The 2014-2015 NHL season is upon us. This season will be one of the more exciting seasons in recent memory after a great round of playoffs at the end of last year. The Los Angeles Kings, the hometown defending Stanley Cup champs, will have to get through a brutal Western Conference to repeat.

In the Eastern conference, most teams have improved from a season ago and will try unseat the Rangers as the Stanley Cup Finals representatives. Predictions are always fun so here are my predictions for each division standings and the 16 teams that will make the playoffs:

Can King Henrik lead the Rangers back to the Stanley Cup Finals again this season? By Robert Kowal, via Wikimedia Commons

Atlantic Division

Tampa Bay Lightning (2)

Boston Bruins (3)

Montreal Canadiens (5)

Detroit Red Wings

Toronto Maple Leafs

Ottawa Senators

Florida Panthers

Buffalo Sabres

Metropolitan Division

Pittsburgh Penguins (1)

New York Rangers (4)

Columbus Blue Jackets (6)

New Jersey Devils (7, wild card team)

New York Islanders (8, wild card team)

Philadelphia Flyers

Washington Capitals

Carolina Hurricanes

Western Conference:

Central Division

Chicago Blackhawks (1)

Dallas Stars (4)

Minnesota Wild (5)

St Louis Blues (7, wild card team)

Colorado Avalanche

Nashville Predators

Winnipeg Jets

Pacific Division

Anaheim Ducks (2)

Los Angeles Kings (3)

San Jose Sharks (6)

Vancouver Canucks (8, wild card team)

Calgary Flames

Phoenix Coyotes

Edmonton Oilers

Playoffs:

Eastern Conference:

#1. Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #8 New York Islanders, (Islanders in 7 games)

#2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. #7 New Jersey Devils, (Lightning in 6 games)

#3 Boston Bruins vs. #5 Montreal Canadiens, (Bruins in 5 games)

#4 New York Rangers vs. #6 Columbus Blue Jackets (Rangers in 6 games)

Western Conference:

#1 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #8 Vancouver Canucks, (Blackhawks in 4 games)

#2 Anaheim Ducks vs. #7 St Louis Blues, (Ducks in 6 games)

#3 Los Angeles Kings vs. #6 San Jose Sharks, (Kings in 6 games)

#4 Dallas Stars vs. #5 Minnesota Wild, (Wild in 7 games)

Semi Finals:

Eastern Conference:

#2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. #3 Boston Bruins, (Lighting in 7 games)

#4 New York Rangers vs. #8 New York Islanders, (Rangers in 6 games)

Western Conference:

#1 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #4 Minnesota Wild, (Wild in 6 games)

#2 Anaheim Ducks vs. #3 Los Angeles Kings, (Ducks in 7 games)

Eastern Conference Finals:

#2 Tampa Bay Lighting vs. #4 New York Rangers, (Lightning in 5 games)

Western Conference Finals:

#2 Anaheim Ducks vs. #5 Minnesota Wild, (Ducks in 7 games)

Stanley Cup Finals:

#2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. #2 Anaheim Ducks, (Lightning in 6 games)

With the Super Bowl right around the corner, the time of year has returned once again. This particular pocket on the calendar serves as the preparation point that will give way to the onslaught of sport for the year to come.

As we speak, New Orleans is being blitzed and invaded by 49ers fans and Ravens fans alike, not to mention the straight-up football fans and “party fans” that are piling in. It is Bourbon Street, after all.

Even the First Super Bowl Party gets a little loose! By White House (Pete Souza) / Maison Blanche (Pete Souza) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

We know the pageantry and performance of the big game won’t disappoint. The annual pinnacle of American sport never lets us down, and even if the scoreboard is lopsided, one of your friends at the party seems to always end up that way as well, making the whole Super Bowl party experience a let-down-free zone.

Pushing all the rif-raf to the peanut gallery, the 49ers open, and will most likely remain, favorites – and with good reason. Colin Kaepernick is a dynamic force that is currently surfing the wave that most young phenoms always seem to – “they don’t even know where they are right now.”

The combination of Colin Kaepernick riding the whitewash of momentum, coupled with his elite, dual-threat ability coming of age right before our eyes, makes the 49ers an extremely dangerous favorite. The 49ers could win by a slim margin or a big margin. This is something you can’t necessarily say about the Ravens.

If the Ravens get over, it will be a ‘Rice, Rice, Flacco to Boldin or Pitta 3rd down conversion’ type of game. The deep bomb to Torrey Smith is something I don’t really see the defense of the 49ers allowing, given the prowlace their two all-pro safeties.  At the same time, I would also be foolish if I didn’t consider the magic a retiring Ray Lewis and his defense seem to have going.  Underdogs can still overachieve.

