The 2017-18 Predictions

The 2017-18 NHL season saw the first new team added to the NHL's membership since 2000 when Columbus and Minnesota joined the league as the NHL made a splash being the first major professional sports franchise in Las Vegas, Nevada with the arrival of the Golden Knights! Needless to say, the Las Vegas experience was an entirely new experience for the NHL, and we'd see a formidable team built through some shrewd moves in the expansion draft. Delay-of-game penalties were instituted by the NHL for failed coach's challenges in order to curb the number of challenges seen, and timeouts were no longer allowed by a team who iced the puck. The NHL's 100th Centennial Season would continue through 2017 as Ottawa and Montreal would meet on the front lawn of the Canadian Parliamentary Buildings in Ottawa while Colorado and Ottawa started the season in Sweden. Would any of this affect the predictions made by The Hockey News? Let's find out!

If it ain't broke, don't fix it? The Hockey News, for the third-straight season, opted for Connor McDavid and Johnny Gaudreau as the only players who have ever suited up for the Oilers and Flames, and it's a given fact now that both the Oilers and Flames are the only teams to exist not only on the prairies, but in all of Canada. I can't stress how disappointing it is to see these two players year after year after year on the cover of the THN Yearbook with some variation on winning the Stanley Cup.

I'm going to change this up a bit because The Hockey News changed things up this season.

Click to make it larger.

Divisional standings are still in play, so we'll do another year of all-or-nothing for placement within those standings - either you're right or wrong here, THN - for a total of 31 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 - once again.

However, The Hockey News went full playoff picture and predicted every series they guessed, so we'll add points for playoff wins. If a team made the playoffs and advanced to the second round, that would be 1 point. There are seven chances for more points in each conference, so this will add 14 more potential points to the total, bumping the overall score to 63 possible points this season.

STANDINGS

The final Metropolitan Division standings in 2018 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. PITTSBURGH (THN)
2. PITTSBURGH vs. WASHINGTON
3. PHILADELPHIA vs. COLUMBUS
4. COLUMBUS vs. NEW YORK RANGERS
5. NEW JERSEY vs. CAROLINA
6. Carolina vs. Philadephia
7. New York Islanders vs. New York Islanders
8. New York Rangers vs. New Jersey

THN had one of eight teams in the right spots for 1/8 points.

The Atlantic Division follows the same scoring.

1. TAMPA BAY (NHL) vs. TAMPA BAY (THN)
2. BOSTON vs. TORONTO
3. TORONTO vs. MONTREAL
4. Florida vs. Ottawa
5. Detroit vs. Boston
6. Montreal vs. Florida
7. Ottawa vs. Buffalo
8. Buffalo vs. Detroit

THN had one of the eight teams in the right spot for 1/8 points here. We can now see the full playoff picture, and it would appear that THN had five of eight playoff teams correctly identified for 2.5/4 points. They had Tampa Bay 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 5.5/24.

The Pacific Division follows the same scoring.

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

THN had one team in the right spot for 1/8 points.

The Central Division follows the same scoring.

1. NASHVILLE (NHL) vs. DALLAS (THN)
2. WINNIPEG vs. NASHVILLE
3. MINNESOTA vs. CHICAGO
4. COLORADO vs. ST. LOUIS
5. St. Louis vs. MINNESOTA
6. Dallas vs. Winnipeg
7. Chicago 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 three of eight playoff teams correctly predicted for 1.5/4 points. They had neither division winner right for a 0/2 score, and they had no correctly-predicted teams as a wild card team for 0/2 there as well. All totaled, the Western Conference predictions scored THN a final score of 2.5/23.

PLAYOFF WINS

Teams that advanced to the second round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference included Tampa Bay, Toronto, Pittsburgh, and Washington, meaning that THN had three correct predictions there. From those four teams, both Washington and Tampa Bay advanced, giving THN 1 more point for their Tampa Bay prediction. They did not have Pittsburgh making the final, so it will stand as 4/7 points in the Eastern Conference.

In the Western Conference, Nashville, Winnipeg, Vegas, and San Jose all advanced to the second round, and THN had just Nashville reaching that stage for 1 point. Of those four teams, Winnipeg and Vegas advanced and THN had neither of those teams advancing - or making the playoffs for that matter - so they'll finsh the Western Conference playoff picture at 1/7 points.

STANLEY CUP WINNER

Ryan Kennedy was out after some serious misses on this prediction, and Matt Larkin came back in. We know the playoff picture from above, so we don't really need an exciting build-up on this one. Let's see what happened.

• PITTSBURGH PENGUINS WILL DEFEAT THE EDMONTON OILERS TO WIN THE STANLEY CUP. Except they didn't as the 2018 Washington Capitals used five games to eliminate the Vegas Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup. THN had Vegas dead-last in the Pacific Division, so we know they didn't even factor in while the Capitals fell at the hands of the Penguins in the second round in THN's predictions.

THN continues with their normal 0/2 score in this prediction as they missed on both finalists for the Stanley Cup.

The Hockey News completely bombed this season as they scored just 13 out of 63 possible points for a 20.6% accuracy. After a few good seasons in the 30% range, it was like they completely forget everything they had learned in those seasons and just threw darts at team names to make decisions. Honestly, The Hockey News cannot be this bad at predicting a hockey season while touting itself as some sort of authoritative source on the game. Wow.

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!