Old Vs. New

Tomorrow's Game Seven features a dichotomy not unlike the character differences seen in the movie Se7en starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. Morgan Freeman is the aged, methodical detective who never leaves a stone unturned in his search for justice. Brad Pitt is the upstart, emotional, impulsive detective who acts on impulse and follows what he believes is true regardless of how much truth that belief holds. These characters are not unlike the Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning, respectively, and it will be interesting to see who wins in tomorrow's battle of student vs. master.

Tampa Bay's role as Detective David Mills lacks a maturity that is shown by his counterpart. While Detective Somerset - the Red Wings - take their time, rarely get show emotions, and continually look for clues, Mills likes to feed "off his emotions" when pursuing a lead. The Lightning are no different. They try to change things up on the fly, utilizing the stretch pass far more than one sees in the playoffs. Head coach Jon Cooper accused the Red Wings of cheating, showing some of that emotional response to the game. They like to run and gun - something Mills gets in trouble for in the movie - and have yet to show the edge necessary to go deep in the playoffs.

On the flip side, Detective William Somerset is a perfect representation of the Detroit Red Wings. Like Somerset, the Red Wings have been through the blood, sweat, and tears of playoff wins and losses before on many occasions. They rarely look frustrated or flustered in a game, and they often find ways to victory that other teams would not. Having that veteran presence like Somerset, the Red Wings play their systems well, capitalize on opportunities created through their system, and often find themselves on the right side of the win-loss ledger. I could imagine their pregame music to be the methodical sound of the metronome that Somerset listens to in terms of how the Red Wings go about their business.

While hardly a Pyrrhic victory at the end of this series, it will be interesting to see who advances between the new kids in town and the old guard. Let's just hope that there are seven less murders at the end of tomorrow night's game.

Pool Update

There have been some great totals posted in the first-round of the HBIC Playoff Pool thus far. We still have one game to go so there is a possibility for some to pick up an additional eight points off that game (1 for the right team, 2 for the game-winning goal-scorer, and 5 for the series correctly predicted). The high score as of right now is 53 for the opening round with the mean score coming in around 37 points for the round. Of course, those numbers may change based on the events of tomorrow evening's final score.

I will post the info for the next round tomorrow, but the links will not go live until the final horn on tomorrow's game. That means the spreadsheet will not be available until that time, so enjoy the game tomorrow evening and then fill out your grid afterwards.

Also, I will remind everyone that the new wrinkle of risking and betting points on a series outcome will be explained in great detail tomorrow because you all have points at this time. Literally, anyone can still be in first-place by the end of the next round, so put your thinking caps on, weigh your options with regards to risking points, and let the chips fall where they may!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!