Round 3 Predictions - by Tyler Young

Round 3 Predictions

Boy oh boy! man oh man! Well the Achaeans toppled the seemingly impenetrable citadel of Pain - no doubt it involved a wooden horse or something - and now the odyssey begins! With the Prez cupped 'Canes also taking an early trip to the links, the playoffs having suddenly become the most open I can remember since the old timey TFHL.

Spirit vs Aces

Two solid clubs which faced off in the first round of last year's playoffs. I picked the Aces back then to wallop the Spirit, and the Spirit ended-up taking it in five. Both of these teams have a good combination of youth and veterans - the Spirit's seventh game, overtime, series winning goal was potted by their fourth overall pick of a couple years ago, Dion Pheneuf, assisted by their other top 10 pick of that draft, Zach Parise; while the Aces are being capably powered by youngster Tim Brent. The Aces real trump card though is the potent Pavel Demitra. Despite winning, Barry Brust has been a liability, and the Aces have had an easier trip to the conference finals, while the Spirit have had to knock-off the top two teams in the conference to get there. Lalime is playing well and as long as the rest of the Spirit keep their Geist up, this should be theirs. Spirit in six.


Achaeans vs Flames

Well, imagine my pleasure at seeing the Achaeans knock-off the Pain - it's always a good thing when the team which beat you keeps the show going. That being said, the Achaeans will have a heck of a challenge in getting by the Flames: Jose Theodore, acquired mid-season from the Blades for a thank you card, is playing incredible and, besides Jose, the Flames are firing on all cylinders - with such going on they ought to be a safe bet to win it all. However, I'm going to take a flyer here and put my money on the Achaeans: they aren't exactly Achilles, indeed the Flames have a few sons of Pellas while the Achaeans are stuck with your average, run-of-the-mill type heroes, but sometimes you just have to cheer for the seeming underdog. Besides you don't knock-off the Pain with peanuts. Achaeans in seven.