It is a simulation using the made-in-Vancouver "NHL 14" game
released across North America by EA Sports,
that saw the Boston Bruins winning the Stanley Cup
in six games against none other than the San Jose Sharks.
( No rematch with the Hawks - boo hoo.)
THE CANADIAN PRESS/ho-EA
An EA Sports simulation is better than no form of favorable omen at all, some could say; now to translate virtual into reality once again... Visibly emulating very real components from fact-sheets from both regular season statistics and past playoffs campaigns, this simulation gave the Boston Bruins the ultimate goal in hockey after ousting four familiar foes (Detroit, which was a known opponent when the simulation was done, Montreal, the New York Rangers and, in the end, San Jose, whose year finally would come to reach the big dance, or so it would seem at simulation time.) Detroit has fulfilled its part and played its role very well: after stealing game one, they dropped four in a row to an inspired Bruins club (prompting some fans to say ''first it was wings as starters: next, it's frog legs!'' Main course could be fishy - or ducky? Stay tuned!) In order to achieve all that, one would figure that the reliable cogs would deliver: the goalie gets the Conn Smythe Trophy again (Tuukka Rask's projected goals-against average is an infinitesimal 1.56; he's having four shutouts throughout the playoffs -already had one against Detroit as a matter of fact- and his save percentage is a truly excellent .948 - Go, Rask, Go!) David Krejci would quietly lead all scorers once more with 21 points over the duration, as he's done in 2011 for example; Go, Krejci, Go! No mention of Jarome Iginla's involvement and production in the short summary that we saw, but it can be presumed that the fact that this is his golden chance to finally hoist the ultimate trophy weighed in the way this simulation went! Go, Iggy, Go! The EA version of Zdeno Chara can only be even more intimidating than the real-life one too: Go, Chara, Go! Likewise for Milan Lucic and his fists: Go, Lucic, Go! But it would go to Patrice Bergeron, Bergy himself, the honor of bringing the Bruins back to the Finals - as he scores the series-clinching goal against NY five minutes into overtime in game 7 of the Eastern Finals! (Is EA a big fan of that wild comeback against the Leafs last year or what, you think? Well, so am I...! Go, Bergy, Go!)
On the other end of this spectrum, surprise after surprise - for, to see Boston go all the way is not surprising at all, but to see a scenario unfold that has three former champions of recent years fall before both an upstart team reborn of its ashes since their new coach came into town (said coach was still playing for them last time they contended for anything at all!) and the perennial underachieving club reaching the end - it is a daring bet, to say the least! Colorado and San Jose would be responsible for the eliminations of three top contenders: the Avs were projected to be able to dispose of Chicago in the second round, while San Jose would take care of Los Angeles in the very first round, then Anaheim in the second and finally Colorado in the Western Finals - in six games. We'll get back to this in a second...!
The simulation was spot on in several cases though, one has to admit: Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, Columbus and Dallas had no chance to survive the first round - and in reality, none of them did. EA Sports and the NHL 14 game were daring enough to project a sweeping elimination for the team managed by Steve Yzerman: and that is exactly what happened to poor Tampa, unbelievably enough, against the execrably lucky Canadiens. The Philadelphia Flyers were to be swept too; however, in real life, they proved tougher than that against the Rangers, forcing a decisive game 7. Columbus did fall to the Pittsburgh Penguins; and the Dallas Stars, despite reuniting components from the 2011 Boston Bruins magical team of destiny (Tim Thomas and Tyler Seguin, basically - with some inspiration from Rich Peverley, perhaps) failed to conjure up anything starry at all against the formerly-mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Also of note, despite their great 2013-2014 season, the St.Louis Blues did fall indeed before the reigning champions Blackhawks - it was close, as was the Columbus-Pitt series (surprisingly, but not-so much) and Dallas-Anaheim series (quite surprisingly; but one can dismiss it easily as the usual Tim Thomas effect: he's that good, in his unorthodox way!) but everything there went according to logic, really. Especially in the case of the poor Blues: acquiring a perennial loser from Buffalo, at the trade deadline, to be your top goalie throughout the crucial part of the year could only lead to major disappointment - and it sure did just that! Going up against the playoff-savvy team that is the Hawks in the very first round didn't help, granted; it all spelled out ''early exit/ignominious end to a great season'' for a franchise that will probably never find a way to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Now for what did not go ''according to plan'' - a simulated plan, yeah. Los Angeles is, like Chicago and Boston, a team that knows what life in the playoffs is like. They never quit, and they sure didn't when facing elimination against the Sharks. The simulation had San Jose ousting L.A. in six games; they could have done in 4 straight! But, instead, L.A. became the latest team to accomplish the stunning feat of rallying from an 0-3 series deficit all the way to take it in the decisive game 7... Wow. EA Sports didn't count on that one, at all. Their other major horse, Colorado, petered out, too, early: the Avs, with coach Patrick Roy, were to go almost as far as the Sharks this surprising year: they were to outlast the Minnesota Wild in a hard-fought seven-game series in their first-round match-up. However, it was Minnesota that took that, coming back four times to tie the final game before winning in overtime! Roy and EA, both, never imagined that either!
So, instead of San Jose and Colorado, the western side of things has L.A. and Anaheim still in the mix, and squaring off in round two. The other series has Chicago and the astonishingly resilient Minnesota crew. Who should be the projected Stanley Cup finalist now? I hope it's the Wild!!! A battle of the bears for the grail: that way, Boston could look to sweep while they secure Iggy's spot in history, at long last...
In the east, upsets could happen too, though: as projected, the Pitt is pitted against NY in the second round - what if Sid The Kid, somehow, leads the Pens past the Rangers there? What happens to that thrilling seventh-game overtime victory for Boston in the Eastern Finals then? Because the Bruins do have Lundquist's number now... First, however, they must regain Price's number, the guy who, somehow, did deliver on that laughable (at first it was, anyway) prediction of a first-round sweep... Tampa didn't play up to par and losing their top goalie Ben Bishop just at the onset of the playoffs was the major factor there! At blogging time, alas, we know what has transpired: Price was spared five goals (count them, five goals!!!) by the posts and the hated Habs were able to steal game one of the semi-finals, in double overtime, when the Boston Bruins were penalized at the wrongest of times and were killing a penalty, therefore, when deathly tired already... It was a game the Bruins were totally, utterly dominating otherwise; the projection of a second-round Bruins triumph in five games still stands (however, I was saying it would be Bruins in 4...! Just like on the 100th anniversary of the Canadiens; remember? Ahh - fond memories!)
No matter how it happens, it has to happen: the 2014 champion must be Boston!
Isn't a sign from fate, too, that it is software made in Vancouver that was used to predict this championship in the first place, hmm? Vancouver - where the Bruins won their previous Cup in 2011, against all odds projected at that time? Vancouver - birth place of Cam Neely and Milan Lucic! Vancouver - also the birthplace of the most famous Boston Bruins fan of all: Michael J. Fox! But we're digressing now...
It won't be against Sharks, as fantasized up there: but, be it Kings, Ducks, Hawks again or Wild bears, the Bruins can prevail in six games indeed! First off, they can make EA proud by ousting both Montreal and New York just as ''prophetised'' (though seven games shouldn't be required for the latter; much less for the former opponent!)
Go, Bruins, Go!
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