4.15.2014

Stanley Cup and Cheesecake 2014 — Pacific Division Semifinals

The 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs are here, and it's time for this year's edition of pinup girls, picks to win and of course,the Atom-Bomb Bikini Playoff Challenge! Read through to the bottom of this post to see how you can win some art, books, stickers and other great stuff!


WESTERN CONFERENCE – Pacific Division Semifinals

(1) Anaheim Ducks vs. (WC2) Dallas Stars

The Ducks tore through the first half of the NHL season, and looked fairly unbeatable as the calendar flipped to 2014. They came back to earth a good bit, and lost their bid for the President's Trophy before gaining steam and finishing strong. They can score in bunches, and are very deep in net. The Stars finally broke back into the playoffs after some close calls the last several years. New coach Lindy Ruff, jettisoned by Buffalo, seems to have brought a winning attitude to Dallas, along with a ton of playoff experience.

Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau has had a rough time of it in the playoffs despite a sterling regular season record. All the pressure is on Anaheim here, but they should have the stuff to best a less-talented (if scrappy) Stars team.  Ducks in six.






(2) San Jose Sharks vs. (3) Los Angeles Kings

These teams are really similar..they both play a puck-posession game, and like to take a ton of shots... and it'd probably mean a really high-scoring series if both teams' defenses weren't so damn good. Add to that the Kings' season-long difficulty in scoring and the recent playoff dominance of LA goalie Jonathan Quick, and you could very well be looking at a slew of 2-1 games.

It'll be imperative on the Sharks to do just enough to get that extra goal, and I'm betting they will. More importantly, if the rumors I hear are to be believed, San Jose is going to dress in their regular teal jerseys at home, rather than those black alternate monstrosities they've insisted on sporting the last few playoffs. You know what they say... “look good, play good!” Sharks in seven.




Now on to the contest...

The Third Annual ATOM-BOMB BIKINI PLAYOFF CHALLENGE

Again, the rules are simple...pick the final four teams you think will be left standing, the conference champions, and the eventual Stanley Cup winner. One point will be awarded for each correct final four pick, two for each final two pick, and three for picking the champion. Whoever has the most points when it's all said and done will take the big prize! 

Here's what you're playing for: The big winner will receive a custom piece of original artwork of a pinup girl wearing the jersey of his or her favorite team, along with a copy of my collection of hockey-themed commissions, Bluelines, a copy of Old-Timey Hockey Tales, a pack of Atom-Bomb stickers and a free t-shirt of your choice from the wonderful folks at Original Retro Brand!  Two runners-up will just get the books and stickers...and in case of a tie, I'll put all the names in a smelly old hockey helmet and select a winner at random.

How to enter: Write your picks in the comments section of this here blog post. Not on Facebook, not on Twitter, not in an email, but in the comments section of this post. 

You have until the pucks drop on Wednesday night to enter!

And please, remember to check in as the playoffs progress...I'll post the winner's names here, and at that time I'll look to get in contact with you. And please, do remember to check back! I don't want to have a prize go unclaimed because I had no way of getting in contact with the winner...If you have a Twitter handle or something like that that you wouldn't mind adding to the post, that'd be great. So, enjoy the hockey, and good luck!

Finally...


CRASS COMMERCIALISM DEPT: All of the original, hand-drawn art for this year's Stanley Cup picks will be on sale soon...but much of the art from previous years is currently available at my Etsy store, and on sale for 30% off through the end of the playoffs in June, when you use the code CUP2014 at checkout!

Of course, if you'd like to go the extra mile and get a personalized, one-of-a-kind uni-girl illustration of your very own to your exact specifications, that information can be found here.

34 comments:

Unknown said...

Final Four
East: Detroit & Pittsburgh
West: Los Angeles & St. Louis

Conference Champs
East: Pittsburgh
West: St. Louis

And the Stanley Cup goes to Pittsburgh.

I think I've picked the Pens over the Blues every year. This is going to be the year I just know it.

Unknown said...

Final four
Anaheim ducks & Chicago Blackhawks
Bosten Bruins & Pittsburgh penguins
Conference champions
Boston Bruins v& Chicago Blackhawks
Stanley cup winners are the Boston Bruins.
I think detroit just dosnt have it in them this year

Stergios Botzakis said...

Final Four
Anaheim Ducks & Chicago Blackhawks
New York Rangers & Boston Bruins
Conference Champs
Rangers & Ducks
Stanley Cup champs
Ducks

This is the year the Rangers break the Penguins' playoff streak.

Jim Wooley said...

Bruins vs Pens
Ducks vs Sharks

Bruins vs Sharks

Bruins win the cup.

