Okay, I've just waded through 23 pages of conjecture, innuendo, and chest-pounding..it was fun! I have my NHL package purchased for 2008-09, my favorite chair set up and ready to go. I have a Flyer fanatic of a friend I can rib (yes, I am bummed J.R. is gone but am glad jeffrey Lopul is still there). My favorite teams got little or no mention in all of this so here goes:
#1 Dallas - Western Conference Runner-ups after underachieving at the end of the regular season - glad to have Sean Avery but hate to see Nick Hagman go.
#2 Minnesota - (Okay, I still have to root for the team that took the place of My beloved North Stars, too!) Loss of Brian Rolston and Pavel Dimetra will be hard to overcome, even with Brunette, Nolan, and Mettinen moving in. Martin Gaborik is always a joy to watch skate, but I'll miss Aaron Voros (Rangers?)
#3 Columbus - New kids on the block and Ken Hitchcock as coach (you knew there was a Dallas tie-in). Okay, the Umberger comment above was to show I have sympathy for my friend but it will be nice to have him in Columbus. The loss here is Ron Hainsey.
#4 My first love when hockey was young, even before the Whalers won the very first Avco Cup and Gerry Cheevers was a Baron and Derek Sanderson was a Blazer. When Espo and Cashman and MacKenzie were a superlative supporting cast for Bobby Orr, before the league expanded to Minnesota and i fell in love with the Green and Gold. The hub of the hockey world for me were the big, bad Bruins. Now they aren't big, and they are only sometimes bad but last year there was only one team they couldn't beat until it was too late - Montreal (like the Celtics and Lakers, some things never change, only the names). Not much change here this year but I have to hope that Manny Fernandez comes back strong from the injury that sidelined him last year. Manny, of course, is the former Star and Wild goalie so naturally, another favorite.
That's the top 4 - there's Mike Smith in Tampa now and Olaf to back him up (?) and Barry Melrose will be bullying that franchise for awhile, Will the coaching change in San Jose push them to the heights we've all expected?
Will the Calgarys, Vancouvers, or Edmontons break into that upper echelon in the West? Then there the teams I love to hate - The Rangers, the Devils, The Canadians, and the Dark Pink Feathered Appendages that inhabit the same city as my beloved Pistons and Lions
I'm sure I've given all of you enough ammunition to heckle me back! Here's to the Bettman Fan Club (NOT!) - bring on 2008-09!
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Another $0.02 worth!
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