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*kenvald* · 12-21-2019, 04:12 PM

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Prompt 1: From the perspective of a journalist, talk about the predictions for the playoffs. Who will win the 4* cup? Who will be the top performer in the playoffs? Talk about your predictions.

The playoffs are quickly approaching and even though Carolina has ever so slightly pulled away from Anchorage at 1st place in the standings, raising the Four Star Cup is still a possibility for any team. Let us look at each team and how they are doing and what one could expect their post-season to look like.

Carolina Kraken
As mentioned, the Carolina Kraken are currently in 1st place and they are looking really good this year. They dominated during the preseason and in the regular season, after 46 games, they have a winning record against every single team.

Everyone has Carolina winning the Four Star Cup this year. Even me. While Carolina might drop some games on their way to the cup, they have been way too strong during the entire season to warrant any prediction that is less than confident. But who knows, they might become overconfident.

Anchorage Armada
The Anchorage Armada has been battling for 1st with Carolina for most of the season. They visited 1st place every once in a while but ultimately it looks like they will have to settle for 2nd or 3rd place.

Anchorage is one of two teams being close to have a tied record against Carolina with 2-2-1. And are considered one of the potential teams that could take Carolina down. I’m expecting we’ll see Anchorage reaching the semifinals, at the very least.

Halifax Raiders
The Halifax Raiders have been jumping around 3rd and 4th place for a few games now and the battle is not over yet. As Anchorage has had a bad run recently Halifax might even be able to grab 2nd place before the regular season is over.

I would definitely expect to see Halifax reaching the semifinals as well. They will have to hope they do not end up facing the St. Louis Scarecrows on their way to the cup though, as they have had real trouble against them. Only managing an overtime and a shootout win over five games.

Lethbridge Lions
The Lethbridge Lions had a below average start to the season but have managed to fight their way up to a 4th place, with the possibility of even more depending on their last four upcoming games.

If Lethbridge can keep up their winning streaks that turn on every once in a while then they can go far, having tied the best records against Carolina and Anchorage. But they could just as easily fall out in their first round.

Kelowna Knights
The Kelowna Knights are currently in 5th with no chance of going any higher. The league has been split into two this season, and Kelowna currently lead the bottom pack but with only a five point difference down to Vancouver in last place.

Every team in the bottom six have been even this season and they are really hard to predict. Anything could happen come playoffs. Kelowna might have a slight upper hand as they have done fairly well against most other bottom six teams.

Anaheim Outlaws
The Anaheim Outlaws only have winning records against two teams this season against the Halifax Raiders and the St. Louis Scarecrows.

It is a coin flip when it comes to how Anaheim will perform each game. During the second half of the season they have not been able to win two games in a row. So it is not looking great for them going into the playoffs, and my prediction is that we will not see Anaheim win any playoff rounds this year.

St. Louis Scarecrows
The St. Louis Scarecrows have done decently the last ten games, crawling their way up from the very bottom of the standings up to a 7th place. But as mentioned, it’s a real tough battle amongst the bottom teams as everyone wants out of the bottom four to gain a bye week.

As St. Louis has one game in hand on each team below them in the standings I would not expect them to fall any further down, but there is still no guarantee that they will get their bye. They have done surprisingly well against Halifax, currently in 4th. So St. Louis have a good chance at moving forward in the playoffs if they can get their game together for four to seven games.

Colorado Raptors
The Colorado Raptors have hovered around in the bottom four for the entire season and I do not expect they to break out of it in time for the playoffs. They have had some surprisingly good games against top teams but they have not been able to stay at the top of their game for too long at a time.

Colorado is another coin flip team. They could be swept in the first round or they might make it to the finals. I would not dare to place a bet on either scenario. But if you put a gun to my head, I do believe that they will make it past the first round.

Detroit Falcons
The Detroit Falcons had reserved last place in the standings for almost the entire season until they came upon a four-game win streak while Vancouver kept losing. Detroit is now in 9th trying to keep the streak alive.

Even though Detroit has turned on their boosters for the last few games I do not see them winning a playoff round. They are too streaky and unfortunately their most common streak is a losing one.

Vancouver Whalers
The Vancouver Whalers had an okay first half of the seasons. Visiting 4th place for a short period of time, but they have completely fallen off in the second half and especially in the last ten games with a 2-7-1 record. However this might just fall to bad luck as Vancouver has the 5th best goal difference in the league.

Vancouver is a team that should be better than last according to all experts, but while they always put up a good fight they just cannot seem to keep opponents from scoring for too long. Anything can happen with Vancouver in the playoffs. I predict we will see them in the quarter finals, but after that it all comes down to if their new GM can get the players to play as good in practice as they should in theory.

***golden_apricot*** · 12-22-2019, 05:56 PM

Should be an interesting time. We will see if CAR can be stopped

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