Analysis of the game aside, the unbridled fun of the Super Bowl also serves as a recognizable signaling of the year to come in all other arenas of sport.

The NBA all-star game is on the horizon, and unfortunately for most fans, the taste of purple and gold is impossible to remove from the palate of NBA water-cooler talk everywhere.

Dwight Howard throw-downs have been few and far between so far this season. By Fido (Flickr: Bucks @ Lakers) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

I know everyone is exhausted with the revolving Laker discussion, but the reason the Lakers continue to hoard the headlines is a reason you rarely equate with this franchise – their ineptitude.

Give me an “A” or give me an “F,” right?  Unfortunately, “F” sells in a huge way, and sadly, sells even more than “A” does – but you can’t blame the Lakers for all the attention they are recieving.  Another main reason the Lakers are hogging print and air waves is because nothing around the rest of the NBA is making waves.

The Heat are dominating in their defense of the title. The Celtics, Knicks and Rose-less Bulls are still nipping at their heels in the East.  Great.

In the West, the Thunder are still running, the Spurs are still lurking, and the Clippers and Grizzlies are still up-and-coming. Great.

Yawn.  Alright!  I’m awake!

Moving on — what or who else looms near this time of year? You got it – everyone’s favorite worst guy ever, the infamous “bracket guy.”

Unrightfully so, no one pays an emphatic amount of attention to the national NCAA basketball scene until March rolls around, but when it does, get ready to throw down your bracket and your bucks.

Cinderellas will be the overlying theme as they always are, and golden chariots will turn back into pumpkins in the end like they always do – but the overall saga of March never comes up short.  One.  Shining.  Moment.  I’m welling up just thinking about it.  No I’m not.

Seamheads are beyond hyped this time of year as well. Everyone is a potential pennant winner in spring training, and pitchers and catchers report in less than a month.

With the Giants coming off another World Series Championship and the Dodgers having huge expectations, the rivalry only looks to get juicier. By andyrusch (http://www.flickr.com/photos/asrusch/5748267516/) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Money, money and more money has morphed a perpetual big-market underachiever into the new West coast version of the New York Yankees. Trading for the gigantic contracts of super stars has given way to monumental stadium renovations for the Dodgers, which will create more revenue, and eventually give way to taking on even more gigantic contracts of super stars.

Moneyball may get you to the dance, but big money allows you to go home with the prom queen in the end. The Dodgers have officially taken on the new face of baseball’s dark side, and will become even more of a polarizing team than they were before.

Spoiler alert: yes, the rebels eventually win in Star Wars, but in baseball the empire always eventually wins in bulk. Blue thinkers finally realizing gold once again could be right around the corner.

From progression to regression – congratulations on almost killing your sport one more time, Gary Bettman. Hockey is back, but now the few casual fans that existed before care even less.

Kings captain Dustin Brown hoists the cup, a trophy of a dying sport. By Eric Chan from Hollywood, United States (DSC00815 Uploaded by JoeJohnson2) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

On a positive note, the Kings raising the banner was beyond due.  It was an awesome run last season and a championship that was well deserved for Kingdom loyalists — but the realistic future of hockey has essentially become a dimming light, one that now can barely even be seen by a telescope in the night sky of the American sporting realm.

It wouldn’t be an all discussion without mentioning eagles and earplugs, two associations about to start the longest campaigns of any professional leagues in the United States. 10 months?  Forget campaigns, try marathons.

There are niches in our sports melting pot that absolutely live for the PGA and Nascar circuits. And strangely enough, they couldn’t be more polar opposites.  Its the quietest sport and the loudest sport.  Its the high-class perception and the low-class perception.  And given the differences, it’s kind of ironic how the hardcore fans of both circuits would probably never get along, yet the 19th hole and the 5th wheel effectively serve the same purpose.  I guess that’s one thing everyone can agree on – booze.

So there it is and here it comes – the great American sporting landscape.  And with all of the anticipation and excitement on the horizon, there’s honestly nothing I can see that could put damper on the cornucopia of sport all of us fans are in line for, could there be?

April 15th. Yea, the smartass went and did it.

The year was 1993. I can still remember watching the series over at Tear-Dog’s house at the age of 13. Incessant rubbing together and clapping of hands echoed through the living room as Terry (my friend’s hockey-crazed father) headed the backwards hat-and-mustache-charge. My appreciation for playoff hockey was officially born.

