NHL Season Preview

Yes, expect some NHL analysis and Handicapping over the course of this season. Below are my picks for the regular season standings, as well as my playoff predictions.



1) Washington-The Caps are an explosive team, built to succeed over the regular season; built for the Playoffs—maybe?

2) Philadelphia-Ray Emery is a massive ? but they can hurt you in so many ways.

3) Boston-There’s no way Tim Thomas can repeat last seasons success, but for all the talk about the Southeast being the worst division in Hockey, what about the Northeast?

4) Pittsburgh-Cup hangover causes them to start slow, but the machine will be ready for the playoffs.

5) Carolina-Underrated, scrappy team. Kept almost the entire team together

6) New Jersey- Brodeur is enough to keep them relevant in the East

7) Tampa Bay-I know it’s a common “sleeper pick”. This team will either boom or bust.

8) Buffalo-Because the rest of the East is just so mediocre.

9) Montreal-See Above

10) Toronto-I think they make real improvements, Burke will have them in the playoffs next season

11) Atlanta-Not as bad everyone thinks. Their Top 4 defenseman are very solid.

12) NY Rangers-Yeah, this is my way of saying—I don’t think Marion Gaborik can stay healthy

13) Florida-It honestly wouldn’t shock me to see Florida in the playoffs, but other than Horton who is going to score any goals for this team? The defense and goaltending is still good

14) Ottawa-Not enough scoring, not enough defense, and weak goaltending.

15) NY Islanders-They are on the Caps rebuilding plan, 2-3 more years Islander fans.

West

1) Chicago-If Huet can play like he did for his stretch for the Caps, probably the most complete team in Hockey

2) San Jose-Regular season success continues in San Jose, but can Thornton do anything in the playoffs?

3) Vancouver- Luongo and the twins is enough to keep them atop the division

4) Detroit-See Pittsburgh.

5) Anaheim-Wow, what a 1^st round matchup this would be.

6) Calgary-Jay-Bo makes this team a tougher draw, plus shows the depth of the Western Conference

7) St Louis-A team on the rise, and would give the Sharks another 1^st round scare

8) Los Angeles-I think they want a little more scoring, but this is a team that’s going to be in contention in the West for awhile

9) Nashville-Because you know they hover around 7-10 every year

10) Columbus-See above

11) Edmonton-Their betting on the Boulin Wall to take them to the playoffs, they needed help in other areas.

12) Minnesota-Who’s going to score for the Wild?

13) Dallas-Let in a ton of goals last year, bad PP + PK.

14) Phoenix-A disaster

15) Colorado-They need to blow this team up, and build through the draft

Playoffs-East

1st round

Washington over Buffalo-Next

Philadelphia over Tampa Bay-Next

New Jersey over Boston-The only competitive 1^st round series I see in the above scenarios

Pittsburgh over Carolina-Carolina is tough, but probably a repeat of last years series

2nd round

Washington over New Jersey-The Caps successfully sacrifice enough goats to draw NJ instead of Pittsburgh in Rd 2

Pittsburgh over Philadelphia-I agonized over this. I love the Flyers team, but hate Emery. Emery can’t play good enough to win 4 games against Pittsburgh.

East Final

Pittsburgh over Washington-Obviously the Caps didn’t sacrifice enough in Rd 2. And the curse continues…

West

1st round

Chicago over LA

San Jose over St Louis

Calgary over Vancouver

Anaheim over Detroit

2nd round

Chicago over Calgary

Anaheim over San Jose

West Finals

Chicago over Anaheim

Stanley Cup

Chicago over Pittsburgh-The Marian Hossa Curse ends.