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I haven't followed the West that much this season, but agree that Ricochet vs. Wolverines is probably the most exciting first round match-up. Also, Rage is always my sleeper pick to turn it on in the playoffs. Their coach is a lunatic and the players are downright scared to fail. In the East, the Nightmares and Bulldogs are solid teams, but the Minutemen and Red Tide are firing on all cylinders. Bears vs. Duhawks should be the most even series. For some reason I have always confused these two teams, as far back as season 1, so it's funny they are matched up against each other. And my series with Peek's Dragons seems like a very even match-up on paper. I like my team, but have come to realize we have some major holes to fix. For starters, my goalie is already tired. Jesus. People talk about goalies blowing games for their respective teams this season, but I'd be willing to bet Amick has blow more games than every other goalie this season... games that the performance ratings and game stats suggest we otherwise would have won. So my options are a tired/exhausted goalie... an anxious goalie... or a 79-rated affiliate goalie. Again, I really like my team, but the past two seasons we've had the #2 seed and have won a combined 2 games, getting bounced by lower seeds. This is also the 3rd straight season where we have been on a cold streak heading into the playoffs. Would I be surprised if I win... maybe not. But until the Stealheads prove they can win a playoff series, I don't have much confidence in them. My only shot is if the Dragons goalies under-perform. Either way, thanks for pulling this together, Rain. Good luck to everyone!

