It’s official: the first month of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) regular season came and went, and teams are beginning to get into the groove of the 82-game season. With that, plenty of storylines have already formed that analysts, coaches, players and fans would have never anticipated come puck drop in October. Now that the league has its bearings and we’ve been fortunate to sample some hockey, bold predictions need to be made.
The Washington Capitals lead the league with a 13-2-3 record and 29 points. This statistic is not too surprising, seeing as the Capitals have been a well-rounded team the past few seasons, winning the Stanley Cup two years ago. The St. Louis Blues are not too far behind, with a 12-3-3 record and 27 points total. The Blues are coming off a Stanley Cup Championship, and the team is one of the favorites to make it far in the playoffs. My prediction is that either the Capitals or the Blues take the President’s Trophy at the end of the regular season for best record in the league.
There is talk that the President’s Trophy has an underlying curse surrounding it. The past six seasons, the President’s Trophy winner has cracked under the pressure and has been eliminated early in the playoffs. Last season was a perfect example of this season-breaking curse. The Tampa Bay Lightning won the President’s Trophy and tied a record for the best regular season record in the NHL ever. However, in the first round of the playoffs, the Lightning were swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets and lost four straight games.
The Lightning, who were the favorite to win the Cup at the beginning of the season, are currently struggling in their season. At this time last year, the Blues were also struggling in their season; however, the team prevailed to win its first Championship. My prediction is that the Lightning will also prevail as the season goes on, and will advance farther this postseason than they did last.
An important aspect of a successful team is a successful goalie. At times, when the offense is not scoring goals like they should, a focused and disciplined goalie can win a game. My prediction for the season is that Ben Bishop will win the Vezina Trophy for best goaltender in the league. Bishop, who is currently the Dallas Stars’ starting goaltender, has been nominated for the award three times in his career. Bishop is a consistent player, and if he continues to make top-of-the-league numbers like he has in past seasons, it will be difficult for him to not to be the Vezina Trophy winner.