Touche trix, touche

West

Northwest
1. Calgary
2. Vancouver
3. Minnesota
4. Colorado
5. Edmonton

Yeah, probably the hardest division, I had a tough time seperating them actually. Last year it was close right till the end when Vancouver took it, it should be again here. Calgary should step it up and get working again, I feel they have the strongest team overall. Vancouver will ride Luongo again, and I think Colorado and Minnesota should both be in there to make playoff pushes.

Central

1. Detroit
2. Nashville
3. St. Louis Blues
4. Chicago Blackhawks
5. Columbus Blue Jackets

Nashville could realistically place 2nd in the division and miss the playoffs, though I don't expect them to. The bottom 3 here are just so bad. So bad. If Chicago still had the Havlat-Handzus combo that gave them a good start last year before injuries, maybe with Kane now they could improve to third, but they lost Handzus of course. There's not much point talking about the bottom 3 teams here.

Pacific

1. San Jose Sharks
2. Anaheim Ducks
3. Dallas Stars
4. LA Kings
5. Phoenix Coyotes

San Jose is kind of the NHL's version of that team(along with Ottawa) that should be winning championships but just can't get over the hump, but they've still got one of the best lineups. Anaheim is still the champs, but probably losing Neidermayer along with the high possibility of Selanne not having a miracle year like he did last, probably puts them below the Sharks, though both teams should still be among the league's very best. The race between the two should be good as always. As for the rest... somehow Dallas remains really good every year, and I don't know why, they're so old and they lose in the playoffs all the time. Probably another playoff berth for them. LA, Phoenix, not yet.

Conference rankings
1. San Jose Sharks*
2. Detroit Red Wings*
3. Calgary Flames*
4. Anaheim Ducks
5. Vancouver Canucks
6. Dallas Stars
7. Minnesota Wild
8. Nashville Predators

9. Colorado Avalanche
10. Edmonton Oilers
11. St. Louis Blues
12. Los Angeles Kings
13. Chicago Blackhawks
14. Phoenix Coyotes
15. Columbus Blue Jackets

Playoffs

San Jose defeats Nashville in 5 (Nashville fans would complain "It's just not fair!" after a 3rd straight identical loss, if you know, they actually cared)

Detroit defeats Minnesota in 6

Calgary defeats Dallas in 7

Anaheim defeats Vancouver in 5

2nd round

San Jose defeats Anaheim in 7

Detroit beats Calgary in 6

3rd round

San Jose beats Detroit in 7


East

(the more interesting/unpredictable conference)

Atlantic

1. NY Rangers
2. Pittsburgh
3. New Jersey
4. Philadelphia
5. NY Islanders

After this offseason, they're totally stacked. NYR vs Pittsburgh should be close, the Penguins are the phenom but I think its NY's year. Jagr, Drury, Gomez, plus the good supporting cast they had before in Shanahan, Straka, Avery, etc. Lundquist is also one of the better goaltenders in the league. I think they'll stack up the wins this year, that's why I picked Henrik in the draft. Pittsburgh, no need to explain, they'll be there. New Jersey's kind of playing a game of "How mediocore can a team goaltended by Brodeur be, and still be able to contend?" Somehow NJ almost won the East last year. How, I don't know. They lost Gomez now though and are pretty slight all around. But they still have Brodeur. As for Philly, they stacked up, I'm still betting on them to make the playoffs, just behind the other 3. NYI, don't make me laugh.

Northeast
1. Ottawa
2. Toronto
3. Buffalo
4. Montreal
5. Boston

Ottawa should have one of the gimmiest division wins, no question there. I actually think Toronto can challenge Buffalo, their team is decent, they just had kinks to work out last year. The Sabres meanwhile lost their two best players and are looking at a low playoff spot, but should still be decent. Boston should improve, Montreal will suck.

Southeast
1. Atlanta
2. Carolina
3. Tampa Bay
4. Florida
5. Washington

This will be an interesting division. Other than Atlanta, I could see the others landing in any of the 2-5 spots. Carolina is still a good team, I just don't know what happened last year with them... That may act as a kick in the ass though, get them going, they're still maybe the most talented of the division. Atlanta has Hossa/Kovalchuk/Kozlov and should rely on them as they did last year. Tampa, same thing but Canadian in their trio, I can't help but feel they're so awful everywhere else though that they'll take a hit this year. Florida should improve but still won't make the playoffs. Ditto Washington.

Conference rankings
1. NY Rangers*
2. Ottawa*
3. Atlanta*
4. Pittsburgh
5. New Jersey
6. Buffalo
7. Toronto
8. Philadelphia

9. Carolina Hurricanes
10. Tampa Bay Lightning
11. New York Islanders
12. Washington Capitols
13. Montreal Canadians
14. Florida Panthers
15. Boston Bruins

(side note, there's no sitting ducks in the East like Columbus or Phoenix. Any one of those 7 teams could make a legitimate playoff push if they surprise and get lucky. Boston doesn't feel like a last place team.)

