Posts Tagged ‘playoff preview’
La Famiglia vs. Fresh Kills
Friday, October 24th, 2014Fresh Kills and La Famiglia advancing to the semifinals isn’t exactly a surprise. All three of us picked La Famiglia in our preseason predictions to win the $h0wT!m3 Division, and sure enough, all three of us got it right. Now, I know what you are thinking here…if all three of us got it right, then Intern Nick got it wrong. Well, back in March, Intern Nick as a writer for the website was just a gleam in Richie’s eye. All three of us also picked Fresh Kills to win the Brown Division, and although we got that wrong, they did finish with the second best record in the league, so our forecasting wasn’t entirely off base.
We missed on some of our predictions, like Richie taking the guy on the left (no, that’s not Sebastian) to win the regular season scoring title.
Butchers at Cobra Kai
Saturday, October 11th, 2014Before we dive into this game, let’s take a minute to see how Cobra Kai rookie Sebastian’s BTSH playoff bracket picks are doing. Riots over Poutine Machine…uh oh! Mega Touch over Gremlins…yikes! Gut Rot over Dark Rainbows…really?! Filthy Gorgeous over What The Puck…are you kidd–oh wait, he got that one right. Whew, we’re glad you didn’t go O-fer the opening weekend there Sebastian.
Come on Sebastian…even President Obama had the Gremlins beating Mega Touch.
The Butchers have never lost in the Round of 16, going a perfect 4-0 since joining the league. This includes 2010, when they recovered to knock off the #2 seed Rehabs in an overtime thriller after giving up a late game-tying goal. And 2012, when Fresh Kills’ Patrick Barch filled in as a last minute emergency replacement in goal and led the Butchers to a 1-0 shutout of the Elves. And last year, when Creamy made Craig get all boo-boo face in the shootout, causing him to throw shit really, really high and really, really far.
Cobra Kai, on the other hand, has never won in the Round of 16. Some years, they didn’t even make it to the Round of 16. Not only are they in it this year, but they also have a feather in their proverbial cap in the form of a 5-4 head-to-head win from earlier in the year. However, the Butchers always find a way to get through this weekend, and we think they keep that streak going with a hard fought 3-2 win.
Playoff Previews Part 1
Tuesday, October 7th, 2014
When Apollo Creed “beat” Rocky in the original Rocky, he told our hero, “Their ain’t gonna be no rematch.” (I’m assuming Apollo used the wrong there since he was probably concussed)
Playoff Preview: Championship Game
Thursday, October 27th, 2011Fresh Kills Is Not Intimidated By Mike’s Canadian Scowl
#7 What The Puck (12-5-1-2) at #2 Fresh Kills (14-4-2)
Location: Tompkins West, 4:00 PM
All-Time Series: What The Puck leads 9-8-1
2011 Result: Week 1 – Fresh Kills 3, What The Puck 2 (OT-SO); Week 8 – Fresh Kills 3, What The Puck 0
Game Notes: At the beginning of the 2011 season, picking What The Puck to reach the championship game was a no-brainer. Larry “Mad Dog” Zimmer had just concluded an off-season shopping spree, pillaging the Rehabs of goaltender Anthony Romeo and forwards Brock Bosacker, Alex Doucette, and “The All-American Canadian” Adam Skuse. Zimmer’s grand plan to ambush BTSH with his all-star squad was working to perfection through the spring, as What The Puck jumped out to an 8-1-0-1 record through ten games. However, once the calendar turned to summer, injuries and lackluster attendance began to deplete Zimmer’s charges, and his Orange Juggernaut stumbled to a 1-4-1-1 finish, scoring an uncharacteristically low 11 goals in this seven game stretch. Once the playoffs began, however, What The Puck returned to the form everyone expected to see, and the team dispatched the Sky Fighters, Denim Demons, and Butchers, allowing just one goal in each game. What The Puck’s opponent in the championship game, Fresh Kills, is a familiar foe. The two teams are meeting in the postseason for the fourth time since 2006, and as members of the Hackett Division, they faced off twice this season. Captain David Sokolyansky, armed with a much smaller budget than Zimmer’s, took an alternate route to building his squad, preferring to add undervalued free agents and players other teams viewed as flawed. This haul included Scott Lee, who was cast aside by the Mathematics because of his inability to finish. Sokolyansky’s philosophy paid off, as Fresh Kills performed consistently throughout the season and claimed the Hackett Division crown on the penultimate weekend of the regular season. However, all of this hard work was almost undone in the opening round of the playoffs, when Fresh Kills was extended to a shootout before putting away Mega Touch. The next two rounds proceeded more like the regular season, as Sokolyansky’s bunch used stifling defense and opportunistic offense to eliminate the Dark Rainbows and defending champion Happy Little Elves. Entering the finals, Fresh Kills now seems to have all signs pointing in its favor, as Sokolyanksy and his crew are the higher seed and swept What The Puck in the season series. However, Zimmer is known for pulling rabbits out of hats throughout his illustrious BTSH tenure and may have one more trick up his sleeve.