The game seemed to be different back then. Maybe because I was younger and didn’t quite understand it as well as I do now. Only a few rules have changed, but the speed of the game has significantly increased. The “then and now” comparison between eras is applicable to any sport, but hockey is like football in this way – high-speed decisions and collisions are amplified. Playoff hockey has always been a must-watch, and 19-years later, the Kings are back to the penultimate.

As a Stanley Cup Playoffs underdog, Los Angeles has accomplished what has never been accomplished before. An eye-popping 12-2 playoff on their way to winning their first 3 playoff series has turned the heads of hockey fans in Los Angeles and across the country. The Kings exacted revenge from last season’s playoff loss by beating the top-seeded Vancouver Canucks 4 games to 1 in the first round. In round two, they swept the second-seeded St. Louis Blues. And in the Western Conference Finals, they ousted the third-seeded Phoenix Coyotes 4 games to 1. The Kings have also achieved an unreal 8-0 record on the road during this span. They are the only 8-seed in the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to beat a top-seed, second-seed and third-seed respectively en route to a Stanley Cup Finals appearance.

The big names of 1993 that will live in the lore of Kings fandom for eternity now have a new class of stars to add to the Kingdom’s hall of royalty.

Captain Dustin Brown, assistant captain  Anze Kopitar and veteran center Mike Richards have lead the offensive charge, by combining for a stellar 17 goals and 44 points (goals and assists combined) throughout this unprecedented playoff run.

Drew Doughty has lead a group of defensemen that has not only been the best penalty-killing unit in the playoffs (by a long-shot), but also was the second best penalty-killing unit in the league during the regular season. Assistant Captain Matt Greene, Willie Mitchell and Rob Scuderi have contributed defending their own zone around the net. The Kings’ penalty-kill in the playoffs has been a staggering 91.2% To prevent a goal at that rate while being down a skater rivals a level that has never been seen before when it matters most.

The biggest factor in the penalty-kill, and the run the Kings are currently on overall has undoubtedly been goalie Jonathon Quick. “Quick-crete” has tended goal from start to finish in every game of the playoffs, while going 12-2, and sporting a stone-tough save percentage of .946%. This has been, without a doubt, the number one reason why the Kings may have the chance to drink Pacific Ocean saltwater out of Lord Stanley’s Cup.

While it has been a long 19 years for the Kings to return to this point, their opponents in these Stanley Cup Finals are no stranger to this stage as a franchise. The Devils have won the cup three times in the past 17 years, reaching the top of the mountain in 1995, 2000 and 2003.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftUR6AFTNMA

New Jersey is lead by wingers Ilya Kovlachuk and Zach Parise, who have combined for 14 goals and 32 points this postseason. They have also leaned on 20-year veteran goaltender Martin Brodeur, who has gone 12-5 in these playoffs with a save percentage of .923%. Game one will be Brodeur’s 200th Stanley Cup Playoff game.

The sixth-seeded Devils facing off against the eigth-seeded Kings is the first time two teams with seeds this low have reached the Stanley Cup Finals in the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The lowest seed to ever win the Stanley Cup was in 1995 when the fifth-seeded Devils hoisted the cup. Obviously, that record is about to be broken. But what coast will have the pride of hoisting Lord Stanley’s hardware, left or right?

Most talking-heads are picking Los Angeles, due to them being the hotter team coming into the series, which is the new trend in today’s realm of championship matchups in any sport. New Jersey is the experienced franchise that has successfully navigated the gauntlet of the higher-scoring East. They also hold home-ice advantage. The Kings are the younger up-and-comers that have ground-out the lower-scoring, defensive game of the West. Something has to give.

The puck drops for game 1 from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey at 5 pm pacific tonight on NBC. Hop on the wagon and be a part of the final push! We need YOU, yes YOU, casual fan, to get behind the Kingdom! 19-years in the making – long time Kings fans will earn their redemption!

Yes, my back is a little sore, but long road trips in the car aren’t all bad. This one allowed me time to have great conversations with the wife, listen to music I haven’t heard in a while, and of course think about what to write.

An exit sign was my inspiration this time. It was an exit to Arco Arena off of Interstate 5 in Sacramento. Arco, the home of the NBA’s Kings, is a building I’ve never attended a game in. Driving by it last night, a few ideas came to mind. One was the utter ineptitude of both the Kings and Warriors — Northern California’s two NBA teams.

