The Road to the Anze Cup

What a Sunday that was.  Even the match that wasn’t even close ended 7-6.  First time I have ever seen a match end in a tie as well, with season head-to-head record being the tiebreaker.  Three of the matches came down to the last 2 minutes of the last game on Sunday, Calgary versus Anaheim.  In one match, a game winning goal by Glencross or Bourque would have given Anzoolander a win, but instead Pistol Hellcats took it on a tie.  In another, Teemu Selanne’s late third period assist pushed Jesse Loves Paymon into the lead, when a tie would have eliminated this team from the playoffs.  In yet another, if the final goal had been Visnovsky to Perry, Super Sperm might not be competing in the consolation bracket, also known as the Spanky Cup.

Lets look at this week’s semifinal matchups.  I was 2-2 in last week’s predictions, though I could just have easily been 4-0.

Pistol’s Hellcats vs. Malkin in the Middle – Can Jack Adams nominee Pete Shpak lead his team to the Anze Cup finals?  Based on how this team started the year, it would be pretty miraculous.  Both MITM and PH put up similar numbers this past week, so look for this to be a dead heat all the way to end.  Both have the same number of games offensively, though PH has one more from a d-man, and MITM has one more from a forward.  That could be the difference maker.  Prediction:  MITM goes to the finals and Sidney Crosby is in the starting lineup when he gets there….7-6-3

Jesse Loves Paymon vs. Everett Silvertips – Can  The magical ride continues for the come-out-of-nowhere Silvertips?  JLP won their season bout handily, but the Silvertips only have five players from that matchup on their active roster.  This is a matchup of the best team statistically during the year and the hottest team.  It is only a matter of time before performance returns to the statistical mean, so I gotta go with the powerhouse.  Prediction:  Everett Silvertip’s band of plugs in net spontaneously combust and JLP waltzes into the Anze Cup finals…10-4-2

For teams competing in the Spanky Cup, keep in mind that tournament has no bearing on your finish in league standings as far as the draft lottery is concerned.  You finish is calculated by the round you were eliminated and your playoff seeding; the higher the seed, the higher in the standings (i.e., Super Sperm was a one seed, and gagged like Jesse on Paymon’s pork sword, was knocked out in the first round with four teams remaining, so that team finished fifth).  The lottery for playoff teams who did not make the Anze Cup will be done after this week.  Contrary to what Bert thinks, because he is an idiot, teams not in the Anze Cup playoffs are locked out of free agency to make the most players available to teams still in the Anze Cup, and to stop shenanigans.

Good luck to all still in this beauty.