Hannah the Hockey Prognosticator
With the best playoffs in professional sports about to start, I felt, as a Boston-area school, we needed an emergency Stanley Cup breakdown from Babson blog legend, Hannah Moriggi. Hannah is, legitimately, the most knowledgeable hockey fan I know. We’re talking about her watching regular season games, not bandwagon fans like me who tune in for the playoffs. I give you two text messages as proof:
1. Game three of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Bruins and the Penguins as regulation was ending and it was headed to overtime:
“This is either going to end very quickly or take quite a while.” What happened? Bruins win 15 minutes into the second overtime, so it took quite a while.
2. Game for of the same series when Boston scores to go up 1 – 0 in the third period:
“That’s the game winner. I’m calling it.” There was plenty of time left, but she was proven right again.
So, I thought it would be fun to do a little Hannah Playoff Preview after she did some research last night…
Let’s cut right to the chase – Bruins in 6 games, and here’s why:
1. David Krejci has been on fire; he’s the leading scorer in the playoffs and with him and Nathan Horton, the offense has looked great.
2. The Bruins have been physical all season and that hasn’t stopped in the playoffs. They’re tough – look no further than Greg Campbell who played for over a minute on a broken leg.
3. Tukka Rask has been a stone wall. Two goals given up to the best offense in hockey in the Eastern Conference Finals.
4. Overall, in the playoffs, the Bruins are just playing better than the Blackhawks.
A few more ideas Hannah brought to my attention…
- Most NHL.com contributors are picking the Blackhawks. Could they be sorry?
- Marian Hossa of the Blackhawks and Zdeno Chara of the Bruins lived across the street from each other growing up in Slovakia.
- Home ice is a concern, but the Bruins have played great on the road, while Chicago has been nearly unbeatable on their own ice.
- If the Bruins win and the Blackhawks are shut down like the Penguins, Tuukka Rask takes home the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player. If Krejci continues to light it up, he’ll be the winner.
So, once again, resident hockey expert, Hannah, is picking the Bruins in 6. Let’s see what some of our staff thinks..
Courtney Minden – Bruins in a sweep (it’s going to be their easiest series just like the last two times the Red Sox went to the World Series)
Jaime Robitaille – Bruins in 5
Ellen Zatkowski – Bruins in 6
Courtney Leahy – Bruins in 6
Sindhu Suresh – Bruins in 7
Mark Khan – Blackhawks in 5 (Native New Yorker…BOOOOOOOOOOOO!)
Tommaso Canetta – Bruins in 6
Tim Cushing – Bruins in 7
Adrienne Ramsey – “It will go 6 games, but I don’t want to pick a team and jinx it (I respect this move so much).”
Asa Cary – “You want me to make a sports prediction? Really?”
My prediction hope is that the Blackhawks never score while they are in Chicago, because they play this really, really annoying song every time they score. Is this professional hockey or an iPod commercial?
My prediction for the series? Blackhawks in 6. Savvy sports fans know what I’m doing.
So, have fun, enjoy the games, and know that we don’t have to be all business in our office.
