It's time for the hockey post I've been promising for like a week. While the actual midpoint of the NHL season was actually a few weeks ago, I've been feeling the urge to do a midseason report for a little while now. Because there are a whole bunch of teams that are plenty capable of winning the Stanley Cup.
Take the Eastern Conference. The top eight teams have created enough distance between themselves and the bottom eight that it's safe to say that, barring a complete collapse, they're all going to end up in the playoffs. However, who ends up in the Finals is anybody's guess. Last year, everyone thought the Penguins and Bruins were head-and-shoulders above the rest. Yet it was the Rangers and Canadiens, who both finished third in their division, that ended up in the Conference Finals.
This year there isn't a clear favorite in the East. It's so tight at the top that the division leaders and playoff matchups change daily. Talent-wise, Tampa Bay is probably the best team, but the Lightning still have all kinds of goalie questions. That's why they flamed out in the playoffs last season. Detroit's going to make the playoffs like always, and might even end up with the best record in the Atlantic, but I think they're at best the third-best team in the division. I really like Montreal, especially with Carey Price in goal, and Boston is starting to look like the team everybody expects them to be. The Bruins could be dangerous come playoff time.
Meanwhile, in the Metropolitan, I don't think anyone expects much out of the Penguins. Pittsburgh has developed a bit of reputation for crashing and burning in the playoffs, mainly because of Marc-Andre Fleury, and this year probably won't be any different. The Penguins' current playoff opponent would be the Rangers, who are currently without Henrik Lundqvist for a month. Last year at the trade deadline, the Rangers improved themselves greatly, and it's one of the reasons they ended up making the Finals. Whoever improves the most at the deadline this year might very well pull off the same trick and represent the East in the Finals.
I didn't forget about the other two Metropolitan Division teams currently holding down playoff spots. Washington's as overrated as Pittsburgh. The Capitals will probably make the playoffs, but they'll be lucky to get out of the first round. Then there's the Islanders. I expected them to contend for a playoff berth this season, then be really good after they move to Brooklyn next year. They're a year ahead of schedule, occasionally looking like the best team in the Eastern Conference (especially when they play the Rangers). But their fans really need to stop planning the parade. Because the playoffs are going to be a grind. I'm not saying the Islanders can't be the team that comes out of that grind. I am saying that winning 12 games against the best teams the NHL has to offer just to get to the Finals is what makes the Stanley Cup one of the hardest trophies in sports to win.
While the East is more competitive from 1-8, the West is probably the overall stronger conference once again. If I had to rank the top three teams in the NHL, I'd be Anaheim, Nashville and Chicago. The West is so good that, instead of starting a dynasty, the defending champion Kings wouldn't even be in the playoffs if they started today. They're fifth in the Pacific and ninth in the West right now.
With that being said, LA will be a very dangerous team if they do end up getting in. Remember, the Kings were the 8-seed in the West when they won the Cup three years ago and seeded third in the Pacific during their run last year. They're playoff tested and obviously know how to win on the road. Plus Jonathan Quick, Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty are absolute beasts. The rest of the West better hope the Kings stay right where they are now and are sitting around watching the playoffs come mid-April.
Anaheim is really, really good and has a goalie now. But I'm worried about the Ducks in the playoffs. They've had this ridiculous amount of talent for a couple years now and haven't done a thing with it. Just like another California-based team. Will this finally be the year that the Sharks put it all together and actually not choke in the playoffs? Or will it just be more of the same?
The same concerns I have about the Ducks and Sharks in the Pacific I have about the Predators and Blues in the Central. St. Louis is the San Jose of that division. You keep waiting for the Blues to put it all together and make a deep postseason run, and every year it inevitably doesn't happen. You can't go against them, though. Because they just have too much talent. My worries about Nashville is because of their youth. That might be a good thing, though, because they don't know what they're doing and they haven't been in this position before. The biggest thing the Predators have going for them, though, is Pekka Rinne. Goaltending wins playoff series, and Nashville has one of the very best.
However, standing in the Predators' and Blues' way is once again the Chicago Blackhawks. It doesn't matter where the Blackhawks are seeded or who they end up facing. You know that the playoffs will inevitably go through them in some form. And this is their year to win in that Giants-Cardinals thing they've got going with the Kings. If we've learned anything, it's to never count the Chicago Blackhawks out come playoff time.
We're also looking at Western Canada making its return to the playoffs. Calgary's got a lot of young talent and is currently sitting in the second wild card position. The Flames don't have enough guns to make a deep playoff run, but this will be an important year to get them that experience moving forward. Vancouver stands to return to the postseason, proving once again that the Rangers got the better of the Vigneault-Tortorella coaching swap. And it's nice to see Winnipeg's name among the playoff teams right now. Like the Flames, I don't think the Jets have enough to beat those extremely formidable top teams in the West, but the mere fact that they stand to make their first playoff appearance since the NHL's return to Winnipeg speaks volumes about the strides they've made as a franchise.
Sorry I'm not bold enough to make a prediction for you. So is life in the NHL. Making a Stanley Cup pick at the start of the playoffs is hard enough. Making one two months before the playoffs start is close to impossible. Because no one saw Kings-Rangers coming last year. And the chances of a Predators-Lightning Finals seems just as likely as any other possible combination. Besides, we've still got another two months until all the fun really starts.
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