Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Pre-Pre Season Prediction Pontification

My blogging has been less than frequent as of late, so I am starting with something nice and easy to get myself into writing shape for the season. Consider this the start of training camp.

20 Predictions for the 2011-2012 NHL season
Leaf-centric
1- Tim Connolly will be a 0.8 PPG player
2- Phil Kessel will score 40 goals
3- Luke Schenn will get 30 points
4- Matt Lombardi will play 20+ games for the Leafs
5- Nazem Kadri will score 45+ points
6- Mike Komisarek will earn some of his money....maybe half of it
7- Ron Wilson will coach the full final year of his contract
8- Josh Leivo will be this years Josh Nicholls and surprise everyone with his CHL scoring
9- No one will miss any of the players let go/traded from last season....except Kaberle for nostalgia purposes alone.
10- The Leafs will be fighting for a playoff spot right up to the end, and won't miss by more than 6 points

NHL Wide
1- The Jets will not only be terrible, their fan base and the media whoring around them will be intolerable.
2- The Flyers at best will be a bottom rung playoff team
3- If Cary Price produces an average season, the Habs will be a below average team
4- The Oilers and Islanders will continue to rush their prospects
5- The Avalanche will hand the Caps a top 5 pick for .905 goaltending
6- Ovechkin will be back, in a big way and win the Richard
7- Crosby will return, and score at a staggering pace almost immediately
8- Selanne will still be near a PPG if he plays for the Ducks
9- Jagr will embarrass himself in Philly this year.
10- Forsberg will attempt yet another come back