Eastern Atlantic Playoff Preview

Disclaimer: These are my opinions so if you get butt hurt i could care less. Enjoy.

Eastern Atlantic


Hartford Wolfpack (1) vs. Lehigh Valley Phantoms (4)


Season Series: 3-1 Hartford


This series should be one of the more entertaining series of the first round. We have your not so typical 1v4 matchup with the reigning President's trophy winners facing off against a 4th seed with 100+ points and is scalding hot as of late. Hartford won the season series 3-1 with LVP taking the finale. Should be interesting to see if that gives LVP some confidence going into the series or if Hartford looks to prove that it was a one time thing.


Hartford

Key Players: CJ, Thoma, Dmac


Forwards: The Wolfpack come into playoffs boasting the highest Goals For in the league with 406. Their offense is led by two lines that could be a top line on any team in the league as well as a third line that has shown they can still score with the best of them. They had three guys at 100+ points in CJ, OGlowkey, and Thoma and probably could have had a fourth if tryhard wasn't gone for the last week while sitting at 89 points. Any team that matches up against these guys either better be ready to math their scoring or have a plan to shut them down. If not, then they will keep putting pucks in the net at will like they have all season and make quick work of whoever they play.


Defense: Although there is a lot to be said about the Wolfpack's offense, their defense has been stellar as well this season. They have some solid defenders in this bunch with dmac putting up another monster season being +99. They also have lowkey93, charmingdonut, and big_gren all posting 20+ win seasons. Thats a solid top 4 right there to bring into playoffs and forwards in the East will have some trouble getting past them.


Goalies: Quickscope and MikeMoran must enjoy all that goal support making their jobs easy. HoweverQuickscope posted an 83% save percentage and a 1.82 GAA over 41 games. A sub 2 GAA in an EA video game is pretty damn impressive. MikeMoran has only just dipped his toes into the AHL waters while getting called up late but through 14 games only has 1 loss and carries an 85% save percentage and a 1.43 GAA. Now it doesn't quite look like the goalies have been tested a whole lot this season and could maybe be a concern when those playoff games begin to get sweaty. It's always big to have a goalie be able to bail you out for mistakes. We'll see if these 2 are up to the task or if they've been beneficiaries of a great team in front of them.


LVP

Key Players: GZus, Johnkenney, DrNash8


Forwards: The Phantoms forward core is an interesting bunch to say the least. Their top 2 lines may not have the point totals some other teams have but make no mistake they can still hang. LVP is deep down the middle with GZus and Filthypuck as their top 2 centers and Suppafreak having a real solid season in the #3 slot. The top 2 centers are flanked by wingers that have had success with them in the past and bring that chemistry element to the table that can't be overlooked. Guys like Johnkenney and Albright are going to need to be key factors in LVP's offense and will need to be on their game to try and match the offensive power of Hartford.


Defense: Going into the season a lot of people looked at this D core as one of the best in the league and for good reason. The PhillyBurger pair is legend in the AHL community, even if they haven't enjoyed as much success this season as they're used to. They will need to rekindle that old flame to help shut down the high-octane offense on the other side. Patriot is an underrated dman and pairing up with Markz this season helps give LVP another reliable D pair. Shepard and Braded help round out the 6 on the backend and look like they have enjoyed some success together and will need to continue that through the playoffs.


Goalies: DrNash and Lamoreux have been a solid tandem all season with Nash getting a little NHL time before returning to LVP which I'm sure he was happy to see. Nash comes into playoffs carrying an 84.5% save percentage on the season with a 2.16 GAA. That'spretty damn good in this division. Lamoreux has also put up solid numbers as LVP's backup with an 80.8% save percentage and a 2.51 GAA. Nothing against Lamoreux but expect to see Nash manning the pipes for 5 games if this series goes 7, he's that important to their success.


Series:

Forwards: Hartford

Defense: Hartford

Goalies: LVP


This series is going to come down to a few factors.

1. Can LVP find a way to neutralize Hartford's top 2 lines? If the Phantoms find a way to shut them down and limit their space they can hang with Hartford. But it'll come down to the willingness of their Centers to come back and help their D and go toe to toe with CJ and Oglowkey.

2. Will LVP's hot streak carry on? LVP went on a big run at the end of the season to pull away from Bridgeport and Springfield after jockeying with them for the last playoff spot in an intense division. They spent some time through the beginning of the season outside the playoff picture and fought their way in. IF they can keep that going into playoffs it should make for a very entertaining series.

3. Who will win the battle of the crease? Looking at the numbers Hartford has out attacked their opponents by almost 347 minutes this season compared to LVP's 13 minutes. If this series follows those numbers, then Nash is going to be busy and it'll be a matter of if he can continue to do what he's done all season and keep the puck out of the net. On the other side Quickscope may have gotten a couple wins this season while not even having a controller in his hand for half of it with Hartford chewing up so much time in the offensive zone. If LVP can sustain an attack will he be able to bail out the Wolfpack or will he turn into a puddle? Time will tell as I'm sure the majority of the league will follow this series very closely.