East: #1 Cedar Rapids Minutemen vs #8 Netherhill Nightmares. 45-7-2-26 151pts / 32-10-10-28 126pts Regular season stats: Minutemen / Nightmare Goals for: 255 (4th) / 237 (13th) Goals against: 191 (3rd) / 220 (12th) PP: 21.8% (8th) / 21% (11th) PK: 86.1% (3rd) / 78.5% (18th) Shooting %: 9.8% (1st) / 7.8% (18th) Save %: 92.7% (4th) / 92.3% (12th) PDO: 1.025 (1st) / 1.002 (12th) CF: 1245 (24th) / 1342 (14th) CA: 1151 (3rd) / 1321 (13th) Corsi %: 52% (8th) / 50.4% (14th) Season match up: 3 wins Minutemen, 1 OT win Nightmare. Statistically this was a close match up during the regular season with only one game being decided by more than one goal. As a result, I expect this match up to be a lot closer than the statistics may otherwise say. The Nightmare are a solid overall team that aren't to be discounted due to their 8th seed. Combine that with the fact that the Minutemen played well above expectations for the season (especially with a shooting% and PDO so abnormally high when CF is taken into account) and I would give this match up a serious consideration for upset alert. #2 Slaughterville Red Tide vs #7 Lake Valley Bulldogs 46-4-3-27 149pts / 35-10-4-31 129pts Regular season stats: Red Tide / Bulldogs Goals for: 266 (2nd) / 255 (5th) Goals against: 200 (6th) / 245 (21st) PP: 19.8% (16th) / 22.8% (5th) PK: 79.1% (16th) / 81.1% (12th) Shooting %: 9.2% (4th) / 9.7% (2nd) Save %: 93.2% (1st) / 91.2% (24th) PDO: 1.024 (2nd) / 1.008 (10th) CF: 1535 (1st) / 1302 (19th) CA: 1202 (7th) / 1420 (21st) Corsi %: 56.1% (2nd) / 47.8% (21st) Season match up: 3 wins Red Tide, 1 win Bulldogs. The season series was notably in favor of the Red Tide as one game was on the verge of a blowout while another was an out right blowout. The Bulldogs are going to have to find a way to improve their 5 on 5 play defensively or this could be a short series. The middle of the pack special teams for the Red Tide could potentially keep the Bulldogs in the series and appears to be the most likely reason for the series to drag on. #3 Sheshegwaning Dragons vs #6 Big Delta Stealheads 44-3-11-22 149pts / 36-7-7-30 129pts Regular season stats: Dragons / Stealheads Goals for: 263 (3rd) / 239 (12th) Goals against: 205 (8th) / 199 (5th) PP: 24.9% (2nd) / 16.6% (22nd) PK: 86.3% (2nd) / 83.9% (6th) Shooting %: 8.9% (7th) / 8.8% (8th) Save %: 92.4% (9th) / 92.3% (10th) PDO: 1.013 (4th) / 1.012 (5th) CF: 1466 (3rd) / 1313 (18th) CA: 1261 (9th) / 1098 (2nd) Corsi %: 53.8% (4th) / 54.5% (3rd) Season match up: 1 win Dragons, 3 wins Stealheads. This matchup is my official upset alert for the East. Outside of the poor powerplay of the Stealheads these two teams are statistically near mirror images. The question is if the current goaltending for the Dragons can hold up to the quite potent offense of the Stealheads? The Dragons shipped out the goalie they had as their starter for most of the season. This is going to be either a lopsided series due to poor goaltending or one heck of a close series. #4 Sault Ste Marie Battlin Bears vs #5 Mango Duhawks 43-4-3-30 140pts / 37-7-6-30 131pts Regular season stats: Battlin Bears / Duhawks Goals for: 232 (14th) / 226 (16th) Goals against: 209 (9th) / 216 (11th) PP: 19.1% (18th) / 19.8% (17th) PK: 85.9% (4th) / 77.1% (23rd) Shooting %: 7.9% (16th) / 8.1% (13th) Save %: 91.8% (16th) / 92.1% (15th) PDO: .997 (17th) / 1.002 (13th) CF: 1388 (9th) / 1382 (10th) CA: 1293 (10th) / 1323 (14th) Corsi %: 51.8% (9th) / 51.1% (10th) Season match up: 2 wins Battlin Bears, 2 wins Duhawks. This is very likely to be a close series. The regular season games were. Based upon the regular season stats I think it is most likely to be decided by the PK of each team. The Battlin Bears had one of the best. The Duhawks had one of the worst. In every other way these teams are very close statistically. It could be a short series due to the PK difference but the Battlin Bears PP is too iffy for me to fully buy into the poor PK of the Duhawks as being as significant a drawback as it likely should be. West #1 Kegashka Prairie Stars vs #8 Eastern Outlaws. 47-11-2-20 165pts / 34-7-7-32 123pts Regular season stats: Prairie Stars / Outlaws Goals for: 246 (10th) / 214 (18th) Goals against: 164 (1st) / 204 (7th) PP: 22.3% (7th) / 18.5% (19th) PK: 82.6% (8th) / 77.8% (20th) Shooting %: 8% (15th) / 7.7% (19th) Save %: 93% (3rd) / 93.1% (2nd) PDO: 1.010 (7th) / 1.009 (9th) CF: 1403 (6th) / 1344 (13th) CA: 1223 (8th) / 1181 (5th) Corsi %: 53.4% (5th) / 53.2% (6th) Season match up: 2 wins and 1 SO win Prairie Stars, 1 wins Outlaws. The Outlaws are a solid team with very good goaltending and team play. Everything else about them is below average. On the other side is the Prairie Stars with the best record in the league but rather underwhelming stats for a team that more or less ran away with the best record by 14 