Like many hockey fans, I made a Stanley Cup bracket. I neglected to factor the amount of chaos that the first round of the NHL would bring. My apologies. Let’s break it down.

Senators- Leafs; Ollie’s Prediction—Senators over Leafs in 7—Reality: Leafs over Senators in 6

I really wanted the Senators to win. The memes of the Leafs choking yet another first-round series without Boston in the playoffs would be glorious. The Leafs almost went down that path by blowing Games 4 and 5, but then they decided to stop choking in Game 6, putting all memes on hold. I have to congratulate the Senators for winning their first two playoff games since 2017. The Senators have a bright future ahead of them. As it turns out, the Senators just needed decent goaltending with Linus Ullmark and Forsberg to leech pressure away from their core of Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, and Dylan Cozens to score. They’ll be back.

Canadiens-Caps; Ollie’s Prediction—Canadiens over Capitals in 6—Reality: Capitals over Canadiens in 5

Like with the Maple Leafs, the memes of the Capitals failing to make it past the first round despite being a Presidents’ Trophy favorite would have been glorious. But they took care of business against the Canadiens. While the Canadiens youth showed in the playoffs, as they were unable to capitalize on what scoring chances they had, giving their young core of Juraj Slavkovsky, Ivan Demido,v and Calder favorite Lane Hutson valuable playoff experience doesn’t hurt. They’ll be back.

Kings-Oilers; Ollie’s Prediction—Kings over Oilers in 7—Reality: Oilers over Kings in 6

I thought this year would be the time that the Kings would make it out of their first-round matchup with the Edmonton Oilers. They had Flyers legend Andrei Kuzmenko as a part of the powerful AK Line (Kuzmenko-Kopitar-Kempe) that could score goals at will. They had a Vezina finalist goalie with Darcy Kuemper. Quinton Byfield took huge steps toward becoming a power forward and showed off his talent in Games 1 and 2. They even had the power of the Koreatown Senior and Community Center’s harmonica anthem on their side! Unfortunately, the Kings lost. They can blame a bad coaches challenge in Game 3 by the Kings that led to the Oilers coming back to win in that game, as well as continual sloppy play in the third period for yet another loss to the Oilers. 0-4 in their last four series against the Oilers. Get back to the drawing board, Kings. Something in your management style isn’t working.

Stars-Avalanche; Ollie’s Prediction—Avalanche over Stars in 7—Reality: Stars over Avalanche in 7

The only saving grace about my prediction is that I got the number of games right. I just picked the wrong team to win—not just win in the first round, mind you, but win the Stanley Cup.— I knew that Gabe Landeskog would come back after two years of rehabbing from knee injuries, and I was right about how much of an impact he had. While he had four points, the impact of his return was noticeable in the Avalanche’s play. Nathan MacKinnon, one of Landeskog’s linemates, led his team in goals (11). What I forgot to factor in was Mikko Rantanen’s performance in Game 7. After going down 2-0, Rantanen scored two goals to tie the game. Wyatt Johnson gave the Stars the lead on a power play, and Rantanen hit the empty net goal to get a hat trick, making him the first NHL player to score a hat trick in the third period of a Stanley Cup Playoffs game.

As the Stars rejoice, the Avalanche looks like Nathan MacKinnon. How can a team with generational talents, Nathan MacKinnon and Norris Trophy finalist Cale Makar, have won just one Stanley Cup? Like with the Kings, get back to the drawing board. Might I suggest finding a coach with a better Game 7 record than Jared Bednar (0-4 in Game 7s)?

Jets-Blues; Ollie’s Prediction—Blues over Jets in 6—Reality: Jets over Blues in 7

The last time the Jets and Blues faced each other in 2019, the Blues beat them on their way to winning a Stanley Cup. I thought the same would happen this year. Well, it almost happened. Like with the Avalanche, the Blues were up by two goals in Game 7. They turned one of the best goalies in the league in Connor Hellebuyck, into Swiss cheese. But the Blues saw how the Avalanche lost Game 7 and thought of a better way. The one they came up with was repeatedly blowing chances to seal the series with an empty net goal and letting the Jets score two goals with Hellebuyck pulled. Oh, and the second goal came with 1.6 seconds left, setting the record for the latest game-tying goal in Stanley Cup Playoff history. Yikes.

After blowing that 2-0 lead, their goalie Jordan Binnington stood on his head for nearly two full overtimes. Unfortunately for Blues fans, so did Connor Hellebuyck, who did not let in a goal for 56 minutes. With the amount of pressure the Jets put on the Blues’ defensive zone during both overtimes, it was only a matter of time before Binnington and the Blues’ defense let in a goal. And they did so to Jets captain Adam Lowry. Double yikes. The 2023 Boston Bruins send their regards.

All jokes aside, the Blues are in a similar position to both the Canadiens and the Senators. They have good young talent, in particular the WTF line of Nathan Walker, Aleksei Torpchenko, and Cam Fowler. It doesn’t hurt that their midseason coaching change for Jim Montgomery helped propel a middling to bottom-feeder team into the playoffs. Kudos to them for taking the Presidents Trophy winners to the brink. They’ll be back. At least they won the Stanley Cup in 2019, otherwise this would be yet another edition to the series of heartbreaking postseason losses that this franchise has endured.

Devils-Canes, Ollie’s Prediction—Canes over Devils in 5—Reality: Canes over Devils in 5

If you’re a Devils fan, you’re looking at this season as yet another wasted opportunity. You did not want Jack Hughes to get injured. Jack Hughes got injured. So did many of the Devils’ defensive players, including injuries to key players like Luke Hughes and Jonathan Kovacevic. They even had two players get injured on the same play in Game One! I believe the only reason they even competed with the Hurricanes stems from their goalie, Jacob Markstrom’s superhuman performance. But the injuries were too much for the Devils to make a serious run. My suggestion for success next season: bubble wrap.

Panthers-Lightning—Ollie’s Prediction—Panthers over Lightning in 6, Reality: Panthers over Lightning in 5

I also got the Panthers’ prediction correct, as they are moving on to the second round. Betting against the team that has advanced to the second round for three years is a prediction error that even I wouldn’t make, although I did think the Lightning would take the Panthers to six games. What I didn’t expect was the Panthers to come back from a 2-0 deficit in Game 5 to win the game 6-3.

Golden Knights -Wild—Ollie’s Prediction—Golden Knights over Wild in 6—Reality: Golden Knights over Wild in 6

I also had a feeling the Wild couldn’t pull it off against the Knights, a team that has made it out of the first round more times in the past ten years than the Wild have. The curse of Minnesota men’s sports choking lives on for another season! Also, that’s one way to send off the iconic goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. Not the way I would have chosen, but then again, I’m not a professional hockey player; I just write about them on Substack.

You, the reader, would be better off reviving the oracle of Delphi to make predictions for sports, personal achievements, or whatever divination your heart desires than asking me. You yet again have my sincere apologies.

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