2016 UPDATE:

After an, um, unfortunate 2014-15 season, the LA Kings are back in the playoffs… and Scott Burnside is back at it!

Check out the Burnside recap below, and see his first round matchup selections at the bottom of the post.

Picking the winner of a series in the Stanley Cup playoffs doesn’t really mean much.

A person either researches the matchup or picks who they think will win blindly and hopes for the best.

It’s not quite 50/50 odds, but, as has been mentioned ad nauseum, anything can happen in the playoffs.

When it’s time for an “expert” to make his or her picks, however, those selections are often held to a higher standard because of the in-depth knowledge and behind the scenes insight that a member of the media is granted.

In the end, you’d expect a writer, broadcaster or whoever else is making these selections to re-evaluate the mistakes made in subsequent rounds if a prior selection was off-base.

For the past three seasons, one “expert” has gone to bat declaring that the LA Kings had no chance in their upcoming series.

And for the past three seasons, that man has only been right once.

Sup.

ESPN’s Scott Burnside has been covering the NHL for a long time. So why can’t he pick the correct winner of a series involving the LA Kings at a rate higher than 10 percent?

Is it because he works for ESPN, thus proving that the Worldwide Leader in Sports knows nothing about hockey?

Probably not. …but we can’t rule it out completely.

After all, this is a man whose name has its his own definition on Urban Dictionary, spawned an old time photoshop classic by the Pens Blog, and even thought that the St. Louis Blues could have won the Cup …in 2013!

Even more impressive, during Game 7 between the LA Kings and Chicago Blackhawks, Burnside unleashed dozens upon dozens of tweets that detailed the action in the game.

His final tweet during the epic overtime showdown that decided which team would move on to the Stanley Cup Final?

Kane again making plays, Quick blocker stop and an icing. Deafening in here now. — Scott Burnside (@ESPN_Burnside) June 2, 2014

That’s how I’ll always remember the game ending…

Let’s see how Burnside has gone about picking his winners in series that have involved the LA Kings since 2012 and regroup from there.

2012 First Round



Nope.

2012 Second Round



Not even close.

2012 Conference Final



Try again.

2012 Stanley Cup Final

Hey, he got the amount of games right!

Yikes.

0-4.

Despite steamrolling opponents in each round, Burnside apparently thought the Kings were all smoke and mirrors. In reality: they cruised to the franchise’s first ever Stanley Cup Championship.

2013 First Round

Really?!

2013 Second Round

Close! …too close.

2013 Conference Final

HAHAHAHA Kings lost in 5.

Wrong again (kinda), Burnside!

1-2.

Slight improvement!

Despite being the reigning champs, Burnside didn’t pick the Kings to advance in any round.

I’m sure that trend will change once the 2014 season rolls around…

2014 First Round

Please, keep picking the Sharks to win.

2014 Second Round

…same with the Ducks.

2014 Conference Final

Yikes again. 0-3.

It takes a whole lot of stubborn to pick against a team each time they advance for 10 consecutive series over a three year span.

But perhaps its a wonderful omen that Burnside has not picked the Kings to win a series. After all, the Kings have won nine out of their previous 10. And if the top ESPN “expert” continues to pick against them, then perhaps that 90 percent winning percentage will continue as Burnside covers the opposing team in his losing stench.

As long as Burnside keeps doing what he’s doing, Kings fans can rest easy knowing that … wait, what’s that?

Oh no. It can’t be…

2014 Stanley Cup Final

Damn you, Burnside! Damn you to hell!

And thank you, too, Burnside!

However, now is time for a new year, and a new round of predictions are here!

Surely, this esteemed ESPN Insider as seen the error of his ways throughout the years and learned that picking against the Kings in the playoffs isn’t necessarily a good decision.

And this is especially true if the Kings play the Sharks!

I mean, there’s no way Burnside could possibly pick the Sharks to win after what happened in both 2013 and 2014 right?

2016 First Round





No, really, please keep picking the Sharks to win.