Thinking about the NBA got me to thinking about pro sports in general in our state, especially the prospects of another NFL team (or two) in Los Angeles. In thinking about having another bad team around like the Bills (this is how my mind works), I started to think about other bad teams we already have. I’m usually an optimist, but I came to a realization in the form of a question:

Has there ever been a worse time for California professional sports?

The four major leagues plus Major League Soccer give us 18 (three Football, five baseball, four basketball, three hockey, and three soccer) teams concentrated either in San Diego, Los Angeles, or the San Francisco Bay area.

In any given year, at least one of those teams in each league are usually competing in the playoffs or for a championship. Throughout my lifetime, this has generally been the case. Nearly all the teams on the list have won championships (sorry to both Kings, the Padres, and the Clippers along with the relatively new Chivas USA franchise who have never won a championship). Despite its history, California teams aren’t as strong as they once were. The days of Lakers/49ers/Raiders/Dodgers dominance have long passed. After the Lakers (and yes, the Giants), there is a severe drop-off in current dominance and once you get past the first few teams on the list, the franchises really start to fall-off.

What better then, than a ranking of the top California professional teams with some rationale. As always is the case in sports, these rankings are subject to change with a new baseball season coming up. Here are the rankings – 1-18.

1. Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)
With the exception of the mid 1990s and middle part of the 2000’s, the Lakers have been in contention for the championship every year. Their prolonged period of dominance, stable ownership, Hall of Fame players, and rich history make them the easy pick for the Top Pro Franchise in California. They have been to the NBA Finals in each of the previous three years, winning twice. They have the second-most championships in NBA history. Must I go on?

2. San Francisco Giants (MLB)
While their World Series win will only serve to enable the Dodgers to justify spending less on their players, the Giants are currently the only other defending champion in California besides the Lakers. Their team is built to be good for a long time, they have a stadium people like, and since there hasn’t been a consistent winner in the Bay Area since the 49ers, the impasse of their World Series win was bigger than it might have been otherwise.

3. San Diego Chargers (NFL)
The Chargers have never won a Super Bowl, but they’ve been very good ever since they dumped Ryan Leaf and got out from under a series of bad decisions around the end of the 90’s. With double-digit win totals in four of the past seven seasons and as the only recently successful NFL team in California, the Chargers come in at number 3. The Chargers might be the NFL poster child for the saying “Good is the enemy of great”.

4. San Jose Sharks (NHL)
If the Chargers are 1-A on the list of good teams who underachieve in the playoffs, the Sharks are 1-B. Over the past three years, no team has been more consistent in the regular season. While finishing first in the Pacific Division for each of the past 3 years and first or second in each of the past six years, the Sharks have never played in a Stanley Cup Finals series. Another example of a good team who hasn’t figured out how to be great yet.

5. Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB)
Continuing the list of teams who have been labeled as “competitive” and “good enough to win regular season games, but that’s all” is Los Angeles’ second most popular team, the Dodgers. Since they arrived, the McCourt regime has maintained with good, cheap, young players and the Manny Ramirez trade. While there is a sense that the Chargers or Sharks could get over the playoff hump sometime in the near future, the Dodgers’ chances do not look as bright. Prior to a disastrous 2010 season, the Dodgers had made the playoffs during four of the past six seasons. Much of the core of those playoff teams is still intact, which is why the Dodgers continue to be in the top five teams in the state.

6. Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS)
If the Galaxy was in one of the four major sports in the United States, they would probably have made it into the top-five. With major starts Landon Donovan and David Beckham, the Galaxy has crossover appeal. Young talented players like Sean Franklin and Omar Gonzalez make the Galaxy one of the top overall teams in MLS. Over the past two seasons, the Galaxy has sported the best record in the Western Conference of MLS and lost in the Final or Semi-Final round of the MLS playoffs.

7. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (MLB)
The California Angels were a great team name. Their name got worse when they changed to the Anaheim Angels. Just when things seemed to be looking up, they changed to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Lame. Since their World Series victory in 2002, they have won their division five times. But if you ask most California sports fans about the Angels, the topic of their name or the cost of a beer at their games will come up before the topic of how good the team is, which is why they are only in 7th place on the list.

8. Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Their wildly erratic seasons place the Anaheim Ducks closely behind their Orange County counterparts on the list. Their franchise has reached the Stanley Cup Finals twice in the past seven season, winning the Cup once. They might be a more mild version of the Florida Marlins — a franchise that gets to and wins championships, but has relatively meaningless seasons in-between. Last year, they didn’t make the playoffs. If this year’s season ended today (Saturday), the Ducks would get into the playoffs as an 8-seed, but only because of a tie-breaker.

