Fathead Blog

The 2013 NHL season may be just a few weeks old, but in this abbreviated season every game, period and point are critical.

Which team will win the Stanley Cup in 2013?

Considering the season is nearly a quarter complete, the crystal ball is now beginning to clarify which teams are true Stanley Cup contenders. Some teams are in a familiar situation while others face a must-win season.

Here are the early season favorites to lift Lord Stanley at season’s end:

The Darkhorse Candidates: These teams are considered sleepers, who if they catch fire at the right moment could ride the lightning all the way to a championship. One of these such teams is the defending champion Los Angeles Kings, who had everything come together at the right time to steal the deal from the No. 8 seed last season. They were one of the favorites coming into the season, but they have been plagued by injuries early on. Not to be counted out quite yet, look for Kings to right the ship.

The Edmonton Oilers are another darkhorse contender. Given, they’ve been near the bottom of the standing for three consecutive years, but have hit the jackpot in recent draft history. Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov have all been the No. 1 overall selection over the past three NHL season and now all play for the Oilers. The team currently holds a playoff spot and will take their lumps as they learn the ropes of the NHL, but they’re building a winner in Edmonton.  There’s always a year when the perennial downtrodden turn the page and blossom into an unstoppable force—this is that year for the Oilers.

A team in the Eastern Conference that could go the distance is the Montreal Canadiens. The league’s most storied franchise are contenders once again. Behind all-world goaltender Carey Price, they have a real chance this season. There’s a perfect storm of youth and experience in Montreal right now, watch out for the Habs.

The Usual Suspects: To no surprise, these teams have thrown their hat into the ring—the Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins look like they’ll all make deep runs in the playoffs.  Each team is well balanced and built for the long haul.

This Year’s Worst to First Contender: The Tampa Bay Lightning missed the playoffs last season, but they won’t this time around. With stars like Steven Stamkos, Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis, they have the skill needed to lead a franchise on the brink of greatness. They currently lead the league with a plus-18 goal differential and are scoring nearly five goals a game. Rookie Cory Conacher currently leads all first timers with 12 points and could end of the biggest surprise of the season.  He already has five games with multiple points.

Who doesn’t like a team who consistently lights the lamp?

The Lightning are simply electric this season.

The Team Facing the Most Pressure: Let’s cut to the chase—the San Jose Sharks are in a must-win situation this season. They may be somewhat forgotten about but they are stacked from top to bottom.

Thanks to the likes of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture, they can keep the opposition off balance and on edge for 60 minutes a night.

Together with Joe Pavelski, the fearsome foursome already has 10-plus points each.  Marleau is in the early running for MVP and the team’s defense is surrendering less than two goals a game.

The Sharks have been talked about early as contenders for many seasons now and without a Cup to show for it this season, the organization could decide to restructure. More than any team, they are in a do-or-die situation, but so far, they look up to the task.

The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2012 feature New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur, who single-handedly owns every major record for a goalie in NHL history.

Could tonight be the last time we see Martin Brodeur on the ice?

Now that the Devils are down 3-0 to the Los Angeles Kings, hockey fans are left to ponder whether or not Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals will be his last. Now 40 years old, Brodeur will become a free agent when the season ends and it will be interesting to see if the Devils bring Brodeur back for one more season.

His stats over his lustrous career speak for themselves; he ranks as the all-time best goaltender in games played(1,191), wins(656), losses(371), goals against(2,603), shots against(29,915), and saves(27,312).

While one could argue that his stats sit at No. 1 because he’s simply played more than anyone else in the history of the NHL, Brodeur has earned it. Players, especially goalies, don’t get to play based on their past accolades; they must prove that they are still worthy of time on the ice. Brodeur has won 30-plus games a remarkable seven times since turning the age of 30.

He’s a sports legend that deserves credit for playing with one team his entire career.  He’ll never don another NHL sweater and the league will never have another Brodeur. He’s won the Calder Memorial Trophy(Rookie of the Year), a four-time Vezina winner(best goaltender), three Stanley Cups and two Olympic Gold Medals with his native Canadian squad.

Coming into the Finals this year, many fans may have been thinking that there is no way that Brodeur would retire after the playoffs were done. All of a sudden, those thoughts are changing as the 40-year-old future Hall of Famer looks tired. Given, the Kings have steamrolled every team they’ve played this postseason, but Brodeur looks out of sync. It’s very difficult for a team in the NHL to make it to the Finals in any given season, nonetheless two years in a row and the chances of Brodeur playing any longer than one final season is a bit absurd.  

