Faceoff Factor

How Good Was EA Sports AHL Calder Cup Prediction?

Kyle Dreibelbies | WBS "Baby" Penguins

Jun 12, 08:11 AM | Hype this story!

Before the Conference Final round of the AHL’s Calder Cup Playoffs, EA Sports used their NHL 08 video game to predict the winner. The EA Sports NHL series is the only one that has full AHL licenses, so this is their first prediction. How close were they? Read the following press release, from EA.com:

EA SPORTS™ NHL® 08 has predicted that the Chicago Wolves, led by Jack A. Butterfield Trophy Winner Jason Krog, will come away winners of the 2008 Calder Cup Finals defeating the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in seven games.

The 2008 Calder Cup Eastern Conference Final started off with the powerhouse Penguins struggling to get the puck past Jean-Sebastien Aubin. Aubin’s performance in game one was stunning as playoff point leader Tim Brent was kept off the score sheet putting the Penguins in the hole early. Game two was a turning point however as the Penguins got back to their winning ways with both Brent and Chris Minard having a multiple point night. The Pirates from Portland were able to squeeze out one more victory after another great performance from Aubin in Game 5, but were never able to respond to the Penguins scoring touch and were sent home in six.

In the Western Conference Final, the veteran backbone of the Marlies came out strong with big contributions from both Kris Newbury and David Ling while Scott Clemmensen was solid between the pipes, helping Toronto take the first two games. The Wolves from Chicago clawed their way back into the series taking the final four games with breakout performances from Darren Haydar and Jason Krog bringing Toronto’s championship run to an abrupt end.

The Calder Cup Final brought two great hockey towns together in a hard fought battle that went the distance. It was through the playmaking ability of Jason Krog who set up his linemates on numerous occasions that kept Chicago in it, while the scoring touch of Tim Brent and Ryan Stone held the Penguins together. In the end, it was Krog’s four point performance in game seven that was the difference as the Wolves take home the Calder with Krog locking up the Jack A. Butterfield trophy as playoff MVP.

Chicago did win the Calder Cup with Krog collecting the Butterfield Trophy after scoring 38 points (12+26) in 24 games. The difference was that Krog closed out the series for Chicago in six games, not seven.

As for the Eastern Conference Finals, Wilkes-Barre defeated Portland in seven games. Aubin was a non-factor after getting hurt in Game 1.

In the Western Conference Finals, Krog and Haydar did in fact do the work needed to dispatch the Marlies in five games.

To summarize, EA Sports was only one game off in each series while predicting the correct winner in all three of the playoff series.