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EA Sports predicts St. Louis Blues as 2014 Stanley Cup champions

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The creators of NHL 14 simulated how their game sees the upcoming season playing out and fans in St. Louis are going to love the results.

EA Sports’ simulation sees the Blues knocking off the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games to win the franchise’s first ever Stanley Cup. NHL 14 producer Sean Ramjagsingh explains how the Blues came out on top.

“The St. Louis Blues are the personification of NHL 14,” he says. “They’re tough, fast and have one of the deepest lineups in the League, making them a favorite to finish on top this season.”

It’s tough to argue with that. They’re deep in goal, they’ve got plenty of great players on defense, and they can score a little bit. They’re heavy favorites to make the playoffs and have solid odds to win the Stanley Cup already.

As for how the Blues get there, they do it by beating the simulation’s Presidents’ Trophy winners, the Chicago Blackhawks. Knocking off the Penguins in the Final would make it all the sweeter for St. Louis. After all, getting to see captain David Backes hoist the Cup would be all worth it, right?

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As for other results in EA’s simulation, they see a couple of familiar names taking home scoring awards.

They project Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby as the Art Ross and Hart Trophy winner with 109 points while Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos comes away with the Rocket Richard Trophy scoring 64 goals, edging out Washington’s Alex Ovechkin with a mere 53.

Meanwhile, Stamkos’ Lightning teammate, Jonathan Drouin, takes home the Calder Trophy as the rookie of the year.

One potential surprise in their simulation sees the Edmonton Oilers beating out the Anaheim Ducks by four points for the final playoff spot in the Pacific Division race ending their seven-year playoff drought. Los Angeles, Vancouver, and San Jose join the Oilers in the playoffs while the Central race has Chicago, St. Louis, Minnesota, and Dallas emerging.

Curiously enough in the East, EA has the Ottawa Senators on the outside looking in while Boston, Detroit, Montreal, and Toronto make the playoffs in the Atlantic. The Metropolitan race sees Pittsburgh, the New York Rangers, Washington Capitals, and New York Islanders make the playoffs.

As for the race for the No. 1 pick in the draft, EA has the Florida Panthers finishing with the fewest points with 73. No word if they had Tim Thomas factoring into that fun. The rest of the bottom has Carolina (74), Calgary (75), Colorado (76), Buffalo (77), and Winnipeg (77) all finishing with fewer than 80 points.

EA’s simulations have been pretty good about getting the participants nailed down in recent years. Fans in St. Louis hope they’re definitely on the mark this time around.

Follow @JoeYerdonPHT