The 2010-11 Predictions

There were some major changes that the NHL underwent as they entered the second decade of the 2000s. Versus, the former US network carrying NHL games, was owned by Comcast and they chose to split coverage on Versus with their newly-acquired asset in NBCUniversal as the places to find NHL hockey on US TVs. The Buffalo Sabres were bought by Terry Pegula midway through the 2010-11 season, leading to a new direction for that franchise in the coming years. Regulation wins now carried a heavier weight when deciding tie-breaking scenarios, and it would actually come into play this season - more on that below. Six NHL teams started their seasons in Europe as the Sharks, Bruins, Hurricanes, Wild, Blue Jackets, and Coyotes all made the trip overseas, and we'd see two outdoor games with the resurrection of the Heritage Classic joining the Winter Classic as regular-season outdoor games. Of course, The Hockey News also was back with their predictions, so let's dive into the 2010-11 Yearbook and see how that played out!

After it appeared that we might see a new team, we certainly got a new player on an old team. The Edmonton Oilers are back as wunderkind Taylor Hall graces the cover of The Hockey News for the first time. The Oilers, if my count is right, have had seven players in this examination grace the covers of the THN Yearbook in the prairie region - by and far, the most of any team now. If only there were another team in the prairie region that could possibly bump the Oilers out of THN's mind? That's called foreshadowing, kids.

The Hockey News continues its standings predictions this year, so we'll examine and score these predictions as we have before. After a much-improved 31.1% accuracy on their predictions one year earlier, will we see another solid jump up in the accuracy mark?

Here are the standings predictions as per The Hockey News.

Click on the picture if you'd like to view it at a larger size.

STANDINGS

I'll award one point for every team correctly predicted as to their final conference standing. I'll also award one point for every correctly-predicted playoff team in the right standing, and 0.5 points for a playoff team not in the correct standings spot. I'll continue to award up to three points for the division winners as well. That's a potential total of 15 points for the standings, another 3 points for divisions winners, and 8 points for the playoff teams for a total of 26 points per conference in this section.

The final Eastern Conference standings in 2011 in the NHL are listed first with The Hockey News' predicted team to finish in that same spot listed second.

1. Washington (NHL) vs. Washington (THN)
2. Philadelphia vs. Pittsburgh
3. Boston vs. Boston
4. Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia
5. Tampa Bay vs. New Jersey
6. Montreal vs. Buffalo
7. Buffalo vs. Tampa Bay
8. New York Rangers vs. Montreal
9. Carolina vs. Carolina
10. Toronto vs. Ottawa
11. New Jersey vs. Atlanta
12. Atlanta vs. Toronto
13. Ottawa vs. New York Rangers
14. New York Islanders vs. New York Islanders
15. Florida vs. Florida

THN might be onto something here as these standings predictions are getting better. They had five teams - Washington, Boston, Carolina, the Islanders, and Florida - finishing in the right spot in the standings for 5 points. They scored Washington and Boston as division winners for a 2/3 score. They had Washington and Boston as the in the right spots for playoff spots, and they had five of the six remaining teams correctly making the playoffs for 2.5 additional points (5 x 0.5). All totaled, The Hockey News scored 9.5/26 points for the Eastern Conference.

Remember how I said I'd discuss the regulation-or-overtime wins rule below? It should also be noted that the tie-breaking rule cost THN some points as the the 106-point, 47-win Philadelphia Flyers earned 44 regulation-or-overtime wins to earn the Atlantic Division title over the 106-point, 49-win Pittsburgh Penguins who only had 39 regulation-or-overtime wins. Wins in regulation time mattered!

The Western Conference follows the same listing and scoring for 26 possible points.

1. Vancouver (NHL) vs. Vancouver (THN)
2. San Jose vs. San Jose
3. Detroit vs. Detroit
4. Anaheim vs. Chicago
5. Nashville vs. Los Angeles
6. Phoenix vs. St. Louis
7. Los Angeles vs. Phoenix
8. Chicago vs. Calgary
9. Dallas vs. Colorado
10. Calgary vs. Nashville
11. St. Louis vs. Anaheim
12. Minnesota vs. Dallas
13. Columbus vs. Minnesota
14. Colorado vs. Columbus
15. Edmonton vs. Edmonton

The Western Conference saw THN put up another strong showing in the standings predictions. They scored 4 points for having all of Vancouver, San Jose, Detroit, and Edmonton in the right standings spots! They had all three divison winners right for 3/3 points there! And then they also added 3 more points for having the right seeds for Vancouver, San Jose, and Detroit while adding 1.5 points for only having three of the five teams remaining (3 x 0.5) making the playoffs for 4.5 total points there. The final total for the Western Conference was 11.5/26 in 2010!

STANLEY CUP WINNER

Adam Proteau handled the prediction for the Stanley Cup winner this season, and he was looking to continue the tradition of at least having the magazine's chosen team reach the Stanley Cup Final as the previous two choices had done. Let's see how they did this year.

• VANCOUVER CANUCKS WILL WIN THE STANLEY CUP. Except they didn't as the 2011 Boston Bruins eliminated the Canucks in seven games to win the Stanley Cup. Because this is an all-or-nothing call, THN gets nothing for Vancouver showing up but going home empty-handed. As stated in the previous two examinations, there's no silver medal in the NHL, and there won't be any handed out here.

THN scored 0/1 in this prediction, but this is the third-straight year they chose a team who lost in the Stanley Cup Final. Three times a bridesmaid, so maybe next year?

The Hockey News saw their accuracy score improve for a third-straight year as well after this season's score of 21 out of 53 possible points for their best-ever score of 39.6% accurate. Again, you wouldn't have won money in Vegas for the Stanley Cup champion prediction, but THN is showing some marked improvement with their predictions, particularly in calling the division winners over the last couple of seasons. Maybe we need to change what we're betting on when it comes to their predictions?

We'll see how future seasons play out with these predictions and if THN can continue improve next season as we move forward chronologically!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!