No one saw a Capitals-Golden Knights Stanley Cup Final coming, except for this guy
By David Rouben
A Stanley Cup Final between the Washington Capitals and Vegas Golden Knights was one of the least likely outcomes, but don’t tell that to this one guy that had it right from the start.
Picking a bracket is supposed to be hard. That’s why national analysts and guys who are paid to follow the sport year round get tons of their picks wrong, such is the nature of the playoffs.
The Stanley Cup playoffs are the most unpredictable of the four major sports, and they proved it once again this year when an expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights, and a Washington Capitals team that hasn’t made it out of the second round since 1998 both ended up in the Final. You’d be forgiven if your bracket is busted in pieces, but one person has seen this matchup coming since the start of the playoffs.
Going by Lmax on Twitter, he’s a Las Vegas resident, which explains the Golden Knights in the Cup Final pick. But to have the Capitals not only beating the Pittsburgh Penguins but picked to go to the Final was a bold call that has paid off. The Final isn’t the only thing he got right, as he is a whopping 13 OF 14 on his picks so far:
Excited to comeback to this tweet in a few months https://t.co/MV8zuhElcg
— Lance/Lmax (@Lmax97) April 9, 2018
The only misstep he made was picking the Colorado Avalanche to beat the Nashville Predators in the first round. The Predators were one of the favorites to win the Cup at the start of the playoffs, and while they advanced past the first round, he knew the Presidents’ Trophy curse was real, so it was worth taking a swing at.
Some people may try to discredit Lmax’s fine work by saying he found a way to backdate his Twitter post. But the Avalanche pick, as well as his genuine reactions all throughout the playoffs as he spoke the Cup Final into existence, should prove that he has clairvoyant powers.
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The Golden Knights are the betting favorites in the Final, but perhaps that was done to swing bettors toward the Capitals. Like Lmax, a ton of Vegas residents threw money on the Golden Knights to win the Cup at the beginning of the season, and casinos would lose a lot of money if that came to fruition.
Lmax believes the Golden Knights’ Cinderella story isn’t over, and that they’ll go on to win the Cup. He’s got a winning percentage of .928, only slightly lower than Marc-Andre Fleury’s save percentage, so why question him now?