NHL season is upon us (actually it has already begun for the 4 teams that went to Europe to begin the season), so naturally it’s time for the 2008 NHL Preview. I have made my predictions for all the standings, playoff results and major awards. As much as I wanted to predict the Bruins 36 year Stanley Cup drought, sometimes the best teams on paper are simply too tough to pass up. So without further ado…
EASTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFFS: 1-Pittsburgh. 2-NY Rangers. 3-Philadelphia. 4-Boston. 5-Montreal. 6-Washington. 7-Ottawa. 8-New Jersey. 1st Round: Penguins d. Devils; Rangers d. Senators; Capitals d. Flyers; Bruins d. Canadiens. 2nd Round: Penguins d. Capitals; Bruins d. Rangers. Conference Championship: Penguins d. Bruins.
WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFFS: 1-Detroit. 2-San Jose. 3-Dallas. 4-Anaheim. 5-Calgary. 6-Minnesota. 7-Phoenix. 8-Columbus. 1st Round: Red Wings d. Blue Jackets; Sharks d. Coyotes; Stars d. Wild; Flames d. Ducks. 2nd Round: Red Wings d. Flames; Sharks d. Stars. Conference Championship: Red Wings d. Sharks.
STANLEY CUP FINALS: Detroit Red Wings d. Pittsburgh Penguins. Conn Smythe (Playoff MVP): Marion Hossa, Red Wings.
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS: Hart (MVP) – Sidney Crosby, Penguins. Vezina (Goalie) – Henrik Lundquist, Rangers. Norris (Defenseman) – Nicklas Lindstrom, Red Wings. Calder (Rookie) – Kyle Turris, Coyotes. Lady Byng (Gentlemanly) – Pavel Datsyuk, Red Wings. Selke (Defensive Forward) – Pavel Datsyuk, Red Wings. Adams (Coach) – Claude Julien, Bruins. Masterson (Perseverance) – Patrice Bergeron, Bruins. Pearson (Top Player, Voted by Players) – Sidney Crosby, Penguins.
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14 comments:
Red Wings were easily the best team last year and added Marion Hossa. If they don't win it all this year it will be because of (multiple) injuries or a total fluke.
I read about the Penguins chances: No team has lost the Cup Finals and won it the next year since the Oilers in 1985.
So DK seems to have really high hopes for the young players and their coach. I think I am about to hop on the bandwagon.
Maybe this belongs in the mid week misc but who do you think will go further in the playoffs the B's or the Pats?
I'm watching the replay of game 6 from last year (BOS/MTL, obviously). How did I forget that Lucic scored the game tying goal with 7 min left?
Can we expect a running blog for the game tonight?
As much as I love the B's, I think eastern conference finals are a bit of a reach. Confluence of things need to happen for b's to do this---Goaltending needs to be great-will be interesting to see what comes of the fernandez thomas thing. Youngs guys-krecki/kessel/lucic/wheeler need to take it to the next level--go beyond being good young players to being good players. Bergeron needs to come back and be better than he was before he left. I've never been totally sold on him--he can never seem to create much offense when not on power play.
If all these things happen you could be right, but I cou;ld also see them barely grinding it out for a playoff spot and losing in the 1st round again...either way, will be fun to see what happens, go B's!!!
Is there any award in any other sport equivalent to the Lady Byng Award??? Most Gentlemanly?? So random but so hockey--love it. DK--why/how the hell do you think Pavel Datsuyk will win it?? B/c he's a nice guy?? What exactly does one need to do to win this award??
Good question about the other sports having an equivalent. I'd guess no. The closest they come is for nice guy awards related to off-field contributions to the community.
I think Datsuyk will win simply because he's won the last 4 years in a row (didn't know before researching for this post) so I'd say it's his to lose.
McMac, I would have been happy to do a running blog but I told The Mrs that I wouldn't be on the computer all night (again).
Talk about the B's opener in the post below this one....but never be shy about starting a running commentary of your own. Don't need me here for B's chat.
I know DK does not like to be wrong and I like his enthusiasm for the B's this year which I also share...I think their young forwards will be fine and we saw that last night with Kessel, Wheeler and Krejci all netting goals...D will be fine if we can keep Z healthy...What worries me is the goaltending...I love Timmy Thomas and he has done a great job so far...I'm just not convinced he is the guy to take us to the Stanley Cup...That guy is starting the season in Providence...Rask will be up in a metter of weeks/months and Fernanzez will be gone...But back to his prediction for playoffs...Capitals would be the #3 seed having won their division and then the team with the next most points would be the #4 seed.
I stand corrected. I thought that the NHL had changed the seedings in regards to division winners but I perhaps was thinking of the NBA.
As for the goalie issue, could not agree more. I think Rask is ready to play now and clearly was the best goalie in pre-season. Even last night Thomas let up 4 goals in the win (though 37 shots allowed is not acceptable either). Goalie is such a weird position in the NHL though. Aside from a handful of guys you can always count on it seems like a guy could be a Vezina (sp?) contender one year and two years later be riding pine.
Sporting News Hockey Preview has a listing of the top 50 players in the game.
There are 3 Red Wings in the top 6.
Highest Bruin.....Chara at #20
The only other Bruin on the list, and rightfully so at this point, is Savard at 48. I thought that seemed a little low for a guy who was 18th in points per game, but when you factor in his defense, it is probably about right.
I love the Bruins, especially being at the games, but I will make the same prediction I have made every year for the last 15 years....first round playoff loss.
They are just not talented enough to go deep in the playoffs and the NHL is a lot different that it used to be. You can't win consistently a with muckers, fighters, and one dimensional players as your top players. Those guys need to be complimentary to your stars. The B's have a few highly skilled guys, but not enough.
As much as i love to see the Bruins win Lord Stanley's Cup, i think i'd be happy with making it out of the 1st round of the playoffs.
Well, need to start with A before you can move onto B and C. Getting out of the 1st Round is a reasonable goal, and then we''ll see where that takes us.
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