So the quarterfinals have come and gone. One series went down to the wire as was expected, while the other seemed to be over before it began. I'm not going to do a huge recap as I believe Minority Report is working on something (assuming he ever finishes part two of the regualr season recap). Thats said, I would like to say that Project Hollywood has really surprised me in the way he so easily handled the powerhouse that is The Phenoms. Unfortunately I think it is injuries that did The Phenoms in as the loss of Crosby and Malkin this week really hurt him. Not to mention his goalies played like Lynch for most of the week (Just kidding buddy, you know I love you). With that said though congrats to ZD for moving on to the next round. Before we get to that match-up though, I'd like to send my condolenses to The Good Sirs' who lost a heartbreaking match-up against Team Shake 'n Bake. Prior to this season Cole Thompson stated that his biggest rival was Dru Brooks of Team Shake 'n Bake and that their match-ups are always close and hard fought. This past week was no exception as it came down to the final 3 minutes of the final game on Sunday to decide a winner. That winner happened to be Team Shake 'n Bake 5-4-2. Lucky Bitch.
Looking ahead to the Semifinals we have two solid match-ups yet again, although it seems that injuries may once again play a part in deciding who moves on. First up we have:
Looking ahead to the Semifinals we have two solid match-ups yet again, although it seems that injuries may once again play a part in deciding who moves on. First up we have:
1) Minority Report (70-43-8) vs. 4) Project Hollywood (60-51-10)
Project Hollywood is coming off a big win over The Phenoms to move one step closer to the finals. Last week he beat up the perennial powerhouse 8-1-2 due in large part to The Phenoms goalies deciding to take the week off. Now that's not to say that Project Hollywood didn't deserve to win, as I believe he was the better team thanks in large part to The Phenoms two, well, Phenoms being out. So after dispatching one of the league's all time best, he now gets to take on the President Trophy winner: Minority Report. This will be Minority Report's highest finish in his team history as is previous best was a 5th place finish last year. Project Hollywood already has a 4th place finish under his belt and will get at least that far this year. So how do these two teams stack up? We already know that Minority Report Locked up the President's Trophy for the first time in his team history, but as we've learned in the past that isn't always the best spot to be in (Just ask No Boundaries). Many people didn't even have Minority Report slotted to make the playoffs (8th place in preseason rankings), let alone win the President's Trophy. The history between these two isn't as deep as some, but there are numbers to dissect nonetheless. Minority Report and Project Hollywood have met seven times in the regular season and twice in the playoffs. Minority Report owns PH in the regular season going 5-0-2 (44-23-10) in their seven meetings over the years. Things become more interesting though when we look at their two prior playoff match-ups, where PH is 2-0 (14-6-2). During their one and only meeting this season, Minority Report took down Project Hollywood handedly 7-2-2, but as history show PH really comes to play during the playoffs.
Minority Report has been lead by his two stallions (well one stallion, and one creepy drunk frat boy) from Chicago this year in J. Toews (42 pts) and P. Kane (46 pts). In between the pipes Minority Report has leaned on, as he has for so many years, H. Lundqvist to do most of the heavy lifting. For the most part Lundqvist has been what you'd expect with 19 wins, a 2.06GAA and 0.928Sv%. Minority Report also took a chance on relatively unknown goalie V. Fasth who has been a pleasant surprise posting 14 wins, a 2.16GAA, and a 0.922Sv%. Clearly goaltending is a strength of Minority Report (as long as he doesn't play Kipper).
Since their meeting in week 17 of the season, Project Hollywood has done a lot to change/better his team. There are 9 new faces on Project Hollywood since these two last met, including R. Miller, J. Iginla, Z. Chara, M. Koivu, and R. "The Wizard" Whitney. The addition of Miller alone brings this goaltending battle closer together, although PH is only running two goalies in Miller and Pavelec so games played may be a concern. As i mentioned last week in my quarterfinal preview, Project Hollywood has some excellent offensive dynamos to keep pace with Minority Report. Along with J. Tavares and M. Moulson who I mentioned last week, PH also sports M. Duchene (39 pts), and J. "The Real Deal" Neal (32 pts in 39 games). Neal is back skating and is apparently symptom free so that is a big boost to PH's chances of moving onto the finals for the first time in team history.
