Postseason Predictions
The final part of the Central Division Preview we’ve put together is our postseason predictions. So here are my picks.
Division Winners
New York Rangers: The Rags have a good mix of offensive talent, solid d-men, and top shelf goalie play. Philly looks like they’ve made a nice turnaround but the Blueshirts just seem more balanced to me and as a result are my pick to win the division.
Ottawa Senators: The Sens look like they have finally figured out what it will take for them to have playoff success. And you know things are going well when Martin Gerber looks like a competent NHL goalie! When they get Ray Emery back they are going to be even tougher to beat. And of course their top-line of Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatly and Jason Spezza is arguably the best line in the NHL.
Carolina Hurricanes: Cam Ward went through the sophomore slump last season and the Canes are likely going to go as far as he can carry them in the postseason. But their forwards should have more than enough firepower to vault the Canes to the top of the division.
Detroit: The Wings are in a similar position to the Senators. Their top line is one of the most dynamic lines in hockey and the team seems to have figured out what it will take to have success in the postseason under head coach Mike Babcock.
Minnesota: I’ll agree with James Mirtle that the Wild are the darkhorse team to claim the division. Injuries are always a concern with a team that features Marian Gaborik [imagine having him and Martin Havlat on a team], but this team seems to have the best balance of scoring, defensive play and goaltending.
San Jose: Lots of people seem to be picking the Sharks to win the Cup this year. I think they’ll run away with the Pacific and maybe even make a run at the President’s Trophy. But they remind me a bit of the old Ottawa Senators, a team that was brilliant in the regular season but could never parlay that success into a triumphant playoff run. I’m just not sold on their defense and the fact Ron Wilson threw Evgeni Nabakov under the bus following the Detroit series give me doubts about how they will do in the playoffs.
Eastern Conference Champion
Ottawa: Buffalo might have given the Sens their biggest challenge but they lost too much during the summer to keep up. With Martin Gerber playing well the Senators have impressive depth at goal and have a solid defensive group led by Wade Redden and Chris Phillips. Mike Fisher is a great PK’er and the Senators always have a highly effective power play. So their specialty teams shouldn’t hold them back come playoff time.
Western Conference Champion
Detroit: Sure, I’m being a homer, but the team features one of the best lines in the ZDH line, two top-end D-men in Lidstrom and Rafalski, elite PK’ers in Chelios, Draper, Zetterberg, Lidstrom, and possibly Datsyuk, and a top power play unit that has gotten off to a great start. The only question with this squad is goaltending, with another potential question being depth on defense. If Hasek can stay healthy and play as well as he played last season the Wings proved they could do pretty well while missing Mathieu Schneider and Niklas Kronvall. If Kronner can stay healthy Mike Babcock should be able to give his top three defensemen heavy minutes during the playoffs.
Stanley Cup Champion
Today, right now, I am saying Ottawa. The main reason is Detroit doesn’t know if Kronvall is going to stay healthy and we don’t know if Johan Franzen, Jiri Hudler and Valtteri Filppula are going to start to become potent offensive threats. If they do the Wings will become my choice to win the Cup. But since I can’t say for sure right now those things will happen I’m going to pick the Sens to win the Cup.
Tomorrow I’ll give my guess on how the Central Division will shake out and also have my guesses for the end of the season awards.
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Dark horse? The Wild were my favourite to win it!
[…] With the Stanley Cup handed out and the pecking order of the division taken care of, it’s now time to hand out the end of season awards. […]