Hockey's Back On A Normal Schedule

Believe it or not, it's been four years since the NHL played a "normal" season.  The 2019-20 season had the COVID break and summer "bubbles," the 2020-21 season was just 56 games and ended in July, and last season had an Olympic break that turned into a COVID-makeup break.  But this season, at last, will start and end at the normal times.

Of course, one team was very successful in the pandemic-affected seasons.  The Tampa Bay Lightning went to the Stanley Cup Final in all three of those years, winning back-to-back Cups before losing to the Avalanche in June.  There's no reason to think that the Lightning are going anywhere, either.  But even they know the window is closing.  It's just a matter of who in the East can/will take it from them.

It also doesn't even matter how good the Lightning's regular season is.  As long as they make the playoffs, they're the team to beat in the Eastern Conference.  And there aren't eight teams in the East that are better than them.  In fact, it very well could be all of the usual players in the East once again.

Atlantic Division: Frankly, I don't see anyone breaking that triumvirate of Tampa Bay, Toronto and Boston atop the Atlantic Division.  Although, it was Florida that won the President's Trophy last season, so thinking the Panthers won't also be in the mix is just silly.  Of the four, I'm most confident in the Lightning and Maple Leafs to reach the postseason.  As for winning in the playoffs, that's not exactly Toronto's specialty.  But that's a topic for April!

I'm also curious to see what the Montreal Canadiens have in store for us.  They went from playing in the Stanley Cup Final to the worst team in the entire NHL!  So, which is it?  My guess is somewhere in between.  I've got a feeling the Sabres might make some noise, too.  Not enough to end their playoff drought, but enough to give their fans some hope.  Certainly more hope than fans of the Red Wings and Senators should have.

Metropolitan Division: In the Metropolitan Division, there are five teams I can see making the playoffs.  And, frankly, it wouldn't surprise me if both Eastern Conference wild cards come out of the Met.  The only three I see definitely missing out are the Blue Jackets, Devils and Flyers.  As for the Hurricanes, Rangers, Islanders, Penguins and Capitals, though, the order of finish is anybody's guess.

If I had to venture a guess, though, I'll say Rangers, Islanders and Hurricanes will be the three definite playoff teams.  The Rangers arrived ahead of schedule, and they went all the way to the Eastern Conference Final last season, replacing the Islanders, who had been to the last two as the New York participant.  The Islanders' 2021-22 season was a bit of a surprise, and I fully expect them to be back in the playoffs.  They'll duke it out for the division title, with Carolina finishing third.  Pittsburgh and Washington both make the playoffs as wild cards.

Central Division: Every time I saw the Avalanche play last season, I sat there thinking, "this is the best team in the league."  So their winning the Cup was not a surprise.  And there's no reason to think they can't start a Lightning-like dynasty of their own in Denver.  Especially because the rest of the Central Division isn't particularly strong.

St. Louis is good.  I see the Blues finishing second.  And I see Winnipeg bouncing back after a rough 2021-22 season.  Someone out of the Minnesota/Nashville/Dallas group will manage to make the playoffs, too.  I'm just not sure which one it'll be.  There are reasons why I can see it being each of them, and there are just as many reasons why I think it won't be each of them.  The two teams in the Central I am certain won't make the playoffs are Chicago and Arizona.

Pacific Division: Last season was a good one for our friends in Western Canada.  The Flames won the division with 111 points and the Oilers finally played like that team we all knew they could be.  They were no match for the Avalanche in the Western Conference Final, but if we get a rematch this season, it could be a different story.  We're just scratching the surface in Edmonton.  The Oilers have loads of potential.

The 2021-22 season also marked the first time in franchise history that the Golden Knights missed the playoffs, which led to almost a complete overhaul in Vegas.  There's so much talent on that team to think their postseason absence will be an extended one, though.  The Kings may have something to say about that, and you know the Kraken will want to make an impact after their inaugural season was something more typical of what you'd see from an expansion team (not that insanely-good first year the Knights had!).  Vancouver surprised me last season and has some young talent, but I'm not sure they can follow it up.  The California teams not named the Kings stink.

There's always that one random team that comes out of nowhere and is good.  Just like there's always that one team that's supposed to be good, but has injuries, etc., and ends up firing its coach and trading away all of its best players.  There's also no way to predict who those teams might be.  (Although, I think Boston is a candidate for the one that's bad because of injuries.)

But, there's obviously no way of knowing that.  All we can do is assess the teams based on how they look right now, as the 2022-23 season is set to begin.  And I feel confident in saying that there's probably about 25 teams that have a legitimate belief they could be a playoff team this season.

When all the dust settles, though, I think we see our second straight repeat champion.  The Avalanche may be better than they were last season, so they're obviously the team to beat.  And, call me crazy, but I think they face the New York Rangers for the Cup.  Which would add an entirely different storyline to the mix because Igor Shesterkin's backup last season was Alexander Georgiev, who's now the starting goalie for...the Colorado Avalanche!