WESTERN CONFERENCE PICKS

Show 'em how it's done, Todd

Well, I am going to sound like a homer......there's no reason why the Red Wings should not make it to the Stanley Cup Finals for a second straight year, right? But how often is it that the preseason odds on favorite actually goes all the way with a loaded team? It happened once in the last decade I think.....oh yeah...it was the Wings in 2002. But will at least one other team in the Central step up and give them a run for their money? It's not gonna be Nashville..they didn't make any major moves and lost a few role players as well. Maybe Chicago will finally step up and make something happen this year. And what about the Northwest Division? That's always a fun one to watch. All five teams once again are at least good enough to make a run for the playoffs, but only a few will make it in. Who will it be? And who has the talent, experience and grit to step up and dethrone the Red Wings this year? Someone in the Pacific Division, perhaps.....

WHO WILL SUCK THIS YEAR: Nashville Predators
They did very little to improve themselves in the offseason, and lost a key player in Alexander Radulov overseas. It's going to be fun watching this team and their asshole redneck fans suffer this year.

WHO WILL SURPRISE THIS YEAR: Chicago Blackhawks
This is the year the Hawks return to the playoffs. Toews, Kane and Sharp have enough experience to be the backbone of the team. They have two solid goaltenders. They added a key free agent in Brian Campbell. And, most importantly, they added Scotty Bowman to their executive staff. Good things happen when he's around.

WHO IS OVERRATED: Minnesota Wild
This team just doesn't feel right. Lemaire's great defensive coaching is usually good enough to keep this team in the run for a playoff hunt, but eventually someone besides Gaborik is gonna have to put some pucks in the net. They did make efforts in free agency and trades (Antti Miettinen, Owen Nolan, Marek Zidlicky, Marc Andre Bergeron), but I think they'll get phased out in the Northwest behind other teams.

DID NOTHING TO IMPROVE IN THE OFFSEASON: St. Louis Blues
Nashville or Colorado would fit this category as well, but the Blues did NOTHING. The other teams at least made a few deals with mediocre players. St. Louis has missed the playoffs a few years in a row, and it appears that they are planning on developing the players they have in a "3 year plan."

OUCH: St. Louis Blues
Speaking of trying to win with youth, St. Louis young stud defenseman Erik Johnson is going to miss the entire season with a knee injury....good start.

UNDER THE RADAR: Pheonix Coyotes
Phoenix got off to a horrid start last year, but had a spirited finish to the season and made a run for the playoffs that fell short in the last few weeks. They added a big free agent in Olli Jokinen, who will enjoy being out of the hellhole Panthers organization. They lost two defensemen to get him, but added free agents Kurt Sauer and David Hale to fill those voids. I think this team is good enough to make a run at the 7 or 8 seed if a couple other teams underachieve.

MOVE THE TEAM TO ANCHORAGE: Nashville Predators
Sorry....my last shot at the Preds today

WHO WILL MAKE THE CUP FINALS:
The Red Wings are the easy pick, but I'll go the other route. I think if a team is going to oust Detroit this year, it'll be one of the big three from the Pacific: Dallas, Anaheim or.............

............San Jose, this is the last time I pick you to go to the finals. 3 of the last 4 years I picked you and you continuously go down in the second round. The Sharks have a new coaching staff this year, led by former Red Wings assistant Todd McClellan, and still have a solid core of players that can get it done. They lost Brian Campbell and Matt Carle, but added Dan Boyle and Brad Lukowich. Evgeni Nabokov has always put up solid numbers, but is running out of time to prove he can make a finals run. It's now or never for San Jose.

DIVISION CHAMPS: Detroit, Edmonton, Dallas
OTHER FIVE TEAMS IN: Anaheim, San Jose, Phoenix, Chicago, Calgary
JUST MISSED: Colorado, Vancouver, Minnesota
LONG YEAR: Columbus, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Nashville


The Western Conference is such a tough conference to pick. The Northwest is always a tough division because all five teams are very competitive every year. But there you have it! Now...let's get this season started!

EASTERN CONFERENCE PICKS

Mullets Breed Success


Usually when the Eastern Conference is discussed, the media and fan-hyped rivalry between Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin always seems to be the most dominant topic. The Caps were a Game 7 away from battling the Pens in a dream second-round series, but the Flyers spoiled that party and the Pens ended up going to the finals. Can Pittsburgh do it again? They ARE missing some key players to last year's run (Hossa, Roberts, Malone), but did help themselves by acquiring Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko. And how about the Capitals? What did they learn in their first trip to the playoffs in a few years, and how will they use it to improve this season; and will Jose Theodore, who was awful in the playoffs last year, be the answer?

