End of Season NHL Predictions

Maurice Richard Trophy Winner

Who will finish the season with the most goals?  Right now it’s between Crosby (45), Ovechkin (44) & Stamkos (42).

If Ovechkin didn’t keep getting suspended this year he’d probably already have close to 50 goals, but his hard hitting, (some may say reckless) style has kept him out of a few games this year.  Ovechkin has missed 10 games this year, but he is still only one goal behind Crosby.  If Ovy can play the final 11 games for the Capitals then I’m going to give the benefit of the doubt to Ovechkin and say he is most likely to win the Maurice.

I think it would be hilarious if Crosby scored more goals than Ovechkin this year and won the Maurice, while Ovechkin got way more assists than Crosby and won the Art Ross.  That kind of roll reversal would be funny to me, but I don’t anticipate it happening.

Art Ross Trophy Winner

This is basically a two horse race at the moment: Ovechkin (96), H. Sedin (94).  Those two games missed by Ovechkin recently allowed Sedin to gain 3 points to be within 2 with each player having 11 games remaining.  As much as I would like to see Henrik take this trophy and put a dent in the “big 3″ of Ovechkin, Crosby and Malkin, I can’t see it happening.  The Capitals are just too explosive.  They will score and Ovy will get points.  I’m not saying they will score because of Ovy, but they will score a lot and he will inevitably get points.  I don’t think Ovechkin is as good as most people think though and I believe the Capitals would actually be better off in the playoffs without him.  That being said Backstrom to me is one of the best in the game today and Ovechkin will benefit from playing with him.

Presidents Trophy Winner

This trophy is pretty much already awarded.  Just give it to the Washington Capitals and Alex Ovechkin right now.  If he sweeps all of these awards it would be pretty remarkable.  Good thing he didn’t win the gold medal at the Olympics!

Stanley Cup Winner

I might as well make a Stanley Cup prediction in this post as well.  Right now I’m going to say the Chicago Blackhawks, but this could quickly change by the end of the year.  Some of you might be saying, “why not Washington?”.  Well to be honest I don’t think Ovechkin is a good playoff ingredient for that team.  Last year he would try to do everything himself and that’s just not the way to win playoff games.  If Ovechkin and the Capitals continue to play a team based offensive game like they have been all season and it doesn’t turn into the Ovechkin show then I think the Capitals have a legit chance of doing something great this season.

You can check out the odds for all of these predictions at many sports betting sites online.  If you do wager, be sure to go with my picks if you want to win money !