After a long (short), hard, and grueling season, we have our top 6. This was the closest race in the history of the TOFHL as it not only came down to the final day, or the final game, but the final period of action (Insert No Boundaries Joke Here) to determine the positioning of The playoff bound teams. 4 Teams were vying for 3 spots and when the smoke cleared and the battles were over, MVB All-Stars was forced to pack up his gear and start work on his golf game for the summer. Seeds 3-7 were separated by just 3 points! Oddly enough, The team in 3rd place didn't even have a winning record H2H as Team Shake 'n Bake went 5-6 on the season.
Before we get into the two Match-Ups I'll be focusing on this week (Sorry Consolation Bracket. If you want something good written about you, make it to the big Dance next time), I'd like to Acknowledge and congratulate both No Boundaries and Minority Report on their earning of byes this week. Also a big congrats to Minority Report on being this years El Presidente. Way to step it up when money is on the line their Johniya. Alright now that the pleasantries are out of the way, let's dive right in to our match-ups. First up we have:
Before we get into the two Match-Ups I'll be focusing on this week (Sorry Consolation Bracket. If you want something good written about you, make it to the big Dance next time), I'd like to Acknowledge and congratulate both No Boundaries and Minority Report on their earning of byes this week. Also a big congrats to Minority Report on being this years El Presidente. Way to step it up when money is on the line their Johniya. Alright now that the pleasantries are out of the way, let's dive right in to our match-ups. First up we have:
3) Team Shake 'n Bake (59-49-13) vs. 6) The Good Sirs' (60-53-8) :
Over the years Team Shake 'n Bake and The Good Sirs' have had many a battle. Cole Thompson (GM of The Good Sirs') even went as far as to call Team Shake 'n Bake his biggest rival. It seems like no matter where they are in the standings, or how good or terrible their teams are they always have great match-ups together. Team Shake 'n Bake and The Good Sirs' have battled it out a total of 14 times in the regular season, and once in the post season, with The Good Sirs' edging out the overall victory 8-4-1 (74-66-22). That said the one meeting they had this year The Good Sirs' got decimated by Team Shake 'n Bake 9-0-2. That was during the second week of the season though and things have changed mightily since than.
Both Team Shake 'n Bake and The Good Sirs' bought heavily going into the playoffs. Team Shake 'n Bake added M. Richard, J. Carter, C. Crawford, and R. Emery at the deadline to help strengthen his team for his inevitable playoff push. The Good Sirs' flipped back and forth between being sellers or buyers at the deadline. They eventually became buyers, and they bought hard. Adding P.K. Subban, N. Horton, T. Selanne, and D. Phaneuf to help bolster their roster. Even with all those additions, The Good Sirs' barely made it into the playoffs, earning the final playoff spot on a tie breaker over MVB All-Stars. Now that they are in though, The Good Sirs' will look to build on their emotional victory and carry it through the first round.
The strength of The Good Sirs' is in their offense, led by the recently awakened A. Ovechkin (25G, 18A, 43Pts). In fact the top 3 scorers for The Good Sirs' all come from the Capitals with N. Backstrom (6G, 34A, 40Pts) and M. Ribiero (12G, 26A, 38Pts) following right behind OV. The Good Sirs' also boast arguably the strongest D Core in the Playoffs (despite the fact that last year's team MVP, E. Karlsson has been on the shelf since game 14 of the regular season) with P.K. Subban, R. Suter, D. Phaneuf, and M. Streit who have combined for 26G, 79A, and 105 Pts. Now Team Shake 'n Bake is no slouch in offense either, although his leading scorer right now is P.A. Parenteau (37Pts) which is mildly amusing and surprising. In fact the two teams are (surprise) pretty evenly matched across all player categories, with Team Shake 'n Bake only trailing by 5G, 2A, and 7 Pts. Team Shake 'n Bake also leads The Good Sirs' in PPP (144-141), GWG (28-26), and SOG (1625-1334). So where The Good Sirs' have a slight edge in player cats, I'm going to give the slight nod in goalie cats to Team Shake 'n Bake. Especially with his deadline acquisition of both Chicago goalies (C. Crawford and R. Emery), who are more than capable of stealing not only games, but possibly this entire series for Team Shake 'n Bake. While Team Shake 'n Bake may have the better overall goalies in Crawford, Emery, and Backstrom, The Good Sirs' have possibly the best goalie in the match-up in M. Neuvirth (Ha what am I drunk?). Clearly I meant P. Rinne, who has been somewhat inconsistent this year, but is stellar and a beast nonetheless.
