Rather than dicker around about who's starting it, I will.

The season begins Thursday, October 1 with these matches, all EST:

Washington at Boston, 7 PM (VERSUS)
Montreal at Toronto, 7 PM (CBC)
Vancouver at Calgary, 10 PM (CBC)
San Jose at Colorado, 10 PM (VERSUS)

I suggest for an opener, we go a little light-hearted, almost child-like.

Things that make me happy:

Phil Kessel is out of Boston
Dany Heatley is out of Ottawa
Bobby Holik is out of New Jersey

Things that make me sad:

NHL Center Ice and my cable company are still fighting
Versus and DirecTV are still fighting
Sean Avery is still not fighting

I guess I'll renew my center ice online subscription this year. Was hoping Comcast would get their center ice package to feature more HD games but I don't think that's going to happen. What year is it again? Standard definition hockey is so brutal.

Time to do some ranking/predictions!

Western Conference

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

Eastern Conference

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

Hart -
Vezina -
Norris -
Calder -
Lady Byng -
Selke -
Adams -
Masterton -
Pearson -

The marathon begins for Lord Stanley's Cup.

Things that make me happy:
-Saku Koivu gets to play with his Finnish pal
-Sidney Crosby is a champion

Things that make me sad:
-Kovalev will score about 28 goals vs Carey Price
-My favorite Hab player doesn't look like he'll be a Hab for much longer

Eastern Conference

1. Pittsburgh
2. Boston
3. Washington
4. Philadelphia
5. Montreal
6. NY Rangers
7. Carolina
8. Ottawa

9. New Jersey
10. Tampa Bay
11. Buffalo
12. Toronto
13. Florida
14. Atlanta
15. NY Islanders

Hart - Sidney Crosby
Vezina - Roberto Luongo
Norris - Andrei Markov
Calder - Ville Leino
Lady Byng - some ****... so Datsyuk I guess
Selke - Pavel Datsyuk
Adams - Jacques Martin ldo
Masterton - I don't know what that is
Pearson - whoever the players vote for

Art Ross- Instead of saying some weak **** like "well it's a toss-up between the big three" I'm just gonna say Ovechkin
Richard-Ovechkin

My thoughts so far, subject to change.

you're so gay

I will **** my pants if Pittsburgh is 1st in the East. They may be top 5-6 but that's all I'm giving them

Western Conference

1. San Jose Sharks
2. Chicago Blackhawks
3. Vancouver Canucks
4. Detriot Red Wings
5. Calgary Flames
6. Anaheim Ducks
7. Dallas Stars
8. St. Louis Blues

9. Columbus Blue Jackets
10. Nashville Predators
11. Minnesota Wild
12. Edmonton Oilers
13. LA Kings
14. Phoenix Coyotes
15. Colorado Avalanche

Eastern Conference

1. Boston Bruins
2. Philadelphia Flyers
3. Washington Capitals
4. New Jersey Devils
5. Pittsburgh Penguins
6. Carolina Hurricanes
7. NY Rangers
8. Montreal Canadiens

9. Buffalo Sabres
10. Atlanta Thrashers
11. Ottawa Senators
12. Florida Panthers
13. Tampa Bay Lightning
14. Toronto Maple Leafs
15. NY Islanders

Hart - Ovechkin
Vezina - Luongo
Norris - Chara
Calder - Varlamov
Lady Byng - Datsyuk
Selke - Richards
Adams - Quennville/Stevens
Masterton - ???
Pearson - Ovechkin

Pretty close to my picks.

Eastern Conference


1. Boston
2. Washington
3. Philadelphia
4. Pittsburgh
5. Montreal
6. Carolina
7. NY Rangers
8. NJ Devils

9. Toronto
10. Atlanta
11. Buffalo
12. Tampa Bay
13. Florida
14. Ottawa
15. NY Islanders

Call it what you want, but they're simply not the best team in the East. Philly's better if Emery doesn't **** the bed, Boston's better (San Jose of the East?), and Washington's better.

edit: return of NHL season ****** rage MuresanForMVP? I think so!

edit2: they're def top 5 in the East I shouldn't have said "5-6"

Yeah, I'm expecting the Penguins to be around the same as last year. Probably won't have that terrible start but on average be a little worse.

yea I certainly wouldnt expect any more 18-3-4 stretches this season from them

In on the ground floor!

Can't wait.... come on Oct 1st!!

http://www.puckprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=289 :

Western Conference

1. San Jose Sharks
2. Chicago Blackhawks
3. Vancouver Canucks
4. Detroit Red Wings
5. Anaheim Ducks
6. Calgary Flames
7. St. Louis Blues
8. Dallas Stars

9. Columbus Blue Jackets
10. Edmonton Oilers
11. Nashville Predators
12. Los Angeles Kings
13. Minnesota Wild
14. Phoenix Coyotes
15. Colorado Avalanche

Eastern Conference

1. Washington Capitals
2. Philadelphia Flyers
3. Boston Bruins
4. Pittsburgh Penguins
5. Montreal Canadiens
6. Carolina Hurricanes
7. Florida Panthers
8. New Jersey Devils

9. New York Rangers
10. Ottawa Senators
11. Tampa Bay Lightning
12. Buffalo Sabres
13. Toronto Maple Leafs
14. Atlanta Thrashers
15. New York Islanders

Hart - Alex Ovechkin
Vezina - Roberto Luongo
Norris - Mike Green
Calder - Simeon Varlamov
Lady Byng - Pavel Datsyuk
Selke - Mike Richards
Adams - Bruce Boudreau
Pearson - Alex Ovechkin
Art Ross - Evgeni Malkin
Richard - Alex Ovechkin

President's Trophy - San Jose Sharks
Prince of Wales Trophy - Washington Capitals
Clarence Campbell Bowl - Chicago Blackhawks
Lord Stanley's Cup - Washington Capitals

Hahaha, this is going to be good one. Good week too! A couple 2p2 hockey drafts tomorrow and Wednesday, and then the lames game.

Here's to a good season!

Washington, Philadelphia, and Boston may be "better" in the regular season, but Pittsburgh is a favorite over anybody in the East when the playoffs roll around.

Well going forward into this season the other teams probably have the edge, and a lot of things can change from now until then, so I dont see the value of the "when the playoffs roll around" bit.

I also think the Hawks will face Washington in the Finals and win

Thursday predictions

Washington 4 Boston 2
Montreal 3 Toronto 1
Vancouver 2 Calgary 3
San Jose 5 Colorado 2