2009-2010 NHL season predictions are rolling out so I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon. Now, admittedly I’m not a huge hockey fan, as in I don’t stay up and watch all the games on NHL Center Ice. As such, I rarely see games from the East Coast, mostly on purpose. Nonetheless, I do keep track of the ins and outs and have some thoughts on the upcoming season. Without further ado, here are my predictions for the regular season final standings:

Eastern Conference
1. Boston
2. Pittsburgh
3. Washington
4. Philadelphia
5. New Jersey
6. Carolina
7. NY Rangers
8. Montreal
9. Tampa Bay
10. Toronto
11. Buffalo
12. Ottawa
13. Florida
14. Atlanta
15. NY Islanders


Spots 7-10 will be divided by 8 points. So you could see a Canadian team sneak in the mix, probably Montreal, or a surprising Toronto. I can’t see T-dot putting in a sustained season though given their youth, but things are slowly looking up. Montreal should contend for the 8th spot but spotty goaltending and Mike Cammelleri realizing Jarome Iginla was a factor in his goal production may prevent a post-season appearance.

Western Conference

1. San Jose
2. Chicago
3. Calgary
4. Detroit
5. Anaheim
6. Vancouver
7. Columbus
8. Edmonton
9. St. Louis
10. Minnesota
11. Los Angeles
12. Dallas
13. Colorado
14. Nashville
15. Phoenix

This might be Chicago’s year to top the Wings. I think they’ll have more points than Calgary and Detroit.

To quote Greg from the Redmile on Vancouver:

Everyone thinks they’ll be one of the best teams in the West this season based (I suppose) on their superhero of a goaltender and the fact that the Sedin twins are back with multi-million dollar contracts. I think that most people are overlooking their 14-game road trip before and after the 2010 Olympics. The Canucks won’t play at home from January 27 to March 13, 2010. If you think that’s a recipe for first place in the NW, I’d like to have some of whatever you’re smoking. When you throw in the “I just signed a huge new contract and will be loaded for life” factor, its easy to see that the Sedins will tank this season while Luongo cracks under the microscope of Vancouver and the 2010 Canadian Hockey fans.

Yes, well put. I did put Edmonton at number 8 since I think they’ve improved, albeit marginally, and honestly I can’t see why they’ be worse than St. Louis or Minnesota.

So cheers on the new season, let’s cheer on our Flames in a true homer-esque fashion and start planning our Stanley Cup parade routes along the way.