What a crazy year for the NHL playoffs. The teams that make the semifinals? Seeds 1 and 2 in the west, and seeds 7 and 8 in the east! Yeesh.

Pittsburgh_Penguins 0.611 0.332 0.122
Boston_Bruins 0.482 0.236 0.078
Philadelphia_Flyers 0.518 0.263 0.089
Montreal_Canadiens 0.389 0.169 0.046

San_Jose_Sharks 0.648 0.304 0.202
Chicago_Blackhawks 0.561 0.341 0.243
Vancouver_Canucks 0.439 0.242 0.161
Detroit_Red_Wings 0.352 0.114 0.059

So the predictor did a good job, going 3/4 this time around. The exception was Montreal's 7 game masterpiece against the Pittsburgh Penguins. I'm feeling the magic! The question in my head is: will Montreal follow the "canadian team forcing game 7 in the finals and lose" pattern, or will they follow the 1993 pattern of having the stars align and pulling out a win? At any rate, the predictor now has a record of 7/12 (same as last year at this time). So what does it think of the next round?

Philadelphia_Flyers 0.576 0.180
Montreal_Canadiens 0.424 0.106

San_Jose_Sharks 0.441 0.303
Chicago_Blackhawks 0.559 0.411

The flyers are the favourite agains the Habs, but I'll be rooting for the Canadian club anyways. There's something special going on there. On the west side, Chicago has a bit of an edge ... that should be an excellent series to watch.

Herald