2010 NHL Playoff Projections - 82 Games Played

A general rule of thumb for the NHL playoffs is expect the unexpected. While a division winner typically wins the Stanley Cup, top seeded teams are no stranger to first round playoff upsets.

Knowing that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, the chart below tracks team performance over the second half of the 2010 regular season as well as that of the final 20 games and final 10 games to measure where momentum lies heading into the postseason.

Team Performance Heading Into 2010 Playoffs
EAST
	Final			10 Games		20 Games			41 Games
Team	W	Pts		W	Pts	W	Pts		W	Pts
1. WAS	54	121		6	15	13	31		30	67
2. NJD	48	103		5	13	10	24		18	42
3. BUF	45	100		5	10	12	25		19	44
4. PIT	47	101		5	11	10	25		21	48
5. OTT	44	94		7	15	9	20		23	48
6. BOS	39	91		6	13	11	24		18	42
7. PHI	41	88		4	9	8	19		22	47
8. MTL	39	88		3	9	10	24		20	47
WEST
	Final		10 Games			20 Games		41 Games
Team	W	Pts	W		Pts	W	Pts	W		Pts
1. SJ	51	113	8		17	11	24	24		54
2. CHI	52	112	6		13	11	25	24		53
3. VAN	49	103	5		11	11	25	24		52
4. PHO	50	107	5		12	13	28	25		54
5. DET	44	102	8		17	15	32	23		54
6. LA	46	101	4		11	8	21	22		50
7. NAS	47	100	6		13	13	27	23		49
8. COL	43	95	3		8	8	19	20		43

Since the season's midpoint, Washington holds the best record (30W, 67pts), with Detroit leading the league over the final 20 games (15W, 32pts), and sharing top honors with San Jose over the final 10 games (8W, 17pts). Best records for each period are shown above in green.

At the other end, New Jersey and Boston posted the worst second half of all playoff bound teams (18W, 42pts), with Philadelphia and Colorado setting the slowest pace in final 20 games (8W, 19pts), and Colorado owning the worst record in the final 10 games (3W, 8pts). Worst records during each stretch appear in red.

In terms of streaks, Boston, Detroit, and San Jose each finished with three consecutive wins whereas Colorado and Montreal lost the same.

In sum, San Jose and Detroit are the hottest teams heading into the playoffs with Colorado and Montreal being the coldest. Tomorrow, however, the speculation ends and the 2010 NHL playoffs begin.

Like Marvin said, let's get it on.