Ballad of the Bandwagoner: REALLY Early NHL Predictions for 2011-2012 Season

Like I did for the NBA, here are my really early NHL predictions.

East

Tim Thomas

Northeast
1 Boston Bruins
2 Montreal Canadiens
3 Buffalo Sabres
4 Toronto Maple Leafs
5 Ottawa Senators

Atlantic

Sidney Crosby

1 Pittsburgh Penguins
2 Philadelphia Flyers
3 New York Rangers
4 New Jersey Devils
5 New York Islanders

Southeast
1 Washington Capitals
2 Tampa Bay Lightning

Alex Ovechkin

3Winnipeg Thrashers
4 Carolina Hurricanes
5 Florida Panthers

Eastern Conference Seeds
1 Washington Capitals
2 Pittsburgh Penguins
3 Boston Bruins
4 Montreal Canadiens
5 Philadelphia Flyers
6 New York Rangers
7 Tampa Bay Lightning
8 Buffalo Sabres

Playoff Predictions

Alexander Semin

Quarters
1) Washington over 8) Buffalo 4-2
2) Pittsburgh over 7) Tampa Bay 4-2
3) Boston over 6) New York 4-2
4) Montreal over 5) Philadelphia 4-3
Semis
1) Washington over 4) Montreal 4-3
3) Boston over 2) Pittsburgh 4-3
Conference Finals
1) Washington over 3) Boston 4-3

Pavel Daysyuk

West
Central
1 Detroit Red Wings
2 Chicago Blackhawks
3 St. Louis Blues
4 Nashville Predators
5 Columbus Blue Jackets

Roberto Luongo

Northwest
1 Vancouver Canucks
2 Calgary Flames
3 Minnesota Wild
4 Edmonton Oilers
5 Colorado Avalanche

Pacific

Joe Pavelski

1 San Jose Sharks
2 Los Angeles Kings
3 Dallas Stars
4 Anaheim Ducks
5 Phoenix Coyotes

Western Conference Seeds
1 Vancouver Canucks
2 Detroit Red Wings
3 San Jose Sharks
4 Chicago Blackhawks
5 Calgary Flames
6 Los Angeles Kings
7 St. Louis Blues
8 Nashville Predators

Henrik Zetterberg

Playoff Predictions
Quarters
1) Vancouver over 8) Nashville 4-2
2) Detroit over 7) St. Louis Blues 4-3
6) Los Angeles over 3) San Jose 4-2
4) Chicago over 5) Calgary 4-3
Semis
1) Vancouver over 6) Los Angeles 4-2
2) Detroit over 4) Chicago 4-3
Western Finals
2) Detroit over 1) Vancouver 4-2

Stanley Cup Finals
Washington Capitals over Detroit Red Wings 4-3