What are your predictions for the upcoming hockey season?

Answer 1

DETROIT ALL THE WAY
GO WINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 2

1. The San Jose Sharks are going to shock the world with their Stanley Cup win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
2. The San Jose Sharks will sweep the Detroit Red Wings in the play-offs.
3. Joe Thornton is going to lead the NHL in points (again)!
4. Jonathan Cheechoo is going to get the most goals (again)!
5. Eric Lindros is going to get injured and sit out for most of the season (again)!

Answer 3

Another boring season with too many penalties. Oh... and by the way the next small market team in line to win the Cup will be either Nashville or Atlanta. Bettman wants to promote the small market teams where the sport lacks market share. It'll be a while b4 an original 6 or canadian team wins. Those teams already have market share. Watch and see.

Answer 4

I'm thinking that the standings will be closer so that no team is so far ahead or behind. It'll go right down to the end of the season to determine the playoffs. Every point will cvount.

Answer 5

It's pretty early to really say very much as no rosters are even set yet, but I would venture to say that the East will be a lot of fun this season. I'm only going to go into the East here, and if it is requested, I will move onto the West.

In the East, I would be surprised to not see Carolina at the top of the Southeast again. With another season under his belt, and playoff experience, Eric Staal can only get better as well as sophomore goaltender Cam Ward. Atlanta, Florida, and Tampa Bay all have a shot at a playoff spot, but I wouldn't expect more than two Southeast teams to make the playoffs. Washington may be very exciting to watch with the explosive Alex Ovechkin, and that may bring people to the games, but I really can't say that this will help out much in the points column. I'd expect a top 5 pick for Washington again. If Lehtonen can prove himself to be the real deal in net, I'd pick Atlanta to push for the 7th or 8th seed. Iff Bertuzzi can gel with the offense of the Panthers, they could really challenge for the bottom seeds, but the loss of Luongo sure won't help them. We'll see if Auld can actually be a starting goaltener in the NHL. If they would have had another month to the season last year, I bet they would have made the 8th seed instead of Tampa. Tampa is an engima. With half of their cap spent on three players (Lecavalier, St. Louis, and Richards) their depth seems to be a bit thin, but with these three offensive dynamos, scoring shouldn't be that big of an issue. The addition of a real starting goaltender in Marc Denis surely will help them.

The Atlantic should be a dog fight between the Rangers and Devils. What it will come down to is the division games they play against the Islanders and Penguins, and who can beat up on these two best. The Rangers are still a solid team even with an injured Jagr. Rosival shouldn't be expected to have the season he had last year, but you can bet on Lundqvist proving he is the real deal. Devils fans won't agree with me, but they are in cap hell. Mogilny and McGillis are killing them. They really need to make a deal that will send one of them and a pick or prospect to a team willing to take their ridiculous cap hits. If they do get Gionta resigned, they are the team to beat in the Atlantic. Brodeur alone could carry this team to the playoffs. The Flyers in my opinion will not be quite the force they have been in the past. Forsberg may be the best player in the NHL when healthy, but how often does that happen? They will really look to Carter, Umberger, and Richards to improve on their rookie campaigns in order to reach the 90 point plateau and challenge for a playoff spot. The Penguins are interesting in the fact that they are so young and so unproven, yet so talented. Between the youngest player to score 100 points, Sidney Crosby, and "the best player outside of the NHL", Evgeni Malkin, they should be among the best top two centers in the league. The defense is incredibly underrated in my opinion, as their biggest drawback is their inexperience. Welch had about a point per game in the short NHL tryout he had last year, and looked to be a stud on the blueline. Whitney wouldn't be a bad pickup in a later round in a fantasy league. This team could end up anywhere from 7th to 13th in the conference - quite a wildcard. The Islanders frighten me. The circus in the front office is enough to make me think they will be getting a top 5 pick. DiPietro will have to have a monster year and a young forward will really have to have a standout year to get them anything above 25th in my opinion.

The Northeast will be the most competitive division with Buffalo and Ottawa at the top. Buffalo had the deepest group of forwards last year, and they haven't lost much. Miller will also be the starter from day one, which should get them a few more points. The real question is weather Briere can earn his contract and not only play more than half the season, but also put up 80-90 points. If he can, I could see the Sabres being the best team in the East. Jay McKee is the biggest loss this squad has suffered. His leadership and gritty play will be missed, especially come playoff time. The Senators are stacked. Spezza, Heatley, Alfredsson, and Redden are all all-star caliber players. Their lower lines are also more than capable of carrying the offensive load or the defensive responibilities. The defense may have lost Chara and his extremely large presence, but they are still one of the most solid defensive corps in the league. Ray Emery is the only question I can see on this roster. We'll see how he can do with being the starter from the go this season. The Canadiens and Leafs can never be discounted either. The Habs seem like they will have a mostly healthy Koivu back in action soon, and that will really add a lot of heart and determination to this squad. Overall, they are solid, but dont' really excel in any one area. Their balance and speed are their greatest assets. A breakout year from Perezhogin or Komisarek should help their cause a lot. Love them or hate them, Toronto is never far from a playoff spot and is always competitive. Sundin was scoring at a ridiculous pace to finish the season, and I expect that to continue into this one. Tucker had an amazing season, and he may try to keep this role. The addition of Raycroft left me puzzled, considering his poor season, but he is a former Calder winner. McKee and Kubina may be overpriced, but will really bolster the blueline. The Bruins are really a question mark to me. They have added many talented players like Chara and Savard, and possibly rookie Phil Kessel, but will they be able to gel? If they can begin to play as a team in the beginning of the season, I could see this team claiming a playoff spot. Toivenen and Thomas in net are a very good thing for the team, and should split time and help put up points in the standings.

Overall, my predicitions for the East are:
1. Buffalo
2. Carolina
3. New Jersey
4. Ottawa
5. New York
6. Montreal
7. Boston
8. Atlanta/Tampa Bay/Florida/Toronto

We'll see who gets hot at the end of the season. The last month will be crazy as I see the four teams listed in the 8th seed as all being in the hunt.

As far as point leaders go...
1. Thornton
2. Spezza
3. Crosby
4. Ovechkin
5. Staal
6. Jagr
7. Elias
8. Datsyuk
9. Iginla
10. Kovalchuk
The order may be off, but I think these will be the top 10 point getters.

Finally, if Malkin doesn't win the Calder, I would be absolutely shocked.

Answer 6

1) For sure: these teams make the playoffs
Detroit, Anahiem, Philadelphia, NY Rangers
2) For sure: these teams miss the playoffs:
NY Islanders, Columbus, Minnesota, Pittsburgh
3) Most likely to score 40 goals: Ovechkin
4) Most likely to score 100 points: Jagr

Answer 7

The Senators will win the cup!

Finally

Answer 8

Montreal Canadiens will win the Stanley CUP.

Answer 9

I dont know, its hard for me to tell since the season hasnt started

Answer 10

I dont really know.
But my predictions are carolina vs Detroit

Answer 11

Dallas stars win it all