Zach's 2008-09 Predictions...

Much like my counterpart Bryan (and every fan with a computer and a knowledge of the game), I present to you my 2008-09 NHL predictions... exactly 67 minutes before the puck drops on the season.

EAST

1. Montreal

2. Pittsburgh

3. Tampa Bay

4. NY Rangers

5. Washington

6. Boston

7. Flyers

8. Buffalo

9. Ottawa

10. NJ Devils

11. Carolina

12. Florida

13. Toronto

14. NY Islanders

15. Atlanta

1) Montreal still has the best power play in the game. Remember how they lost Sheldon Souray and were still the best one? Losing Mark Streit is nothing to them. Someone else will step up. 2) It takes a lot for me to not pick my Rangers as 1st in the division, but for the first year in 3 seasons I'm taking the high road and going with my head and picking the Penguins. 3) Tampa Bay is the best team in that division. Steven Stamkos will score 40 goals. 4) Vastly improved defense should keep the Rangers in games while the offense scores 2.5 goals per game. 5) Theodore is a weaker goalie than Huet, Federov is a year older, and their one solid d-man is a kid who has had one good year. Yes, Ovechkin is the best player in the world, but Washington will win and lose 6-5, 5-4 games all year. 6) Don't know why I picked Boston over Ottawa. I love Tim Thomas. This is probably a mistake, I admit it. Maybe a trade deadline pick-up of a defenseman will help. 7) Flyers are a solid team with questionable goaltending (Marty Biron) who play in a tough division. 8) Buffalo is fast, has good goaltending, and manageable defense. I think they'll sneak in.

9/10) I think this might be the year Ottawa and the Devils miss the playoffs. The East is very tough to pick this year (as it was last year). If Ottawa doesn't shore up their goaltending, they have 2 backups leading them this year. Brodeur, on the other hand, is a year older and still have weak defense in front of him. The Devils always pull out wins, but they didn't improve in the offseason and I see them missing the playoffs. 11) Carolina is stuck with a small budget, making acquisitions hard. Cam Ward hasn't proven anything since the Cup run in '06. Erik Cole is gone. Eric Staal is fantastic. Brind'Amour is hurt. Pitkanen is a step up on the PP though. 12) Florida is one of the worst organizations in sports history. While Cory Stillman is a great acquisition and Tomas Vokoun is a Top 5 goalie in the NHL, Bryan McCabe has nothing left besides a big contract, and the rest of the team (except Bouwmeester and Horton) are busts. 13) Besides Antropov and Blake, who's going to score in Toronto? Ryan Hollweg? Jeff Finger? Their saving grace is Vesa Toskala (no pun intended). 14) The Islanders won't be as bad as everyone thinks. Okay, they might. Doug Weight can no longer carry the weight of a team on his shoulders (pun sort of intended). Okposo, Comeau, and and Tambellini should have good starter years. Maybe Josh Bailey sees action. Atleast they won't be as bad as 15) Atlanta. A question mark in goal, two good defenseman (one of whom even the Kings didn't want to trade for), and a skilled forward do not a playoff team make.

