Sunday is a football day, and for the record were big on the Cincinnati Bengals tonight in New England against the Patriots. That said, hockey is just a few days away, so lets roll out another NHL preview. 2014 NHL Predictions: Bruins Control Atlantic Division Again Last year’s Atlantic division was full of excitement. The Boston Bruins dominated, cruising to the top of the Eastern Conference, but the real story was in the playoff race below. The Tampa Bay Lightning locked up the two seed, the Habs found playoff relevancy again, and the Detroit Red Wings found a way to sneak into the playoffs late, continuing their lengthy postseason streak. Will any of it change in 2014? We round out the Eastern Conference with another divisional preview. 1. Boston Bruins (113 points): What the Boston Bruins did last season was simply amazing. A great system with a great coach and amazing depth led to a +84 goal differential, best in the NHL by a wide margin - nobody in the East had better than half of that. Most of the team is back and they had depth to spare. As long as this core stays together, the Bruins will be a force. 2. Tampa Bay Lightning (100 points): I expect more of the same from the Lightning this year. They were able to lock up Ryan Callahan to a six-year deal in the offseason, adding some grit to this offense. They still have one of the best goaltenders in the Atlantic and one of the best goal scorers in the league with Stamkos. I think that’s enough to be a playoff team, especially as the Atlantic seems, as a whole, to rebuild. 3. Montreal Canadiens (95 points): I think hockey is better when the Habs are relevant. I don’t think Montreal is much of Stanley Cup threat, but they’ve got guys you like to root for if you can get past your Habs hate and a pretty good goaltender in Carey Price. I think they’ll be in the playoffs again, with a good top-four defense and some decent offensive chemistry. I don’t think they have enough for a deep run, however. 4. Ottawa Senators (92 points): Injuries derailed the Senators season last year, so it’s difficult to imagine them doing anything but improving in 2014. If they can use their goaltending tandem effectively, the Senators will be in the race. I see them falling just short of the wild card spots, but I do think they will be a very good team this year. There appears to be a lot of clutter in the middle of the pack. 5. Detroit Red Wings (90 points): I think this is the end of the Red Wings’ phenomenal playoffs run. I don’t think they did enough to improve this offseason, and mediocre goaltending combines with aging forwards and a lack of depth to keep the Red Wings from getting in. The Wings can certainly sneak in with the Atlantic as mediocre as it is and the basement of this division providing free points to playoff hopefuls in the middle of the pack, but my money is on any number of teams from the Metropolitan locking up both wild card spots, not to mention the healthier Senators and upstart Habs and Bolts. 6. Toronto Maple Leafs (82 points): Predicting anything more than disappointment out of the Leafs has been the downfall of many a handicapper. The fact is, even when they look good, the Leafs find a way to disappoint. This year, I don’t even think they look that good. I expect a .500 season from the Leafs following a catastrophic second half last year. 7. Florida Panthers (72 points): After addressing some of their goaltending problems, I think the Panthers will be a little bit improved. That said, they’re still a long way from playoff talk. To think, they were one double-overtime loss away from a playoff series win against the New Jersey Devils just a couple seasons ago. Small market hockey at its worst. 8. Buffalo Sabres (52 points): After all the talk of aggressively rebuilding this Sabres team under new owner Terry Pegula, the Sabres did the exact opposite last season. Dumping cap space and leadership, as well as their franchise goaltender, the Sabres went into full on rebuilding mode. I don’t think they’re anywhere near done with the project they undertook last season by destroying their entire roster.
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 17:24:26 +0000