So how do I call this one? The teams are only separated by 3 pts entering the playoffs, despite the difference in positioning. If history between these two teams has taught us anything, than I expect an extremely close match-up. In the end though I expect The Good Sirs' to come out on top thanks in large part to their offensive output which seems to be clicking on all cylinders
Both Team Shake 'n Bake and The Good Sirs' bought heavily going into the playoffs. Team Shake 'n Bake added M. Richard, J. Carter, C. Crawford, and R. Emery at the deadline to help strengthen his team for his inevitable playoff push. The Good Sirs' flipped back and forth between being sellers or buyers at the deadline. They eventually became buyers, and they bought hard. Adding P.K. Subban, N. Horton, T. Selanne, and D. Phaneuf to help bolster their roster. Even with all those additions, The Good Sirs' barely made it into the playoffs, earning the final playoff spot on a tie breaker over MVB All-Stars. Now that they are in though, The Good Sirs' will look to build on their emotional victory and carry it through the first round.
The strength of The Good Sirs' is in their offense, led by the recently awakened A. Ovechkin (25G, 18A, 43Pts). In fact the top 3 scorers for The Good Sirs' all come from the Capitals with N. Backstrom (6G, 34A, 40Pts) and M. Ribiero (12G, 26A, 38Pts) following right behind OV. The Good Sirs' also boast arguably the strongest D Core in the Playoffs (despite the fact that last year's team MVP, E. Karlsson has been on the shelf since game 14 of the regular season) with P.K. Subban, R. Suter, D. Phaneuf, and M. Streit who have combined for 26G, 79A, and 105 Pts. Now Team Shake 'n Bake is no slouch in offense either, although his leading scorer right now is P.A. Parenteau (37Pts) which is mildly amusing and surprising. In fact the two teams are (surprise) pretty evenly matched across all player categories, with Team Shake 'n Bake only trailing by 5G, 2A, and 7 Pts. Team Shake 'n Bake also leads The Good Sirs' in PPP (144-141), GWG (28-26), and SOG (1625-1334). So where The Good Sirs' have a slight edge in player cats, I'm going to give the slight nod in goalie cats to Team Shake 'n Bake. Especially with his deadline acquisition of both Chicago goalies (C. Crawford and R. Emery), who are more than capable of stealing not only games, but possibly this entire series for Team Shake 'n Bake. While Team Shake 'n Bake may have the better overall goalies in Crawford, Emery, and Backstrom, The Good Sirs' have possibly the best goalie in the match-up in M. Neuvirth (Ha what am I drunk?). Clearly I meant P. Rinne, who has been somewhat inconsistent this year, but is stellar and a beast nonetheless.
So how do I call this one? The teams are only separated by 3 pts entering the playoffs, despite the difference in positioning. If history between these two teams has taught us anything, than I expect an extremely close match-up. In the end though I expect The Good Sirs' to come out on top thanks in large part to their offensive output which seems to be clicking on all cylinders
WIN 7-4
4) Project Hollywood (60-51-10) vs. 5) The Phenoms (56-48-17):
Interesting Match-up we have here as we have perennial playoff team and favorite The Phenoms taking on Project Hollywood who has a new Co-Jism this year in Matt Nidetz, Project Hollywood has been on the rise since entering the league in 2009. Two years ago he finished dead last, but than after a successful rebuild/drafting strategy he finished in 4th place last year for his best season since joining the league. Ironically it was The Phenoms who knocked Project Hollywood out just short of the money last year. This Year Project Hollywood will be looking to exact revenge as he continues his quest for his first TOFHL title.
The Phenoms and Project Hollywood have met a total of 8 times since 2009 and although they have tied in wins and losses, The Phenoms have taken the point totals 44-31-12. What this tells me is that when Project Hollywood has beaten The Phenoms in the past it has been by a very close score. On the other side of the coin, when The Phenoms win it's usually by a large margin. The two teams met once this year with The Phenoms pulling out a victory by a score of 6-2-3. However, Crosby had 5 points and 12 shots that week and as of this writing Crosby is still out with a busted hymen... er i mean Jaw. So that could be good news for Project Hollywood's chances.
Taking a closer look at each team it's clear that even without Crosby, The Phenoms have some great weapons upfront. It's no surprise that for The Phenoms to be successful, E. Malkin is going to have to try and fill the void left behind by S. Crosby (as he has done in the past). Malkin is a PPG player with 27 pts in 26 games thus far this season, and The Phenoms will need every last point to help him get past Project Hollywood. Besides Malkin, The Phenoms are led by two young guns in T. Hall (13G, 28A, 41 Pts) and N. Kadri (17G, 22A, 39 Pts). Looking at the overall player points categories, Project Hollywood takes 4 of the 3 categories including Goals (164-148) and PPP (141-130). Doing most of the damage this year for Project Hollywood were a couple of studs on Long Island. Project Hollywood's first ever draft selection J. Tavares (1st overall in '09) leads the way with 40 Pts (23 G, 17A), followed closely by M. Moulson (12G, 25A, 37Pts). Not to be outdone, Project Hollywood's second ever draft selection (2nd overall in '09) M. Duchene is third in Pts with 36 (15G, 21A). So clearly both teams are relying on some young stars to help carry them into the next round.
