2010-2011 NHL Regular Season Preview Recap

Prior to the NHL 2010-2011 regular, we here at USTN debuted our pre-season prediction format by previewing our predictions for the five best and five worst teams. Since then we have gone on to use this format and our massive sports knowledge to predict the NBA and MLB seasons. Additionally, during the time that has past since those predictions, an NHL season happened. Goals were scored (a league leading 50 by Duck Wing Corey Perry), goals were stopped (most effectively by Tim Thomas) and fights were had (by a lot of guys that wouldn't even be on a roster if they could punch). The NHL regular season has now reached its end and the playoffs are set to begin. So, it is time to see how we did with our predictions.



For those of you that don't remember who we picked, here is a quick recap.

Five Best:

• Vancouver Canucks
• San Jose Sharks
• Philadelphia Flyers
• Washington Capitals
• Chicago Blackhawks

Five Worst

• Atlanta Thrashers
• Florida Panthers
• New York Islanders
• Columbus Blue Jackets
• Edmonton Oilers

For those of you that don't have the NHL regular season standing etched into your mind, here are the final standings.

Five Best:

• Vancouver Canucks
• Washington Capitals
• Philadelphia Flyers
• San Jose Sharks
• Detroit Red Wings

Five Worst

• Edmonton Oilers
• Colorado Avalanche
• Florida Panthers
• New York Islanders
• Ottawa Senators

So, it looks like we did a pretty good job with picking the winners. Matt managed to get 4 of the 5 teams listed, only missing the Chicago Blackhawks. Not picking the Red Wings was probably a mistake as they are really good every year. They are like the Yankees or the Patriots of the NHL, except much less evil. I think it can be forgiven though as the Blackhawks are the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

We didn't do quite as well with the losers, only getting 3 of the 5 teams. Although, the two teams that I picked that didn't finish in the bottom five did finish as the sixth (Atlanta) and seventh (Columbus) worst. I think that should count for something considering my Hockey novice. However, we don't want to make a habit of making excuses for our predictions here at the blog, so I will count them against us.

Overall, I think we did a pretty good job of picking the regular season winners and losers. We managed to get 7 of the 10 picks correct. More importantly none of our picks showed up on the wrong list at teh end of the season. So, considering all that I declare the NHL regular season predictions a success!