With the magic of NHL 09, Electronic Arts has made the bold prediction that the Boston Bruins will win the 2009 Stanley Cup.
EA Sports simulated all three rounds of the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs, in which 16 teams battle it out on the ice in best-of-seven series to determine who gets to the golf course last. In the simulation, the Northeast Division and Eastern Conference regular season champion Bruins disposed of the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 in the first round and then knocked off the Carolina Hurricanes in the semi-finals by the same score. A hard-fought Conference Finals battle with the Washington Capitals saw Boston pull out a 4-3 series win and in a thrilling Stanley Cup finals, the Bruins triumphed 4-2 over the Chicago Blackhawks.
“Boston, led by shutdown defenseman Zdeno Chara, outmuscled the Blackhawks and received timely scoring from Conn Smythe Trophy winner Phil Kessel to capture its sixth Stanley Cup, and first since 1972,” EA Sports said. “Kessel, playing on the Bruins top line with playoff leading scorer Marc Savard, delivered two overtime game-winners during the Finals. He finished with 14 goals in the playoffs, including five in the Finals.”
The real-life Bruins have won the Cup five times, but the last time they hoisted Lord Stanley’s silverware was all the way back in 1972. And while the Madden NFL series has a solid record of predicting Super Bowl champions – five out of six picks so far – picking an NHL champ is a trickier prospect. In 2008, EA predicted the San Jose Sharks would reign supreme, but in the end it was the Detroit Red Wings who came out on top.
