Only 7 more sleeps. . .

That's right hockey fans, only 7 more sleeps until the new era of NHL hockey kicks off.

I was reading an article on Sportsnet.ca today with their predictions for who will finish where in the NHL this season (http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/article.jsp?content=20050928_115322_5076) and thought this would be a good time to chime in with my own predictions.

We'll start with the Western Conference.

I have been a Detroit Red Wings fan pretty much my entire sports-loving life. It would be against the rules for me to not have optimism about my beloved (albeit aging) Wings. Apparently the boys at Sportsnet have the same optimism as they have selected Detroit to finish atop the Western Conference. I'll have to agree with that prediction.

1. Detroit

The rest of my picks differ quite a bit from what Sportsnet has predicted. Here's the rest of my predicted order for the Western Conference in the new-look NHL:

2. Calgary- Iginla is the MVP and this team is so deep and playing in the best hockey city in the world.
3. Dallas- Modano returns to form, Guerin has a big year in the new offensive-minded league, and Turco backstops them to a division title.
4. San Jose- not much optimism here- Sportsnet ranks them out of the playoffs as the #9 team- but I like Marleau & Nabokov and think they'll compete again.
5. Vancouver- they have one big line and a decent supporting cast but Cloutier will kill them.
6. Edmonton- Goaltending, a lack of depth on D and the absence of an offensively gifted #1 center will keep this team from truley revitalizing the Battle of Alberta.
7. Chicago- made some big acquisitions with Khabibulin and Aucoin and already have some great young players highlighted by Tuomo Ruutu.
8. Nashville- finished 8th in 2003-04 and will be solid again in 2005-06. Paul Kariya's not the great acquisition that everyone expects him to be. I predict he plays less than 40 games.
9. Colorado- FINALLY we can have playoffs without the Av's.
10. LA- Andy Murray is one of the best coaches in the game and will have this team in the hunt for a playoff spot late into the season.
11. Columbus- Nash scores 50 and Columbus makes some serious strides towards being a threat in 06-07.
12. Phoenix- Gretzky & Co surprise all critics by being a much-more competitive team than predicted. Doan will challenge Iginla for league MVP and cement himself as one of the games best leaders.
13. Anaheim- I like Brian Burke as the GM but this former one-year wonder will underachieve badly.
14. Minnesota- Gaborik will shine if healthy but, as Sportsnet wrote, can you name another player on this team?
15. St. Louis- Overpriced Doug Weight and Keith Tkachuk battle injuries all year and this team takes a big-time fall in the new world of salary-cap hockey.

I like Detroit, Calgary, Vancouver & Edmonton to come out of the first round (that's right, all 3 Canadian teams baby!). I like Detroit over Edmonton and Calgary over Vancouver in round 2. Unfortunately I think my idol, Stevie Y's season ends with a Western Conference Finals loss to the Calgary Flames.

The Eastern Conference is the Young and The Restless Confrence. Okay, I don't know if they're restless but they're definitely young. With Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin and the highly underrated Zach Parisse (sp?) making their debuts there are some great rookies to watch for.

1. Tampa Bay- questions in goal but some awesome forwards in Lecavalier, Richards and St.Louis.
2. Ottawa- Hasek has a little more magic left and Ottawa watches a new star shine in Jason Spezza.
3. Philadelphia- Forsberg is a great addition but the most valuable are the kids- Jeff Carter & Mike Richards.
4. Boston- Thornton and co. are too good to handle.
5. Montreal- Theodore wins the Vezina again and this team brings hockey fever back to Montreal.
6. Toronto- As long as they're healthy, they'll be competitive.
7. Pittsburgh- If this team could have about 40 minutes of PP time each game they'd be #1.
8. Buffalo- the surprise of the east. You'll see Ryan Miller emerge as one of the games best goalies and Tomas Vanek is another Eastern Conference rookie who's soon to be a star. Daniel Briere will light it up.
9. Islanders- Yashin as captain?
10. Florida- good young team with the best young goalie in Roberto Luongo.
11. New Jersey- the loss of Niedermyer and Stevens hurts, but Parisse gives them something to look forward to.
12. Atlanta- Hossa will be great but their hopes lie in whether they can sign Kovalchuk.
13. Washington- not as bad as anticipated. They've drafted many from the WHL and we all know that that's where the best hockey players are formed.
14. Carolina- Were they really in the cup finals a couple years ago?
15. Rangers- They suck.

In the east Tampa, Ottawa, Montreal (beats out the Bruins again) and Toronto (who finally beat the Flyers in the playoffs) will advance to round 2. Tampa will break the hearts of Leaf fans and Ottawa will send Montreal packing. It won't be a Cup rematch though of 2003-04 as Ottawa will beat T-Bay and earn the right to play Calgary in an all-Canadian finals (probably the last thing the NHL brass would want to have happen).

Calgary will right the wrongs from 2003-04 and defeat the Senators in 7 games to capture the Stanley Cup.

It will be interesting to see how close, or (more likely) how far off, these predictions are in another 8 months or so. Regardless of whether I turn out to be right or not I'm just glad that we're back to predicting who's going to win the Cup instead of who's going to win the Lockout battle.

Enjoy the season.