The NHL 2011-2012 season begins tonight with three games on tap. Before things get underway, we here at the Rat Trick decided to do our own predictions for the season. Like that retirement plan projection that your planner prepares for you, the standings won’t look exactly like this. So many different variables come into play down the road it’s virtually impossible to be precise on everything. However if one of us is, then we need to get look into other work.
Take a look at our picks. Do you agree? Disagree? What do you think is surprising? What about our Cup Champions? It’s a long season, and no matter what ends up happening, we are just glad that it’s finally here. Let’s get started as our Rat Trick Radio producer Josh Luecht kicks things off:
Josh Luecht:
Eastern Conference
1. Washington Capitals 2. Buffalo Sabres 3. Pittsburgh Penguins 4. Boston Bruins
5. New York Rangers 6. Philadelphia Flyers 7. Florida Panthers 8. Tampa Bay Lightning
9. New Jersey Devils 10. Carolina Hurricanes 11. Montreal Canadians 12. Winnipeg Jets
13. New York Islanders 14. Toronto Maple Leafs 15. Ottawa Senators
Western Conference
1. Anaheim Ducks 2. Vancouver Canucks 3. Detroit Red Wings 4. San Jose Sharks
5. Nashville Predators 6. Los Angeles Kings 7. Phoenix Coyotes 8. Chicago Blackhawks
9. Calgary Flames 10. Dallas Stars 11. Colorado Avalanche 12. St Louis Blues
13. Minnesota Wild 14. Edmonton Oilers 15. Columbus Blue Jackets
Finals: Anaheim Ducks vs. Buffalo Sabres
Stanley Cup Winner: Buffalo Sabres
Scott Mullin:
Eastern Conference:
1. Washington Capitals 2. Boston Bruins 3. Tampa Bay Lightning 4. Buffalo Sabres
5. Montreal Canadiens 6. New York Rangers 7. Pittsburgh Penguins 8. Florida Panthers
9. Philadelphia Flyers 10. Winnipeg Jets 11. New Jersey Devils 12. Carolina Hurricanes
13. Toronto Maple Leafs 14. New York Islanders 15. Ottawa Senators
Western Conference:
1. Vancouver Canucks 2. Los Angeles Kings 3. Chicago Blackhawks 4. Detroit Red Wings
5. Nashville Predators 6. San Jose Sharks 7. Columbus Blue Jackets 8. Anaheim Ducks
9. St. Louis Blues 10. Phoenix Coyotes 11. Minnesota Wild 12. Colorado Avalanche
13. Dallas Stars 14. Calgary Flames 15. Edmonton Oilers
Finals: Tampa Bay Lightning vs. San Jose Sharks
Stanley Cup Champion: San Jose Sharks
Yuri Peralta:
Eastern Conference:
1. Washington Capitals 2. Boston Bruins 3. Pittsburgh Penguins
4. Philadelphia Flyers 5. New York Rangers 6. Buffalo Sabres
7. Montreal Canadiens 8. Florida Panthers 9. Tampa Bay Lightning
10. Carolina Hurricanes 11. Ottawa Senators 12. Winnepeg Jets
13. New Jersey Devils 14. Toronto Maple Leafs 15. New York Islanders
Western Conference:
1. San Jose Sharks 2. Vancouver Canucks 3. Los Angeles Kings
4. Anaheim Ducks 5. Detroit Redwings 6. Chicago Blackhawks
7.Phoenix Coyotes 8. Calgary Flames 9. Dallas Stars
10. Nashville Predators 11. Colorado Avalanche 12. Edmonton Oilers
13. Columbus Blue Jackets 14. Minnesota Wild 15. St. Louis Blues
Finals: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Vancouver Canucks
Stanley Cup Champion: Vancouver Canucks
Cameron Tahernia:
Eastern Conference:
1.Tampa Bay Lightning 2.Philadelphia Flyers 3.Buffalo Sabres
