Hell’s Playoff Predictions: Victoria

I am most excited for this bracket and yet I nearly forgot to do my prediction for this weekend. I won’t lie to you and say I will follow this up with a day two because I never end up having time to do so. Instead, I’ll just try to do the whole weekend in one post. Also note, that I’m ok being wrong in my predictions. It’s actually really exciting when a team pulls a win when no one thought they could do it.

Yet again this week Flat Track Stats and I both agree on the outcomes.

Game 1: Sacred vs Arizona

Arizona comes into this tournament ranked number 40; having played 12 games this season, winning 7, losing 5. it doesn’t look like there roster has changed too much from what I can find. Their best jammer from the stats I can find is definitely Luz Chaos. Sacred comes into this tournament ranked at 28; having played 15 games this season, winning 11 and only losing 4. Their roster has also stayed pretty much the same. However, they seem to have a much more steady jammer core with 3 jammers in the positive differential with 4closer in the lead closely followed by Pink Freud and then Areil-LA-Twister. For this game, I have Sacred to take the win. Flat Track has Sacred with a 56% chance of pulling the win.

Game 2: Stockholm vs Queen City

If you don’t know who Queen City is they come from Buffalo, New York and have been around since 2006. They are coming in ranked number 36; having played 15 games, winning 11 and losing 4. They have a lot of the same skater from last year and Librawlian by the stats I have appears to be their best jammer. Though for the amount of wins vs loses their stats overall are in the negative, which could just be due to me having old stats. Stockholm, from Sweden, comes in at number 30; having played 10 games, winning 3 and losing 7. Their roster has changed a bit from last year from the stats I have, as my stats are from before they regained Sweed Hurt. Their best jammer from what I can tell, or at least was Lil Slinky. Depending on who else they now have who can really say. The teams from Europe have been coming to the tournaments with a lot to prove! With their win-loss ratio what it is, I have queen City for the win. Flat Track Stats also has Queen City having a 64% chance of winning. The thing is my gut is leaning towards Stockholm here. I know both of these teams are going to want to take the win to go on and play Victorian.

Game 3: Rat City vs Naptown

Naptown is entering playoffs at number 22; having played 11 games this season, winning 7 and losing 4. Their charter looks pretty similar and they seem to have a pretty consistent jammer core. Maiden America and Eve Anne Hellical seem to be their main 2 jammers. Their blockers seem relatively consistent as well though it’s obvious they rely on about 6 blockers and one of those blockers gets double the amount of skate time than the others. Rat City is coming in at 12; having played 15 games this season, winning 7 and losing 8. Due to their win-loss ratio, most of their stats are in the negative which makes sense in this case. With Rat, they too seem to rely on about 6 blockers, at least from the stats I have. However, they like many of the top teams have moved to a consistent 4 jammer rotation. With Luna Negra being their most successful followed by Scratcher in the Eye, Missle America, and Xena. Even though the win-loss is in favor of Naptown, the ranking is in favor of Rat City. Having watched Rat City not only at The BiG O this year but also in past years I know they come to playoffs ready to take out the competitor. Rat City will hit hard and I believe they will take the win. Flat Track Stat has Rat City with a 98% chance of winning this game.

Game 4: Angel City vs Sacred (if above is correct)

Angel City comes in at number 5; having played 14 games this season, winning 8 and losing 6 games. Their charter is pretty steady and their stats are also consistent. Also, it’s apparent they don’t just rely on just a few blockers but spread out play time to their roster and charter. They have a 4 jammer rotation with Satan’s Little Helper being their most successful followed by Ghetto Fabu-lez, Micki Krimmel, and Darby Dagger. I have Angel City for the win here. Flat Track Stats has Angel with a 99% chance of winning.

Game 5: Victorian vs Stockholm (I went for it :P but it could be Queen City)

Victoria comes in at number 2; having played 10 games this season only losing once last year at champs to Gotham. Which for you ranking nerds out there, that will roll of this November, are you all keeping track like I am??? Anyway, their roster has changed but they have gained some good players. I definitely don’t have up to date stats sadly. From what I do have I see a strong 3 jammer rotation with Giles being their strongest followed by Mary Fagdalene and IvyKnivey. However, my stats didn’t have Christy Demons because at the Big O she wasn’t skating due to an injury. She will most likely be skating at playoffs. She was one of their stronger jammers at champs last year. I feel that regardless of which team they face first up they will come out strong and take the win. Flat Track Stats have them with a 99% chance of winning, regardless as well.

Game 6: Philly vs Terminal

The host league comes into playoffs at number 20; playing 14 games this season, winning 8 and losing 6. Terminal seems to have stayed pretty steady as far as their charter goes. Their stats are mostly negative which doesn’t bode well for them considering their win-loss ratio should have them in more of the positive. However, I’m going to assume this is due to old stats and figure that if I had up to date stats they’d look much different. Philly comes in at number 13; having played 11 games winning 6 and losing 5. Their charter is mostly the same though they as far as the stats I have only seem to have 3 main rotation jammers. Perhaps they are still trying to fill the spot V-Diva left? Though hopefully they have found that replacement by now. From what I can see Wolf is their strongest jammer followed by Hermann Monster and Kilmartin. I have this game going to Philly as long as they can keep their penalties in check. Having watched them over the years when they are together they can do a great job, they hit hard and can be a force. However, if they get into penalty trouble it can be a downward spiral.

I think on Saturday Victoria and Philly will end up playing each other in game 9 and Angel City vs Rat City in game 11. I think both of these games will be a lot of fun to watch. Again penalties will be something that I think both Philly and Rat need to be careful about. Angel will also have to be sure to stick together and not let the chaos that Rat loves to bring to the track get in their heads if they want to win.

I think Sunday we will see Victoria vs Angel in game 17 to fight it out for gold! and Rat vs Philly in the battle to get to champs. These last two games I think are going to be pretty nasty and a ton of fun. The Rat-Philly game could be pretty brutal or over by the first half. I think penalties could crush one team or the other. If not the penalties the blockers not staying together and playing coordinated offense will clench it. I definitely think this will be close but I think Philly will pull the win and head to champs.

For the final game, I think Angel City took back a lot from the Big O and their loss against Victorian. I don’t think they will go down nearly as easily. If Angel City can pull the win it would be a huge “upset” but I think the crowd would go nuts! I think this game will be pretty interesting in two ways; it will show us if Victorian has been coming up with anything new and if anyone has found a way to beat what Victorian has been recently doing. I still give this one to Victorian but would love to see an upset because it would be pretty exciting.