NOTE: After the top 8, there is a marked drop-off in consistency and quality of franchise…

9. San Diego Padres (MLB)
The Padres are the consummate underdog. The whole time I went to college in San Diego, all natives ever said about the rest of the state was, “Who would want to live THERE?” The Padres are personified by their fans who espouse a laid-back attitude. However, those fans’ sports-related inferiority complex  or underlying envy of Los Angeles sports teams comes heavily into play during games between the Padres and the Dodgers. The Padres have made the playoffs recently (2005 and 06) and were much improved last season. They play in a gorgeous downtown ballpark and San Diego is an awesome city. For all that, they make the top-ten.

10. Oakland A’s (MLB)
The Athletics haven’t made much noise during the past few years. They are a novelty. Moneyball was a good book, but the A’s are not as good as they were even 5-10 years ago. They are a step above a lot of teams because, well, it’s hard to root against them. They are Nor-Cal’s version of the Padres and so they make the top-ten.

11. San Francisco 49ers (NFL)
If the Niners had won anything during the past ten years, then they might be in the top-ten and the Giants might not be as high on the list as they are. The hole they have left in the hearts of Bay Area sports fans during the past ten years is staggering. Any good 49ers team would make the city’s rallying around the Giants in 2010 look like small potatoes. No matter what happens during the next few years, the fact remains that a whole generation of San Francisco sports fans have grown up knowing nothing but the 49ers as a bad team.

12. Chivas USA (MLS)
Nobody knows a lot about Chivas, but they go ahead of the teams and franchises below due to the fact that they haven’t had enough time to make themselves that inept. Chivas is close to moving down, but haven’t had enough really bad seasons yet.

13. Oakland Raiders (NFL)
Raider Nation is broken. A good season last year keeps them up there, but number 13 on the list is the appropriate place. Luck has nothing to do with it except for the date Al Davis is gone. Raiderfan doesn’t know it, but that will be the luckiest day of their lives. Also, the Raiders are low because of jerking around fans in two major sports markets in California.

14. Los Angeles Kings (NHL)
Some will say the Los Angeles Kings should be higher-up on the list. They have existed longer than the Ducks and are probably the more popular team in Los Angeles. That being said, Los Angeles appreciates winners and the Kings haven’t won consistently. They’ve made it out of the first round of the playoffs only once since their lone finals appearance in 1992-93. In California, especially in Los Angeles, a record like that of the Kings will put you toward the bottom of the pack.

15. San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)
The San Jose Earthquakes used to be very good. Led by a young Landon Donovan, they won the MLS Cup in 2003 and 2005.  After the Earthquakes moved to Houston, Northern California was without a team for two years in 2006 and 2007. In the three seasons since their rebirth, the Earthquakes have not contended. They are owned by the owners of the Athletics and, unless they find the soccer version of Billy Beane, they may be rebuilding for quite some time.

16. Sacramento Kings (NBA)
The Kings have had the single biggest drop of any team in California over the past 8-10 years. In 2000, 2001, 2002, the Lakers ousted the Kings from the playoffs in what was becoming one of the hottest rivalries in all of sports. Since 2003, the Kings have not won a playoff series. They have not made the playoffs for the past four seasons and it doesn’t look like they will this year. The Northern vs. Southern California rivalry is gone, the team is threatening to move, and attendance is down. The Kings have a few nice players and their owners are charismatic, but as franchises go, they aren’t going anywhere.

17. Los Angeles Clippers (NBA)
The Clippers have moved up from the last spot this year for one reason — Blake Griffin. While they are still not far away for the 18th and final spot, they also have potential to move up on the list quickly. Players like Eric Gordon and DeAndre Jordan bring a solid nucleus to surround Griffin. The team has a lot of upside, but they are still the Clippers. Which makes them number 17. Enough said.

18. Golden State Warriors (NBA)
The Warriors are the caboose of teams in California. As a franchise, they’ve sunk below the Clippers. An upset win in the first round of the playoff in 2007 provided a glimmer of hope for Warriors fans. Winning 48 games in 2007-08 and failing to make the playoffs, the team was again sent into disarray. Without stable leadership for a long period of time, the team has stalled for the last few seasons. A new owner brings with him new hope for a losing franchise, but for now the Warriors don’t have a lot going for them and it will take a sustained winning effort to change their culture..

What did you think of the Rankings? Do you have different ones? Post a comment or email me: owen@fansmanship.com

-Owen Main