This is one of the busiest times of the year on the sports calendar. The NFL season is just starting to get going, and we're in the midst of the MLB Postseason. So, it's easy for the start of the NHL season to get lost in the fray. But yet here we are. A new NHL season is upon us, one that actually won't be interrupted by a lockout or an Olympics or anything else. Just hockey. And I, for one, can't wait.
While the balance of power still seems to favor the West, the top teams in the Eastern Conference are all pretty evenly matched. Take last season. The Penguins and Bruins were far and away the top two teams during the regular season, yet we ended up with a Rangers-Canadiens conference final that didn't really seem to surprise anyone. Those four once again look like the top teams in the conference, and Tampa Bay is going to be very good, too. The bottom teams also seem to once again be the same. Buffalo, Florida, Ottawa and Carolina. As for the rest, they fall right in the middle. They'll need some luck or good fortune (maybe both) to go deep in the playoffs, and they're an injury or two away from ending up in the lottery with the Sabres and Panthers.
ATLANTIC DIVISION
There's a clear separation in the Atlantic Division. The top four teams should all make the playoffs, while the bottom four probably won't. Boston and Montreal are probably the two best teams in this division. On paper, the Bruins are probably the most talented, but that run the Canadiens made last season can't be overlooked. If they have Carey Price against the Rangers, that series maybe turns out differently. Plus, Montreal has perhaps the best defenseman in the league in P.K. Subban.
Then there's Tampa Bay and Detroit. The Lightning finished second last season, giving them home ice against the Canadiens in the first round. Where they were promptly swept. It wouldn't be a surprise to see the same thing happen again. Tampa Bay's got the talent to outscore you, but I question Ben Bishop's ability to backstop this team to a deep playoff run. Speaking of deep playoff runs, Detroit's streak should continue. The Red Wings struggled a little bit last year as they adjusted to the new conference and worked their way through injuries, but Detroit remains one of the most talented teams in the league.
In ESPN The Magazine's ultimate all-sport rankings a few weeks ago, the Toronto Maple Leafs came in dead last. No. 122 of 122. Among the factors that came into play were ticket price and the fans' perception of the team's likelihood to win a championship in their lifetime. Well, it's been a lot of people's lifetimes since the Leafs won the Cup. And that's not going to change this season. They might sneak into the playoffs, but if they do, they're going to make an early exit. I think it's far more likely that they'll once again disappoint their blindly loyal and incredibly passionate fans, though.
The other three teams in the Atlantic Division are barely worth talking about. The only one that has any chance of making any noise is Ottawa. If everything goes right, the Senators have an outside shot at one of the wild cards. The Sabres and Panthers are both in rebuilding mode. Buffalo should be a little better than last year, while Florida had the No. 1 pick in the draft for a reason.
METROPOLITAN DIVISION
Pittsburgh and the Rangers were the best teams in the old Atlantic before realignment, and they were again last season after the division was rebranded the "Metropolitan." The Penguins are, obviously, the most talented with Crosby and Malkin, but the guys around them keep leaving as free agents. After losing to the Rangers in the conference semis last season, I think Pittsburgh's window might be closing. As for the Rangers, they made a surprise run to the Final last season, and once again will be carried by Henrik Lundqvist, who's still one of the best goalies on the planet. A lot of pieces around him changed, but there wasn't much of a talent drop off. If anybody else is going to win the Met, it'll be the Rangers.
After the Penguins and Rangers, there's a big separation. Washington, Philadelphia and Columbus are the next group, and they'll be fighting for what should be two available playoff spots. I really like the Flyers. They've got good, young talent mixed in with veteran role players who do their jobs very well. If they ever got a goalie, they'd really be contenders. Columbus is definitely a team on the rise. No one expected to see the Blue Jackets in the playoffs last season, let alone giving Pittsburgh all they could handle in the first round. Now that everyone knows about Columbus, I can definitely see them coming back down to Earth a little bit. But it's also possible last year was the start of something big and we're going to be talking about the Blue Jackets among the top teams in the conference this season. Washington is certainly capable of recovering from last season's rare non-playoff year. They need to get players other than Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, but those two alone might be enough to get the Capitals back to the playoffs.
Martin Brodeur bid farewell to New Jersey at the end of last season, which means this is the dawn of a new era for the Devils. And that era will be the beginning of a rebuilding mode. This is a shell of the team that played for the Cup three years ago. Carolina's in the wrong division. If this were two years ago and the Hurricanes were fighting with only Washington, Winnipeg and the Florida teams for a division title, I'd give Carolina a much better shot at making the playoffs. They've got to get by too many teams that are better than them, though. (Although, I have a friend who's a fan of the Broncos and Royals. His favorite hockey team is the Hurricanes. Maybe that's a good omen.) A lot of what I said about Carolina also applies about the Islanders. Unless they can get John Tavares some help, their final season at Nassau Coliseum before moving to Brooklyn probably won't end with a playoff appearance.
Playoff Teams: Boston, Montreal, Tampa Bay, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Rangers, Philadelphia, Washington
As we all know, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are a crapshoot. They're the most unpredictable of the four. By a wide margin. But I'm going to say the two teams who's goalies I'd trust the most in April will meet in the Eastern Conference Final. And those goalies are Tuukka Rask and Henrik Lundqvist. As for who wins between the Bruins and Rangers, Boston's the better team overall. They play for the Cup for the second time in three years.
Ultimately, though, whoever wins the East just earns the right to lose the Final. The West is simply that much better.
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