I promised an Eastern Conference prediction was coming. Well, here it is. Before I go into it I would like to give my two cents on the lockout situation. Being someone who was never one for economics I will not embarrass myself by not going into the business aspect of it. What I do care about is the loss of hockey in a year I was really excited about. We just came off a huge Conference Championship and now we may have to wait another whole year just to see our favorite team defend that honor. Carlos of http://www.speakingofthedevils.com said it better than I could and I really think you should read what he said if you haven't already. The sadness and flat out boredom will soon turn to anger and frustration if this isn't settled sooner rather than later. But let's just assume for a minute there is no lockout. No greedy men in suits. No ca-ching ca-ching dolla dolla. Just 30 groups of 20 men playing a kids game on ice. What teams in the East will be unstoppable an which ones will die a miserable March/April death. Or in the Islanders case, a November death.
1st- New York Rangers (1st. Yes, I am putting these guys at the top. They deserve it, whether we want to believe it or not. And trust me, I don't want to!)
2nd- Ottawa Senators (8th. Daniel Alfredsson was supposed to retire, but instead decided to come back. That leadership, skill of Karlsson, and Boston's loss of Thomas help the Sens win their division)
3rd- Washington Capitals (7th. There is no reason why the Panthers should repeat as division champs. And now with Oates at the helm the Caps will dominate the SE)
4th- Pittsburgh Penguins (4th. Crosby and Malkin will demand a recount of points and try to get rules changed so they would win the division, but the play of Fleury will still keep them away from the division championship)
5th- New Jersey Devils (6th. I don't think we will drop from losing Zach. We will go up. We have the Flyers number and there is no reason why they should be ahead of us at all. As long as Teddy and Jacob step up, Clarkson keeps up his garbage goal style, Kovy leads, and Marty continues to be Marty we will be perfectly fine)
6th- Carolina Hurricanes (12th. Yes, I think the Canes will make it. Eric and Jordan Staal will step it up more than ever now that they are both on the same squad.
7th- Philadelphia Flyers (5th. I'll be honest I don't see them dominating the East like they tend to do. Will they make the playoffs? Yes of course. Just as long as Laviolette gets his head out of Giroux's behind and coaches his whole team, not just one player. He doesn't even need coaching, he's the best player in the world remember?)
8th- Tampa Bay Lightning (10th. They will get in! They are hungry to get to that '04 mountain once more. And I think although the Rangers will make short work of them, they will make into the playoffs on the finals days of the season)
9th- Buffalo Sabres (9th. For some reason they can't seem to get in when it matters. However these guys were very much in the same spot as NJ was in 2011, down and out at the New Year until a late season push scared other teams into thinking a playoff berth was possible. They came closer than we did. They missed the playoffs by 3 points. I think the same will occur in 2013)
10th- Florida Panthers (3rd. No way can they do it again. The team just isn't good enough and with Oates coaching the Capitals I don't see any team stopping them. Certainly not the Panthers at least)
11th- Winnipeg Jets (11th. They were plagued with injuries last season. Although they will play "better" than last year I don't think they will make enough of an impact to go up in the standings)
12th- Boston Bruins (2nd. Yes, I put them down here. Before you start sending your hate-mail, let me explain. They lost Thomas and Chara is getting old. Plain and simple. Rask may be up to the task (Gotta love my NHL.com style puns) but it doesn't change the fact that they lost a goalie that won them a Cup just 2 years ago)
13th- Toronto Maple Leafs (13th. It actually makes me laugh when people think the Leafs will make the playoffs. I can appreciate supporting your team and trust me, they have more support than any other team except maybe Montreal. But they are terrible. And there is no reason to think this season would be any better)
14th- Montreal Canadiens (15th. It's sad because this team a couple of years ago almost snuck in another Cup into their already record number of championships. The only team in North American professional sport with almost as many championships as the NY Yankees)
15th- New York Islanders (14th. They have not improved at all. Tavares will one day be a star but he still has yet to realize his true power and it won't happen yet. They will struggle early and never catch on. It's a shame but I really believe hockey is coming to an end for Long Island)
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