UFHL/NHL Playoff Pool: 21 Entrants Cast Their Play-In Round Predictions

UFHL/NHL Playoff Pool Produces 21 Entrants, Interesting Picks for Play-In Round The picks are in and the puck has dropped — the UFHL/NHL Playoff Pool is now underway! A total of 21 franchises and scouts made their predictions for both the UFHL and NHL playoffs — picking the play-in round winners for both leagues, plus the number of games for the NHL series. For bonus points, entrants also picked their NHL conference champions and Stanley Cup winner. Following the UFHL Playoff Draft on August 10, entrants will pick their UFHL conference champions and Klein Cup winner prior to the first round. Those picks are delayed because the UFHL rosters will look much different coming out of the playoff draft. Rosters and matchups for the play-in round can be found in our UFHL Playoff Preview.

This playoff pool was free to enter for UFHL franchise owners and scouts, with the winner earning 5,000 score tokens (equivalent to $100 USD), which can be used towards purchasing prospects and other in-game transactions on the UFF Sports platform. Entrants will continue to make their picks prior to each round and the points escalate for every round, with the following scoring system: Play-In Round Team = 2 points Games = 2 more points First Round Team = 3 points Games = 3 more points Second Round Team = 4 points Games = 4 more points Third Round Team = 5 points Games = 5 more points Fourth/Final Round Team = 6 points Games = 6 more points Bonus Picks Conference champs = 5 points each Stanley Cup/Klein Cup champ = 10 points each Entrants must get the team right in order to qualify for the games. If they pick the wrong team, they will not receive points for the right number of games. Previewing the Picks Looking at the play-in round picks, most of the matchups were relatively even — with plenty of parity — but Vancouver and Pittsburgh were overwhelming favourites in the NHL, while Elite Assassins and Yetis emerged as popular choices to prevail in the UFHL. As for surprises, Elite Assassins and Crypto Knights went the unconventional route by picking three different teams for the NHL bonus points — selecting a Stanley Cup winner that differed from their conference champions. That approach has worked before in this type of playoff pool, so I certainly wouldn’t knock it. Interesting, nonetheless. Here is a breakdown of the picks for both leagues, showing how much support each franchise received from the 21 entrants: Klein Cup Playoffs Legends Conference Outlaws (12) vs. Crypto Knights (9) Duckman’s (8) vs. Blades of Steel (13) Elite Assassins (15) vs. Stallions (6) Yetis (15) vs. Royals (6) Allan Conference Snipers (13) vs. Murder Hornets (8) Dynasty (12) vs. Bombers (9) Power Players (13) vs. West Coast Express (8) Battle Hawks (13) vs. Blizzard (8) Stanley Cup Playoffs Western Conference Edmonton (18) vs. Chicago (3) Calgary (5) vs. Winnipeg (16) Vancouver (20) vs. Minnesota (1) Nashville (17) vs. Arizona (4) Eastern Conference Toronto (13) vs. Columbus (8) Pittsburgh (20) vs. Montreal (1) New York Islanders (17) vs. Florida (4) Carolina (9) vs. New York Rangers (12) Here is a look at everyone’s picks for all 16 matchups from the play-in round across both leagues as well as the NHL conference champions and Stanley Cup winner. For my predictions, you’ll have to check out Episode 4 of the UFF Sports Podcast and the Rookie-versus-Pro segment, with our NHL picks starting at 27:30 followed by our UFHL picks.