If things are close as far as offense goes, they are anything but when it comes to goaltending. Not much fault of his own, as Buffalo has been pretty horrendous this year, but R. Miller has really shit the bed and screwed up Project Hollywood's goaltending this year. That combined with Ondrej Pavelec on a still young rebuilding Winnipeg Jets team and it's no wonder Project Hollywood finds himself dead last in GAA and Shutouts with a 2.81 and 1 shutout respectively on the year. He also is second to last in Sv% with a 0.906. If he has any hope of beating The Phenoms he'll need both of his goalies to step it up and get him at least a split. The Phenoms on the other hand, much like their name, have had phenomenal goaltending this year all around. They currently sit second in GAA with a 2.32 and third in Sv% with a 0.917. The trio of M. Brodeur, C. Price, and J. Markstrom have been superb this year and are a big reason The Phenoms made it into the playoffs.
So with all that said, and all the stats looked at I'm calling for the"upset" this year and saying Project Hollywood will again be knocked out by The Phenoms. Even without Crosby, The Phenoms are too balanced for Project Hollywood to overcome. In a series featuring such superstars as E. Malkin, J. Tavares, and T. Hall, I believe it will ultimately come down to goaltending and that's where The Phenoms will pull off this victory.
The Phenoms and Project Hollywood have met a total of 8 times since 2009 and although they have tied in wins and losses, The Phenoms have taken the point totals 44-31-12. What this tells me is that when Project Hollywood has beaten The Phenoms in the past it has been by a very close score. On the other side of the coin, when The Phenoms win it's usually by a large margin. The two teams met once this year with The Phenoms pulling out a victory by a score of 6-2-3. However, Crosby had 5 points and 12 shots that week and as of this writing Crosby is still out with a busted hymen... er i mean Jaw. So that could be good news for Project Hollywood's chances.
Taking a closer look at each team it's clear that even without Crosby, The Phenoms have some great weapons upfront. It's no surprise that for The Phenoms to be successful, E. Malkin is going to have to try and fill the void left behind by S. Crosby (as he has done in the past). Malkin is a PPG player with 27 pts in 26 games thus far this season, and The Phenoms will need every last point to help him get past Project Hollywood. Besides Malkin, The Phenoms are led by two young guns in T. Hall (13G, 28A, 41 Pts) and N. Kadri (17G, 22A, 39 Pts). Looking at the overall player points categories, Project Hollywood takes 4 of the 3 categories including Goals (164-148) and PPP (141-130). Doing most of the damage this year for Project Hollywood were a couple of studs on Long Island. Project Hollywood's first ever draft selection J. Tavares (1st overall in '09) leads the way with 40 Pts (23 G, 17A), followed closely by M. Moulson (12G, 25A, 37Pts). Not to be outdone, Project Hollywood's second ever draft selection (2nd overall in '09) M. Duchene is third in Pts with 36 (15G, 21A). So clearly both teams are relying on some young stars to help carry them into the next round.
If things are close as far as offense goes, they are anything but when it comes to goaltending. Not much fault of his own, as Buffalo has been pretty horrendous this year, but R. Miller has really shit the bed and screwed up Project Hollywood's goaltending this year. That combined with Ondrej Pavelec on a still young rebuilding Winnipeg Jets team and it's no wonder Project Hollywood finds himself dead last in GAA and Shutouts with a 2.81 and 1 shutout respectively on the year. He also is second to last in Sv% with a 0.906. If he has any hope of beating The Phenoms he'll need both of his goalies to step it up and get him at least a split. The Phenoms on the other hand, much like their name, have had phenomenal goaltending this year all around. They currently sit second in GAA with a 2.32 and third in Sv% with a 0.917. The trio of M. Brodeur, C. Price, and J. Markstrom have been superb this year and are a big reason The Phenoms made it into the playoffs.
So with all that said, and all the stats looked at I'm calling for the"upset" this year and saying Project Hollywood will again be knocked out by The Phenoms. Even without Crosby, The Phenoms are too balanced for Project Hollywood to overcome. In a series featuring such superstars as E. Malkin, J. Tavares, and T. Hall, I believe it will ultimately come down to goaltending and that's where The Phenoms will pull off this victory.