Finally,

The NHL regular season begins tomorrow night with some really sweet games.

Boston v Washington - I can't wait to see Tim Thomas give up a goal and flip out.
Montreal v Toronto - I imagine that the Canadiens will have about 10 power plays to the Leafs 2
San Jose v Colorado - I probably would turn this off right after the Sakic ceremony, but now I want to see if Heatley will get a hat trick with Thornton having all of the primary assists. Does anyone know who is wearing the C, for both of these teams?
Vancouver v Calgary - I'll be staying up to watch this one.

Friday's schedule is a little strange. All the teams that are opening the season in Europe are playing. That means the start times on the east coast are noon and 3pm. Why? Why aren't they playing on Saturday and Sunday. Why does the NHL have no games scheduled for Sunday?

Here are more questions I have about the upcoming season (and my guesses):

Will Marion Gaborik play more than 51 games? No

Who will be the first coach to get fired? Randy Carlyle

What D-man will have a huge regular season and then falter in the play-offs? Bouwmeester, I'm not saying the Green will be good in the play-offs, I just don't think he will have a huge regular season.

What team will get the 1st overall pick? Islanders, but not because they were the worst team, they'll just win the lottery. The Avalanche will be the worst team in the League this year.

Who will hit 50 goals first? Heatley first, then Nash, then Ovechkin, but somehow Ovechkin will still win the Rockey Richard Trophy.


Nemmy (I think), has finally finished his team preview series. I won't go into any detail, but below are my play-off teams for each conference(in no particular order), what I think the conference finals will be, and then the stanley cup finals.

East:
Penguins
Capitals
Bruins
Hurricanes
Flyers
Devils
Rangers
Canadiens

West:
Canucks
Flames
Stars
Sharks
BJs
Red Wings
Hawks
Kings


Conference Finals:
Penguins v Devils
Flames v Canucks

Stanley Cup Finals
Penguins over Flames in 7

Crib Notes - Calgary Flames

Calgary Flames
Finished 2nd in the Northwest. Lost to Chicago in 6 games in first round of the playoffs.
Traded Jordan Leopold and change for Jay Bouwmeester
Acquired former Ranger forwards Nigel Dawes and Freddy Sjostrom
Lost Mike Cammalleri and Tito Bertuzzi to free agency
Let Adrian Aucoin fly to Phoenix

Questions going into 2009-2010:
Remember when Mikka Kiprusoff was a monster?
Can Kiprusoff get back on track and dominate?
Will the addition of Jay Bouw on D make up for losing Mike Cammalleri's goal scoring?
How successful will Brent Sutter be in his first season?
Which Canadien athlete will Elisha Cuthbert shack up with next?

Players who need to step up now that Mike Cammalleri is a Canadien:
Olli Jokinen and Jarome Iginla

Watch this guy have a resurgence out of nowhere just because:
Craig Conroy. Who knows.

If you had to buy one Calgary sweater:
I have a red Dougie Gilmour in my closet somewhere. It's as bright as the new throwback 3rds the team will be wearing this season.

Sneaky fantasy LW:
Rene Bourque when healthy was great value

Old guys:
Craig Conroy is 38

Young guys:
John Armstrong is the youngest guy on the roster at 21

Tough guys:
Phaneuf already KO'd Kyle Okposo. (KOed Kyle Okposo, ladies and gentleman. I'm so talented.)
Brian McGrattan is the heavyweight and Brandon Prust is going for the middleweight title.

Favorite old Flamer:
(Tie) Joel Otto and Charles Nelson Reilly

Nostalgia:
Theo Fluery was invited to training camp. He was recently released from the team.

A rare miss:



Goaltending coach:
Jamie McLennan is an assistant so I assume he's coaching the tenders.

Best thing about watching Flames games on tv:
The Saddledome has (in my opinion) the best camera angles on tv and the best collection of talent in the stands. There's always really hot chicks in cowboy hats and red sweaters.

Interesting?:
I see that they have an application to be a part of the Big Country Ice Crew on the team website. I think that's new because the ice girls were called the Fire and Ice chicks or something like that.

NHL 94 players:
Theoren Fleury, Gary Roberts and Joe Nieuwendyk up front.
Gary Suter and Al MacInnis on D with Mike Vernon in net.
Gary Suter was ranked higher than Al MacInnis thart season.

Prediction?:
I don't know if there's enough secondary scoring for this team to really make noise. There's a big drop off after the second line.

YouTube:
You've seen this before and don't even try to watch this again because the song will get stuck in your head for week.


