Like I did recently with the upcoming MLB season, I drew up a list of predictions for the 2007-08 NHL season way back in September. Let’s see how I did. I’ll list the final standings as I predicted and report the actual position in brackets. Starting with the Eastern Conference:
1. Ottawa Senators (7)
2. New York Rangers (5)
3. Carolina Hurricanes (9)
4. Pittsburgh Penguins (2)
5. Buffalo Sabres (10)
6. New Jersey Devils (4)
7. Montreal Canadiens (1)
8. Florida Panthers (11)
9. Philadelphia Flyers (6)
10. Washington Capitals (3)
11. Toronto Maple Leafs (12)
12. Boston Bruins (8)
13. Atlanta Thrashers (14)
14. New York Islanders (13)
15. Tampa Bay Lightning (15)
Not terribly great here. Ottawa looked like they might achieve my first place prediction after their ridiculous run in October and November. But they were one of the worst teams in the league after that. Montreal, on the other hand, greatly surpassed my expectations. But many people had them out of the playoffs altogether. And to my surprise, Boston overachieved even more than in 2006-07. To my credit, however, the Carolina and Washington picks would have been almost bang on if Carolina had won its last game. Instead we have a big swing because of the rule that makes the three division winners the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd seeds. And I correctly picked the bottom three teams, two of which were playoff teams a year ago. The other is still only three years away from being Stanley Cup champions. How many others picked the Lighting to finish in last place?
Now to the West:
1. Anaheim Mighty Ducks (4)
2. Detroit Red Wings (1)
3. Calgary Flames (7)
4. San Jose Sharks (2)
5. Vancouver Canucks (11)
6. Nashville Predators (8)
7. Minnesota Wild (3)
8. Colorado Avalanche (6)
9. Dallas Stars (5)
10. Edmonton Oilers (9)
11. Chicago Blackhawks (10)
12. Saint Louis Blues (14)
13. Columbus Blue Jackets (13)
14. Phoenix Coyotes (12)
15. Los Angeles Kings (15)
Again, I nailed the bottom of the standings. But that is not very impressive. So far I’ve only correctly picked one divisional leader: the Detroit Red Wings, the only no-brainer of the bunch. Only the plus side, I correctly picked 7 of the 8 playoff teams in the West. Perhaps my coup in the West was picking Edmonton to finish in 10th. They actually finished 9th. Most commentators had written the Oilers off from the start.
In my hypothetical playoff bracket, I have Pittsburgh and Ottawa in the East and San Jose and Minnesota in the West. Obviously that won’t happen now. In fact, there’s a good chance the Pens will sweep the Sens in the first round. But the other three teams have a chance to be there. I had some success in this area last year. At the outset of the 2006-07 playoffs, I had Buffalo beating Ottawa in the East final (it was the reverse), and Anaheim beating Calgary in the West (only Anaheim was there). Then I called Anaheim to win the Cup against the East champion (Buffalo, reality: Ottawa). Maybe I’ll be lucky again this year.
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