Quick Glance:
On paper, according to Websim’s “Team Evaluations,” Berlin has the better offense, defense, goalies, powerplay, penalty killing, coaches, depth … and everyone knows they have the better cheerleaders. But turn the page to General Manager and Bratislava has a huge advantage there. It showed during the regular season when the Eagles won 5 of 7 games between the two teams.
Goalies (in playoffs):
- Berlin – Calvin Pickard (3.29 GAA; .863 save percentage)
- Bratislava – Tanner Jaillet (2.00 GAA; .939 save percentage)
Top Plus/Minus players (in playoffs):
- Berlin – Jonas Brodin (+6)
- Bratislava- Patrick Kane, Josh Norris and Robin Grossman (+7)
Expert Panel Predictions:
- Commissioner Chuck: Berlin in 5 games. Last summer, Jonas Brodin wanted to get the hell out of Bratislava after 3 years as an Eagle. He said he wanted to sign with Berlin to hang out with beautiful cheerleaders and win a Cup. The cheerleader part has already occurred and Brodin will play a key role in realizing that second wish. He has played great D since then as a Smurf and he knows all of Bratislava’s players and strategies. His work and the play of the top line of Vadim Shipachyov, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Gabriel Landeskog will end Bratislava’s season.
- Rose: Bratislava in 6 games. I’ve never before wanted both teams in a series to lose horribly, but I hate both of these general managers. If I have to pick one to advance, I guess I’ll go with … umm … boy this hurts … Bratislava. They have home ice advantage and they beat the Smurfs dark blue in the regular season. The Eagles have pretty good depth and goaltending too. I guess.
