Ok, so in the final installment of my NHL season preview trilogy, I’ll be looking at how the playoffs shake out based on my earlier projections and also who will might win the yearly awards. In regards to the awards, there are several I went back and forth on who would win, so I would not be surprised if I got several of them wrong.
Western Conference
First round
(1) Vancouver over (8) St Louis
(2) San Jose over (7) Nashville
(3) Detroit over (6) Anaheim
(4) Los Angeles over (5) Chicago
Semi Finals
(1) Vancouver over (4) Los Angeles
(2) San Jose over (3) Detroit
Western Finals
(2) San Jose over (1) Vancouver
Eastern Conference
First Round
(1) Washington over (8) Montreal
(2) Pittsburgh over (7) NY Rangers
(6) Tampa Bay over (3) Boston
(4) Buffalo over (5) Philadelphia
Semi Finals
(4) Buffalo over (1) Washington
(2) Pittsburgh over (6) Tampa Bay
Eastern Finals
(2) Pittsburgh over (4) Buffalo
Stanley Cup Finals
San Jose defeats Pittsburgh
I really believe this is the season the Sharks break through and not only make the Cup Finals, but win the entire thing. They’ve gotten better on defense, which was perhaps their Achilles heel at times last postseason.
Awards
Hart (MVP): Alex Ovechkin, Washington
Art Ross (Points Leader): Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh
Rocket Richard (Most Goals): Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay
Vezina (Top Goalie): Ryan Miller, Buffalo
Norris (Top D-man): Shea Weber, Nashville
Calder (Top Rookie): Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado
Lady Byng (Sportsmanship): Martin St Louis, Tampa Bay
Selke (Defensive Forward): Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit
Jack Adams (Top Coach): Lindy Ruff, Buffalo
