We can face 1 of 5 teams. Rank them!

[lopey]

Think I'm rooting TO

As much as it kills me I am as well

 

[Bruinswillwin77]

Think I'm rooting TO

I originally said Florida but at this point I think leafs in regulation might be best.

 

[goldnblack]

Think we're really now in a 2 horse race. Toronto or Tampa now.

 

[Gee Wally]

I’m too superstitious. So I’ll take whatever we get.

 

[goldnblack]

I’m too superstitious. So I’ll take whatever we get.

In fairness the odds of it being Tampa are very very high, and we've all been humble enough to say we don't want them. So if you're superstitious, this bodes well!

 

[Fenway]

We are in the playoffs and Poutineville is not - I'm good

 

[Bruinfanatic]

I’d rather it not be the Leafs ,but other than that not picking a preference,it never turns out well for me.

 

[ODAAT]

for the life of me I still have no clue how to figure out who we are potentially playing but for me, I don`t like going up vs teams playing with house money and that`s the Caps/Flyers, I want the Bolts

 

[BamBamCam]

for the life of me I still have no clue how to figure out who we are potentially playing but for me, I don`t like going up vs teams playing with house money and that`s the Caps/Flyers, I want the Bolts

It's looking like the Bolts. I don't think you will see much movement with the 8 games left.
I believe the Eastern Conference is set other that Philly , Caps and Det jockeying for WC2 and 3rd in Metro

 

[DarrenBanks56]

Realistically in round 1 we can face Tampa, Philly, Washington, Detroit, or Toronto.

From teams I most want to face to least:

1. Washington
2. Philly
3. Detroit
4. Toronto
5. Tampa (want them the least)

1.philly
2.toronto
3.washington
4.detroit
5.tampa

thats my choice who I would want to face first to last

 

[goldnblack]

Sadly the Tampa matchup just keeps getting stronger. It's to the point now where we want them to lap Toronto so we can get the Leafs.

 

[Donnie Shulzhoffer]

Any team. If you are worried about who you are facing in the first round then you aren't going to advance very far.

 

[goldnblack]

Any team. If you are worried about who you are facing in the first round then you aren't going to advance very far.

And yet, the Vegas odds makers use exactly that in the model to determine cup equity. A bad draw is a bad draw. See World Cup Soccer.

Getting one softer round is useful.

 

[Donnie Shulzhoffer]

And yet, the Vegas odds makers use exactly that in the model to determine cup equity. A bad draw is a bad draw. See World Cup Soccer.

Getting one softer round is useful.

And how did that work out last year? There is no such thing as a "softer" round.

 

[goldnblack]

And how did that work out last year? There is no such thing as a "softer" round.

Florida was not the "soft" round. Florida was injured and underperformed all year, and once they got healthy they were themselves. That Florida team was largely the same team that finished 1st the year before. I know you know this.

I would actually argue that that WAS the bad draw. Almost any other matchup worked better for us last year. We specifically needed to avoid Florida.

 

[MarchysNoseKnows]

And how did that work out last year? There is no such thing as a "softer" round.

Sure there is.

 

[BruinDust]

Just avoid Vasilievsky in the 1st round. He won't crack 55 appearances this year and will be pretty fresh in the early part of the playoffs. I don't care about the rest of their roster but an early match-up against him right now is terrifying.

I'm also fine not playing the Leafs in Round 1. Not because the Bruins should fear them, but whenever they play a Canadian team in the playoffs its magnified on a entirely different level from a media perspective and you'll never convince me that it doesn't impact how the games are officiated. Those refs feels the intense scrutiny too and you end up with long series and 50/50 officiating rather than just calling what they see.

Detroit shouldn't be an issue but for whatever reason these Bruins seem to struggle against them.

Washington has the Tom Wilson factor. They are beatable no doubt but how many Bruins will Wilson injure taking runs at guys before the series is over and limp into Round 2. Coming off his latest suspension I suspect he's going to take his brand of violence to another level come playoff time.

Philly shouldn't be concerning but regardless of Tortorella's showmanship, he seems able to get his teams to buy-in come playoff time and typically prove to be tough outs.

In a 32-team league where 16 teams make the playoffs, your not getting an easy match-up in the 1st round anymore no matter how you slice it. That 7th or 8th seed no matter who it is are a quality squad.

