So, what's your guys take halfway through the season? Who will make the playoffs, who won't? As far as the west is concerned, I think Atlanta will crack, and either the Sabres or the Hurricanes put in a surge. Carolina tends to go on lengthy streaks post-allstar break, so I really hope we can put an effort into it this year as well. What's nice this year is that we have tons of secondary scoring following Staal which we have not had in a couple of seasons. But we're also depending on Ward being as stable as he is, because our D has been extremely unstable so far.
If we manage to get our shit together defensively and stop playing like we did against Calgary, and start beating teams ahead of us as well, I think we might get the 8th berth, but we'll see.
The Western conference is so damn crowded it's impossible to make a prediction. Before the weekend it was like 7-8 teams with 46 points. But I see that it's been evened out now. I think both San Jose and LA will jump back in it, and how about Colombus who were off to such a great start? The only teams set is probably Detroit and Vancouver although that will probably change.
And, finally, what do you guys think Ovechkin this year? He's been slumping a bit lately, and so has the Caps in general.