North East Division

The North East division contains some of the most historical names in NHL history, the Maple Leafs, Canadien's & Bruins are all Original 6 teams. Buffalo have been around for decades too and of course the Ottawa Senators, despite only joining the NHL in 1992, of course had a team of the same name in the early days of the competition.

My favorite team in this division has to be the Toronto Maple Leafs. When I started watching NHL games in England in 1999, the Leafs had a decent season, going all the way to the Eastern Conference finals, before losing to the Dominik hasek inspired Sabres. One of the abiding memories of that team was of Tie Domi. Not one of the more skillful players, Domi was a total goon, but watching a guy of his size taking on all comers has to be admired. In one play-off game, within the first 10 seconds of the puck dropping, Domi dropped his gloves. The fight worked, as it fired up his team for a much needed victory. Even though my favorite teams tend to be American, I thought it only right to picka Canadian team to like and that honor went to the leafs.

Second on the list are the Ottawa Senators, back in the late 90s the Sens had a policy of building a team with young players, with the likes of Alexei Yashin and Marion Hossa. Boston gets the nod for third spot ahead of Buffalo, as the Bruins have an exciting team right now, and Buffalo are still rebuilding. That just leaves Montreal. I am not quite sure why I dislike the Habs, maybe its because they kind of sucked back in the late 90s and so it was not a good time in their history to be following them (although Saku Koivu was one of my favorite players), or maybe its because they are the most successful team in Stanley Cup history and are the fierce rivals of the Leafs and so, I dont like them for that, either way, I have them placed in 5th.

Teams Ranked in order of me liking them
1 - Toronto Maple Leafs
2 - Ottawa Senators
3 - Boston Bruins
4 - Buffalo Sabres
5 - Montreal Canadiens

How I think they will finish in 12-13
1 - Boston Bruins
2 - Ottawa Senators
3 - Buffalo Sabres
4 - Montreal Canadiens
5 - Toronto Maple Leafs