The Sports Corner

NHL Eastern Conference predictions 2009-10

It’s that time of the year again, hockey time.

The NHL season starts this Thursday, October 1, and TSC is once against doing our annual predictions for the upcoming year. We’ll start off with the Eastern Conference, the side that gave us the Stanley Cup Champions Pittsburgh Penguins last year.

Here are their rankings:

1. Washington Capitals - A better team with the addition of Mike Knuble and Brendan Morrison. Look for another Alex Ovechkin Hart trophy season.

2. Pittsburgh Penguins - Stanley Cup champions will look to defend with pretty much the same team, minus Rob Scuderi. Jay McKee though, is a suitable replacement.

3. Boston Bruins - Must find a way to replace Phil Kessel’s 36 goals. Tim Thomas will also need a repeat Vezina performance if they want to finish first.

4. Philadelphia Flyers - Added Chris Pronger on D and Ray Emery in goal. If Daniel Briere stays healthy, this team can do major damage.

5. Carolina Hurricanes - A team that made very little roster changes this summer. New 6-year contract extension for Cam Ward gives goaltender more confidence.

6. New Jersey Devils - They lost Brian Gionta and John Madden up front but Martin Brodeur always gives this team a chance to win.

7. Tampa Bay Lightning - Plenty of lineup shuffling this offseason, especially on defence. Additions of Mattias Ohlund, Victor Hedman, and Alex Tanguay will make Tampa a surprise team in the East.

8. Montreal Canadiens - A complete new first line that might lack in size, but not in talent. Carey Price must have a bounceback year in order for Habs to make the postseason.

9. Ottawa Senators - No more Dany Heatley drama is a bonus for the Sens. A consistent Alexei Kovalev and strong goaltending from Pascal Leclaire gives this team a chance to return to the playoffs.

10. Buffalo Sabres - Good team on paper but still need to show that on the ice. Team is also too dependant on Ryan Miller, who missed several games last season with ankle sprain.

11. New York Rangers - Added the right offensive tools, if Marian Gaborik stays off the IR, but the Rangers always finds ways to lose. Must improve from that 2.44 goals per game stat (ranked 28th) from last season.

12. Florida Panthers - Losing Jay Bouwmeester will hurt, but their young forwards need to have huge breakout season in order for them to even contend for playoff spot.

13. Toronto Maple Leafs - A much tougher defence but with Kessel out for the first few months, the scoring will be hard to come by. Still in rebuilding mode though, so it’s a good time to give the youth more experience.

14. New York Islanders - Not even John Tavares can save the team this season, but it’ll be fun to watch him try. Things can only go up from here for the Isles.

15. Atlanta Thrashers - Ilya Kovalchuk will probably be gone come March, and the team can at least aim for a high pick in next year’s draft.