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Tell me this leaves Cleary in the announcer booth now....

Simple answer: The Wings. When they engage & play their game, there's no team (East or West) that they can't beat. It's when they get lazy, don't show up on time, etc. that things go wrong. So, the Wings are the team I fear the most.

IMHO, Kenny has done a masterful job this offseason with his signings of Alfredsson, Weiss, and getting Goose and Andersson at great cap hits. Now we just need to see how he trims the roster. I've got a good feeling this season. I also think Nyquist is going to have a breakout year.

On Facebook not 5 minutes ago the Wings announced this: Official Detroit Red Wings UPDATE: The Red Wings have agreed to a two-year deal with Gustav Nyquist.

I remember back on the day my mother asked me what name I wanted on my jersey.....are you ready for this???? #14 - Miroslav Frycer..... WTF was I thinking!!!! A whole 23 games played for Detroit....ugh!

Per Helene St. James: "#RedWings have come to terms on two-year deal with forward Gustav Nyquist, average salary cap hit of $950,000." Nice price tag, for sure. Glad to have him locked up.

As the Leafs handily proved last season, having goons and racking up the hits doesn't necessarily accomplish anything. And for goodness' sake, enough with the size thing. It has been mentioned repeatedly that Clarkson does not add size, being exactly the NHL average in that category. You seem to have this incorrect image of him as a Milan Lucic clone. Bolland is actually of below average size, so the addition of the two of them has not made the Leafs a bigger team. As for the supposed energy line you've made reference to, it isn't an energy line. The guys you've named as part of it are players who fight and who hit a lot, whose talents pretty much end there, and who, with their lack of defensive acumen, will get shown the proverbial door by any line with a modicum of offensive potency. Just how little Orr and McLaren bring to actual hockey gameplay is reflected in their ice time last season: an average of 6:23 and 5:09 of ice time per game, respectively, good for the bottom two spots on the team in that category. As for the Bruins, the Wings have certainly had no problems with them in the recent past. More, the Bruins have become weaker with the subtractions of Horton and Ference, both of whom played an important role on that team over the past several seasons. As for Chara, good luck making him tired; he's one of the best-conditioned athletes in the NHL. And playing Datsyuk and Zetterberg against him will not exactly be a strategy, given that Julien will be matching him up against them anyway. Whatever the case, he's a very good defenseman but not a game changer. I'm not sure why you would fear Steve MacIntyre. He has played all of 13 games over the past two seasons for the precise reason that he is worthless at the NHL level.

As weird as Val Filppula working out at Michigan State with a bunch of current Wings players still in his Wings gear? Just another case of the media trying to make something out of nothing here with the Alfie situation. Will be so happy when camps start & there's actual hockey news they can cover.

Bissonnette isn't any better than the people heckling him. It's pretty sad when your relevancy in hockey is what dumb stuff goes on your Twitter account.

The San Jose Sharks unveiled their new home and away uniforms today. And if you ask me, they look like cheap practice jerseys. Gone are the shoulder caps, and the stripes around the waist. According to their website... That's right, folks. The Sharks have been classic under-performers because those jerseys just weighed too darn much. So they're using practice jerseys from here on out because that will take them to the next level...

He was a UFA. He was having problems getting a new deal so a call was made. Nothing sneaky about it. The reason RFA guys don't usually get offer sheets is because the team almost always matches.

I'm guessing even if Alfredsson had his Wings jersey, he wouldn't wear it to a practice skate in the Sensplex with his old teammates. That would likely be seen as rubbing everyone's nose in it. No matter what jersey he wore, it was going to get attention.

Wouldn't Alfredsson be issued his Wings gear at training camp, which hasn't happened yet? No biggie IMHO.

YAY!!!

It will be interesting to see how things unfold in the east. The Islanders are looking to take that next step. Toronto has something to prove. Pittsburgh has something to prove. Boston is likely to be a contender once again. Columbus is a bubble team. Same with Washington. I wouldn't be worried about guys like Steve MacIntyre at all. He may not play in an NHL game again. I'd be more concerned about physical players that can play a regular shift and see more than 5 minutes of ice time. We should watch out for guys like Matt Martin, Chris Neil, Wayne Simmonds, etc. Guys like John Scott, Eric Boulton, Matt Kassian, and George Parros likely won't see many games against us. That said, we're going to have to play more physical. It's just obligatory.

You dont have to be big to play big. The Red Wings will see a different brand of hockey in the East for sure. To face the Bruins and the Leafs once or twice a season is far different from sharing the same division, but it will be exciting. Cant wait for the season to begin!

I think if more people stood up to bullies and d-bags (like this guy clearly was) there would be a lot less bullying and a lot less d-baggery going on.

Good for him. It's pathetic that people think that just because someone is famous they have the right to constantly harass them online. This guy didnt send one tweet to biz he sent like 15 in an hour. I guess it doesn't count as online bullying if the guy is rich though. Good to know. Don't start something that you can't handle. Well done Paul.