Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Predicting The Future

03/14/2013 at 11:43am EDT

from Corey Masisak of NHL.com,

Injuries have played a huge part in where teams are in the standings, and to be certain some clubs will rise or fade based on health in the second half of March and in April.

With that caveat in mind, here are 12 predictions for the second half of the 2012-13 season:

1. The Anaheim Ducks will finish the season with the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference

Chicago's run to start the season was amazing, but the Blackhawks won a lot of close games and they are going to miss Patrick Sharp for the next couple of weeks. Anaheim has had pretty solid luck with injuries, but the Ducks are clearly deeper than they've been the past couple of years.

2. Steven Stamkos will score 40 goals

Peter Bondra led the NHL with 34 goals in the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season, and Stamkos is on pace for 37 goals after netting 20 in 26 games. Stamkos has 11 of his final 22 games against teams not currently among the top eight in the Eastern Conference -- and nine against teams yielding three goals per contest or more.

3. Sidney Crosby will finish with at least 80 points

read on

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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