The long wait is now over. The NHL is back, which means we should all be prepared for another season of glass-shattering action on the ice rink. We’re sure you’ve had all your picks of which teams are going to be the division, conference, and Stanley Cup champions this season. Now, let’s see if your selections match well with that of the experts from Sports Illustrated, USA Today, and NHL.com.
For more about the brand new NHL season, you can read our complete 2014-2015 NHL preview here.
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2014-2015 NHL Experts’ Predictions
Sports Illustrated
[sc:NHL240 ]Chicago is the majority favorite of the seven writers from Sports Illustrated to win the Cup this season. Allan Muir, Michael Blinn, Brian Cazeneuve were the three writers who picked Joel Quenneville’s bunch to go all the way and win the Cup next June, each citing the team’s deep talent up front that is even made deeper with the addition of veteran center Brad Richards over the offseason.
Chicago finished second to Boston in scoring last season with 3.18 GF/G, and it’s likely that the Blackhawks will remain just as deadly – if not better – on offense with Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp, all of whom capable of scoring 30 goals, playing.
Expert
Eastern Conference Final
Western Conference Final
Stanley Cup Champion
Allan Muir
Bruins vs.Penguins
Blackhawks vs. Kings
Blackhawks
Sarah Kwak
Bruins vs.Penguins
Blackhawks vs. Ducks
Bruins
Sam Page
Lightning vs. Bruins
Blackhawks vs. Stars
Lightning
Mike Blinn
Bruins vs. Lightning
Blackhawks vs. Sharks
Blackhawks
Brian Cazeneuve
Bruins vs. Lightning
Blackhawks vs. Sharks
Blackhawks
Gabriel Baumgaertner
Bruins vs. Canadiens
Kings vs. Blackhawks
Kings
Eli Bernstein
Bruins vs. Penguins
Kings vs. Blues
Kings
The Kings, meanwhile, got two votes from Gabriel Baumgaertner and Eli Bernstein, who are both buying the defending champs to go back to back – something that hasn’t been done since the Detroit Red Wings did it in 1998.
For Baumgaertner, the Kings won’t be as high scoring as the other top teams in the Western Conference like the Blackhawks or the Ducks, but their renowned ability to turn on the heat in the Playoffs is what he thinks makes LA a dangerous team. As were in their previous postseason success, the Kings’ calling card to the Cup will be their defense led by Conn Smythe winning goalie Jonathan Quick, as noted by Bernstein.
Receiving a pick each are the Bruins and the Lightning. It’s quite surprising to see the Lightning coming out on top of the Eastern Conference, let alone lord it over the entire league, especially after being swept in the first round of the Playoffs last season. However, Sam Page believes that Tampa Bay’s combination of speed and youth at the forward position will be able to confound the Bruins, whom he projects as the Lightning’s Eastern Conference adversary, and stand its ground against the Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final.
USA Today
Like the hockey savants over at SI, the 12-man panel of USA Today’s NHL power rankings also has the Blackhawks as the most favored team to raise the Cup next June. A total of eight experts penciled in the Blackhawks to win the Central Division, which is a great accomplishment all by itself given that the division is stacked with top tier teams in St. Louis, Minnesota, and teams on the rise like Colorado and Dallas.
Experts
Atlantic
Metropolitan
Central
Pacific
East
West
Stanley Cup
Kevin Allen
Boston
Pittsburgh
Chicago
Anaheim
Tampa Bay
Chicago
Chicago
Mike Brehm
Boston
New York Rangers
Chicago
Anaheim
Boston
Chicago
Chicago
Peter Barzilai
Boston
Columbus
St. Louis
Anaheim
Tampa Bay
Anaheim
Anaheim
Jimmy Hascup
Tampa Bay
New York Rangers
Dallas
Los Angeles
Tampa Bay
St. Louis
Tampa Bay
Mark Hayes
Boston
Pittsburgh
Chicago
Los Angeles
Boston
Chicago
Chicago
Kristen Shilton
Boston
Pittsburgh
Chicago
Los Angeles
Pittsburgh
Chicago
Chicago
Brad Windsor
Boston
Pittsburgh
Colorado
Anaheim
Pittsburgh
Colorado
Colorado
Greg Wyshysnki, Yahoo Sports
Boston
Pittsburgh
St. Louis
Anaheim
Boston
St. Louis
St. Louis
Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press
Tampa Bay
Pittsburgh
Chicago
Anaheim
Tampa Bay
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Bob Duff, Windsor (Ontario) Star
Boston
Pittsburgh
Chicago
Anaheim
Boston
St. Louis
Boston
Darren Eliot, Fox Sports
Boston
New York
Chicago
Anaheim
Detroit
Colorado
Detroit
Tim Campbell, Winnipeg Free Press
Tampa Bay
Pittsburgh
Chicago
Anaheim
Tampa Bay
Anaheim
Anaheim
Speaking of Colorado, the Avalanche got a vote from Brad Windsor, who boldly claimed that the young bunch of Patrick Roy would be able to add another ring that the fiery coach can plug in his ear. Matt Duchene is on track to be the face of the franchise, but he, along with the raft of youngsters in the team will certainly benefit from the experience about to be brought in by offseason acquisitions Jarome Iginla and Daniel Briere.
Another interesting selection was made by Darren Eliot of Fox Sports. Eliot chose the Detroit Red Wings, +1,800 to win the Cup, to string together a surprising season of great hockey on their way to returning the glory to Hockeytown.
Detroit shares a common denominator with the Avs in that both teams have a good mix of vets and young talent on the team. Where they differ, though, is that the Red Wings’ old guys are fraught with injuries, while Colorado’s are healthy; Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall and Jimmy Howard are all hurting 30-somethings. That said, for Eliot’s prediction to come true he’ll have to pray that Detroit’s young talent will be able to hold the fort well during inevitable times that the leaders on their team are out of commission due to various ailments.
The trend continues with NHL.com’s band of experts. Out of the seven asked to name their Cup champions, six listed, well, the Chicago Blackhawks to take home the Holy Grail of hockey. The odd man out is Adam Kimelman, who trusts the equally deep Boston Bruins. The Bruins are +750 to win the Stanley Cup this season, and they have the tools to do it. They have lethal forwards (Patrice Bergeron, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, Loui Eriksson, etc.) a shutdown blue line led by Zdeno Chara, and an all-world goalie in Tuukka Rask.
