The 2015-16 Predictions

The 2015-16 season arrived on October 7, 2014, and with that arrival came some changes that the NHL adopted for the season once more. For the first time, overtime periods would be reduced to three players aside in an effort to curb the number of shootouts being used to decide NHL games. Coach's challenges were expanded to allow for a number of new things to be examined by officials, giving teams ten-minute timeouts in some cases. The NHL announced expansion plans once again as both Quebec City and Las Vegas started rolling pennies for the $500-million application bid, and the NHL decided that it would announce its decision in the summer of 2016. Adidas took over the jersey manufacturing from Reebok, its subsidiary, with plans to introduce new jerseys for all 30 - soon to be 31 - NHL teams starting in 2017-18. Of course, The Hockey News was back with another round of predictions, so we'll dive into those and see if any of the above affected who they picked to hoist the Stanley Cup at the end of the season!

Just as I was anointing Taylor Hall as the perennial coverboy moving forward, THN went out and brought Connor McDavid into the fold! I heard he's pretty good despite his team circling the bottom of the bowl for the last few years, but if there's anything that THN does better than making bad predictions, it's pushing the Flames and Oilers as the only NHL teams in existence on the prairies or in Canada. Johnny Gaudreau takes over for Mike Cammalleri in the Flames jersey, so it seems whoever is the catch of the day will be on The Hockey News Yearbook moving forward.

Divisional standings are still in play, so it'll be another year of all-or-nothing for placement within those standings - either you're right or wrong here, THN - for a total of 30 points. Playoff teams, denoted by THN, will be worth 0.5 points if they made the playoffs that season for a chance at 8 total points. In saying that, I'll also add four points for division winners and four points for the right wild card teams (assuming those teams are in the right standings positions) for 8 more points. And there will be 2 points available for the Stanley Cup champion and finalist prediction - all-or-nothing - for a total of 48 points.

Here are the standings predictions as per The Hockey News.

I took some creative liberties in chopping up the picture.

STANDINGS

The final Metropolitan Division standings in 2016 in the NHL are listed first with The Hockey News' predicted team to finish in that same spot listed second. Playoff teams are listed in capital letters for each side.

1. WASHINGTON (NHL) vs. WASHINGTON (THN)
2. PITTSBURGH vs. NEW YORK ISLANDERS
3. NEW YORK RANGERS vs. NEW YORK RANGERS
4. NEW YORK ISLANDERS vs. COLUMBUS
5. PHILADELPHIA vs. PITTSBURGH
6. Carolina vs. Philadelphia
7. New Jersey vs. New Jersey
8. Columbus vs. Carolina

THN had three of eight teams in the right spots for 3/8 points.

The Atlantic Division follows the same scoring.

1. FLORIDA (NHL) vs. TAMPA BAY (THN)
2. TAMPA BAY vs. DETROIT
3. DETROIT vs. MONTREAL
4. Boston vs. Ottawa
5. Ottawa vs. Florida
6. Montreal vs. Boston
7. Buffalo vs. Buffalo
8. Toronto vs. Toronto

THN had just two of the eight teams in the right spot for 2/8 points here. We can now see the full playoff picture, and it would appear that THN had six of eight playoff teams correctly identified for 3/4 points. They had Washington as a division winner for 1/2, but missed on both wild card teams for 0/2 there. All totaled, the Eastern Conference predictions scored THN a final score of 9/24.

The Pacific Division follows the same scoring.

1. ANAHEIM (NHL) vs. ANAHEIM (THN)
2. LOS ANGELES vs. LOS ANGELES
3. SAN JOSE vs. CALGARY
4. Arizona vs. San Jose
5. Calgary vs. Edmonton
6. Vancouver vs. Vancouver
7. Edmonton vs. Arizona

THN had two teams in the right spot for 3/7 points.

The Central Division follows the same scoring.

1. DALLAS (NHL) vs. ST. LOUIS (THN)
2. ST. LOUIS vs. CHICAGO
3. CHICAGO vs. WINNIPEG
4. NASHVILLE vs. DALLAS
5. MINNESOTA vs. NASHVILLE
6. Colorado vs. Minnesota
7. Winnipeg vs. Colorado

THN had none of the seven teams in the right spot for 0/7 points here. We can now see the full playoff picture, and it would appear that THN had six of eight playoff teams correctly predicted for 3/4 points. They had Anaheim correctly winning the Pacific Division for a 1/2 score, and had Nashville as a wild card team for 1/2 there as well. All totaled, the Western Conference predictions scored THN a final score of 8/22.

STANLEY CUP WINNER

It seems Ryan Kennedy hung up his pen as the writer for the Stanley Cup prediction after getting both the winner, Chicago, and the finalist, Tampa Bay, correct one year earlier. Matt Larkin took over this year, so let's see who he attached The Hockey News's cart to in this year's prediction.

• ANAHEIM DUCKS WILL DEFEAT WASHINGTON CAPITALS TO WIN THE STANLEY CUP. Except they didn't as the 2016 Pittsburgh Penguins used six games to eliminate the San Jose Sharks to win the Stanley Cup. Anaheim, the chosen team by The Hockey News, played just seven games in the playoffs, losing to the Nashville Predators in a series where they led 3-2 after five games only to score a measly two goals in the last two games to lose the series 4-3. Washington, for their part, were eliminated in the second round in six games by their old foes and the eventual champions in the Penguins.

THN went back to their normal 0/2 score in this prediction as neither team as close to a Stanley Cup Final appearance.

The Hockey News turned in a decent effort this season as they scored 17 out of 48 possible points for a 35.4% accuracy. They stay above 30% in the prediction accuracy, but they missed out on Vegas money once more as they had the wrong winner and finalist. I'm thinking the latter should be expected now, but we'll continue to examine this as the years advance.

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!