Compiling these NHL expert picks before the puck drops was a challenge, but here they are. And there are a lot of them. We found 43 NBA Finals picks. We’ve got 54 for the Stanley Cup Final. And the predictions are dead even: Blackhawks 27, Bruins 27. As was the case with the NBA forecast, almost everyone says the Cup will be handed over after Game 6 or Game 7. Two have the Blackhawks winning in 5, but that’s it.
My favorite part of this exercise is seeing Barry Melrose listed with different picks for ESPN and NHL Network. Same team, different number of games. (We didn’t count him twice above.) Way to cover as many bases as possible, Barry.
Scoreboard Page: Blackhawks in 6. When you start 21-0-3 – undefeated in regulation for half of a strike-shortened season – the expectations are sky high. While Chicago’s performance in the Red Wings series might have put doubt in hockey experts’ minds, it lit a fire in the Blackhawks’ bellies, and should put fear in their opponents’ hearts. It’s hard to figure that Boston will give Chicago a tougher time than Detroit, but no one expected the Bruins to beat the Penguins, let alone sweep them. So maybe we’re still selling them short, as we clearly did in our final power rankings of the postseason, but we’ve rode the Blackhawks this far. No reason to dump them now.
Here are the rest of the picks represented in our graphic:
CBS’ Brian Stubits: Bruins in 6.
CBS’ Adam Gretz: Blackhawks in 6.
CBS’ Chris Peters: Blackhawks in 6.
More details at CBS Sports
SI’s Allain Muir: Bruins in 7
SI’s Sarah Kwak: Blackhawks in 5
SI’s Brian Cazeneuve: Bruins in 7
SI’s Adrian Dater: Blackhawks in 7
More details at Sports Illustrated
FOX Sports’ John Manasso: Blackhawks in 7
FOX Sports’ Craig Morgan: Bruins in 6
FOX Sports’ Kevin Kenney: Bruins in 6
FOX Sports’ Jon Paul Morosi: Bruins in 6
FOX Sports’ Dana Wakiji: Blackhawks in 6
FOX Sports’ Barry Werner: Bruins in 6
FOX Sports’ Lindsay Czarnecki: Bruins in 7
FOX Sports’ A.J. Perez: Blackhawks in 6
FOX Sports’ Sam Gardner: Blackhawks in 7
More details at Fox Sports
ESPN’s John Buccigross: Blackhawks in 7
ESPN’s Scott Burnside: Bruins in 7
ESPN’s Linda Cohn: Bruins in 7
ESPN’s Craig Custance: Blackhawks in 6
ESPN’s Paul Grant: Bruins in 7
ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun: Blackhawks in 7
ESPN’s Steve Levy: Bruins in 6
ESPN’s Joe McDonald: Bruins in 6
ESPN’s Barry Melrose: Bruins in 6
ESPN’s James Murphy: Bruins in 6
ESPN’s Scott Powers: Bruins in 6
ESPN’s Katie Strang: Bruins in 7
More details at ESPN
NBC’s Mike Halford: Blackhawks in 7
NBC’s Jason Brough: Bruins in 6
NBC’s Joe Yerdon: Bruins in 6
NBC’s James O’Brien: Blackhawks in 6
NBC’s Ryan Dadoun: Bruins in 7
NBC’s Cam Tucker: Bruins in 7
More details at ProHockeyTalk
NHL’s Dan Rosen: Blackhawks in 6
NHL’s Corey Masisak: Blackhawks in 5
NHL’s Shawn Roarke: Bruins in 6
NHL’s Brian Compton: Bruins in 6
NHL’s Tal Pinchevsky: Blackhawks in 7
NHL’s Billy Jaffe: Bruins in 7
NHL’s Adam Kimelman: Blackhawks in 7
NHL’s Kevin Weekes: Bruins in 7
NHL’s John Kreiser: Blackhawks in 7
NHL’s Arpon Basu: Blackhawks in 7
NHL’s Mike Morreale: Blackhawks in 7
NHL’s Mike Johnson: Bruins in 6
NHL’s Barry Melrose: Bruins in 7
NHL’s EJ Hradek: Blackhawks in 7
NHL’s Jamie McLennan: Blackhawks in 7
NHL’s Neil Smith: Blackhawks in 7
NHL’s Craig Button: Blackhawks in 6
NHL’s Kelly Chase: Blackhawks in 6
NHL’s Kathryn Tappen: Bruins in 6
More details at NHL.com
Sporting News’ Jesse Spector: Blackhawks in 7.
More details at Sporting News