points. Almost everything about them is good but only the 5 on 5 goals against is truly great. I would have expected more statistically with such a record. In terms of the match up the big question is can the Outlaws score and can their special teams be better than it was in the regular season? Against the Prairie Stars it is going to be tough as their two wins were big ones over the Outlaws. #2 West Chicago Hawks vs #7 Scandinavia Steelers 42-7-8-23 148pts / 35-9-5-31 128pts Regular season stats: Hawks / Steelers Goals for: 249 (8th) / 200 (25th) Goals against: 183 (2nd) / 194 (4th) PP: 24.1% (3rd) / 20.2% (15th) PK: 82.5% (9th) / 87.2% (1st) Shooting %: 7.6% (20th) / 7.4% (22nd) Save %: 92.5% (6th) / 92.5% (7th) PDO: 1.001 (14th) / .999 (16th) CF: 1448 (5th) / 1184 (25th) CA: 1389 (16th) / 1160 (4th) Corsi %: 51% (11th) / 50.5% (13th) Season match up: 4 wins Hawks. The Steelers are a bit of a mystery to me. They have a very good group of forwards but the team struggles mightily offensively. They didn't do well against the Hawks in the regular season because of it losing all four games. On the same token the Hawks offense under performed as well 5 on 5 with a very poor shooting percentage themselves. This could be a series dragged on by the stingy defense of the Steelers facing off against the lackluster 5 on 5 offense of the Hawks but the Steelers have to find a way to score to do it. This series is going to come down to if the Steelers can find some offense or not. #3 Enigma Rage vs #6 Vauban Tomahawks 42-5-5-28 141pts / 36-9-6-29 132pts Regular season stats: Rage / Tomahawks Goals for: 248 (9th) / 253 (6th) Goals against: 230 (15th) / 222 (13th) PP: 22.9% (4th) / 17.7% (21st) PK: 83.3% (7th) / 81.8% (11th) Shooting %: 8.8% (9th) / 9.5% (3rd) Save %: 92.1% (14th) / 92.3% (11th) PDO: 1.009 (8th) / 1.018 (3rd) CF: 1354 (12th) / 1319 (16th) CA: 1198 (5th) / 1313 (11th) Corsi %: 53.1% (7th) / 50.1% (15th) Season match up: 1 win Rage, 2 wins and 1 SO win Tomahawks This series is my upset alert for the West. The Rage are a very good statistical team overall. Its one statistical blemish is its 5 on 5 goals against. The Tomahawks are a good team themsleves with one very good strength. 5 on 5 goals for. It is the biggest weakness of one team against the biggest strength of the other team. This has the potential to be a very close series that could also go heavily one way or the other. If the Tomahawks can continue their 5 on 5 excellence it will be trouble for Rage. The Rage have the special teams to otherwise win the series if not keep the games close. #4 Ithaca Ricochet vs #5 Yonker Wolverines 40-7-4-29 138pts / 41-4-3-32 134pts Regular season stats: Ricochet / Wolverines Goals for: 253 (7th) / 269 (1st) Goals against: 213 (10th) / 241 (20th) PP: 21% (12th) / 22.8% (6th) PK: 80% (14th) / 75.2% (27th) Shooting %: 8.4% (11th) / 9.1% (5th) Save %: 91.6% (18th) / 90.6% (27th) PDO: 1.000 (15th) / .997 (19th) CF: 1452 (4th) / 1474 (2nd) CA: 1503 (25th) / 1541 (27th) Corsi %: 49.1% (17th) / 48.9% (18th) Season match up: 3 wins Ricochet, 1 win Wolverines This is the series that I am most looking forward to. It has the greatest potential for some wild games. Each of the four games in the regular season was. For one team you can forget about defense. It doesn't exist. Its not a thing. The other team is a team that plays a high tempo style of play given the lot of shots for and against 5 on 5. I'm excited for this series simply because it is very likely going to be a lot of speed, shots and general back and forth, high tempo action. Who is going to win? Who cares? It is going to very likely be one heck of a show.

Great stuff Rain Here is my prediction Minuteman - Nightmares 3-1 Red Tide - Bulldogs 3-1 Dragons - Stealheads 3-2 (a bit biased, cant go against my team haha) Duhawks - Battlin Bears 0-3 Praire Stars - Outlaws 3-2 Hawks - Steelers 3-0 Rage - Tomahawks 1-3 Ricochet - Wolverines 1-3 And good luck to everyone!

Great analysis! Good luck to all the playoff teams.

when you have nothing else to do , great job

Great job, rainsilent!

If the assistant in the game reports isn't mentioning fatigue as a problem it isn't the problem. Personally I think the scoring at the GHL level is down a bit much. The best scorers struggle to reach a point a game pace here whereas at the NHL level you have Crosby, Malkin, McDavid, et cetera with regularity above that. Personally I wouldn't be too worried about his perceived down scoring stats. Granted this game doesn't have to strictly follow the NHL patterns of scoring. I just think it should be within the realm of possibility to see the best offensive players beat a point a game nearly every season. Currently it is a significant achievement to get a point a game by the end of the season.

Great job rain! Will definetly follow playoff in GHL!