks for playing kids!

Oh, yea...nice one Penguins fans - the booing of the Wings and the Cup. Stay classy!

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Vegas Internal NHL Wagering Year 2007-2008 End Results

OK, so with our newfangled system (pen and paper) we are pleased to bring the final, internal tally for the hockey season. For those involved, it's neat to see the enumerated result.

The Grand Poohbah, as was hypothesized, came out on top. That gives each of the 3 contestants one season win each. Next year should be fun! Tie-breaker.

In total, 616 games were wagered on

- A: 313/616

- S: 311/616

- M: 318/616

M takes the season! Congratulations :)

The winning streak record for the year ended with a three-way tie: A: 8 M: 8 S: 8 - the first year record (S: 12) remains unscathed, although it came close to crumbling a couple of times if not for a single loss here and there.

** As a note for archival purposes and since I just actually bothered to tally it up, here's the results / breakdown of the 2007 CFL wagering, which had it's first year play last season. The new one begins very soon.

A: 34/73 S: 49/73 M: 39/73

S takes the first year of CFL play.

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On to the final four - Dallas/Detroit and Pittsburgh/Philadelphia (the battle of Pennsylvania and which must be also the teams with the longest city name!)

Thursday, May 8 - Dallas - Detroit. 8 PM EST.

*Well...this is shaping up to be a quick round. Is it kind of lame when it looks like it's a sweep out?

Also, not to toot the old horn, but we did posit the possibility of Detroit / Pittsburgh as a cup match just before the playoffs began. Yup.

**OK, so no sweep out. I guess that's a good thing. Miracle come backs anywhere on the horizon? Na.

***Detroit vs. Pittsburgh for Cup : Saturday, May 24th

[espn] : The Detroit Red Wings are trying to win their fourth Stanley Cup since 1997. They are led by captain Nicklas Lidstrom, who will make his case as the greatest defenseman of all time before he's done. The Pittsburgh Penguins, meanwhile, are led by the finest 1-2 punch in the NHL in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Pittsburgh is in the finals for the first time since 1992, when now-owner Mario Lemieux was leading the club to the second of back-to-back Cup wins. The Red Wings and Pens are the only teams to successfully defend a Cup championship since that year (Detroit won in 1997 and 1998).

While the Red Wings wobbled a bit in the first round (versus Nashville) and the West finals (Dallas), the Penguins will hit the finals boasting a 12-2 postseason record, just slightly more impressive than the Wings' 12-4 record.

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We'll call it for the Wings over the flightless birds in, let's say 5 games. Maybe 6...but hey. I'm sure QM would go with that, die hard Wingman loyalist that he is and just because we've been known to sport the Hawk's colours around now and then, we've been with the Wings for a long, long time. Bloody geezer.

The burning question is...what does Sir Buck Wheaton say? Does he have a pony in this race? We're waiting to hear...

** No word from Wheaton. He's pull~~ing~~ an MG and absent of a prediction. Crushed by the demise of his beloved Habitants, no doubt.

*** Bloody nice bit of 'acky there tonight. Triple OT is alway your monies worth. And we had The Pens. Plus, I always want a Game 7 no matter who the teams are.

[espn]
The Penguins scored with 34.3 seconds left to force overtime and Petr Sykora scored in the third extra frame to give Pittsburgh a 4-3 win over Detroit and force a Game 6 in the finals.

- Chris Osgood has 363 career wins, just 26 behind teammate Dominik Hasek.

****Well there you have it. Bittersweet for us is the wrapping up of another season...we do enjoy the internal wagering even if we were'nt glued to the screen this year. The numbers will be up at The Foyer, but I'm guessing The Grand Poohbah has prevailed. Interesting though will be that we'll for the first time in three years have the totals enumerated, not just based on visuals of the pot. Cool.

Detroit Red Wings : Stanley Cup Champions

[espn] In all, there were five Red Wings who won their fourth Stanley Cup on this night. Those ties to the past tell almost as much of a story as the Wings' Euro-centrism. Six of the Red Wings' top nine scorers in the playoffs are from Sweden and another, Pavel Datsyuk, is from Russia.

And the presence of those talented Europeans proves there is no one stylistic blueprint for success. Yet, there is always one constant regardless of whether your players are from Newfoundland or Stockholm -- it's the willingness to commit to one another without question.

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Game 5 note It's winding down. Nice bit of play there tonight. Triple OT is alway your monies worth. And we had The Pens. Plus, I always want a Game 7 no matter who the teams are.

[espn] The Penguins scored with 34.3 seconds left to force overtime and Petr Sykora scored in the third extra frame to give Pittsburgh a 4-3 win over Detroit and force a Game 6 in the finals.

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Comments From The Internet

- "The "Ozzy: Hall of Fame or Not" argument rages on talk radio in Detroit on a regular basis, and it appears that most people disregard him because of the Vezinas, ASG appearances, etc. But doesn't it make sense that the Hall is for ALL-TIME greats? Ozzy clearly suffers from playing in a time period that was occupied by Roy, Hasek, Brodeur, Barasso, Belfour, Cujo, and many other extremely good competitors? Personally, I think he is as good as Tony Esposito, and he is in. He will have more cups than all but Roy out of the group above, and is it fair to judge him only based on comparison to the guys he played against?"

- "As a Wings, I've often criticized Ozzie in the past. Going into the playoffs this year, despite the great success of Ozzie in the regular season, I still had more confidence in the proven Hasek, over the often solid, but unspectacular Osgood.

Make no mistake about it. I don't think Osgood is a Hall of Famer by any stretch of the imagination.

However, as far as this season goes, the Wings wouldn't be on a brink of another championship without him between the pipes.

I've watched every single playoff game, and while he often faces 20-25 shots a game, he has time and time again come up with some huge, key saves at the right moment.

He has a great defense in front of him, no doubt, but here in 2008, Osgood deserves as much of the accolades as Brodeur has in the past with the Devils.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not comparing their careers. Just this outstanding season by our "backup goalie."

He should win the Conn Smythe tonight after a Game 5 win, and he flat out deserves it.

GO WINGS."

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NHL Playoffs : Final : Detroit Red Wings vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
There can be only one.

Detroit
4 - 3 - 2 - 2 - 3 - 3
vs.

~~Pittsburgh~~
0 - 0 - 3 - 1 - 4 - 2

Detroit Red Wings : Stanley Cup Champions

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NHL Playoffs : Finals

Eastern Conference

~~Philadelphia~~
- 2 - 2 - 1 - 4 - 0
vs.

Pittsburgh
4 - 4 - 4 - 2 - 6

Pittsburgh eliminates Philadelphia

Pittsburgh goes on to play in their first cup finals since 1992

Western Conference

Detroit
4 - 2 - 5 - 1 - 1 - 4
vs.