The NHL kicked off the home stretch of their marathon season on Tuesday night with an epic clash between Carolina and Buffalo, ranked 12th and 16th respectively in the Eastern Conference. The two struggling clubs had the hockey world to themselves for at least one night as they made up their game that had been cancelled earlier in the year.
We ease back into the swing of things with a quartet of games on Wednesday night before a full boat of games officially brings the playoff run into full swing Thursday night. The NHL trade deadline is March 5th, which promises to be a day bursting with (potential) blockbuster deals but will result in everyone wondering why the Buffalo Sabres held on to Ryan Miller just to watch him leave July 1st.
The post Olympic break will also provide the stretch run to the Stanley Cup playoffs, which commence April 16th. The parity that exists in the league right now is so prevalent that pretty much everyone outside of Buffalo, Long Island, Edmonton and Calgary has a legitimate crack at one of the 16 postseason slots. With the intensity set to speed towards a playoff level by the end of February, here are some bold predictions for the rest of the season….with bonus playoff boldness included!!
-The Detroit Red Wings will miss the playoffs. With their captain Henrik Zetterberg sidelined and Pavel Datsyuk operating at less than 75% the Wings impressive two-plus decade playoff streak will end. Fear not Hockeytown faithful, there is a lot to look forward to. Names like Nyquist, Sheahan, Tatar, DeKeyser, Marchenko, Jurco and Mrazek are aligning to become the core of the next extended Red Wing playoff run.
-Steven Stamkos will be back and better than ever. We will all watch with trepidation as the young star takes the ice on a surgically repaired leg, wincing with every hit and awkward move he makes. The Tampa sniper will be better than advertised with a highlight reel en route to a sustained playoff run. The Lightning are as good as advertised boys and girls and will be legitimate players in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
-The Pittsburgh Penguins will not be able to beat Boston in the playoffs, but won’t have to worry about them. The Toronto Maple Leafs will avenge their legendary collapse from 2013 by bouncing the defending conference champs from the playoffs. It will be seven games and it will be epic, but Toronto will find a way to exorcise their demons on the TD Garden ice.
-The Vancouver Canucks will make the playoffs. On the outside looking in and losers of seven straight, it’s hard to imagine that the Canucks are doing anything more than setting up golfing dates for April. However, no team benefitted more from some extended time off than Vancouver and their embattled coach. There is just too much talent on this club for them to miss the postseason.
-A California team will win the Stanley Cup. The “State of Hockey” this season has certainly not been Minnesota, but the “The Golden State” of California. With Anaheim, San Jose and Los Angeles taking turns with streaks of dominance it certainly falls within the realm of believability that the Stanley Cup will return to the left coast this summer.
-The Pittsburgh Penguins are going to make a blockbuster trade this year that will make everyone scratch their heads. I’ve been saying that has to happen because of Ray Shero’s collection of enormous contracts. Sidney Crosby is going nowhere, but if the Pens don’t make it to the Stanley Cup Final there will be big changes.
-Chicago won’t make it out of the Central Division playoffs. It’s time for the St. Louis Blues to step up and this is their year. Well, not their Stanley Cup year, but only because they aren’t located in California. The Blues will expend a superhuman amount of energy just to get out of the Central Division, but they have shown that they are every bit Chicago’s equal and then some.
-Sidney Crosby will win the Art Ross. Well, duh.
-Phil Kessel will catch and overtake Alexander Ovechkin for the goal scoring title. With more meaningful games played in Toronto than Washington, look for Kessel to catch fire as the Leafs build up a strong playoff run.