WCR1: St. Louis Blues (W2) vs Winnipeg Jets (C1) - JETS WIN 4-3

[Winsor_Pilates]

This will go 7.
Jets get a hot Blues team for all their hard work this season.
I think Blues in 7.

[FanIn80]

No Ehlers (week to week), and Hellebuyck is not the same in the playoffs. Still too much for STL though. Jets in 6, even though Scheifele is a pos.

[CSharp]

This series is gonna be a duzy! Let's see if the Jets do their thing with the penalties and shoot themselves in the foot! Blues in 6.

[Erick Estrada]

This will all come down to goaltending. If Hellebuyck plays like he does in the regular season, the Jets win in 6 games or less. If he plays like he has in past playoffs series then Blues in 6 or 7 games.

[midniteowl]

Although there are some players on the Jets team I do not like, but I really hate the Blue. As long as Hellebuyck doesn't turn into Hellesuck in the playoff again....


Jets in 5

[WinnipegFan]

Let’s go Jets! I hope to see the team get rewarded for one heck of a season. It will be a battle but I am optimistic.

[Sylvanfan]

Winnipeg does have that yeah....but reputation when it comes to the playoffs. They're without Ehlers but I think Holloway won't play for the Blues. The Jets do have a bit more depth so I'll take them to win a close one in 7.

[Party Elephant]

Originally Posted by troutman

SN and TSN will be crushed if Winnipeg is the next Canadian team to win the Cup.

The Jets have been the best Canadian team all season long, yet all these loser pundits keep calling the Oilers "cup favourites". Go Jets!

[Burner]

Winnipeg is the team that put an end to the Blues winning streak and did it in convincing fashion. Jets will miss Ehlers for the offensive spark.

[OILFAN #81]

Jets in 7. Should be a good series.

[rogermexico]

I think that this is the Jets' year. But I am also always wrong.

[CroFlames]

President's Trophy Curse unfortunately.

[White Out 403]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

President's Trophy Curse unfortunately.

No such thing exists.

There's 16 teams that make the playoffs since the President's Trophy was first awarded to the ####hole up north in 1985. That means every year, each team equally, just by pure statistics without taking into account the quality of the team, has a 6% chance of winning the cup. The number one overall seed that's won the President's Trophy has won Stanley Cup 23% of the time. Second place team overall, 21%. Third place team, 18%, and it goes down from there. There's no guarantee the Jets will win the cup at all, of course, but I certainly don't mind the 23% historical president

[Mathgod]

Originally Posted by White Out 403

No such thing exists.

There's 16 teams that make the playoffs since the President's Trophy was first awarded to the ####hole up north in 1985. That means every year, each team equally, just by pure statistics without taking into account the quality of the team, has a 6% chance of winning the cup. The number one overall seed that's won the President's Trophy has won Stanley Cup 23% of the time. Second place team overall, 21%. Third place team, 18%, and it goes down from there. There's no guarantee the Jets will win the cup at all, of course, but I certainly don't mind the 23% historical president

Sure, if you look at all the historical data going back 40 years, there doesn't seem to be a curse.

But if you look at recent years, there's been a really noticeable string of bad results for the PT winners.

2009 Sharks - out in round 1

2010 Capitals - out in round 1

2011 Canucks - lose in cup final

2012 Canucks - out in round 1, losing in 5 games

2013 Hawks - win cup, but it was a lockout-shortened season

2014 Bruins - out in round 2

2015 Rangers - out in conference final

2016 Capitals - out in round 2

2017 Capitals - out in round 2

2018 Predators - out in round 2

2019 Lightning - swept in round 1 despite finishing 30 points higher than their opponent

2020 Bruins - out in round 2, losing in 5 games

2021 Avalanche - out in round 2

2022 Panthers - swept in round 2

2023 Bruins - out in round 1

2024 Rangers - out in conference final


So of the last 16 PT winners, here's the breakdown:

1st round exits: 5
2nd round exits: 7
3rd round exits: 2
Cup final losses: 1
Cups winners: 1

1 cup winner is 6%, a far cry from the historical number of 23%. It could be that this is just an anomaly that will smooth itself out over time. Personally, I have my doubts. I think there's something about living in the age of social media and sports betting that puts so much more pressure on the top team to perform, than in eras past. Will the Jets buckle under the pressure? We'll see.

And you look at 2013, it was a lockout shortened season. Who knows if the undersized Hawks hold up to the rigors of an 82 game season and still perform as well as they did in the playoffs. Very possible we could have had 0 winners out of 16 if not for that lockout.

[dammage79]

I have the Jets making the Conference finals so obviously they beat STL in 5.

[SuperMatt18]

TBH this is probably more even than a 1 vs 8 matchup usually is, especially with the Blues being the hottest team in the NHL over the last two months.

The Jets probably wanted the Flames to get in the playoffs just as much as the Flames wanted to get in.

My gut says Blues in 7 but maybe the Jets can exercise some of their playoff demons this year.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

My prediction is WO403 is going to be mad.

[Mathgod]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

TBH this is probably more even than a 1 vs 8 matchup usually is, especially with the Blues being the hottest team in the NHL over the last two months.

The Jets probably wanted the Flames to get in the playoffs just as much as the Flames wanted to get in.

My gut says Blues in 7 but maybe the Jets can exercise some of their playoff demons this year.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

[White Out 403]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

My prediction is WO403 is going to be mad.

Statistically speaking this is likely.