I like to consider myself to be a fan of chaos. Chaos, when not ripping through your personal life, is entertaining. Whether you’re a fan of sports, reality TV, or even people watching, we all at our cores are fans of chaos. And this NHL season is going to be absolute chaos.
The Boring Shit
The puck will drop for this season on January 13th and run until May 8th. All teams will have opened training camp by January 3rd, with the teams that did not compete in the bubble starting a few days earlier. The beginning of playoffs is set for May 11th and could run until July 9th at the latest. Those two dates are still subject to change due to the pandemic, but the NHL is in a time crunch with the expansion draft also taking place this summer. The season will likely take priority over the expansion draft if everything does go to shit.
Division Realignment
With the pandemic still running rampant across North America and travel between the US and Canada limited, the NHL needed to realign the divisions. Here’s how they turned out:
EAST: Boston, Buffalo, New Jersey, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington
CENTRAL: Carolina, Colombus, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Florida, Nashville, Tampa Bay
WEST: Anaheim, Arizona, Colorado, Los Angeles, Minnesota, San Jose, St Louis, Vegas
NORTH: (Canada): Calgary, Edmonton, Ottowa, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg
And so the chaos begins. There is no cross-divisional play this season until deep into the playoffs (Semis). Teams in the East, West, and Central divisions will play every team in their division eight times. The North, or Canadien, Division has one less team than the rest. Because of this, each team will play the others nine or ten times.
This realignment is going to create serious animosity between teams and should lead to some fucking unbelievable television. Clubs usually go weeks or months without playing each other during a standard NHL season. Not this year, my understanding is games will be played like baseball. During every road trip, teams will play multi-game series to limit the amount of traveling that has to take place. That is precisely the chaos that hockey needs. Having teams play multiple games in a row against each other is why the NHL Playoffs are so intense and captivating. Now the NHL is applying that to a shortened regular season. I mean, for fucks sake, we get to watch the Battle Of Alberta (Calgary v Edmonton) nine or ten times this season! If just the thought of that doesn’t get you fired up, watch this:
While not every series will be quite that intense, it’s safe to assume that the regular season intensity will be jacked up.
PLAYOFFS:
Year in and year out, the NHL Playoffs are the definition of chaos, and this year might be even crazier. This year’s playoff structure is a throwback to an older era in the NHL; while the series will still be seven games long, the rest of the set up will be wildly different. The top four teams in each division will qualify for the playoffs, The 1st seed will play the 4th, and the 2nd will play the 3rd. The winners of those series will then play each other to determine who will advance to the Semis. Each division will be represented in the Semis, and seeding for it will be determined by regular-season point totals. All that means we could very realistically have two teams from the conventional Eastern or Western conferences playing for the Cup. And you know what that means… CHAOS!
No matter what happens this year, it’s going to be a very memorable season. Chaos and hatred will almost certainly reign supreme, and that’s the best news possible for die-hard and casual fans alike. So, sit down, buckle up, and prepare yourself for one hell of a spectacle.
GAMBLING FUTURES (Odds From FanDuel Sportsbook):
Before I even begin to get into this, let me first say this, gambling on the Chel is fuckin’ hard during a standard year, let alone a season like this. So take everything with a grain of salt, and keep in mind, I’m just some nobody on the internet trying to make myself, and my friends, some money.
With the strange playoff format this year, the odds are not conventional. There are no odds for Eastern or Western Conference champs, so all odds shown are to win the Stanley Cup. Due to this, what I ended up doing was picking a dark horse, and my favorite from each division. So, without further ado:
EAST DIVISION:
Dark Horse: New York Islanders 26/1
After making a run to the Eastern Conference Finals in the bubble, the oddsmakers simply aren’t respecting the Isles enough. Barry Trotz is a top 3 coach in the league, and he knows how to get his clubs playing the right way to win. The Isles will be as stingy as always defensively, and if their offense can pick up just a little more, they could take that next step to the Stanley Cup Finals.
My Favorite: Philidelphia Flyers 14/1
The Flyers had a pretty unimpressive run in the bubble. The series win over the Canadiens took much longer than it should have with the two teams’ talent gap, and they were bounced the next round by the Isles. With that said, Carter Hart is now heading into his first full season as a starter, which should increase his confidence. Most importantly, they get Oscar Lindblom back fully recovered from cancer (if you don’t know his story, look it up cause it’s incredible). Before his diagnosis, Lindblom had been the Flyer’s best offensive forward. He’s a much more impactful player than people give him credit for, which will be shown early and often this season.
CENTRAL DIVISION:
Dark Horse: Florida Panthers 36/1
This was really tough to pick because this division is very top-heavy, and the rest of the teams just kinda suck. I went with Florida in large part because of Sergei (Bob) Bobrovsky. Bob had a shit year last year, and it would be harsh to assume he’s gonna be that bad again. Outside of Bob hopefully having a bounce-back year, the Panthers also have some very high-end offensive talent, highlighted by Sasha Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Keith Yandle on the blue-line. If Bob can have a bounce-back year, and the scorers continue to hum, this could be an incredibly dynamic team.