Sorry Rob - if the Flower shows up I may be proved wrong but I just don't see your Pens going all the way (again)...

Noel Amezquita said...

SJ vs CHI
PIT vs MTL
SJ vs PIT
SJ for the win
FTW.

Unknown said...

Final Four: Anaheim, Pittsburg, Boston, Chicago.

Conference Champs: Anaheim & Boston

Winner winner chicken dinner: Anaheim

Unknown said...

Final four:
Colorado vs Los Angeles
Detroit vs Philadelphia

Cup Final:
Colorado vs. Philadelphia

Patrick Roy lifts the cup as head coach. Colorado!

Peter K. said...

Final four:
St. Louis vs. LA
Detroit vs. Pitt

Finals
St. Louis vs. Pitt

Champions:
Pittsburgh Penguins

(Peter K...the Canucks girl (Nov. '09))

Anonymous said...

Final Four
Montreal vs. Pittsburgh
Chicago vs. San Jose

Stanley Cup Final
Chicago vs. Montreal

Champions
Chicago

Twitter: @grunge_chic

Abram said...

Bruins over Penguins
Kings over Blues

Kings win.

Reedman said...

Sharks/blues in the west
Pens/bruins in the ease
Sharks/pens in the finals
Sharks win their first cup!

Franklin said...

Final four:
Chicago vs. Kings
Boston vs. Pittsburgh

Finals
Kings vs. Boston

Champions:
Los Angeles Kings

redbuppy said...

Penguins over Bruins
Blackhawks over Ducks

Penguins over Blackhawks

Why not?

Craig W said...

East: BOS over NYR
West: SJ over STL

Cup: SJ over BOS

George Carpenter said...

Final Four:
Chicago, SJ, Boston, Columbus

Conference Champs:
Chicago, Boston

Stanley Cup Champ:
Chicago


Robert Ullman said...

Great stuff, guys and gals! Thanks for entering and tell your friends to sign up too!

Matt Harris said...

Final Four:
Chicago, San Jose, New York, Tampa Bay

Conference Champs
New York, San Jose

Cup Winner:
New York

Unknown said...

East: PIT and BOS
West: SJ and CHI
Final: SJ and BOS
Winner: BOS

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Kicking off my Atom-Bomb Bikini Playoff Challenge title defense with:

East: Penguins over Bruins
West: Ducks over Avs
Final: Penguins vs. Ducks
Winner: Penguins

Twitter: @m_k_smith

Chris C. said...

Final Four
East: Pittsburgh-Detroit
West: Anaheim-Chicago

Conference Champs
East: Pittsburgh
West: Chicago

Stanley Cup: Pittsburgh

Jeff Turnham said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jeff Turnham said...

Final Four:
Boston
Pittsburgh
Dallas
Colorado

Conference Playoffs:
Pittsburgh
Colorado

Stanley Cup:
Pittsburgh

Adam Daughhetee said...

COL vs CHI
ANA vs LAK
BOS vs MTL
PIT vs NYR

CHI vs LAK
MTL vs NYR

LAK vs NYR

Winners: LAK

Terence Hoskins said...

Final Four
East: Pittsburgh beats Boston
West: Chicago beats LA

Conference
East: Pittsburgh
West: Chicago

Cup Champs: Chicago

Patrick said...

PIT v MTL
SJ v COL

PIT v SJ

PIT

Anonymous said...

Final four: Blues Sharks Bruins Pens
Finals: Blues Pens
Champ: Pens

Dan McB

ken from maryland said...

Montreal vs Rangers
Colorado vs los angeles

Montral vs colorado

Cup to colorado in 6 games

Unknown said...

Detroit vs Washington
San Jose vs. Colorado
Detroit vs. Colorado
Detroit wins the Stanley cup

tom said...

ANA v COL
BOS v PIT
ANA v BOS
Boston wins and I don't like any of it.

@HighSockSundays

JeffB said...

Final Four
Boston
Pittsburgh
St. Louis
Anaheim

Final Two
Boston
Anaheim

Champion
Boston

chibi said...

i know this doesn't count for the contest, but i wanted to add my two cents anyway...

final four:
Bruins v. Rangers
Ducks v. Hawks

Cup Final:
Bruins v. Hawks

Cup Winner:
Bruins

Franklin said...

Runner-up! I am pretty sure! Love your stuff, Robert! When are you announcing the official winners?
Thanks!
Franklin

Anonymous said...

I'm sure I'll get a lot of laughs...

Final Four:
Wild / Jets
Lightning / Rangers

Conference Play-offs:
Jets / Rangers

Stanley Cup Winners:
Jets

Go Jets Go!