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*Pyro182* · 06-20-2023, 07:51 AM

With Playoffs around the corner it's time for a look at the past to predict the future and well, if the last 3 years are something to go by, over here in Carolina, we might have something to worry about.

In Season 68 Carolina finished in 2nd place, just 22 points, behind first place Detroit, and earned a first round bye through leading their division. In the playoffs Carolina beat 5th overall Regina in 5 games in the second round, before losing to Detroit in a brutal 7 game series in the semifinals. In Season 69 Carolina dropped back a step and only finished in 7th place, their first round opponent was an enemy they faced the season before Regina, this season it took Carolina 6 games to dispatch their opponent and get to the second round. Their second round opponent was 2nd Overall Maine, who took Carolina to 7 games before Carolina could move on to their second straight semifinals appearance. Waiting for them at the semifinal round was 1st Overall Detroit, and this year it only took Detroit 6 games to send Carolina packing. Finally in season 70 Carolina was 10th place, in their first round they beat 7th overall Vancouver, before falling in 6 games to 1st overall Maine in the second round. All three years Carolina's runs have ended when they faced the best team in the league, however they also fell to Detroit 2 of the last 3 years.

Why is any of this worrying? Well for starters if either of the patterns here prevail, Carolina is unlikely to win the four star cup this year. However, more worrying is the Kraken's most likely first round matchup, Detroit. While Detroit may seem like a bottom of the league team that is chock full of rookies, those rookies, especially Zedward Zilliams and The Murray are some of the best, if not the best, in their draft class. If, Carolina wants to even have the chance to make the finals this season, they are gonna have to take their first round matchup seriously and dispatch their opponent swiftly.

With this in mind, we are gonna look at how the series between these two natural rivals has developed over the last several seasons and how it may come to intensify in the seasons to come. In season 68, despite the 7 games the series took, Detroit had an early grip on the series, leading 3 games to 1 after the first 4 games, with their only loss coming at home in overtime. As Detroit came back home, it could have been as easy mistake to expect Detroit to finish the series there, however Carolina had other plans and took games 5 and 6 with a combined score of 10-1. Sadly for Carolina the magic had to end sometime, and it came at the hands of a 9-6 defeat in game 7, the high scoring game showing just how badly each team wanted to make the finals. Season 69s, series started with each team taking their first 2 home games, however two 2-1 losses in games 5 and 6 ended Carolinas seasons as their scoring dried up. With both teams full of rookies, it seems these two are destined to meet more often in the seasons to come, with this being Carolina's turn as the higher seed we could begin to see the matchup become less one sided.

*CptSquall* · 06-22-2023, 02:15 PM

Approved, +5 TPE to @Pyro182

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