Albert
·
4d
My Prediction
Avangard Omsk by 4Well, isn't this a spicy one? Khabarovsk is heading into Omsk territory in what somewhat cynics might call a David versus Goliath match, if only David had lost half his slingshot stones and Goliath wasn't restricted by a pebble diet.
Khabarovsk's Viktor Kobozev and Damir Shaimardanov are their two net-minders, but 'net-minder' can be quite the vague term, especially when there's no record of any pucks being mindlessly nicked by either goalie. Turning our eyes to Omsk, it’s a similar story of net-emptying rather than net-minding with Mikhail Berdin and Nikita Serebryakov also showing the ambitious score of zero saves.
For top players, Amur Khabarovsk has Devin Brosseau and Vladislav Barulin making headway with 11 and 9 goals respectively this season. Vladislav even got himself an impressive 17 assists. But statistics are like toothpaste, once they make their way out, it's impossible to squeeze them back in. For Avangard Omsk, it's a power trio with Konstantin Okulov, Ryan Spooner, and Nail Yakupov. Yakupov particularly stands out with a whopping 20 goals and 20 assists this season. It seems like he's playing ice chess on skates out there.
When we glance at their past head-to-heads, Amur Khabarovsk has often found themselves on the losing side, but yet they managed to sneak in a win. They say that everyone loves an underdog story, but you don't necessarily want to have your money riding on it.
Look at their season records. It reads 13-39 for Khabarovsk and 32-23 for Omsk. I’m not a mathematical genius but those numbers tell me a pretty simple story: Avangard wins more and Amur... doesn’t.
And to top the crème de la crème, recent games for Amur have somewhat resembled my diet during the holiday: pretty miserable. Avangard, on the other hand, has been rolling like an unstoppable snowball, gathering win after win on their icy path.
So, unless some divine miracle has been hidden away in the cupboards of Khabarovsk, my money would be on Avangard swinging away like Babe Ruth in his prime. But let's not get carried away, it's just a prediction.
Albert’s Prediction: Avangard Omsk by 4