Beast of the East?

Contenders or Pretenders. I believe we've played this game before. I was going to do this post earlier, but I was too lazy. Alright, I'm looking at the Eastern Conference standings as I'm typing this and I'm not that surprised. Don't worry, it won't be as long as the last post.

1. Bruins - Weren't these guys the 8 seed last year? One word, goaltending. Right now, they've given up 2 less goals than the Sharks. That's right I said LESS. But, we were without Nabby for a couple weeks, so I'm willing to through that stat out the window. Either way, they actually look like a team this year.
2. Rangers - They were off to a good start, but they've cooled off a little bit. Nothing to freak out about, but definitly someone to look at out the corner of our eyes.
3. Capitals - Ovechkin is play great as usual. The difference maker Semin, he got off to a great start when Ovechkin came out cold. Now he's like the mini Ovechkin and I think we'd all take one of those.
4. Penguins - Crosby and Malkin top 2 in the league, no surprise. Fluery keeping it up. And this is all without Gonchar. I know one player doesn't make a team, but he'll definitly help a lot. I'm looking for them to jump the Rangers as the season goes on.
5. Canadiens - Price, Koivu, Tanguay and Kovalev. Not surprised they're up here, what I am surprised is that they're this low. I'm looking for them to jump the Bruins. With all this talent, they can't possibly choke and miss the playoffs. That comes during the playoffs. Ignore the 24 Stanley Cups. And people think the Yankees are a dynasty, they must not watch hockey. Almost as many championships in 20 years less time.

Anyways, that's now, this is what I'm looking for come playoff time.

1. Penguins
2. Canadiens
3. Capitals
4. Rangers
5. Bruins

Hmm, I haven't done a poll in a while, so let's do one now. So who WILL be top 5 in the Eastern Conference at the end of the year? Be realistic, and say why if you have too much free time on your hands.

*idunno, don't even think about considering mentioning CCS playoffs.