When all is said and done, I don't think that either of the above teams will be representing the Eastern Conference in the finals this year. There is another tea that already had a decent amount of players with Stanley Cup Final experience, and then added a few players the Penguins (Adam Hall, Ryan Malone, Gary Roberts) to solidify their lineup. On top of that, they have a veteran goaltender in Olaf Kolzig and a strong up and coming goalie in Mike Smith that are convincing enough for me to pick them to go to the finals. Besides, it didn't take Melrose long to lead the Kings to the finals in the early 90s! Figured out who it is yet? I'll give you a clue, they finished DEAD LAST in the east last year. Time to turn it around.




WHO WILL SUCK THIS YEAR: Toronto Maple Leafs
They can't even resign Sundin, and I don't think Jamal Mayers, Niklas Hagman and Curtis Joseph were free agent signings that will solve their problems

WHO WILL SURPRISE THIS YEAR: New York Rangers
For about a decade, the Rangers have signed tons of big name free agents and either missed the playoffs or exited early. They continued the free agent trend by getting Markus Naslund and a very unknown and underrated Nikolai Zherdev from Columbus. Hell, veteran Petr Nedved is even trying to make a comeback with the team. As long as goaltending is solid, I can see this team doing well

WHO IS OVERRATED: New Jersey Devils
The Devils always perform well and have always had Martin Brodeur as the backbone of their team, but after a first round exit last season you could start to see the signs of a potential decline. They did bring back some old faces (old being the key word ) in Bobby Holik and Brain Rolston, but they have been relying on the same core of players (Elias, Parise, Gionta, Langenbrunner, Parise) for the past few years with no results.

DID NOTHING TO IMPROVE IN THE OFFSEASON: Philadelphia Flyers
Unless you count Steve Eminger and Ossi Vaananen as big signings, it appears that the Flyers are counting on the same guys improving enough to leap past the Eastern Finals this year

OUCH: Carolina Hurricanes
Looks like one of their star forwards Justin Williams is gonna miss a month or two to start the season

UNDER THE RADAR: Boston Bruins
Remember? The Bruins gave the top seeded Canadiens all they could handle in the first round of the playoffs. The addition of Michael Ryder will boost the offense, and perhaps young skater Blake Wheeler will make his way on the roster and make some noise. Plus, Tim Thomas had an outstanding year last year

MOVE THE TEAM TO WINNIPEG: Atlanta Thrashers
They suck, their jerseys are absolutely ridiculous, they can't sell tickets and ownership is doing nothing to put any solid players on the ice around Kovalchuk. Move them to Winnipeg and the West and move the Red Wings to the East! (I know...it will never happen)

WHO WILL MAKE THE CUP FINALS: Tampa Bay Lightning
It could happen...they do have lots of talent and added a lot of solid players. Plus, I think there was a lot of behind the scenes issues with coaching and they players that caused this team to have a tough year last year.

DIVISION CHAMPS: Tampa Bay, Montreal, Rangers
OTHER FIVE TEAMS IN: Pittsburgh, Washington, Boston, Philly, Buffalo
JUST MISSED: Ottawa, New Jersey, Islanders
LONG YEAR: Toronto, Atlanta, Florida, Carolina

You Can Taste It

Hockey season is approaching and it's time to get this blog going again. The Wings looked poised to make a run for another back to back championship. Can you believe it?! Who would've thought four years ago that we would have won another Stanley Cup, and then, when you think that was the peak, the Wings would go and get the most prized free agent in Marian Hossa. It's still unbelievable months later!

Over the next two weeks, I'll have predictions and notes on the upcoming season.


Also, if you want to play some fantasy hockey this year, I have a league that needs some more teams. Info is below....


Go to sports. yahoo. com/fantasy
Click on Sign Up Now! under Fantasy Hockey '08
Click on the big yellow Sign Up Now! button
Enter your Yahoo ID and password
Click on Join League
Click on Join Custom

The League ID is: 36779
The League Password is: hossa0809

The draft is Thursday 9/25 at 10 pm Eastern Time.

It is live for those who want to draft online, you can also prerank your players if you can't be there for the draft or don't want to draft live.