Southern Conference
Madrid Royals
5th seed
Top G – Robin Lehner
Berlin Smurfs
4th seed
Top G – Calvin Pickard
Season Series: 3-1 Berlin
Key matchups: Fans in Berlin will be booing former Smurf Tyler Ennis when he’s skating on Madrid’s top line with Evander Kane and Sean Couturier, but if the Smurfs’ top defensemen – Ryan Murray and Staffan Kronwall – can focus on their job of stopping them, then the remainder of Berlin’s forwards, led by Aleksander Barkov, will hurt Madrid.
Commissioner prediction: Berlin 4-2. “This should be a close series, but I think the Smurfs have more weapons and play a little better in all zones.”
Rose’s prediction: Madrid 4-2. “Robin Lehner will steal a couple of games for Madrid. He’s that good. And Erik Forssell is still recovering from an overdose of cookies that kept him out of 15 games.”
Athens Gods
7th seed
Top G – Petr Mrazek
Bratislava Eagles
3rd seed
Top G – Frederik Andersen
Season Series: 5-1 Bratislava
Key matchups: Second line centers Anze Kopitar vs. Morten Madsen. The Slovenian vs. the Dane. Kopitar has the name value and the 34-year-old is having his best season sinnce Season 6. Bratislava needs to slow him up and Madsen might be the guy who can do that. The third-year man has been Mr. Puck Possession for the Eagles. He has 83 takeaways vs. just 53 giveaways this season and that’s the way he’s played each year in the league.
Commissioner prediction: Bratislava 4-2. “The teams look pretty even on paper, but Bratislava has Frederik Andersen and players in front of him who will be able to slow Logan Couture and Kopitar.”
Rose’s prediction: Athens 4-3. “I forsee an injury to a key player like Jonathan Toews or Tyler Myers. Even without one, Patrick Wiercioch and Brad Marchand will be able to infuriate the Bratislavians into taking dumb penalties and losing their discipline. My niece used to try that with me when I would babysit and frankly, it always worked.”
Bern Interrail
8th seed
Top G – Antti Niemi
Paris Rouge Eiffels
1st seed
Top G – Philipp Grubauer
Season Series: 3-0 Paris
Key matchups: Derek Stepan’s line vs. Kyle Turris’ line. Both second lines are the team’s best, if that makes sense. Turris and Pavel Buchnevich lead Paris in +/- among forwards and they have recently been joined by veteran Loui Eriksson. Stepan has been doing it all by himself all year and he will often face Travis Hamonic and Kris Letang is he can get into the Paris zone with the puck.
Commissioner prediction: Paris 4-0. “The Eiffels have too strong a defense to lose to the likes of Bern.”
Rose’s prediction: Bern 4-3. “Mika Zibanejad, Patrick Kane, Mark Stone and Andrey Bykov have used Stepan as a decoy all season and are ready to turn it up and pounce on Paris. I know because they told me at a recent Zoom lunch we shared. I made pierogis.”
Munich Red Bell HC
7th seed
Top G – Joonas Korpisalo
Milan Guerriero
2nd seed
Top G – Andrew Hammond
Season Series: 5-1 Milan
Key matchups: The top Milan defense pair of Danny Dekeyser and Jake Muzzin vs. whomever Munich throws at them. The pair have been great for the last several years in front of goalie Andrew Hammond. The Red Bulls mix their lines regularly but “DeMuzzinKeyser” will see Filip Forsberg and Sean Monahan often.
Commissioner prediction: Munich 4-3. “The Guerriero are the stronger team, but they have stumbled a bit recently. Munich hasn’t been cohesive much all year but their “nothing to lose” attitude might help them if Milan starts gripping their sticks too tightly.”
Rose’s prediction: Milan 4-2. “Fans in Italy have been waiting for this team to get good for a long time. Now they are there and the fans refuse to lose ground. Their threats to burn down the players’ homes will be enough to see the Guerriero through to Round 2.”
