Next year I use a crystal ball

I wrote my predictions for the NHL season last September. I decided not to use a crystal ball this season. Next year I will. However, I was dead on for a few.

1) Connor Mcdavid, Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon, and Jonathan Drouin will challenge for the Art Ross. Will they get 100 points? Every year I expect a 120 point season and it just doesn't happen.



Well doggy I almost got it right. It was a hell of a scoring race and Kucherov and Giroux surprised. Mcdavid wins it again but MacKinnon should have probably won it if not for his late-season injury. Matthews was injured for too long a period to compete. As for Drouin I may have jumped the gun a little so as the Brooklyn Dodgers fans  would say 'Wait till next year'. By the way all my habs predictions were wrong.


2) I predict a 3 way fight for the Norris. My choices from last year are back in PK Subban and Victor Hedman. My surprise choice as the 3rd challenger is Shea Weber. PK might win it this time because Ellis will be missing for several months which should increase PK's ice-time. He is also more comfortable with his teammates. Weber will be set up by Drouin on the powerplay and this should add to his goal total. He will also have an increased work-load after the exit of many veteran hab defencemen. I did not take Karlsson because he may miss the first month but if he doesn't...

I think Hedman may be nominated but he probably won’t win it. Subban should have probably been nominated since he carried the President’s trophy winners Predators for most of the year. He slowed down in the final quarter when Ellis came back and took away some of Subban’s time on ice. People are talking about Seth Jones and Drew Doughty as likely candidates along with John Klingberg. Seth Jones stats are comparable to Subban but his team did not fare as well as the Predators. Neither did the teams led by Doughty and Klingberg. The detractors to Subban will always point out the other outstanding defencemen on the team. However, I do believe Subban was the most consistent of all of them during the year. Anyways Weber was injured, but I think the only way Weber wins the Norris in the future is if habs win the lottery and draft Dahlin.

3) The Maurice Richard trophy will go either to Patrick Laine or Auston Matthews. My choice for the Calder, Laine was sidetracked by a concussion last year.  Both of these young guns proved they have that old fashioned sniper aptitude of the 1970's and 80's. Steve Stamkos could be there as well but once again his fitness is unknown.

Ovechkin wins it again but injuries hampered both Laine and Matthews. They will win it soon. This may be Ovi’s final Richard trophy. Stamkos surprisingly was more of a playmaker this year.


4) Who will finish ahead between Ottawa, Montreal, and Toronto? Honestly this is difficult because I am not sure whether Bergy is through fiddling with the line-up. At this point I think Toronto, a member of the axis of evil,  and Ottawa will be ahead of Montreal and probably challenge for first with Tampa. However, if Montreal were to get that first line center we have been anticipating for eons they may be better than their inter-province rivals and challenge Tampa.





Well habs never got their first line center and they were gawdawful. Ottawa was surprisingly bad and they were hampered by ownership and goaltending issues and Karlsson’s lack of interest. The Leafs progressed as I expected and who knows what will happen in the playoffs.

5) Boston, Philadelphia, and  Detroit will not make the playoffs. The axis of evil foiled again except for those darn infernal  leafs.

Well one out of three ain’t bad. Oh never mind I cannot stomach the axis of evil who aren’t even using goon tactics as much.. Jesus I just don’t get the bruins. Frankly their roster is comparable to the habs. Other than an outstanding  top line that played way above their capacity, they are being led by old-timers Chara and McQuaid on defence.  A lot of kudos to the coaching staff who have been able to develop and instill confidence in young players something Julien was unable to do a short year ago. What to make of the flyers? What a year by Giroux who was rumoured to be going to the habs. Remember how Pierre Mcguire went ballistic when he heard the rumours about Chucky going the other way.  Bergy would have been looking like a genius if he had made that trade. At least I was right about Detroit. Still say habs and wings should get together and make a Chucky for Mantha trade.

6) Who will win the Cup this year? Still unsure, I will not be shocked if the Oilers and Tampa are in the final.

Tampa seemed to be the consensus Cup choice after the first half of the season. However they faded slightly in the second half. I am not sure if they lucked out by avoiding the leafs in the first round. Time will tell. What about the Oilers egad. The long term signings of Lucic and Draisatl and the trading of Hall and Eberle may have been presumptuous to say the least. However, I would rather be in the Oilers shoes with a young Mcdavid than where the habs are now.


7) Once again, I repeat as a time traveller Habs will finally trade for a first line center ahem. I am hoping for any of the following Duchene, Giroux, Tavares, or Nugent-Hopkins. I will not be pleased if they get a Bozak type center. I hope this prediction becomes confirmed by the end of the month.

I am stunned this did not happen. All my habs predictions were wrong. I think we should pray for Tavares. Maybe Bergy and Garth Snow have already swung a deal. Now that the tension of the season is over my wishful thinking has returned.
 

8) I am thinking one of these two players will be traded this year by the habs the erratic Galchenyuk or the hardest working man in the NHL Gallagher. Either Lindgren or McNiven will also be sadly gone.

At the end of the year Gallagher is almost an untouchable. However, is he coveted enough by other teams that he could bring us that number one center? Nothing Bergy said at his year-end press conference leads me to believe that Chucky is not on the trading block. Frankly, Lindgren and McNiven dropped a notch in their value after a year with the Rocket.

9) The Avs will become Nathan MacKinnon’s  team after Duchene is traded. The habs will become Jonathan Drouin's team. They will lead their team in scoring and become bona-fide superstars. They will become show-time athletes.





Well MacKinnon finally reached his potential and yes Duchene being traded was one of the reasons for his coming out season. Who knows if Drouin will make the same splash if they trade Chucky. Don’t ask the pro-Chucky side they will eat you alive. However, if people think this is outlandish remind me who said MacKinnon would explode this year after his dismal display last year.


10) Crosby, Toews, Benn, Kane, Seguin, Carter, Getzlaf etc etc etc are just plain too old- Pierre McGuire
 

I was being sarcastic but many of them dropped in their production and maybe age was a factor.

11) Donald Trump will resign by the the time the Stanley Cup is handed out. Ok vafanculo I predicted Hillary would win...

As they say the merde has hit the fan and who knows if Trump lasts by June.


Health Advisory: Well anyways one can hallucinate and these predictions could collapse if injuries or illness occur or players decide to go to the olympics..

And some of them did collapse due to injuries not the olympics