WEST

1. Detroit

2. Anaheim

3. Colorado

4. Dallas

5. Chicago

6. San Jose

7. Edmonton

8. Phoenix

9. Minnesota

10. Vancouver

11. Calgary

12. Nashville

13. St. Louis

14. Columbus

15. Los Angeles

1) Let's face it: Detroit never gets bad. When a Federov or Shanahan leaves, a Zetterberg and Datsyuk steps up. When they're gone, Filppula and Helm are ready. Adding Hossa is huge for the offense. 2) Anaheim has improved over last year and should win a dogfight in the Pacific. They had a great regular season last year, just started slow. 3) If healthy, Colorado has a dynamic offense. Sakic, Svatos, Wolski, Stastny, Smith, Guite, even Darcy Tucker. They have 7 serviceable defensemen, although no studs. Maybe with Raycroft and Budaj splitting time, their goaltending holes won't shine as brightly. 4) A great goaltending, 3 stud d-men, and a great offense are going to lead Dallas. 5) Years of horrendous hockey has finally paid of for Chicago. Pat Kane, Jon Toews, and a strong D will help this team beat up on the weakened Central division. If Huet fails in goal, Antti Niemi is ready to go in his stead. 6) San Jose is again good, and with a much better, Dan Boyle-Rob Blake duo on the blueline. Nabokov might wear out at the end from too many games, but they'll easily make the playoffs. 7) Edmonton plays in a weak division, and did improve greatly. Sam Gagner and Andrew Cogliano should be great, as should Ales Hemsky, Cole, and a returning Shawn Horcoff. What? Souray is back? Pick him up on your fantasy team since everyone else forgot about him. Dustin Penner is an overpaid bum, but he has a supporting cast that overshadows him. 8) I'll go out on a limb and say the Coyotes, led by Olli Jokinen, Peter Mueller and Shane Doan will have a great offense. Dan Carcillo is not just a fighter, he can score. Marty Hanzal and Daniel Winnik also should have breakout years. And with rookies Mueller, Kyle Turris, Viktor Tikhonov, and Mikkel Boedker (who I don't know if he made the team or not... I know Tikhonov did), I get overwhelmed thinking of the young guns on this team. Their D isn't that good (Jovanoski is one of the most overpaid players since Penner. Sauer, Hale, and Morris are good but not stars). However, Ilya Bryzgalov is a gem in net for them. Oh, and you can get 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, and 4 sodas at their home opener for $79 total.

9) I hate Minnesota. I hate their ugly, Christmas-inspired uniforms. I hate their coach and I hate his trapping system. I hate Marion Gaborik. I do love Brent Burns though. And I think these guys might sneak into the playoffs due to the insane parity in the Northwest division. They have a few good forwards (Mikko Koivu, P.M. Bouchard, and don't forget Owen Nolan), and decent D led by Burns, and 2 overrated but alright goaltenders. However, I see them on the outside looking in this year. Originally I had them as 8th, but am moving them down. 10) Vancouver has an amazing goaltender, a good D, and no forwards. Unless they win every game 1-0 or 2-1, I don't see them making the playoffs. 11) Nashville has nosedived. Yes, Dan Ellis is good in goal, but they really put all their eggs into one inexperienced basket when they traded Chris Mason to St. Louis. Radulov was their star playmaker, and he will be scoring tons of goals in Russia this year. 12) When will St. Louis make the jump? Maybe next year, guys, maybe next year. Chock full of 1st round picks, including Erik Johnson and his torn ACL. Legace/Mason make a good team, but I'm afraid that while they will be competitive, it won't be the year for them. 13) Trust me, Blue Jacket fans, Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman are not great players. While Pascal Leclaire is a fantastic goalie (as is waiting-in-the-wings Steve Mason), the team only has a few good forwards (Nash, Husselius) and a very porous backline. 14) A star goalie, a star D, and a star forward. Didn't the Rangers have that every year they missed the playoffs in the 1990's and 2000's? Sorry, Flames. Your ship sailed in 2004. 15) The LA Kings might not even have enough salary on the books to be able to field a team in 2008-09. Their goaltending fleet is led by Jason LaBarberra, and their best D (Jack Johnson) is a year away from being great. Frolov, Kopitar, and Dustin Brown are excellent, but one line won't win you that many games in the new NHL.

Playoffs

In the East, I see the Rangers or Canadiens escaping. The Rangers have a better goalie (although Carey Price might have the Patrick Roy-like season everyone up in Quebec wants him to have), but they Habs have a great offense. Montreal has also one a Stanley Cup in every decade except this one. So as not to seem like a homer, I'll pick the Montreal Canadiens to win the Eastern Conference, although if the Rangers make the Finals I'll give myself credit as well.

It doesn't matter though, because no one is beating the Sean Avery's Dallas Stars en route to the Stanley Cup. Avery is a great addition to the team. He is like Steve Ott, except he scores. Avery, Brendan Morrow, Mike Modano, Brad Richard, Lou Erikkson, Fabian Brunnstrom, Jere Lehtinen, Joel Lundqvist, Mike Ribeiro. That's 9 awesome forwards. Imagine what a deadline pick up can do for them? Phillipe Boucher, Sergei Zubov, and Stephane Robidas get the job done on D, and they have 4 to 5 other guys who are solid NHL players ready if anything happens to one of them. Marty Turco is vastly underrated, and while Tobias Stephan (one NHL game) is an inexperienced backup, Turco should carry the weight of the team.

Stars over Canadiens/Rangers in 6. Mark it down!