F2B&G

Detroit/San Jose is a bit of a one-sided rivalry. IMO, Sharks fans hate Detroit more than Detroit fans hate the Sharks, but based on the previously mentioned "measuring stick" factor, as well as our schadenfreude over their continued playoff failures, I'd still slide them into the #3 or #4 spot. My personal list though, would include the usual suspects - Anaheim, Chicago, Pittsburgh. From there, you can throw in the Vancouver 7uongos and the Sharks.

Did not expect that to be the first reply. He's almost 30. It was cool to see him finally get some playing time in the big show last year and get his first NHL goal, even if it was with the Avs.

Take it easy on Gary, guys. I hear that Cindy's an expensive date.

Smith will spend a year in GRR while we see how Kindl pans out and whether or not Ericsson keeps developing. He needs to learn that in the NHL, you have to surrender some rushes and scoring chances to play sound defense. Plus you have to play 82 games, and don't get to skate all over the Alaska-Anchorages and the Michigan Techs of the world 6-8 times a year.

With 7uongo between the pipes? No way. Not until he proves himself.

Modano will only play in the western conference, and the closer to Cali/his wife, the better. He's already said so.

Frankly, if it's the Cup that Hedberg wants, he is being smart. He's 37, so teams are unlikely to view him as a starter unless they are really desperate (like ATL). He can be the most competent backup Brodeur has had in quite some time, especially playing behind the Devils' systems. Now, instead of overplaying Marty's fat ass, they'll only have to give him 55 or so starts, and maybe he won't be gasping for breath by the first round of the playoffs.

This move is either solid for Philly (saving them the money they would've used to sign Nabby and putting it towards improving their depth), or will be a total bust for them. It all hinges on how a Leighton/Boucher tandem works out.

The Hawks will lose some of their depth, but won't be as bad as we would like to think. It should be a close race for the Central Division this year, and I'm looking forward to it.

Sheahan is only 18 and will be a sophomore. I see no harm in letting him play and develop another year or two at ND, where he should be expected to take a step up and play a bigger offensive role with the Irish having graduated some important seniors. At the end of the day though, he'll do whatever the front office tells him to do.

I never thought of Avery as much of anything other than an annoying yapper who can play on the third line and even piss his own team off with his dumbass penalties and decisions.

Regarding the whole "I wouldn't want us to be like Anahiem" thing. It's good to have a team that plays with an edge, stirs things up every now and then, etc. What I really meant, and I should've been more specific, is that I don't want to see a Detroit team with one line of legit talent and three lines of moronic Sean Avery clones. It's fine to have a few good talkers/thugs on a team, they have their place in the NHL, but I wouldn't want to watch a whole squad of cheap arseclowns.

Let's put it this way... -I was born in Detroit and love their skilled, puck-possession style of play, so I root for the Wings. -Players, I don't care so much, so long as they do their jobs well. They come and go, and someday we'll be saying farewell when Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Franzen retire and the next group of stars assume their roles. -If this team were to be transformed into another Anahack Sucks good squad, I'd probably care about them a lot less. -Similarly, I'd probably lose a lot of interest if they became a passive, trapping team.

I think there was a lot of drama off the ice with Darling that didn't help. With him gone and the other guy graduating, they have two new goalies coming in, so it's basically a clean slate in net. And I'm happy to see Smith in the Wings system now. I was tired of him lighting up my team.

They're good enough if they stay healthy. Whether or not they will win it all remains to be seen. I think the big problem last year was that they had to blow their load right after the Olympic Break just to make the playoffs. If most of the roster stays healthy this year then the offense should improve, and we should win a lot more of the close games that we lost in the middle of last season. That will give us the freedom to relax a bit in March and get ready for a run, instead of standing around in late February and realizing we need to win almost every game for the next five weeks.

I don't know about putting him in Bäckström's realm yet, but he's definitely going to be one of the three best players in the NCAA next season, if not the best. If Maine can get a capable goalie and make the NCAA tournament, I wouldn't be surprised if he actually won the Hobey Baker this time. The Black Bears lost almost no one to graduation, and he averaged over 1.5 PPG last year (in fact, both of his usual linemates also benefited from his passes and averaged over a PPG). Just keep your fingers crossed that he doesn't get injured.

Opinions on the guy are going to vary. It depends on whether you think he actually was the problem in SJ, or just the scapegoat to justify the continued presence of the real chokers, like Thornton. I tend to think it's more of the latter. He's no Hasek and won't win a lot of games by himself, but he is a pretty good goalie. Because the guys in front of him often played soft and sold him out every spring, it's only fair to consider what he could add to a team that knows what they're doing when the chips are down and just needs a good goalie to put them over the top.

He tied for the freshman lead in scoring at Notre Dame this past season, with a 6-11-17 line. He plays a strong two-way game and doesn't take many lazy penalties. Look for him to have a 30 pt. sophomore season and surprise us in the near future. In Kenny we trust.

I spent a few minutes trying to understand this trade, and I couldn't. Basically, Atlanta is exchanging one average power forward for another, then giving up a good forward prospect and what could be two decent picks, for two spare parts and an ECHL scrub. Terrible trade by the new Thrashers GM.

Toews is a much better leader than Crysob in my book. He brings way more to his team than just points, and he does a lot of the little things that rarely get noticed, but define a captain. He is the only 'Hawk that I won't mind seeing hoist the Cup (good thing he'd be first in line, so I could shut the TV off immediately after). Comparing Toews to Yzerman, while still a lopsided draw at this point in his young career, is more fair than comparing Cindy to Gretzky.

I don't know anything about the Swedish guy, but I don't see us getting Pitlick. I think he'll be taken by the time the Wings get their first turn at the table. He had good (though not great) numbers for a WCHA freshman, however he has a lot of sniper potential, he hits hard, and he was a pretty good two-way winger by the end of the college season (he can also play shifts at center). He has a considerable amount of raw talent and I think a team with the 10th-20th pick will recognize that and take him. Additionally, he's decided to leave school and will play for the Medicine Hat Tigers in the WHL next year. He's only 18, and so I suspect whichever teams expressed interest in drafting him probably encouraged him to head up north to play for a better coaching staff and get more games under his belt.

Same reason the Pens and the Oilers didn't crack the Top 15 - arena size.

Those markets are serious hockey cities/regions. They'll watch any hockey at any level, even mediocre/bad hockey.

This team will be better by virtue of the fact that they couldn't possibly be hit with the injury bug any worse than they were last year. Hudler is a reasonable upgrade from Williams because when you overlook the fact that both are lazy backcheckers, Hudler can actually shoot, score regularly, and run a powerplay, and he isn't a locker room cancer. Howard will get another year under his belt, though I felt that he played too much last year and would like to see Osgood start 20-25 games if Babcock will let him. Will this team win the President's Trophy? Probably not, but unless you're Washington or San Jose, who has wet dreams about earning that meaningless piece of hardware? They should be neck-and-neck with Chicago for the Central, and probably finish 3rd or 4th in the West with 1st round home ice advantage.

Detroit, of course. Carolina Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers (same thing, since they moved the horn to the RBC Center when they moved the team) Also like Calgary's. If we can go back to the old days, I really like the Nordiques' old horn. If I were the opposing goalie, I'd be motivated to play well, because I wouldn't want that siren in my ears all night. Needs a better song though. Really hate Colorado's. Sounds like a kazoo.