Proteau: My NHL predictions - West

[doniceage]

BY: Adam Proteau

Yes, it’s time for my pre-season predictions - the time when many of you write in angrily accusing me of hating your team (or jinxing it by praising it too much) and when I giggle quietly to myself at the lather many of you have worked yourself into.


http://www.thehockeynews.com/article...daily_20110916

[wild4life]

Wow...11th in the west for the Wild...that's an improvement...from 12th. Why is everyone discounting the Wild this year? Burns is a great D-man but the Wild aren't just gonna go belly up and die without him.

We've got a fit Latendresse and healthy Bouchard and Harding coming into camp and have several young guys (like Jared Spurgeon, Marco Scandella, Nate Prosser and Justin Falk) ready to fill Burnsie's spot in the lineup. Mark my words, as long as the Wild put the puck in the net and Backstrom keeps it out, Minnesota will be in the playoffs at the very least this year. Go Wild!

Dakota

[30ranfordfan]

I think the question for any teams near the bottom (my Oilers are one of them!) shouldn't be "Why is everyone discounting them?" but "Who did they get better than?".

Of the 8 teams in the West that made the playoffs last year, I think most people would agree that 6 of them are easy choices to make the playoffs again: VAN, SJ, DET, ANA, LA, CHI.

The Wild were in 12th last year. I think there's actually a pretty good chance that they've gotten better than Calgary, Dallas, and Phoenix (which version of Danny Heatley shows up will have a lot to do with it) but I also think there's a good chance that Columbus got better than all four of those teams.

St. Louis should also be better this season (after finishing ahead of the Wild) and while I'm expecting Nashville to take a step back, they'll be in the hunt for those last couple of spots.


If it were me making the picks - VAN, CHI, LA are the division winners (I think Proteau had the same three) with SJ, ANA, DET (in no particular order) taking the next 3 spots.

CLB, MIN, STL, and NSH are going to be those four bubble teams fighting for the last two spots (again, I think Proteau has it right - Blue Jackets and Blues take them).

EDM, COL, CAL, DAL are going to pull up the last four spots. The Avs, IMO, are going to be a complete disaster, finish 15th, and make the Phil Kessel trade look like a smart move :)

Wow...11th in the west for the Wild...that's an improvement...from 12th. Why is everyone discounting the Wild this year? Burns is a great D-man but the Wild aren't just gonna go belly up and die without him.

We've got a fit Latendresse and healthy Bouchard and Harding coming into camp and have several young guys (like Jared Spurgeon, Marco Scandella, Nate Prosser and Justin Falk) ready to fill Burnsie's spot in the lineup. Mark my words, as long as the Wild put the puck in the net and Backstrom keeps it out, Minnesota will be in the playoffs at the very least this year. Go Wild!

Dakota

[jlai624]

I think SJ will win the west with Chi, then Van and Det as the 4th seed. It would be nice to see the Blues and CBJ in the playoffs this year.