Back On the Ice

After wrapping up the longest season in history with the incredibly successful playoff bubbles in August and September, the NHL is back for its 2020-less 2020-21 season.  And to say things will look different would be an understatement.  A 56-game schedule.  An all-Canadian division.  No games outside your division until the conference finals.  Two- and even three-game series between opponents.  It'll all take some getting used to, but the important thing is the NHL is back.

And, I've gotta say, I really like some of the things that the NHL did for this season.  Nobody has any idea when the border's gonna be open again, so grouping all of the Canadian teams together, while done out of necessity, makes complete sense.  It's also a tremendous opportunity for all seven of those teams, since one of them is guaranteed a berth in the "conference finals."

I also like that the "conference finals" will be based on regular season record.  When the details started leaking out and it seemed like the temporary realignment was pretty much a certainty, I was curious how they'd figure that out.  But, seeing as there will probably be some upsets in the first two rounds, seeding the remaining teams 1-4 makes complete sense, even if that'll mean we could end up with an East vs. East or West vs. West Stanley Cup Final.  It's not the ideal solution, but it was probably the best thing they could come up with.

Of course, this season's format will benefit some teams more than others.  The East Division will be a beast.  You're taking four really strong teams from the Metropolitan Division (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington, Islanders) and adding Boston.  At least one of the five won't make the playoffs.  Meanwhile, there are plenty of points to be had in the North Division, where they'll all play Ottawa at least nine times, and in the West, where the three California teams will make up 37.5 percent of the schedule.

While the schedule was set up to reduce travel, some teams got the short end of that stick, too.  Vancouver drew perhaps the worst draw of anybody, exchanging all of their other games on the West Coast for trips to Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto.  The Blues and Wild will get to make those West Coast trips instead, significantly increasing their travel load.  And, of course, the Sharks aren't allowed to play at home right now, so they're following the 49ers' lead and setting up camp in Phoenix for the time being.

Regardless of how strange it'll all seem, though, teams will at least be playing hockey in their own arenas.  Hopefully they'll be doing so in front of fans by the time the season is over.  And, since they'll all only be facing teams they're familiar with and, for the most part, don't particularly like, you know it's gonna be intense from the get-go.  With only 56 games, there's less margin for error too.

EAST: The East Division is the most competitive of the four.  I'd probably be saying that about the Metropolitan Division, which was only made that much stronger by swapping Columbus for Boston.  It's so strong that the Rangers, who would otherwise be a sleeper pick to make the playoffs, will have absolutely no chance of finishing in the top four.  And the Devils and Sabres may be better, but they're nowhere near good enough to make the playoffs in this loaded division.

So which of the other five won't make it?  Well, that'll really depend on who gets off to the best start.  Because it'll be hard to make up ground if you fall into an early hole.  And, after what happened against Montreal in the playoffs, I'd say Pittsburgh's the one that's gotta be worried.  So, I'll say the Penguins don't make it.  Boston, Philadelphia, Washington and the Islanders make the playoffs.

CENTRAL: Let's start with the defending champion Lightning.  A repeat won't come easy, and not just because they've only had 15 weeks off since their Game 6 victory.  Speaking of Tampa Bay's Cup-clinching victory, they'll have the fun of sharing a division with the team they defeated (sidebar: why is Dallas in the Central and St. Louis in the West instead of vice versa?).  Although, the Stars will have some challenges to overcome early on thanks to all of their COVID troubles.  Dallas is still probably good enough to make the playoffs, though.

Nashville and Carolina are my other two playoff picks out of the Central.  The Predators have continually proved to be a very good regular season team.  The Hurricanes, meanwhile, have shown how formidable they are through back-to-back playoff runs.  Chicago and Columbus will keep those two honest, but need a 24-team playoff field.  Detroit and Florida need a 31-team field.

NORTH: This is perhaps Toronto's best chance to finally end all those years of playoff disappointment.  All the Leafs need to do is be the best Canadian team.  And there's no reason why they shouldn't be.  They've got tons of talent, and they should be the favorites in this division.  If anyone's gonna challenge them for the top spot, it might be Edmonton, although I wouldn't sleep on Winnipeg, either.

That leaves Montreal and Calgary fighting for the final playoff berth.  On paper, the Flames are probably a little stronger.  But the Canadiens have Carey Price.  And, frankly, Montreal is an up-and-coming potential powerhouse.  They could really surprise.  Because of that, I'm giving Montreal the final playoff berth in the North Division.  As for the Canucks and Senators, all of the travel will take its toll on Vancouver, and Ottawa is one of the weakest teams in the entire league.

WEST: It really bothers me that St. Louis is in the West, even though Dallas is further west.  Anyway, outside of the unnecessary extra travel, the Blues are better off competitively in this division.  St. Louis and Vegas should capture the top two places, although I'll give the Golden Knights the edge for the No. 1 seed.  I haven't mentioned it, but goalie depth is gonna be huge this season with all the back-to-backs.  So, Vegas not being able to resolve the whole Lehner-Fleury situation actually ended up working out in their favor.

For the past few seasons, Colorado has alternated one good year, one bad year.  Well, last year was a good one.  Does that mean this year will be bad?  I hope not!  Because I love those Nordiques jerseys in Avalanche colors!  Minnesota is better than Arizona and the three California teams, so I'll give them the nod for the fourth playoff spot.  The Ducks and Sharks will both be better, but San Jose's lack of a home will be a problem early on.  If they're still in the race once they start being able to play home games, though, look out!

My playoff matchups are Bruins-Islanders and Flyers-Capitals in the East, Tampa Bay-Carolina and Dallas-Nashville in the Central, Toronto-Montreal and Edmonton-Winnipeg in the North, and Vegas-Minnesota and St. Louis-Colorado out West.  I'll take Boston vs. Philadelphia, Tampa Bay vs. Nashville, Toronto vs. Edmonton and Vegas vs. Colorado as the division finals.

Once we hit the "conference finals," they'll finally see teams from outside their division.  How they're determining which series gets which trophy, I have no idea, but I'm sure they'll figure it out.  Anyway, I've got Boston over Toronto in one series and Vegas over Tampa Bay in the other.  And, following in the Lightning's footsteps, the Bruins will follow up a President's Trophy season by winning the Cup the next year.