As of now, I have received 125 entries for the 1994 Totally Unofficial Hockey-
L Prediction Contest. Thanks once again to all of you who have sent in entries.
I will continue to accept entries until 5pm today, or until I hear a score from
Albany from the first game.
As I promised, I will post my picks so that nobody thinks I cheated when I win.
I have avoided giving details about "who picked what" and I will continue to
do so until the deadline has past. After that, I may give some sort of break-
down as to who the favorites are according to the voting public (sounds like\
the damn People's Choice Awards, which nobody watches anyway).
Courtesy of Keith Instone and Tim Danehy, the TCHCR and CHODR picks:
TCHCR CHODR
First Round
Lake Superior Lake Superior
New Hampshire RPI
Mass-Lowell Mass-Lowell
Wisconsin Wisconsin
Second Round
Michigan Michigan
Harvard Harvard
Minnesota Mass-Lowell
Boston Univ. Boston Univ.
Semifinals
Michigan Michigan
Boston Univ. Boston Univ.
Finals
Boston Univ. Boston Univ.
And, now, what you'll all been waiting for (yeah, right) my picks (with a
few details here and there). BTW, I made my picks on Wednesday after I
received the first four entries, and mine don't agree with any of the four
as far as the champion. I only made one small change in the interim, in
one of the second round games. So here goes:
First round
Lake Superior over Northeastern: This one was a gimme. Despite Sun-
day's loss to UM, Lake Superior is still probably one of the
hottest teams right now. It's hard to pick against them.
New Hampshire over RPI: I realize RPI's at home, but I like UNH.
Wisconsin over Western Michigan: Badgers have been there before. WMU
has a tendency to pick up a LOT of penalties due to their style
of play. Especially watch how it looks when WMU is on the
power play. I think Brown has a tendency to sleep in the net
when his team's a man up (re: the CCHA semi vs. UM). The
Broncos have given up 12 shorthanded goals this season. It
could come back to haunt them here.
Michigan State over Mass-Lowell: You knew this was coming. Of the
Eastern teams, Lowell probably plays the most "Western" style
of hockey. This helps MSU, who usually sees Western teams and
shouldn't have to adjust too much. In addition, the home ice
and being able to wear their road uniforms (they lost only 3
on the road this year) should give the Spartans an edge. This
one should come down to a battle of goaltenders.
Second round
Lake Superior over Michigan: It's tough to beat a team four times in
a season, much less five. In addition, this is the postseason,
where the Lakers usually shine. A close game, but a Laker
victory.
New Hampshire over Harvard: This one's just a gut feeling.
Boston U. over Wisconsin: WMU will wear a team out, and BU's on a roll.
Michigan State over Minnesota: The two played a very close game in
November at the Palace where Minnesota came out with a 6-5 win.
A game that MSU probably should have won against at that time
a bad team. Minnesota has vastly improved, but they'll be
under a ton of pressure to go home and play in the Final 4. In
addition, MSU plays good teams well. Minnesota goes home, but
with an L.
Semifinals
Lake Superior over New Hampshire: Once again, a gut feeling.
Boston U. over Michigan State: The Spartans can only go so far with
Buzak carrying them. BU in a tight one.
Finals
Lake Superior over Boston U.: The Lakers have done it before and know
what it takes to win it all. A lot of players from the team
that won in 1992. Final score: 5-3.
So there you have it. Many of you are probably saying, "Ah, he's already lost."
Oh, well, we shall see. Good luck to all those who have to play the game to
make our predictions come out right.
G. M. Finniss
Michigan State University- Contest Central
WVU '87, UTenn '92, MSU who the hell knows when?
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