More Playoff Predictions

Well, Kyle’s proven not to be the psychic he was last season with playoff predictions. Mar Sara and Zenn both swept their Round One series, and I predicted Mar Sara in 4 and Tarsonis City in 5. I was also wrong about the pre-playoff Korhal/New Gettysburg game. So I’m not doing so hot this season. I have the advantage of seeing some of these teams in action in the playoffs now, though, so I have slightly higher hopes for my chances with predictions for the rest of the playoffs. Here’s what I’ve got for you:

Mar Sara beats New Gettysburg in five games

First upset prediction I’ve thrown out this postseason, but I feel all right about it. If their Probe League series is any indication, the defending champion Mar Sara Threat Agents will defeat the New Gettysburg Flyers. They’re not going to come out unscathed, though, because they rely pretty heavily on PrOsTeR, whose level of play has increased substantially this postseason, but he may not be able to continue his playoff dominance in games played on the east server. They’ve still got Teroh, though, who’s also upped his game, and the fact that the server has moved to Chicago should be the boost Mar Sara needs to pick up one Away-game win, knocking out the formidable Flyers in five games. I could be wrong about this upset, but bold predictions are more fun.

Korhal holds off Zenn in five games

The east server moving to Chicago has big implications for the #1 War Pigs, too, as Fenix Memorial candidate PeterDLai previously couldn’t handle the delay he faced on east, and, as proven in their Executor’s Trophy win against New Gettysburg at the end of the season, he doesn’t face that problem anymore. Zenn is proving to be a much stronger team in the playoffs than they were during the regular season, and Maharishi, who has been on the winning team for every tournament and league in Zealot Hockey he’s been a part of, has stepped up his game to a new level. But Korhal was the best team in the league through the regular season for a reason. They’ve still got an edge against the Freeze, but I think it’ll take more games than it would have against the Zenn club we saw in the regular season.

Korhal wins the Cup in four games

Let’s be honest, there’s a strong possibility neither of the teams I’m picking for the Cup Final will be making an appearance in the last series of the season. That said, I think the winner of the Korhal/Zenn series will end up hoisting the Cup, and I think the Finals will be a less interesting series than either of the two we’ll be seeing in the Semi-Finals. Could I be wrong? Absolutely. But I’m predicting a Korhal/Mar Sara final, with Korhal winning the Cup in four games. I haven’t been right about much so far this postseason, though, and these are all tough calls. Semi-Finals start on Sunday at 7pm EDT, so right or wrong, we won’t have to wait long to find out!

Meanwhile, the Probe League Playoff action continues tomorrow night at 9:30pm EDT (though the teams could decide to start half an hour early, since ZHL is done until Sunday) as the Zenn Chill take on the Kaldir Snowmen, and the ZHL All Star Games will be taking place just prior. The Zerus Broodlings/Tarsonis City Wildcats series will take place on Friday night, too, so there’s plenty of Zealot Hockey action to fill out the rest of the week!