2010 Stanley Cup Playoff Predictions

With the Stanley Cup Playoffs starting tomorrow night, it's time for me to make my predictions (though I should be working on my math homework right now instead!)  Last year, I posted them on my Facebook page, but now that I have a blog, I figured this would be the place to post my picks.

A quick recap of the NHL playoff system: The highest-seeded team in each conference plays the lowest-seeded team, the second-highest plays the second-lowest, and so on.  Each playoff series is best-of-seven, with the higher-seeded team hosting games 1, 2, 5, and 7; the lower-seeded team hosts games 3, 4, and 6.  The remaining teams are re-seeded after each round.

Playoff Rankings: 
Eastern Conference: 
1) Washington Capitals
2) New Jersey Devils
3) Buffalo Sabres
4) Pittsburgh Penguins
5) Ottawa Senators
6) Boston Bruins
7) Philadelphia Flyers
8) Montreal Canadiens

Western Conference:
1) San Jose Sharks
2) Chicago Blackhawks
3) Vancouver Canucks
4) Phoenix Coyotes
5) Detroit Red Wings
6) Los Angeles Kings
7) Nashville Predators
8) Colorado Avalanche

And now, without further ado, my picks:

Conference Quarterfinals:
Capitals over Canadiens in 4
Devils over Flyers in 6
Bruins over Sabres in 7
Penguins over Senators in 6

Sharks over Avalanche in 6
Blackhawks over Predators in 5
Canucks over Kings in 6
Red Wings over Coyotes in 7

Conference Semifinals:
Capitals over Bruins in 6
Devils over Penguins in 5

Red Wings over Sharks in 5
Blackhawks over Canucks in 7

Conference Finals:
Capitals over Devils in 4
Blackhawks over Red Wings in 5

Stanley Cup Final:
Blackhawks over Capitals in 6

Got different picks?  Comment with yours!  Happy Prognosticating (and GO PENS!!)

B-)

I Can't Believe It's Not...

Apparently, people in the neighborhood around Loyola don't use butter on their food anymore, because I went to both Primo's (one of Loyola's dining areas that also has a convenience store) and the Royal Farms down the street, and neither of them had sticks of real butter in their dairy cases.  All I could find were products that were similar to butter but weren't actually butter - I think the label on the packaging said something to the effect of "vegetable oil spread" or something like that.  Well, so much for baking cookies this weekend!  And this isn't the first time this has happened to me.  This one time last year, when I needed some butter to bake some cookies, neither Primo's, Royal Farms, nor the nearby CVS on York Road had anything not made with hydrogenated vegetable oil, and I ended up using this Blue Bonnet butter substitute in my cookies.  They came out all right, but it just bothered me that I wasn't using real butter.  Now, if I had the time, I could have gone to a grocery store and got a box of butter quite easily, but unfortunately, there are no supermarkets reasonably close to campus; the only way to get to a grocery store is to take the shuttle to the SuperFresh in Towson, and I just didn't have the time.  It just irks me that none of the places nearby had actual butter in stock.

Why the big deal, you ask?  It's simple - I like my foods with natural ingredients.  Sure, I pass on the organic produce to save money, but it's not like that tomato was synthesized from a bunch of chemicals - it still had to grow from a seed on its own, even if its DNA was altered a bit to make it better, so in my book, it's still natural.  But I draw the line when it comes to the choice between butter or margarine / butter substitutes.  From what I understand, the chemical make-up of margarine is only one molecule different from that of plastic, and I can usually tell by the smell and taste that it isn't real butter.  There's even been studies recently suggesting that consuming margarine can cause cancer.  Kinda ironic, since people who used margarine originally did so because they thought it was healthier than butter.  Health issues aside, I just feel kinda leery about imitation or artificially flavored foods - something about chemically synthesized food products just doesn't feel right with me.  It applies to a lot of things I buy - butter, sugar, vanilla extract, bacon bits, milk, and bread, just to name a few.  I guess it's just the fact that it's not the real thing that bothers me.  I like to know that I'm eating real food, and when I bake anything, I take a lot of pride in using natural ingredients, which is why I only use real butter in my cookies; otherwise I feel like I'm deceiving the people who eat them. 

That's why I'm a more than a little annoyed that I can't seem to find actual butter at any of the nearby stores lately.  When it comes to food, I like to know that what I'm buying actually is the product it's supposed to function as.  'Cause if it isn't the real thing, it's just hard to swallow - in more ways than one! 

B-)