Steamer Hockey

Speaking of opening night, we are a week into the NHL season. Here are my timely NHL predictions. Wagering is encouraged.

East
1. Penguins – The 2-headed monster up the middle. A great young keeper and Kunitz and Guerin should have huge seasons.
2. Capitals – lost some Russians, but still loaded with scoring talent. Questions remain in net.
3. Bruins – Not likely as many guys will have career years, but they are tremendously deep and have 3 legit scoring lines to go with the Norris and Vezina winners.

4. Flyers – Revamped defense, two great lines, and a big gamble in net.
5. Canes – very underrated team with a great goaltender and 3 quality lines.
6. Rangers – their defense looks really thin, and they are iffy at Center, but a great goalie sneaks them into the playoffs.
7. Devils – Jacque Lemaire back behind the bench? Can you say snooze-fest? Great goalie and defensive system means boring hockey and in the playoffs.
8. Senators – Lost the streaky Vermette and Heatley and added LeClaire, Kovalev, Cheechoo, and Michalek. That looks like an improvement to me.

9. Canadiens – out of the playoffs? Huh? Too many roster changes, they look to slip.
10. Florida - missed the playoffs on a tie-breaker last year. Close but no Lewinski.
Tampa Bay – a re-vamped defense and two good lines. Should be a playoff bubble team.
11. Toronto - re-vamped defense, but little scoring. Not this year.
12. Buffalo – sort of a blah team. Too many guys with un-guaranteed productivity.
13. Atlanta – still an iffy team that seems to lack managerial direction.
14. Toronto – revamped defense but iffy scoring. Not this year.
15. Islanders – Re-building and heading in the right direction, even with 3 # 1 keepers.

West
1. Chicago – The future is now as they have major cap problems starting next summer. Great coach (yes, AVS fans) and a lot of young talent, is their keeper good enough?
2. San Jose – Very good keeper and Top 6 forwards. Will be good during the regular season, but afterwards?
3. Vancouver – Maybe the best keeper in the world and a solid defense. Is there enough scoring, and what about that long Olympic road trip?
4. Detroit – lost a bunch of good complimentary parts, but still have hardware winning talent on the roster. Have to worry about a bunch of guys adding games at the Olympics.
5. Calgary – revamped defense, and solid goal-tending. Enough scoring? We’ll see.
6. Anaheim – thinned out defense, but have solid forwards and two # 1 goaltenders.
7. St. Louis – loaded with young talent, and likely learned a lot after being swept in the first round last year. Can Mason do it again?
8. Dallas – sneak into the playoffs as they get a full year of health from Richards and Morrow.

9. Columbus – the western conference version of the Devils. Can the other Mason play that well again? Don’t think they get there this time.
10. Edmonton – too small and do not seem to care.
11. Los Angeles – loaded with young talent, but still a year away.
12. Minnesota – change in coach and GM, so they should be less boring. Great goaltender, but who is going to score?
13. Nashville – preposterous defensive corps, but little offense on a true “small market” salary cap team.
14. Colorado – let the re-building begin. Lots of bad contracts ending and a lottery pick give hope for next year.
15. Phoenix – what a disaster, these Winnipeg Jets. With ownership being decided in court the roster, and the vibe, suffer.

Trophies:
Hart (MVP) – Alexander Ovechkin (WASH) makes it 3 in a row (Crosby, Getzlaf).
Norris (D-Man) – Shea Weber (NASH) gets his first of many (Pronger, Boyle)?
Vezina (Goalie) – Henrik Lundquist (NYR) a shaky defense in front of him gets him the hardware (Luongo, Fleury).
Selke - (defensive forward) – Mike Richards (Philly) finally gets his due (Datsyuk, Madden).
Calder (Rookie) – John Tavares (NYI) – he is the face of the franchise and sells tickets, he will see a ton of ice time (Filatov, Varlamov).
Adams (Coach) – Joel Quinneville (CHI) winning the Conference gets you votes (Bylsma, Stevens).
Rocket Richard (Goals) – Ovechkin – may break Espo’s record for 550 shots on goal in a season, that equates to at least 50+ goals (Kovalchuk, Nash).

Playoffs:
EAST:
1. Pens vs. 8. Sens – too much of the two–headed Monster for the Sens. Pens in 5.
2. Caps vs. 7. Devils – tough series for the Caps. Caps in 7.
3. Bruins vs. 6. Rangers – too much depth on the Bruins. B’s in 5.
4. Flyers vs. 5. Canes – unless Ward goes crazy, Flyers advance. Flyers in 6.

1. Pens vs. 4 Flyers – Flyers get physical and take the series, plus the Pens hired Tony Granato. – Flyers in 6.
2. Caps vs. 3 Bruins – Caps are worn down, B’s advance. Bruins in 7.

3. Bruins vs. 4 Flyers – a re-match of the Winter Classic – everyone is undervaluing the Bruins and they stun the Flyers in 6.

WEST:
1. Blackhawks vs. 8. Stars – Dallas sneaks in for a short ride. Hawks in 5.
2. San Jose vs. 7. St. Louis – a healthy Blues team is scary. What? Not again! The Blues in 6.
3. Vancouver vs. 6. Anaheim – the Ducks are tough in the playoffs and the Canucks disappear again. Ducks in 6.
4. Detroit vs. 5 Calgary – another early Calgary exit? They beat the crap out of the Wings but lose in 7.


1. Blackhawks vs. 7. Blues – Great match-up of young talent, but the Hawks win in 6.
5. Wings vs. 6. Ducks – not a great match-up for the tired Wings. Ducks avenge last year’s game 7 loss as they win in 6.

1. Blackhawks vs. 6. Ducks – the Ducks age gets the best of them. Hawks in 6.

FINALS:
An original 6 match-up and great TV – Blackhawks vs. Bruins – get ready for another parade chowderheads – Bruins in 6.