The Stanley Cup Playoffs are right around the corner and like all major playoffs, Electronic Arts decided to simulate the playoffs in NHL 18, featuring a full bracket of competitors and a very unlikely winner to come out of the group.
The simulation wasn't played out in full, but there was a synopsis of the event over on the official EA Sports website, where it was revealed that the Winnipeg Jets, of all teams, ended up becoming the winners of the Stanley Cup.
The battle took place across a full simulation of the NHL playoff season, with the finals coming down to the Boston Bruins and the Winnipeg Jets. The two battled it out across seven games, where the final game came down to a battle of attrition between Patrik Laine and Patrice Bergeron.
As detailed in the post, there was a hard fought battle, where both goalies did everything they could within the confines of the NHL 18 simulation to keep their teams in the game and aiming to secure a victory, as Connor Hellebuyck and Tuukka Rask.
Things took a drastic and dynamic turn in the third period when Winnipeg managed to get up 2-to-1 on the Boston Bruins until Patrik Laine decided to ramp up the effort and score another just beyond Rask's skill set, moving the lead to 3-1.
Eventually Marchand from the Bruins managed to get in a cheap score on the Jets end up losing their edge in a 3-2 score. In the third, at the twilight of the period, Byfuglien managed to score another point to bring the total up to 4 -- 2.
When the buzzer sounded it was the Winnipeg Jets that managed to come out the winners, becoming the new Stanley Cup winners... for the very first time in history.
The NHL playoff MVP went to Patrik Laine, obviously because he carried the Jets through the series and managed to finish off that third period to secure them the victory.
The Jets managed to beat the Predators during the Western Conference playoffs, while the Vegas Golden Knights managed to make it make it up the charts only to get stuffed by the Jets.
Essentially, NHL 18's underdog story was all about Winnipeg coming up from the bottom and securing a victory to win the impossible. It's a real feel good story that -- if it plays out in the exact same way in real life -- will more than likely end up becoming a Hollywood film half a decade from now.
EA's predictions for many of the playoff games are actually scarily accurate, as has been the case with most of the Madden NFL games over the last several years. Sadly the company doesn't seem to put as much effort in to the golf sims and the basketball sims, but maybe if there's a resurgence in popularity we might see them get a little bit of love as well.
NHL 18 is currently available right now for home consoles featuring the full 2018 season.
After Tracker Became A Huge Hit, Is CBS Using Justin Hartley’s Show To Try And Save A Different Series From Cancellation?
Ken Jennings Had An A+ (And Probably Valid) Response When Asked If He'd Ever Try Out Alex Trebek's Epic Mustache
Amber Heard Came Out Of The Woodwork To Celebrate Her Birthday, And It’s All Gold And Champagne
