CW TRIVIA LINK

scruf


If there is one thing that Slip McScruff is good at, it’s being a huge distraction.  I think that whatever performance will have to be outside of the ice because he can’t be bothered with the logistics of making sure the ice gets resurfaced.  Probably some kind of game show with the eliminated teams, like the all star game but with the locker room guys, not the scoresheet guys.

We’ll call it Slip’s McScruff, and the game will make as much sense as the name.  We’ll need to involve some kind of dunk tank, so that means we could have at least half the show out in the parking lot.  The other half could just be in the stands and Slip will pocket the budget savings.  The contestants will be mixed between conferences and divisions, so the goal and driving motivation will be to dunk your division rivals, especially those who knocked you out.

After that, the actual game show isn’t too important.  Is it trivia? Is it a game of skills? Who cares? Game on.


I mean, the elephant in the room for this conversation is the Edmonton Blizzard.  They were lethal in the regular season with a +156 goal differential, although only a 5 point spread ahead of the 3 way tie for 2nd.  It’s really a shame that the division structure pitted them against Los Angeles in the second round for what could have been the conference finals.  Although, to be fair the conference finals on paper looked like it should have been Texas / Edmonton as the other dominant team in the West.

It might seem like cheating to take the other conference leading team, but the Philadelphia Forge also seemed like a lock for the finals.  They were in that 3 way tie for 2nd but sported a +137 differential .  After fighting out of their division, it seemed like a clear path to the finals.  Their opponent was 8 points worse in the regular season and, almost mirroring Los Angeles, had only a +87 goal differential.

Clearly the regular season juggernauts aren’t a lock for the finals and “the best team” has a different meaning in the playoffs.


The Los Angeles Panthers really came in and spanked the post season to a surprising degree.  It shouldn’t really be a surprised since they finished the regular season winning 13 games in a row.  They smashed the 6th and 11th place teams in sweeps and only gave up one game each to the 1st and 4th place teams. 

I really don’t have any advice for any team on the receiving end of this train.  The Wolfpack had already managed to beat the Forge in 6, which should have created some measure of confidence.  The Forge had only lost 2 games to that point, same as the Panthers.  Maybe lots of ice baths and just play loose.