Sterling Predictions: Mid Season Review
Back in the ancient days before the season started, the Silver Seven writers made a number of predictions. We're half way through the season, how are they faring?
Note that these mid season results are excluding Tuesday's game against Dallas.
The Ottawa Senators led the league in minor penalties in 2013-14 with 379 (22 more than the next team, the Philadelphia Flyers). Will Ottawa finish the season in the top-3 for minor penalties taken in 2014-15? Bonus: How many minors will the Sens take?
The overwhelming response was "yes", with only Ian and myself going with "no".
Where do we sit right now? Ottawa does not currently sit in the top three for minor penalties! It's very close though - they're in 4th. How about the bonus round? The Sens are on pace for 336 minors this season - I was the closest to that with 332. But how will that change under Cameron as the rest of the season plays out?
How many games will Craig Anderson play this season? How many will he win?
Craig Anderson is currently looking at 54 games played this season if the pace in the first half keeps up, and 22 wins.
Peter gets the gold star on this one for now, with the number of games dead on. For the bonus points, Sheer Craziness and Adnan are closest with 21 wins.
Cameron seems to be more willing to run with Andy over Lehner right now though, so that number could increase. They may also get an offer too good to pass up before the trade deadline too, cutting that total short. Either way, unless something drastic changes nobody is getting full points on this one.
Who will score more points this season, Zack Smith or Patrick Wiercioch? Bonus: how many games with Wiercioch play for Ottawa this season?
With the Zack Smith injury, this should have been Wiercioch's to take easily, but he just can't seem to consistently get out of the press box. Still, even with fewer games played he's sitting with more points and is on pace for 48 games played.
Everybody but Amelia has this one right now. Nobody has anywhere near the right number of games, though.
If Wiercioch keeps getting used in the same manner, a healthy Zmith could make this close by the end of the season. It's going to take a big shift in his usage for anyone to get the games right, and Cameron just doesn't seem interested in making that happen.
Who will score more goals: Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman, or Curtis Lazar? Bonus: how many will each player score?
Well, I think it's clear who is running away with this one. Hoffman is on pace for 28 goals, Stone 20 and Lazar only 2.
Sheer Craziness and Adnan were the only ones to pick Hoffman though, with almost everyone else picking Stone. Nobody really came close to Hoffman's projected total, but NKB is on track for partial bonus with 20 for Stone. Ary is also going to get partial credit for saying Lazar would get 2 goals, if things keep going the way they have.
Which player will be the biggest surprise, good or bad?
This one is a tough one to really nail down, since it's opinion based, but I think it's got to be Mike Hoffman.
Sheer Craziness comes through again with Hoffman, though NKB mentioned him as well (but went with Stone).
Cowen has the potential to take this one over if his play keeps improving and Hoffman cools, and was the name that four of us picked. Chiasson could also come in on the negative end of things - he was picked by three, but as a good surprise.
What will Ottawa's record be in 2014-15? In what place will the Senators finish?
The biggest prediction was saved for last...
Ottawa is currently on pace for a 34-32-16 record, good for 84 points and likely an 11th place finish in the Conference.
We were all overly optimistic on this one compared to the first half season results - Sheer Craziness and Ary come the closest on the points with 90, and Mrs. O comes the closest on what place with 10th.
It's worth noting that the deeper projections from @IneffectiveMath (before Tuesday's game) have the Sens finishing at 87-88 points, and 10th in the East.