Playoffs

NY Rangers defeat Philadelphia in 6

Ottawa defeats Toronto in 4

Buffalo defeats Atlanta in 5

Pittsburgh defeats NJ in 6

2nd round

NY Rangers defeats Buffalo in 6

Ottawa defeats Pittsburgh in 6

3rd round

Ottawa beats NY Rangers in 5

Stanley Cup Final

Ottawa defeats San Jose in 6 (yayyyy!... the pessimist in me says we lose though)

Nicely done.

I agree with you that the East is far more interesting than the West. Apart from all the top scorers being there (save for Thornton), they actually are tough to predict. In the West, pretty much all the teams that made the playoffs last year will make it again, give or take a Colorado, but out East, it's not gonna be like that at all. Don't know why that is.

You have Detroit beating Calgary in the 2nd round... and then Calgary losing in the 3rd round as well.

Don't be sorry; I agree. I don't think they're going to be dead last in the East. I think they'll be fighting for a playoff spot, and I think Chara will have a better year this year, but I don't expect them to make the playoffs this year. It's all about the Celtics at the Garden this winter.

That saying, Cam Neely did become Vice President of the team yesterday, so maybe he'll jump start something for the upcoming seasons.

And Shack, unless I completely misread your standings, how do you have the Canadiens finishing behind the Bruins in the division, but have the Bruins finishing in dead last in the conference? I think I know your answer, but humor me and say the Canadiens are the worse team.

All fixed guys.

Oh, and ... sorry.

"Boston will improve, Montreal will suck"

And they're still ranked ahead of the Bruins.......

Come on people. Andrew Ferrence will finally be healthy, they have a real goaltender, Chara isn't going to suck as much who with Ferrence will round out their defense, and they have a solid offense. They're not going to win a round in the playoffs, but they might squeak in.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=219415&hubname=

Steve Downie got 20 games for his head shot on Dean McAmmond.

This is a shock to me. I guess the NHL is listening to the people now.

Haha yes, fuck you Anaheim...

I completely forgot the season started today. Oh well, it's just a gimmick, the real season starts on Wednesday.

Nothing better than starting out last in our fantasy league.

Peace,
Mike

First place.

Woot, go Habs go! Always nice to win the first game in a season! That didn't happen last season for them.

I did some nice catching up yesterday in the fantasy league standings. I just gotta keep it up.

Peace,
Mike.

Hooray for me and my 1 point!

So the Bruins get going tomorrow in Dallas..........a half hour before the Red Sox start Game 2. Simple numbers figure that at least one person in Boston tomorrow will be watching the Bruins. I have no idea who that person is, but there will be at least one.

Oilers blew it like always, but at least they won.

Not that I'm playing, but how exactly is that unfair? You know, since anyone can pick them up. And you know... players get injured.

So the Wings had their first NON sellout in 10 years...

Yeah it's extremely stupid that I can't drop/add players...

I really hate the Penguins.

Just wanted to say after spending a couple days down in Boston/the US, I have to beg the question. Has the media exposure gone down for hockey because people have lost interest, or have people lost interest because theres no exposure. There was no way to tell at all that the Bruins were starting their season, the Boston sports channels werent even talking about them. ESPN gave hockey overall a 20 second blitz at the end of their show, tied in with european soccer highlights. Yeah.

No wonder no-one cares.

First update

1. Shack the Ripper 61.20
2. Angry Beavers 50.40
3. trix are for kids 35.90
4. Munky Wings 28.30
5. jmart007 27.80

If the Bruins had added a name to their team, I think more people would've been excited. But with the Sox in the playoffs, the Patriots unbeaten, and the Celtics adding two superstars, they've been put on the backburner. On the biggest sports station in Boston (WEEI) they were the fifth story on Friday behind BC. Sadly no one cares. If the make the playoffs however (Even if it's in the 8th seed and it looks like they have no chance) people will show up. I'm not expecting the season attendance total to break any records though.

That saying, I did watch the game last night and was pleased with the effort they gave in Phoneix (Despite the Coyotes not being very good). If Kobasew can add anything to the offense, along with Ferrence on defense with Wideman and Chara, plus their already decent offensive lineup, they could be okay. I still don't think anyone would care, but I'd watch the games on a regular basis.

Good start to the year for the Oilers... After early doubts Kevin Lowe is starting to look like a genius, we dumped all our old baggage and are now totally young and fresh, quick with everyone getting in on it. Cogliano, Gagner, Penner, totally new era for the Oilers.

Times sure have changed for Buffalo and Anaheim. Not unexplainable though, arguably the two best players on each team are gone. Makes a difference.

And damn, Nashville is awesome again, even after dumping how many players. Im beginning to think their coach is just godly, we just dont give him credit because he looks like Danny Devitos evil brother.

Its still early though for everyone.

What an opening to the season for Stastny. Thats gotta be one of the best opening two games of the year for anyone, ever.

And I dont think its that big a fluke. He wont continue at this pace, but he proved he was star material in the second half of last year. As good as Malkin.

Time for the Stanley Cup to come back where it belongs. Mexico.