He still displays a competitive fire that’s hard to match, but knowing that the chance to win another Cup was so close yet unattainable may be enough for Brodeur to call it quits. If and when he decides to retire, he may as well have his own room in the Hall of Fame.

The Los Angeles Kings have shaken-up the sports world with their meteoric rise in the NHL playoffs all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Kings squeaked into the playoffs and look to become the first ever No. 8 seed to win the holy grail of hockey. While the Kings have been led in the playoffs by goaltender Jonathan Quick and captain Dustin Brown, it was Anze Kopitar who got them to this point.

Anze Kopitar and the Kings shocked everyone by making it to the Stanley Cup Finals as the 8th Seed.

Quick has been sensational this playoff season, posting a 1.54 goals against average with a .946 save percentage and Brown has posted 16 points, but it has been Kopitar who deserves most of the credit. The 24-year-old center from Slovenia is now in his sixth NHL season and is the most underrated player in hockey.

He’s scored 25-plus goals in five consecutive seasons and led his team with 76 points this season. It’s safe to say that his numbers would have been higher had his teammates played up to their potential this year as the Kings have just begun to click.

The Kings were expected to contend for the Cup in 2011-12 after they made some bold moves last offseason, bringing in Mike Richards from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for a couple of highly talented players in Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn. Well, things didn’t go as planned as the Kings found it merely impossible to put the puck in the net during stretches of the season.

Things were going so poorly for Kings that they were forced to fire head coach Terry Murray on December 12 and replaced him with Darryl Sutter. While the Kings responded well to the change, it still didn’t quite spark the offense to their liking and they traded young stud defenseman Jack Johnson for scorer Jeff Carter at the trade deadline.

Even after all the moves the Kings made this season, it was Kopitar’s consistency that kept the Kings afloat. He now has 15 points in the playoffs and always seems to light the lamp when his team needs it most.

Despite all the obstacles that Kopitar and the Kings have faced this season, all’s well that ends well as the Kings have reached the ultimate destination.

With the Eastern Conference still up for grabs between the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils, the NHL will be in the spotlight in the coming weeks. The man who will shine most on center stage is Kopitar himself.

The NHL playoffs begin tonight, considered by many to be the best playoff atmosphere of any sport. Each first round series has a compelling storyline and even the 8^th seeds have a shot at advancing. So who will win each series? That is exactly what I will tell you in the following predictions. We start with the Western Conference.

Which teams will advance past the first round on their quest for the Stanley Cup?

Western Conference

(1)Canucks vs. (8)Kings

These two teams split their season series, which is about how easy this pick is to make. The Kings have been one of the best defensive teams in hockey this season, and I am not a big fan of Roberto Luongo in the Playoffs. There are big injuries on both sides: Daniel Sedin may not be ready for the Canucks, while Jeff Carter might not go for the Kings. Both are key players for their teams and will impact this series greatly. The Canucks are the deeper team, and with injuries a big factor, I like them to advance.

Prediction: Canucks in 5.

(2)Blues vs. (7)Sharks

The Sharks have been one of the bets playoff teams in the NHL the past few seasons, and will look to continue that streak as an underdog this series. They might find that hard against the Blues, who swept the regular season series. The Blues allowed the fewest goals in the regular season and have two solid goalies ready to take the net. The Sharks were brutal on the penalty kill and will need Annti Niemi to step up big if they want to pull the upset.

Prediction: Blues in 6.

(3)Coyotes vs. (6)Blackhawks

Another weird 3vs.6 matchup where the 6 seed scored more points than the 3 seed. Regardless, the Coyotes have home-ice and a goalie who has been playing lights out lately in Mike Smith. The Blackhawks, on the other hand, are waiting to see if captain Jonathan Toews will be able to return to the ice for this series. The Blackhawks are the deeper team, yet Smith and the Coyotes have more of a chance than many people will give them credit for.

Prediction:  Blackhawks in 6.

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(4)Predators vs. (5)Red Wings

Jimmy Howard vs. Pekka Rinne. This series will test both these solid goaltenders and will rest heavily on their shoulders. The Predators have a lot of pressure to succeed after the moves they made this season. They can’t be excited to have to advance against the Red Wings, who are finally back healthy. A lot of people are picking the Predators to win, but while they have home ice, I think the Red Wings have a chip on their shoulders because of this sudden underdog role they are being cast in.

Prediction: Red Wings in 7.

(To read our Eastern Conference First Round predictions, click here.)