NA first round predictions

[Da_Berr 219]

Playoffs have been here for a while now, and with the wildcard round done, we can officially look over some of our first-round matchups. In the wild card round, we saw both favourites from the regular season sweep their rivals 3-0, with D.C and Helsinki moving on while Calgary and Davos going home for an early offseason. Since I'm lazy and it's almost the deadline for TPE posting this week, I'll just talk about NA predictions this time.

 

In our first round faceoff, we have Vancouver vs D.C, Toronto vs Seattle, Helskini vs Moscow, and Riga vs Malmo. So far all the series have been tied up at 1-1, which is nice as it allows me to make some predictions without being completely biased to teams with an early series advantage. 

 

Our first matchup has Vancouver vs D.C. Now, this is a series that has some history from last season. Last year we saw VAN, the 5th seed, and DC, 4th seed, faceoff with one another in the wildcard round, with D.C coming out on top with a close 3-2 series win. This year it's a bit different as although D.C is still the 4th seed, VAN this year has seen massive strides and improvements and is the 1st seed in the NA. Despite the ranking difference, I still expect a tough fight in this series and that VAN will win 4-3. Both teams are very comparable with most top players having around the same TPE. D.C still has the advantage when talking about pure TPE, but VAN has a lot more depth. Honestly, it all comes down to how STHS works, whether it favours depth or top-end talent. Either team has a good chance of winning, and it all depends on a coin toss. 

 

Our next matchup is Toronto(3rd) vs Seattle (2nd). For this series, I believe Seattle will win 4-2, as their talent is too much for Toronto to handle. Although Toronto's roster is also filled with talent, Seattle is just too much. Once again we see the case of top-end talent vs depth, but Seattle's and Toronto talent is not too close to one another. The top 2 or 3 guys on each team are comparable, but past that the 4th and 5th guys of Seattle are much better than those of Toronto. I'd also say that Seattle has a better performance and experience on their roster. In the history of the VHL, Seattle these past few seasons can rank among some of the best teams ever. GM Bana also is one of the best GMs in the game, with a few cups under his belt. Despite that, Toronto still has a solid chance with a much better goalie. Hextall could definitely steal a few games for them, but I don't think he'll be able to carry them to a series win. In this series, I definitely want Toronto to win as I don't want to see Seattle lifting another cup so soon, but it's unlikely. 

 

And that's it for first-round matchups NA edition. Maybe I'll do an EU version but I'll probably be too late and the first round should be over by then.