Reviewing preseason predictions

Lately, this place has been as desolate as the Honda Center with six minutes remaining in the third period of a Pacific Division-deciding game in which the home team is down by two goals and being severely outplayed. Long-winded and ill-advised metaphors aside, however, fret not, esteemed reader, as the playoffs are around the corner meaning posting here should definitely be on the upswing. I plan to unload previews of all four Western Conference first-round matchups as well as my picks throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but first, with every meaningful regular season game over, it's time to look back on my preseason predictions.

Western Conference Predictions:

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

Not bad. Overall, I went 7 for 8 in picking playoff teams, but who could have predicted the Canucks would stink it up as much as they did this season? The Stars obviously overachieved quite a bit, while the Los Angeles Kings were nowhere near the tenth place team I predicted them to be. All in all, solid choices.

Eastern Conference Predictions:

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

Yeah, the Senators crapped the bed, finishing seventh, but I was still 6 for 8. On the other side of things, the Habs and Bruins massively overachieved, which makes for a nice storyline as the two teams head into a first-round meeting later this week.