Revisiting my pre-season predictions: Part I

Way back in the fall I made my predictions for the 2008-09 regular season. Predictions were made for the Eastern and Western Conferences, as well as for major award winners. Now that the season is over and the hardware handed out, it is time to look back in embarrassment at my preseason predictions. This is Part I in the series.

I will rank all my predictions them on a four-letter scale:

A - Nailed the pick exactly right
B - In the ballpark but not right on
C - A pretty misguided pick, but you can kind of understand why I made it
F - Epic fail

Eastern Conference

1st Place
Predicted: Philadelphia Flyers
Actual: Boston Bruins
Grade: C - Philly had a strong team, but finished 17 points behind the Bruins in 5th.

2nd Place
Predicted: Montreal Canadiens
Actual: Washington Capitals
Grade: F - Many observers expected big things from the Habs in their centenary season. I, unfortunately, was one of them. The Canadiens were a gong show from mid-season onwards, and barely made the playoffs by virtue of a tie-breaker with Florida.

3rd Place
Predicted: Washington Capitals
Actual: New Jersey Devils
Grade: B- - Washington managed to finish 2nd, bettering my expectations for them. Although I must admit that I picked them to finish 3rd only by virtue of winning their division:

"I wouldn’t be surprised if the Pens finish second to the Flyers for points - too bad the NHL's screwy division-seeding arrangement, AKA throwing the Southeast Division a frickin' bone, will deny them the second seed in the conference" ('Nucks and Pucks, September 13, 2009).

4th Place
Predicted: Pittsburgh Penguins
Actual: Pittsburgh Penguins
Grade: A- - Yes I nailed it, but see above quotation for my thoughts about the Penguins. Yes theytied for 4th, but they were nowhere close to finishing 2nd in points.

5th Place
Predicted: New Jersey Devils
Actual: Philadelphia Flyers
Grade: C+ - The Devils exceeded my expectations, winning the Atlantic Division and finishing 3rd in the conference.

6th Place
Predicted: Buffalo Sabres
Actual: Carolina Hurricanes
Grade: F - Oops.

7th Place
Predicted: New York Rangers
Actual: New York Rangers
Grade: A - The only thing preventing an A+ was that I referred to Wade Redden as "a defensive upgrade" when I should have said "useless player with a millstone of a contract."

8th Place
Predicted: Boston Bruins
Actual: Montreal Canadiens
Grade: F - So my 8th place team finished first, and my second place team finished 8th. Did not see Boston coming on so strong, but good on 'em they had a great season.

9th Place
Predicted: Ottawa Senators
Actual: Florida Panthers
Grade: A- - Yes Ottawa actually finished 11th, but the point is that I called them to miss the playoffs and continue their freefall away from respectability. And I think I nailed that one pretty much dead on!

10th Place
Predicted: Tampa Bay Lightning
Actual: Buffalo Sabres
Grade: C - Tampa was worse than I thought they would be. What can ya do?

11th Place
Predicted: Carolina Hurricanes
Actual: Ottawa Senators
Grade: F - Carolina not only made the playoffs as the number 6 seed, they shocked the hockey world by making it all the way to the Conference Finals.

12th Place
Predicted: Florida Panthers
Actual: Toronto Maple Leafs
Grade: C- - Florida surprised by making a strong push for the playoffs, ultimately falling just short.

13th Place
Predicted: New York Islanders
Actual: Atlanta Thrashers
Grade: C+ - The Isles finished last in the league.

14th Place
Predicted: Toronto Maple Leafs
Actual: Tampa Bay Lightning
Grade: C+ - Toronto was a little better than I expected. Just a little.

15th Place
Predicted: Atlanta Thrashers
Actual: New York Islanders
Grade: B- - Atlanta finished 13th. Trying to predict the bottom of the standings is a painful and inexact science.

Final Grades:

A: 1
A-: 2
B-: 2
C+: 3
C: 2
C-: 1
F: 4