Predictions of the 2009-2010 NHL Season (West)

Western Conference:
Central Division:
Detroit Red Wings
Chicago Blackhawks
Columbus Blue Jackets
St. Louis Blues
Nashville Predators

Northwest Division:
Calgary Flames
Vancouver Canucks
Colorado Avalanche
Minnesota Wild
Edmonton Oilers

Pacific Division:
San Jose Sharks
Los Angeles Kings
Dallas Stars
Phoenix Coyotes
Anaheim Ducks

Western Conference Playoffs:
Calgary Flames
Detroit Red Wings
San Jose Sharks
Vancouver Canucks
Chicago Blackhawks
Columbus Blue Jackets
Los Angeles Kings
St. Louis Blues

Western Conference Champions: San Jose Sharks
I'm not putting Anaheim at the bottom of the Pacific because I hate them. I really believe that they have the weakest spread of talent in their line-ups outside of goaltending. They had one of the best first lines in hockey and a solid second line, but they are really lacking in the third/fourth line department after the departure of Rob Niedermayer. Pronger gone on the defense leaves a lot of questions on the blue line, especially with Scott Niedermayer getting older by the minute. Phoenix and Los Angeles are primed for a breakout season with all the young talent they have on their roster, and one of them will make the playoffs but not go very far. Despite all the attention on Chicago, Detroit is still the team to beat in what looks to be the toughest division in the West. I like Calgary over Vancouver, because they have a lot more skill on the defensive line with both Phaneuf and Bouwmeester, whereas Vancouver is smaller, slightly less talented offensively, but more balanced in front of Luongo. Calgary's offense is a bit thinned out with the departure of Cammalleri, but he was wasted on the third line last year anyways. If the seeds play out like this, San Jose should have a much easier first round, which will build confidence going into a 7 game series against Detroit. But the past several years, that match-up has always been a coin-flip, and Detroit's goals against is slowly rising each year. The Flames are the scariest team on paper, and I consider them favorites to win the President's Trophy, but they've had as much playoff disappointment in recent years as the San Jose Sharks. As deadly as the Canucks look defensively, especially with Luongo secured for the long-term, defense has never been their problem. The Sedin twins can't be expected to carry this offense for the rest of their careers. The Edmonton Oilers lost the only reason why they were in the playoff hunt by losing Roloson to the Islanders, and they'll end up being dead last in the West, 1 point behind the Nashville Predators.

Stanley Cup Prediction: San Jose Sharks vs Philadelphia Flyers
This is going to be old school hockey, as talented as the top two lines for both teams are. There is nothing but grit and mean on both teams' third and fourth lines, and this is going to be a very rough match-up for both hockey teams. San Jose will be the underdogs going into this match-up, not because of seeding or points, but because they have a much tougher road to the Finals than the Flyers. The Flyers are much more built on holding onto small leads, and Emery is a much more athletic goaltender than Nabokov, but Nabokov has much more solid fundamentals and despite losing Michalek and Cheechoo, Marleau on the second line brings much more consistency and firepower to the Sharks, which means a lot less eyeballs on Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley in the playoffs. San Jose wins in 7 on home ice in the closest victory in recent playoff memory.