Picking the San Jose Sharks to win the Stanley Cup

Dusting off my crystal ball to help give the NHL season some perspective, here are some predictions:

Champions

Atlantic Division: Pittsburgh (Even if Sidney Crosby is in and out of the lineup.)

Northeast: Buffalo (Even though it grossly overpaid for talented forward Ville Leino.)

Southeast: Washington (Even though Tampa Bay is formidable.)

Central: Chicago (Even though Detroit is, well, Detroit.)

Northwest: Vancouver (Even the, um, worst prognosticators would get this one right.)

Pacific: San Jose (Even though I was tempted to go with Philly West, the Kings.)

Eastern Conference final: Pittsburgh over the Flyers (Great theater for former Penguins Jaromir Jagr and Max Talbot.)

Western Conference final: San Jose over Los Angeles (Defenseman Brent Burns is just what Sharks needed.)

Stanley Cup Final: San Jose over Pittsburgh (Sharks' long wait is finally over.)

Award winners

Goal-scoring champ: Washington's Alex Ovechkin (You were expecting Jody Shelley?)

Vezina Trophy (best goalie): Boston's Tim Thomas (Flyer Ilya Bryzgalov is runner-up.)

Norris Trophy (top defenseman): Nashville's Shea Weber (Does Chris Pronger have another elite season left?)

Calder Trophy (top rookie): Edmonton's Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (TSN's Bob McKenzie surprisingly picked the Flyers' Matt Read.)

Hart Trophy (MVP): Vancouver's Daniel Sedin (In a photo-finish over Ovechkin.)

Coach of the year: San Jose's Todd McLellan (Tempted to go with the Kings' Terry Murray but had a choking situation.)