Melrose Home (-120)
Tropic Thunder (-120)
Over 6.5 (-105)
Under 6.5 (-135)
Notes: The Fall 2024 playoffs kick off with a rematch of the league’s first ever Sunday game a few weeks ago. Tropic Thunder came out on the losing end of that one but finished six spots ahead of Melrose during the regular season. That said, they are facing some serious lineup issues tonight with a bevy of late callups and Karly likely having to ironman this entire game. Melrose seems to have a full linup except DRo who is inexplicably skipping this game to go to…a Halloween party? On a Tuesday night that doesn’t even fall on Halloween itself? Idk. Let’s see what the public thinks.
To be fair, the public is making this determination without the injury/lineup updates I have just provided you. Wes is always a last minute wildcard and Hicks does have the resources to set up a last minute pop up pasta making class in Tribeca to distract him, but this matchup is going to be extremely close and it’s likely to come down to what playoffs usually come down to: defense and goaltending. Tropic Thunder have Simon, probably the best overall defenseman in this game, but Melrose’s D core is the strength of their team with Danilo/Sanchick/Russo forming a very legit top 3. And Jeff vs Zisser is always an intriguing matchup, both between the pipes and in hitting the pipe. This one feels too close to call but out of respect for the goalies, I’m favoring the under.
Sexperts (-170)
Red Sabbath (+125)
Over 6.0 (-120)
Under 6.0 (-120)
Notes: A classic matchup, these teams met a few weeks ago and blue prevailed with a surprisingly high scoring 5-4 decision. What’s the public think of this one?
Google made the red team blue and the blue team red on this pie chart which is for sure somewhat confusing but the public is basically evenly split with the slight edge going to Red Sabbath. They did finish three spots ahead of blue in the regular season although to be fair, if blue had picked up just one more standings point they would be in 6th and red would be 7th. The public is no doubt unimpressed by blue’s defense, normally a staple of the team, ranking dead last in the league. Hey, what can I say – ACL recovery is tough. Also tough – having your goalie abscond to Mexico mid-season to party on the beach for a monthj which I can hardly blame him for tbh. This is also only the second time in league history that time blue has failed to finish top four in the standings, with the only other one being the Summer 2019 season when the Bayside Tigers finished dead last. Of course, they did win a playoff game. And that season is best known for maybe the wildest rookie class of all time, but I digress. This should be a hard fought playoff matchup between two teams that really deserve to go further but unfortunately one of them has to go home early this season. I am obviously somewhat biased, but I think that team will be red.
MRH/TROP (+1.0 Goals) (+140)
The Grassholes (-1.0 Goals) (-200)
Over 6.5 (-125)
Under 6.5 (-115)
Notes: The Grassholes will have Ridzik in for Corey tonight but otherwise ice a full roster. I straight up just think they’re better than yellow which is why they would certainly be favored against Melrose. A game against Tropic Thunder would be tougher as camo beat them in the regular season with full lineups, but camo has anything but a full lineup tonight. As such, I think green is a pretty safe bet and the public seems to agree.
There are certainly some vulnerabilities for Grassholes and they haven’t quite been the same team since Corey went down with a mid-game knee injury but I think they have too much talent to bow out this early. Grassholes to win and become the second team (after future opponent Bean) to punch their ticket into the final four.
The MilkMob (EVEN)
Halloweenies (-145)
Over 5.5 (-110)
Under 5.5 (-130)
Notes: The league’s two expansion franchises from this season meet in the 7/8 showdown here. What’s interesting is before the season, everyone told me that white would be terrible while orange would be so good that the majority of teams should just pack it in, hold a good old fashioned struggle sesh and wait til next season. Amazingly, despite these big brained prognostications, the teams finished with identical 4-6 records. Since the Weenies had more OT games, though, they end up the home team which really doesn’t make a difference now that i think about it as there are no playoff shootouts. What does the public think?
They’ve gone right into coin-flip territory and really I can’t blame them. The Weenies have the most fearsome big 3 probably in league history while the MilkMob win with speed, depth and a level of determination and energy that I have honestly never seen in this or any league. The losses of Caleb and last years ROY Yehuda Silverman, however, are massive for Milk. Henry Butler will come in looking for vengeance fresh off a purple play-in elimination for his Black Squirrels teammates, but it’s going to be an uphill battle against a fully loaded orange team. I could see it going either way but have to give the slight edge to orange with a huge edge to the under.
SEX/RED (+1.5 Goals) (-110)
Merry Pranksters (-1.5 Goals) (-130)
Over 6.5 (-105)
Under 6.5 (-135)
Notes: This is probably the marquee game of the night and also the toughest to really predict for me. The public doesn’t seem to think so.
Pranksters have had a fantastic season punctuated by an impressive six game win streak to end it. In fact, their last loss came well over a month ago in the very first week of the season. They also hold regular season wins over both possible opponents although both were tight games. What’s interesting is that more people are picking red than blue to win the 6/9 matchup, but way more people are picking blue to pull the upset on tie dye here. Pranksters absolutely have to be favored here and I’m sure the public will be all over what is probably Gelman’s finest drafted team ever, but for me this is a possible trap game and a big time stay away special. Should be a fun one.
MILK/HWN (+1.5 Goals) (+140)
My Cup Size Is Stanley (-1.5 Goals) (-200)
Over 6.5 (-120)
Under 6.5 (-120)
Notes: The final game of the evening sees Cup Size taking on the winner of Milk and Weenies. It’s a lot of Halloween colors as Jenn pointed out last week. It does seem like the public once again, as with every single game on this six game slate, is rolling with the higher seeded team.
63.6% to a combined 36.3% for the underdogs isn’t overpowering, but it does show black well positioned to make their second straight final four which would be the first time Jenn has ever accomplished that feat. Whether they can take her to her first ever championship game is another story and a lot of this game will depend on whether Hilary can make it from the airport in time or if Jenn is forced to ironman this game (or fake an injury and try to shadily get a better sub last minute), but I think Cup Size’s depth will be too much for a shorthanded MilkMob or a full strength Weenies to overcome. APK and McCracken can always go hero mode and steal a game, but safe bet is on black to win and roll into the final four.