Playoff Preview: Semifinals (Part II)
Thursday, October 20th, 2011Clearly, We Staged This Photo
#11 Butchers (11-7-1) at #7 What The Puck (11-5-1-2)
Location: Tompkins West, 3:30 PM
All-Time Series: What The Puck leads 2-0
2011 Result: Week 11 – What The Puck 4, Butchers 1
Game Notes: For the second straight season, despite entering as a double-digit seed, the Butchers find themselves in the semifinals of the BTSH playoffs. This year, their run began with a round of 16 upset of the #6 seed Unicorns, when Chris DiMotta’s overtime goal sent the Butchers past their Donohue Division foe to the quarterfinals. Their good fortune continued last week, as the Butchers sent #4 seed Poutine Machine, the MacNeil Division champions, packing with a hard-fought 2-1 victory. However, the Butchers’ opponent, What The Puck, is also no stranger to the semifinals, even though the team was uncharacteristically eliminated in the opening round in 2010. In spite of this setback, Larry’s Orange Juggernaut has looked like the What The Puck of old this year. In the round of 16, the Puckers easily dispatched a fellow Hackett Division squad, the Sky Fighters, on the strength of Oliver Hartman’s four goal outburst. Last week, Corey “Chongo” Winters’ second-half game-winning goal pushed them past the rival Denim Demons and into the semifinals. Although history is on What The Puck’s side, as the team looks to advance to the championship game for the third time in six years, the upstart Butchers are eager to get their relatively new franchise to the next plateau.
Keys To The Game For The Butchers:
1. After an excellent regular season, goaltender Eric Ramirez has continued to cement his reputation as a playoff goalie. He has allowed just three goals through two games, and his two wins this season bring his postseason record to 4-1. These stats have vindicated co-captain Rachel Greene’s decision to pick Ramirez over Rob “Mungo” Gorden, Randy Locklair, and Tim “(S)crappy” Gray as her starting goalie when establishing the team.
2. The Butchers’ offense is carried by the 1-2 punch of co-captain Ben Bloom and “The Charismatic Enigma” Arthur Revechkis. The duo combined for 30 of the team’s 47 goals in the regular season, and each contributed a goal in the round of 16 win against the Unicorns.
3. After a subdued performance, Arnold Sanchez recently admitted that his head was never really in last week’s game against Poutine Machine. Apparently, Jo-Ann Provencher had stolen his Sunday newspaper, so Sanchez never had a chance to read the color version of Marmaduke. It is unclear whether WTP will attempt a similar ploy, but Michelle Doucet was recently spotted talking to his paperboy with a wad of $20 bills.
Keys To The Game For What The Puck:
1. After missing large stretches of the regular season, goalie Anthony Romeo has finally become the consistent force between the pipes that Larry envisioned when he poached Romeo from the Rehabs. In What The Puck’s last playoff game, Romeo allowed just one goal, and claims to have made 29 saves.
2. Another one of Larry’s big offseason acquisitions was “The All-American Canadian” Adam Skuse. He tallied five regular season goals before sustaining both upper and lower body injuries, which were supposed to sideline him for the rest of the season. However, being the courageous gamer that he is, Skuse returned to action last week, despite having two broken arms, one broken leg, a broken clavicle, a bad haircut, and influenza.
3. Garrett Poston has been a consistent force for WTP in his first season of BTSH, but it seems his trash-talking has been far too cerebral to properly frustrate his opposition. He merely left Demon forward Jeff Kamen confused–not agitated–when teasing, “I say, old sport, your boorish demeanor is reminiscent of that of Australopithecus bahrelghazali. Perchance is he of any relation?”
Eli’s Pick: What The Puck. Every championship game is better with a villain, and of the four teams left, What The Puck fits that bill the best.
Derek’s Pick: What The Puck. The Butchers make for a great story, but the still isn’t quite championship-caliber.
Watchability: 4 Kalbs. A late October playoff game is sure to give the fans some thrills, but this game may take a backseat to Sunday’s other semifinal.