So who takes down this week and moves onto the championship? These two teams were separated by 18 points in the regular season and Minority Report beat up on Project Hollywood last time, but I see a much closer battle between them this time. I think Project Hollywood takes down the offense, and if he can get some solid (doesn't have to be spectacular ) goaltending he'll punch his ticket to the finals and be one step closer to removing the cup from California.
Minority Report has been lead by his two stallions (well one stallion, and one creepy drunk frat boy) from Chicago this year in J. Toews (42 pts) and P. Kane (46 pts). In between the pipes Minority Report has leaned on, as he has for so many years, H. Lundqvist to do most of the heavy lifting. For the most part Lundqvist has been what you'd expect with 19 wins, a 2.06GAA and 0.928Sv%. Minority Report also took a chance on relatively unknown goalie V. Fasth who has been a pleasant surprise posting 14 wins, a 2.16GAA, and a 0.922Sv%. Clearly goaltending is a strength of Minority Report (as long as he doesn't play Kipper).
Since their meeting in week 17 of the season, Project Hollywood has done a lot to change/better his team. There are 9 new faces on Project Hollywood since these two last met, including R. Miller, J. Iginla, Z. Chara, M. Koivu, and R. "The Wizard" Whitney. The addition of Miller alone brings this goaltending battle closer together, although PH is only running two goalies in Miller and Pavelec so games played may be a concern. As i mentioned last week in my quarterfinal preview, Project Hollywood has some excellent offensive dynamos to keep pace with Minority Report. Along with J. Tavares and M. Moulson who I mentioned last week, PH also sports M. Duchene (39 pts), and J. "The Real Deal" Neal (32 pts in 39 games). Neal is back skating and is apparently symptom free so that is a big boost to PH's chances of moving onto the finals for the first time in team history.
So who takes down this week and moves onto the championship? These two teams were separated by 18 points in the regular season and Minority Report beat up on Project Hollywood last time, but I see a much closer battle between them this time. I think Project Hollywood takes down the offense, and if he can get some solid (doesn't have to be spectacular ) goaltending he'll punch his ticket to the finals and be one step closer to removing the cup from California.
Wins 6-4-1
2) No Boundaries (63-47-11) vs. 3) Team Shake 'n Bake (59-49-13)
Here we have the match-up that I am most intrigued about, No Boundaries against Team Shake 'n Bake. Team Shake 'n Bake is coming off a gigantic, heart-wrenching, nail-biting win over The Good Sirs' and will be looking to carry that momentum into his match-up against No Boundaries. The reigning TOFHL Champion will be looking to continue his quest to become the first ever repeat champion in TOFHL history. Standing in his way is a big roadblock known as No Boundaries, who has had a sensational year. No Boundaries is looking to get back to his glory days of the back-to-back President trophy winner in 2009 and 2010.
Although he didn't take down that trophy for his 3rd time in 4 years (he was 12 points back of Minority Report), he did dominate much of the scoring categories. Taking a look at the rotisserie standings that Dru made up, No Boundaries was 1st in 5 of the 7 player categories, which is clearly where his strength lies. No Boundaries sports 4 players over 40 pts, which is the most of any team that made the playoffs. Led by R. Getzlaf (44pts), C. Giroux (42pts), J. Voracek (42pts), and P. Datsyuk (41pts), No Boundaries has the offensive depth to handle just about whatever gets thrown his way. Team Shake 'n Bake definitely is no slouch either when it comes to offense. Although not as deep as No Boundaries, he has the tools to keep things close and more than compete. Led by P.A. Parenteau (40pts), E. Kane (31pts), and D. Krejci (31pts), Team Shake 'n Bake will have to rely more on an overall team game than a few superstars to pull off a victory in the offensive categories.
In the one meeting they had this year, Team Shake 'n Bake won 7-4, and dominated 6 of the 7 offensive categories. A lot has changed since than though as both teams made plenty of changes heading into the playoffs to help strengthen their teams. Before we get into those changes though I want to take a look at past history to see how these two teams have stacked up over the years. The two teams have met 9 times over the years with Team Shake 'n Bake absolutely destroying No Boundaries 7-1-1 (64-28-8). Clearly Team Shake 'n Bake has had No Boundaries number over the years. That said these two teams have never met in the playoffs and we all know that the playoffs is a different beast altogether. It will be interesting to see if The changes that No Boundaries made since their meeting earlier this season will get him over the hump and into the finals for the second time in three years. What changes you ask? Well let's breakdown just exactly what each team did to help improve their chances in the playoffs.