Prediction:

Hartford in 7


Charlotte Checkers (2) vs Providence Bruins (3)


Another entertaining series on hand with two more 100+ point teams. These two have been battling back and forth all season for the 2nd seed with Charlotte edging out Providence down the stretch. These two teams come in on even footing with both teams taking 2 games in the season series. However, Charlotte has taken the last two including one this week that looked like it may have had all the makings of a sweaty one. Will Charlotte continue that streak of success or can Providence answer back?


Charlotte

Key Players: althewall, passuscore, Atboud


Forwards: The Checkers carry a heavy veteran presence on forward with guys who've been around the league for some time now. Led by althewall, passuscore, pelley, and frauts this core has some fire power to it. Add in guys like havoc and kingKong and you got some real good secondary pieces to help round out the lines. The Charlotte boys can score with the best of them as they have 7/9 forwards over 60 points. Although the other two were saved off some weak teams later in the season which brought their numbers down. Will be interesting to see if these guys can keep up their scoring pace when the competition increases in playoffs.


Defense: Here's where this team gets interesting. Half of its D core is in its first full AHL season on PSN. Their veteran guys had some success this season in Atboud, Tommyboii, and pearl. Tommyboii post a 20 win season and 34 points from the back end to lead this D core and will need to do more of the same. Atboud had some regular season success on the Rampage last season but had a 1-4 record in playoffs. He's going to need to improve on those numbers this season if his team wants to make a run. As for the AHL rooks they need to keep doing what they've done all season as all of them have at least 15 wins, a respectable number for a first season in a new league.


Goalies: MiekHockey and Dophares make up the Checkers rookie goalie tandem. Mike has seen some success in his first AHL season with 33 wins, an 80% save percentage and a 2.71 GAA. Playing 53 games in a season earns you the title of workhorse. Expect more of the same with him carrying the load through playoffs. Dophares was a late season callup and has only lost 1 game in his time in the AHL this season with an 85.6% save percentage and a 2.17 GAA. Although it's a small sample size, some impressive numbers as he looks to help his team in the games he does get.


Providence

Key Players: Prod, Kred, Seth


Forwards: This forward core has some real good top talent here in Prod and Kred doing the heavy lifting with their west coast host and solid chem being one of the better duos in the league. Dan Harper has been having a good season after getting traded to Providence at the deadline and Reiders is a real solid player all around. Outside of them there's not much that stands out and looks pretty top heavy. There's going to be a lot of pressure on Prod and Kred to win their games. If not, they may be going home early. But if the 2nd and 3rd line can put some wins on the board it'll be a great weight lifted off their shoulders.


Defense: The self-proclaimed Top 5 LD Mvtshameless is going to need to back up his talk in this series. After 15 wins in his first season on D he's going to need to continue that success with his partner Senatorsfan in trying to shut down Charlotte's top 2 lines. MBP may not be the most skilled player but he has the experience in this league and is a useful 3rd pair Dman. Without any "big names" on D this group is going to have to rely on defense by committee and their communication when it comes down to stopping the Checkers' offense.


Goalies: This is the main strength of this Providence team in my opinion. Seth has had a real solid season with an 80.6% save percentage and a 2.33 GAA. Kucheran was saved from an abysmal Colorado team to give his defense a backup goalie they can trust to make the saves they need. If Providence are to make a deep run these 2 are the keys to it.


Series:

Forwards: Charlotte

Defense: Charlotte

Goalies: Providence


I'm interested to watch this series mainly because it could honestly go either way. Prod and Kred are probably the 2 best players in this series, but if you were to draft this series a large majority of the next picks would all be Charlotte. We will see which will prevail a deeper team in Charlotte or the top end talent of Providence. One thing that can't be overlooked is if we will see much of a factor in the west coast host. If this series goes to 7 Prod and Kred will most likely have to fight through the high response time with Charlotte being the home team. Would be an unfortunate way to end a series in the connection were to play a big role in the outcome. However, they've beaten teams on the East connection and could do it again in a big situation. This series should be competitive and entertaining.


Prediction:

Charlotte in 6

 

10/10 great write up

 

This is awesome.

 

checkers depth is unreal ill get in shit if I don't vote for my team but checkers in 5

 

One of the best write ups I’ve seen and no favorites being noticed great job meestapoop

 

Very good write up my guy good shit. both should be very good series

 

@Meestah Don cant do anything wrong. Just the best at everything

 

Solid xbox player i am. Meh psn player. Brus in 7

 

Rip

 

Great unbiased write up

 

@mikemoran19 is a playoff performer. Clutch as fuck. Not worried about him facing more shots at all.