My Favorite: Tampa Bay Lightning 19/2
It doesn’t take a genius to pick Tampa here, they did just win the Cup after all, and they’ve been a contender for the last damn near-decade. They looked like they were gonna come back with pretty much their entire team too. However, it was just announced that Nikita Kucherov will miss the entire regular season. But with the potential of Kuch coming back for the playoffs, the Lightning are still firmly the favorite to come out of the Central.
WEST DIVISION:
Dark Horse: St. Louis Blues 18/1
I know what you’re thinking, “Dude, the Blues won the Cup two years ago. How can they possibly be a dark horse?”. Well, when the two teams ahead of them are the odds on Cup favorites, it makes it a little easier. When you include how bad they looked in the bubble, it’s fair to have some questions about this team. All that said, their team really hasn’t changed much since that Cup win, and they’re gonna be motivated to prove last year was just a fluke.
My Favorite: Colorado Avalanche 7/1
I can hear it now, people screaming HOMER from the rooftops. And to those people, I simply say this, suuuuuuuuuuuck iiiiiiiittttttt! The Colorado Fucking Avalanche are the Stanley Cup favorites, and I’m gonna treat them as such. They took the Western Conference Champ Dallas Stars to a game seven with a THIRD STRING GOALIE! If they can stay healthy and continue to get above-average goaltending, they will be the team to beat this year, and those are just facts. (Full Avs Snow Report blog coming soon)
NORTH DIVISION:
Dark Horse: Montreal Canadiens 31/1
Of all the dark horse picks I made, this was the hardest one for me. Not because all these teams can compete, the complete opposite actually, the Canadien division is the weakest division top to bottom by some margin. I went with Montreal in large part because Carey Price is still maybe the best Goalie in the world, and Claude Julien has a history of winning. Plus, they really showed something when they beat the Penguins in the play-in round of the bubble. If they can somehow replicate that performance over a complete season, the Habs could make some noise.
My Favorite: Toronto Maple Leafs 15/1
Toronto is the best team in Canada right now. For that reason, they have to be the favorite, but they are by far and away the worst favorite. They have all the offensive firepower in the world on their top two lines. The rest of their forward group, however, is cobbled together with the remaining salary cap. I’m not even gonna pretend like I would put money on the Leafs, but I had to fill this spot, and so here we are.
PLAYER FUTURES:
I wasn’t planning on doing this section, but when I went to find the futures for the Stanley Cup, these also came up. So I figured I’d give myself a better chance to actually be right in this article. These are not necessarily who I think is gonna take home each trophy. It’s just the ones that I’m personally gonna bet. Do what you want with that information.
HART: Jack Eichel 15/1
Eichel has somehow been one of the most undervalued players in the league over the last few years. He’s been doing everything possible to make the Sabres relevant the past two seasons. While the Sabres have tried to surround him with help, they’ve made decisions that haven’t panned out. This offseason, they finally acquired a bonafide star to pair with Eichel in Taylor Hall. With Hall on his wing, Eichel could be set for a season that FINALLY propels him into the MVP discussion he so rightly deserves to be in.
VEZINA: Carey Price 10/1
There’s no way around it, Carey Price had an off-year last season. He was far from a bad goalie, but he wasn’t the world-beater he’s shown the propensity to be over the last decade or so. And that’s why I’m betting on him this season. This has all the makings of a fuck you tour for Price. People were beginning to doubt whether he’s worth the money Montreal is paying him. Carey Price is as competitive as any player out there, and with this shortened season, I think he’s gonna be lights out.
NORRIS: Victor Hedman 11/2
This pick is simply chalk. Hedman is the favorite to win the Vezina this year, and for a good reason. His performance in the playoffs, and most importantly, the Stanley Cup Final, was nothing short of spectacular. Especially when it looked like he was gonna miss the entire playoffs following an injury against the Blue Jackets. Hedman has been at, or near, the top of the league for a long time, and this season will be no different.
CALDER: Igor Shesterkin 7/2
If this is your first time hearing Igor Shesterkin’s name, don’t worry, it won’t be your last. Allow me to highlight his limited but none-the-less impressive numbers from last season. 12 games started, 10 wins, 2 losses, a .932 SV%, and 2.52 GAA. Those are fucking ridiculous numbers for any goalie. Let alone a rookie on a team that gave up the eighth-most goals in the NHL. It’s fair to assume that Shesterkin will be the Rangers number one this season and could potentially edge out his teammate Alexis Lafreniere for the Clader.
Well, there ya have it, a perfect primer for a chaotic hockey season. Bet smart, don’t overextend, and let’s win some fucking money!
Follow me on Twitter @msovi27 for any live picks and, more often than not, the ramblings of a mad man.
The Snow Report 