4.Boston Bruins 5.Washington Capitals 6.Pittsburgh Pens
7.Florida Panthers 8.Carolina Hurricanes 9.Toronto Maple Leafs
10.Montreal Canadiens 11.New York Rangers 12.Ottawa Senators
13.New York Islanders 14.Winnipeg Jets 15.New Jersey Devils
Western Conference:
1.Vancouver Canucks 2. San Jose Sharks 3. Chicago Blackhawks
4. Anaheim Ducks 5. LA Kings 6. Detroit Red Wings
7. Minnesota Wild 8. Phoenix Coyotes 9. Nashville Predators
10. Columbus Blue Jackets 11. Edmonton Oilers 12. Colorado Avalanche
13. Dallas Stars 14. St. Louis Blues 15. Calgary Flames
Finals: Tampa Bay Lightning vs. San Jose Sharks
Stanley Cup Champion: San Jose Sharks
Patrick McLaughlin:
Eastern Conference:
1.Buffalo Sabres 2.Boston Bruins 3.Washington Capitals
4.Philadelphia Flyers 5.New York Rangers 6.Pittsburgh Penguins
7.Florida Panthers 8.Tampa Bay Lightning 9.Montreal Canadiens
10.Carolina Hurricanes 11.Ottawa Senators 12.Winnipeg Jets
13.Toronto Maple Leafs 14. New York Islanders 15. New Jersey Devils
Western Conference:
1.Vancouver Canucks 2. Chicago Blackhawks 3. San Jose Sharks
4. Detroit Red Wings 5. Los Angeles Kings 6. Anaheim Ducks
7. Nashville Predators 8. Minnesota Wild 9. Phoenix Coyotes
10. Calgary Flames 11. Dallas Stars 12. St. Louis Blues
13. Colorado Avalanche 14. Columbus Blue Jackets 15. Edmonton Oilers
Finals: Buffalo Sabres vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Stanley Cup Champion: Buffalo Sabres
David Lasseter:
Eastern Conference:
1. Washington Capitals 2. Boston Bruins 3. Pittsburgh Penguins
4. Tampa Bay Lightning 5. Buffalo Sabres 6. NY Rangers Rangers
7. Montreal Canadiens 8. Philadelphia Flyers 9. Florida Panthers
10. Toronto Maple Leafs 11. Carolina Hurricanes 12. New Jersey Devils
13. New York Islanders 14. Winnipeg Jets 15. Ottawa Senators
Western Conference:
1. San Jose Sharks 2. Vancouver Canucks 3. Chicago Blackhawks
4. Los Angeles Kings 5. Detroit Red Wings 6. Nashville Predators
7. Anaheim Ducks 8. St. Louis Blues 9. Columbus Blue Jackets
10. Minnesota Wild 11. Calgary Flames 12. Dallas Stars
13. Colorado Avalance 14. Edmonton Oliers 15. Phoenix Coyotes
Finals: Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Stanley Cup Champion: Chicago Blackhawks
Frank Rekas:
Eastern Conference:
1. Washington Capitals 2. Boston Bruins 3. Pittsburgh Penguins 4. Tampa Bay Lightning
5. Buffalo Sabres 6. Montreal Canadiens 7. Philadelphia Flyers 8. Florida Panthers
9. New York Rangers 10. Carolina Hurricanes 11. Winnipeg Jets 12. New Jersey Devils
13. Toronto Maple Leafs 14. New York Islanders 15. Ottawa Senators
Western Conference:
1. San Jose Sharks 2. Chicago Blackhawks 3. Vancouver Canucks
4. Los Angeles Kings 5. Detroit Red Wings 6. Anaheim Ducks
7. Nashville Predators 8. St. Louis Blues 9. Calgary Flames
10. Dallas Stars 11. Colorado Avalance 12. Minnesota Wild
13. Columbus Blue Jackets 14. Phoenix Coyotes 15. Edmonton Oilers
Finals: Washington Capitals vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Stanley Cup Champion: Chicago Blackhawks
Thoughts on our picks? Leave a comment. We’d love to hear from you.
As always thanks for reading. We welcome your comments and opinions.
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