GodsendJen

Note: I've gone hockey crazy this week.  Check out Southeast Shootout to see exactly what I mean by that.  Here is a wee little sample.

I'm not in the prediction business. My passion and excitement for this game is strange and complex, filled with hope and optimism, and often based more on wishful thinking and dreams not spoken than it is on the facts, figures and empirical findings born out through game play this season or last. I respect the facts and figures. I greatly admire the selfless souls who spend hours crunching numbers through modeling algorithms to predict outcomes. If I were a coach I’d have a handful of these people on my staff, and I’d listen if they made a recommendation about who to scratch come game time. But with all do respect to the great math nerds of the world, that doesn’t mean jack come playoff time. This is the time to put your heart on your sleeve, your mind on the back burner and rely on your gut.

Without further ado, here are some predictions born in that place where fear and fragility meet rainbows and sunshine.

Just for tonight, the unsung will be heroes. Andy Sutton will do something dumber than dye his hair blue only to dye it brown the next morning. He’ll play less than 15 minutes and be responsible for giving up a goal. Ilya will try too hard, get too frustrated, and make an early visit to the sin-bin. But the rugged veterans of this team, Scott Melanby, Keith Tkachuk, Slava Kozlov, Bobby Holik and Alexie Zhitnik will come through as difference makers. With steady emotions they’ll make the right passes, ease the right emotions, and make sure we hit the Rangers hardest on the scoreboard. Kari Lehtonen will recover from an early goal and give these Thrashers their first playoff victory, ever.

Embolden by victory this team will win the series in 6 games. The losses will come back to back and our third victory might even come at home with Moose in goal. This team has a recent trend of clinching the big ones (a playoff birth, a SED championship) on the road. So its fitting we advance in these playoffs by defeating the Rangers at MSG in game 6.

If the microchips prove me wrong, as they might do, that’s ok. When you write software for a living you get used to it.