2010-11 NHL Predictions: Where's the love?

Wow, well wasn't that a way to start the baseball postseason yesterday? I mean, I know the Braves don't play until tonight and—oh, what's that? The puck drops tonight too?

Indeed, it sure does. But we've still got a few days before the U.C. opens its doors and there's a little redecorating to be done. And speaking of redecorating, that could apply to this year's Blackhawks roster, which is wildly different from last year's. For those of us who have been following the team for a while now, such moves were imminent. But this being Chicago and all, a lot of the late arrivals to the bandwagon are still failing to understand why so many players had to be shipped elsewhere. I've already had two such friends say "they never really got into the hockey thing anyway." And if you look around at some of the other predictions for this season elsewhere on the internet (ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo, CBS Sports, and Puck Daddy's East & West picks), nobody likes Chicago's chances for a repeat. Of course, why should they? No team's successfully defended the Cup since the Red Wings did it back when a different Democrat was president.

So will my obvious bias send me out on a limb to support my hometown team?

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic
Pittsburgh Penguins

New Jersey Devils

Philadelphia Flyers

New York Rangers

New York Islanders


The toughest division to call in the East, as the Devils, Flyers, and Pens all made improvements during the off-season to bolster their roster. Philadelphia's foremost concern will be its issues in goal, and while I'm sure Marty Brodeur can get through the regular season once again, it's those playoffs where I'm guessing he'll have issues. This year, I'm liking Pittsburgh to come out on top with Crosby trying to keep up with Ovie's Caps.

The Rangers will be lucky to be knocking at the door to the playoffs this year and those poor Isles still get another year of developing their young talent.


Northeast
Boston Bruins

Buffalo Sabres

Montreal Canadiens

Ottawa Senators

Toronto Maple Leafs

Boston acquired Nathan Horton and Gregory Campbell to try and spark an otherwise pretty anemic offense from last season. They'll still have Tuukka Rask in between the pipes after finishing with the league's best save percentage last year, so Buffalo's Ryan Miller isn't the only elite goaltender in this division. And speaking of elite goalies, Montreal shipped off Jaroslav Halak after the splash he made in taking the Habs to the Eastern Conference Finals last year, so their hopes now ride on Carey Price. 

I've flipped the cellar spot from my predictions for last year to make Toronto the new bottom-dweller. Sergei Gonchar won't get Ottawa into the playoffs, but he'll make more of a difference for the Senators than either Colby Armstrong or Kris Versteeg will for the Leafs.


Southeast
Washington Capitals

Tampa Bay Lightning

Carolina Hurricanes

Atlanta Thrashers

Florida Panthers

Already considered to be among the favorites to hoist the Cup this year, I expect nothing less than another President's Trophy for the Caps this year. The rest of their division is still largely works-in-progress.

A number of free agent acquisitions—not to mention a coaching overhaul—have given the Lightning the most potential to be dangerous in the Southeast. I'm not so confident about Carolina now that Rod Brind'Amour retired, and while both the Thrashers and Panthers have connections to last year's champion Blackhawks, Atlanta and Florida both have a ways to go.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Central
Detroit Red Wings
 
Chicago Blackhawks

St. Louis Blues

Nashville Predators

Columbus Blue Jackets


With all those changes and Brian Campbell starting off the year hurt, it's going to be a real uphill fight for our Chicago team this year. And while Detroit's hearing the same concerns about age and goaltending it heard last year (and probably every year), that didn't stop the Red Wings from amassing 100+ points last season. So I'm thinking that Motown takes the division crown back from the 'Hawks this year.

The Blues should be much improved, and while the Preds suffered some off-season losses, I wouldn't be surprised if they can still contend to get into the playoffs. As for the Ohio hockey team ... well, at least they've still got that cannon to fire—assuming they can find ways to score in the more competitive Western Conference. 


Northwest
Vancouver Canucks

Calgary Flames

Colorado Avalanche

Minnesota Wild
Edmonton Oilers

The Canucks are expected to contend for the top spot in the conference, and having made moves to give the team the "toughness" its been lacking in seasons past, I don't see them having too much of a problem winning their division.

How the rest of the Northwest plays out, however, is open to debate. I'll take Calgary to finish ahead of last year's surprising Avalanche squad as the loss of Brett Clark and the hieghtened expectations for Craig Anderson lead me to believe the team will regress rather than improve. Minnesota made a few additions that should help them defensively, but their offense will likely still struggle. And Edmonton might have Taylor Hall to look forward to, but not much else.

Pacific
San Jose Sharks

Los Angeles Kings

Phoenix Coyotes

Dallas Stars

Anaheim Ducks

The Kings will continue to improve, but it's still San Jose's division to lose in the Pacific. With Nabokov gone and having swiped Antti Niemi from the Blackhawks team that swept them out of the Western Conference Finals last year, the Sharks should still be able to hold on without the recently retired Rob Blake.

Like the Avalanche from last season, the surprising Coyotes are bound to suffer a step back or two. But I don't think either the Stars or Ducks—both going into the year after losing some mainstays in Modano and Turco for Dallas, Scott Niedermayer for Anaheim—will be able to leapfrog Phoenix this year.

Opening Round Playoffs
#1 Capitals over #8 Canadiens in 6 games

#2 Bruins over #7 Lightning in 5 games

#3 Penguins over #6 Sabres in 5 games

#5 Flyers over #4 Devils in 7 games

#1 Sharks over #8 Predators in 7 games

#2 Canucks over #7 Flames in 6 games

#3 Red Wings over #6 Blues in 4 games

#4 Blackhawks over #5 Kings in 7 games

Conference Semifinals
#1 Capitals over #5 Flyers in 7 games

#3 Penguins over #2 Bruins in 6 games

#4 Blackhawks over #1 Sharks in 6 games

#3 Red Wings over #2 Canucks in 5 games

 

Conference Finals
#1 Capitals over #3 Penguins in 7 games

#3 Red Wings over #4 Blackhawks in 7 games

Stanley Cup Final
Detroit Red Wings over Washington Capitals in 6 games

So yeah ... I realize the irony with asking "Where's the love?" in the title to this post and then instead of picking my beloved Blackhawks to repeat, going with their hated rivals to pick a repeat of what occurred the last time a team actually repeated. I figure that I'm sticking with the same "Winter Classic Curse" that sees the road team ending up as the runner-up in the same year's Finals. But just like with last year's logic (hoping the predicted runner-up instead ends up as champions—WHICH WORKED), I won't complain if I'm slightly off on the end result—only difference being that this year, I hope it's about the West's representative I'm off about instead of the East's.