Both teams pulled off huge blockbuster style trades during the trade deadline, each involving star players and goalies. Team Shake 'n Bake brought in the goalie tandem of C. Crawford and R. Emery, along with J. Carter which was a big reason he was able to squeak by The Good Sirs' last week. He also brought in J. Carter's Coke buddy in M. Richards (in a controversial trade with My Goodies). Not to be outdone, No Boundaries did some wheelin' and dealin' of his own and brought in B. Wheeler, J. Tlusty, J. Lupul (although he's since been injured), J. Pavelski, B. Burns, and the possible cornerstone of his playoff run B. Elliot. Last week, when No Boundaries was on his bye week, Elliot put up 2W, a 0.69GAA (Rob's second fave position), 0.974Sv%, and 2 Shutouts. If Elliot does anything similar this week for No Boundaries, he'll be well on his way to the finals.
With both teams goaltending being so close, although I'll still have to give the edge to Team Shake 'n Bake with his tandem of C. Crawford and R. Emery, this match-up will come down to the offensive prowess. Which is where I see No Boundaries pulling ahead. I like the deals that he pulled off just slightly better than Team Shake 'n Bake (although M. Rich has been a beast as of late). It is for that reason that I have No Boundaries taking down this match-up and facing Project Hollywood in the finals.
Although he didn't take down that trophy for his 3rd time in 4 years (he was 12 points back of Minority Report), he did dominate much of the scoring categories. Taking a look at the rotisserie standings that Dru made up, No Boundaries was 1st in 5 of the 7 player categories, which is clearly where his strength lies. No Boundaries sports 4 players over 40 pts, which is the most of any team that made the playoffs. Led by R. Getzlaf (44pts), C. Giroux (42pts), J. Voracek (42pts), and P. Datsyuk (41pts), No Boundaries has the offensive depth to handle just about whatever gets thrown his way. Team Shake 'n Bake definitely is no slouch either when it comes to offense. Although not as deep as No Boundaries, he has the tools to keep things close and more than compete. Led by P.A. Parenteau (40pts), E. Kane (31pts), and D. Krejci (31pts), Team Shake 'n Bake will have to rely more on an overall team game than a few superstars to pull off a victory in the offensive categories.
In the one meeting they had this year, Team Shake 'n Bake won 7-4, and dominated 6 of the 7 offensive categories. A lot has changed since than though as both teams made plenty of changes heading into the playoffs to help strengthen their teams. Before we get into those changes though I want to take a look at past history to see how these two teams have stacked up over the years. The two teams have met 9 times over the years with Team Shake 'n Bake absolutely destroying No Boundaries 7-1-1 (64-28-8). Clearly Team Shake 'n Bake has had No Boundaries number over the years. That said these two teams have never met in the playoffs and we all know that the playoffs is a different beast altogether. It will be interesting to see if The changes that No Boundaries made since their meeting earlier this season will get him over the hump and into the finals for the second time in three years. What changes you ask? Well let's breakdown just exactly what each team did to help improve their chances in the playoffs.
Both teams pulled off huge blockbuster style trades during the trade deadline, each involving star players and goalies. Team Shake 'n Bake brought in the goalie tandem of C. Crawford and R. Emery, along with J. Carter which was a big reason he was able to squeak by The Good Sirs' last week. He also brought in J. Carter's Coke buddy in M. Richards (in a controversial trade with My Goodies). Not to be outdone, No Boundaries did some wheelin' and dealin' of his own and brought in B. Wheeler, J. Tlusty, J. Lupul (although he's since been injured), J. Pavelski, B. Burns, and the possible cornerstone of his playoff run B. Elliot. Last week, when No Boundaries was on his bye week, Elliot put up 2W, a 0.69GAA (Rob's second fave position), 0.974Sv%, and 2 Shutouts. If Elliot does anything similar this week for No Boundaries, he'll be well on his way to the finals.
With both teams goaltending being so close, although I'll still have to give the edge to Team Shake 'n Bake with his tandem of C. Crawford and R. Emery, this match-up will come down to the offensive prowess. Which is where I see No Boundaries pulling ahead. I like the deals that he pulled off just slightly better than Team Shake 'n Bake (although M. Rich has been a beast as of late). It is for that reason that I have No Boundaries taking down this match-up and facing Project Hollywood in the finals.