With the final game of the second round finishing in exciting fashion last night, I can now post the results of my predictions for those four series. Overall the Tarot was 3 for 4, a comparable accuracy rate to the first round, though the one incorrect prediction was quite glaringly off. Still some room for improvement, but I think that the fact that these readings are giving any useful information besides an outcome (which they definitely are in some cases) makes this a worthwhile venture.
Washington Capitals vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
Prediction: Tampa Bay in 6
Outcome: Tampa Bay in 4
Many aspects of this reading did come to pass, though not necessarily in the precise way I had anticipated. For example, though the Lightning did win the series at home after doing well on the road, I assumed that Washington would have won at least one of the first four games, necessitating six games to end the series. As it turned out, the combination of solid goaltending (indicated by the Ace of Pentacles) and aggressive scoring proved too much for the Caps to handle. Despite leading for a while in two of the games, Washington never scored first and was never able to press their advantage once they had it. Alex Ovechkin played well, especially in game 3, but the rest of the team couldn’t keep up.
Philadelphia Flyers vs. Boston Bruins
Prediction: Philadelphia in 6
Outcome: Boston in 4
Definitely got this one wrong – Boston utterly dominated this series, winning most of the games by multiple goals. Philadelphia just never showed up. So what went wrong here? (Aside from the revolving-door Flyers goaltending, that is?) Well, in this reading I was relying more on elemental cues than card meanings or visual indications, and apparently those didn’t do that great a job of predicting the outcome. In retrospect, Pentacles cards have stood for good goaltending throughout these experimental readings, and Boston’s Nine here should have been more strongly considered. Temperance and the Moon are elementally opposed but symbolically similar, and that apparently takes priority too.
Vancouver Canucks vs. Nashville Predators
Prediction: Vancouver in 7
Outcome: Vancouver in 6
I didn’t have many specific predictions to make about this series, since I spent most of my analysis just trying to determine who would win it. That prediction turned out to be correct, in the end – the visual cues here were clearly more important than elemental dignities, which came out more in favor of Nashville. The number of games was 6, not 7, but the way these two teams were playing it could easily have gone another game. I am still unsure what the court cards on the Nashville side were saying about the outcome of the series; their role in the San Jose – Detroit reading below is far clearer.
San Jose Sharks vs. Detroit Red Wings
Prediction: San Jose in 7
Outcome: San Jose in 7
Overall I think this is the most interesting and accurate of the four readings I did, though some of its details are obvious only in retrospect. The Sharks started out strong and perhaps began celebrating too soon (Four of Wands), and they needed more hard work than they thought it would to win (Strength). On the other side, Detroit started out weaker (King of Cups) but came on very strong in the second half of the series (Knight of Wands). The finish would have been heartbreaking to one team regardless of the winner, either because a three-game lead was given up or a three-game lead was almost but not quite overcome. In the end San Jose did take it in 7 as predicted. Did the somewhat careless Hudler-Cleary collision remove a key Detroit player, who might have otherwise changed the outcome, from the hard-fought second half of this game? We’ll never know for sure.
Well, so much for the second round. I haven’t decided whether to do a third-round set because I’m quite biased in my desire for certain outcomes in the conference finals – I want a Vancouver/Tampa Bay final. If I think I can set that bias aside temporarily then I will try these readings sometime before the first series starts on Saturday afternoon.
If not, Go Canucks!