There are still a couple of games left before the conclusion of the 2008-09 NHL season, but now’s as good a time as ever to look back on the year that was and indulge in a sportswriter’s second-favourite pastime: reviewing our predictions from the beginning of the year.

(In case you’re wondering, the only thing sportswriters like more than reviewing predictions is making them in the first place… we’ll talk playoffs next week!)



Eastern Conference pre-season predictions:

1-PHI, 2-MTL, 3-WAS, 4-NJ, 5-TB, 6-OTT, 7-CAR, 8-PIT, 9-NYR, 10-BOS, 11-BUF, 12-TOR, 13-ATL, 14-FLA, 15-NYI



In some cases we were way off and in others we were right on the money, but we were definitely more accurate at the bottom of the standings than at the top.

Going into the season, how many of you thought the Boston Bruins would not only win the Northeast Division, but would totally run away with the Eastern Conference?

Well, not only did the Bruins cream their divisional and in-conference opponents, they’re giving the San Jose Sharks and Detroit Red Wings a run for the President’s Trophy as the league’s top regular-season team.

As of deadline on Tuesday morning, the B’s are second-best in the NHL with 112 points compared to San Jose’s league-leading 115 and one point ahead of Detroit.

As you’ll see, we had Boston stumbling down to 10th place...

On the flipside, calling Washington to finish third wasn’t far off and still may come to pass as they are in second place and trail the New Jersey Devils by just two points with three games left to play apiece.

Calling Montreal to finish second? Well, that was just a homer’s wishful thinking. The fact of the matter is that the Euro-heavy gritless Habs played over their heads last year and came back to Earth this season with a weak powerplay and no point shot to replace the departed Mark Streit.

At the bottom of the division we had Toronto, Atlanta, Florida and the Islanders fighting for the top spot in the draft lottery and well, we weren’t far off there.

New York has simply been a disaster this season and has nearly clinched last place with just 66 points through 78 games.

A team that finished with less points than games played in a league that awards a point for losing in overtime definitely has issues.



Western Conference pre-season predictions:

1-DET, 2-SJ, 3-MIN, 4-DAL, 5-ANA, 6-CGY, 7-EDM, 8-VAN, 9-COL, 10-CHI, 11-NAS, 12-CBJ, 13-PHO, 14-STL, 15-LA



Detroit or San Jose? San Jose or Detroit?

We can’t really take credit for calling the top two teams correctly, regardless of which finishes number one and which finishes number two.

That’s like predicting the sun is going to rise or the prime minister’s going to tell a lie.

But from there down is where it gets interesting.

The Calgary Flames have a great shot at winning their division as they battle it out with the Vancouver Canucks for third in the West.

We had both teams making the playoffs, but we honestly thought Minnesota would walk away with the division instead of being a bubble team with just 83 points and three games left to play.

On the bottom end, yeah, we all knew the Colorado Avalanche were weak in goal, but who would’ve seen them duking it out with the Isles for the title of Worst Team in Hockey?

I had the LA Kings last in place of the Avs, and they haven’t really disappointed with just 75 points overall and three games to go, but at least they are showing promise for next year with a good, young core and a potential true top goalie in Jonathan Quick.

Maybe next year we’ll predict them to finish 12th or 13th instead of last…



What does all this mean?

I always say the beauty of sports is that the only thing we all know for sure is that we don’t know anything. The fun, after all, is in the adventure.

Does that mean we won’t make predictions in the future? Of course not – putting your rep on the line is half the fun, as long as you can admit when you’re wrong.



Please feel free to email me any time at noahsidel@gmail.com.