 

[Donnie Shulzhoffer]

Florida was not the "soft" round. Florida was injured and underperformed all year, and once they got healthy they were themselves. That Florida team was largely the same team that finished 1st the year before. I know you know this.

I would actually argue that that WAS the bad draw. Almost any other matchup worked better for us last year. We specifically needed to avoid Florida.

Most in here were picking a sweep of Florida. The only time you can point to a round as soft is after the fact.

Either way I will stick to my original point that if a team is more worried about one team over another come round 1 then they aren't going far.

 

[goldnblack]

Just avoid Vasilievsky in the 1st round. He won't crack 55 appearances this year and will be pretty fresh in the early part of the playoffs. I don't care about the rest of their roster but an early match-up against him right now is terrifying.

I'm also fine not playing the Leafs in Round 1. Not because the Bruins should fear them, but whenever they play a Canadian team in the playoffs its magnified on a entirely different level from a media perspective and you'll never convince me that it doesn't impact how the games are officiated. Those refs feels the intense scrutiny too and you end up with long series and 50/50 officiating rather than just calling what they see.

Detroit shouldn't be an issue but for whatever reason these Bruins seem to struggle against them.

Washington has the Tom Wilson factor. They are beatable no doubt but how many Bruins will Wilson injure taking runs at guys before the series is over and limp into Round 2. Coming off his latest suspension I suspect he's going to take his brand of violence to another level come playoff time.

Philly shouldn't be concerning but regardless of Tortorella's showmanship, he seems able to get his teams to buy-in come playoff time and typically prove to be tough outs.

In a 32-team league where 16 teams make the playoffs, your not getting an easy match-up in the 1st round anymore no matter how you slice it. That 7th or 8th seed no matter who it is are a quality squad.

I'm working on the math of avoiding Vasi. But it's not great. The next Rangers wins and Leaf wins or Bolts loses almost lock us.

 

[Donnie Shulzhoffer]

In a 32-team league where 16 teams make the playoffs, your not getting an easy match-up in the 1st round anymore no matter how you slice it. That 7th or 8th seed no matter who it is are a quality squad.

Correctamoondo

 

[goldnblack]

Most in here were picking a sweep of Florida. The only time you can point to a round as soft is after the fact.

Either way I will stick to my original point that if a team is more worried about one team over another come round 1 then they aren't going far.

Most wanted Linus traded and suddenly want him starting the playoffs. Most people don't know what they're talking about. Fwiw I had no issue trading Linus for the right deal (but there was no right deal).

I picked Bruins in 7 vs Florida. My vote is still there. That was a putrid draw for us. That wasn't an "8th place" team.

 

[Donnie Shulzhoffer]

Most wanted Linus traded and suddenly want him starting the playoffs. Most people don't know what they're talking about. Fwiw I had no issue trading Linus for the right deal (but there was no right deal).

I picked Bruins in 7 vs Florida. My vote is still there.

Sorry that most posters aren't as smart as you.

 

[goldnblack]

Sorry that most posters aren't as smart as you.

I'm not saying I'm smart. But if you check the Heinen, JVR, Geekie, Boqvist, Coyle, Zacha, etc etc. threads, you'll see I was immediately on board. Same with Linus.

So let's say I'm at least sane. We get a lot of wacky takes in here.

One wacky take is that there are no soft matchups. Not true. We saw the Habs in the bubble prove my point.

 

[BruinDust]

I'm working on the math of avoiding Vasi. But it's not great. The next Rangers wins and Leaf wins or Bolts loses almost lock us.

Only thing going for avoiding Vasilievsky is TB's schedule the final 7 games looks to be in their favor. Their final B2B game is tonight against the Habs. CBJ, Ottawa and Buffalo in 3 of their final 6 games.

Knowing the hockey gods, it will probably come down to that final Wednesday night TB-Tor game on the 17th before we know for certain.

 

[goldnblack]

Only thing going for avoiding Vasilievsky is TB's schedule the final 7 games looks to be in their favor. Their final B2B game is tonight against the Habs. CBJ, Ottawa and Buffalo in 3 of their final 6 games.

Knowing the hockey gods, it will probably come down to that final Wednesday night TB-Tor game on the 17th before we know for certain.

The tiebreaks for Tor-TB are wild too. May come down to the 5th tie break by then.