- Nemmy

Crib Notes - Vancouver Canucks

Vancouver Canucks
Finished 1st in the Northwest. Lost to Chicago in 6 games in the semis.
Signed former Red Wing Mikael Samuelsson via free agency
Signed Dman Brad Lukowish, Matthieu Schneider and Christian Ehrhoff
For some reason signed backup goalie Andrew Raycroft
Lost D Mattias Ohlund to Tampa via free agency
Let goalies Curtis Sanford and Jason LaBarbera go unsigned
Resigned both Sedins and Roberto Luongo
Did not resign Mats Sundin

Questions going into 2009-2010:
If Henrik blocks a shot to the ankle does Daniel fall over in pain just like Tomax and Xamot in G.I. Joe?
Have any of the Sedins ever blocked a shot?
How will Pavol Demitra bounce back after shoulder surgery?
Will the loss of Mattias Ohlund further expose a defense that got run out of Chicago last postseason?
If Luongo plays as well as he has in the past does anything else matter and won't the Canuck repeat as winner of the Northwest?

Poised for big season:
Whichever forward gets to play with the Sedun bros. If Alex Burrows sticks then he will top the 50 points he had last season.

If you had to buy one Vancouver sweater:
I saw a guy rocking a black Bure at a concert a few years back. It was 150 degrees in the club that night. I reacted like I had just seen a unicorn.

Sometimes Y:
Stan Smyl, Dana Murzyn, Jyrki Lumme and Dave Babych.

Old guys:
Sami Salo is 35
Pretty much all these guys are sub-30 except Salo, Mitchell, Ryan Johnson and Brad Lukowich.

Young guys:
2008 first rounder Cody Hogson is 19.

Tough guys:
Darcy Hordichuk fights everyone. Collectively the Canucks (ex Demitra & the Sedins) are badass.

Favorite old school Canuck:
For me there were so many iconic (I'm not sure if iconic is the right word) Canucks throughout the years I would have a hard time picking one. I'm sure the consensus choice is Trevor Linden who was a God in Vancouver and really an NHL beast but I may go with Sergio Momesso. It's a tough one here.

Nostalgia:
Some of those battles and playoff series with Calgary. Growing up in the NE it was a treat to get to watch a Vancouver/Calgary game or series and see Gino Odjick battle Ronnie Stern or Tim Hunter. It was like I knew that Boston and Buffalo don't like each other but the times Vancouver played Calgary it was truly nasty. Watching how vicious those games were made me love hockey.

Jersey that I'm buying Tony Shalhoub for Christmas:



Goaltending coach:
Ian Clark

Chicks?:
Vancouver has an "Ice Team" that shovels the crease. For some reason they have guys on this team and the girls don't wear bikinis. What a waste.

Interesting?:
The Tony Tanti story. 2:45 mark



NHL 94 players:
Pavel Bure, Cliff Ronning, and Geoff Courtnall up front.
Jyrki Lumme, Doug Lidster on D with Kirk McLean in net.

How much did Doug Lidster look like Jerry Seinfeld?




Prediction?:
Playoffs for sure. With another defenseman on board this team could make a strong run at Detroit.

YouTube:
No butterfly bullshit here.


- Nemmy

One week to go: A short wrap up

Real, meaningful, hockey games start in less than a week. I've been barely keeping up with whatever pre-season games are shown on TV.

Did anyone catch the Leafs/Sabres game the other night on the NHL Network. It was in Buffalo at HSBC Arena, but I couldn't figure that out for a bit, because the boards had no ads. They were stark white. Also, Miller and a Sabres skater were wearing helmet cams. Of course, I didn't see one replay from those vantage points.

I watched John Tavares' debut on Long Island, versus the Devils. He didn't unimpress me. He actually made nicer plays on the defensive end, instead of showing off his offensive hops. Maybe he's saving that for the regular season.

Last night after the U2 concert, I caught the replay of the Capitals/Rangers game. Brashear and Sugden had 2 fights, but round 2 was solid.



Also, Brandon Dubinsky made a great play to set up the eventual game winner. Smart move by both sides to end that stand-off.


Gretzky stepped down and Dave Tippet got the job. Great trade off for the Coyotes. Gretzky was a great name and a not-so-great coach. Tippet is a proven winner. He's just go to teach the kids and get an everyone is against us attitude in the locker room.

Crib Notes - Nashville Predators

Nashville Predators
Finished 5th in the Central. Did not make the playoffs
Almost didn't sign any free agents despite trying to grab Phil Kessel from Boston.
Resigned forwards Steve Sullivan and Joel Ward.
Bar the doors - Forwards Scott Nichol, Ville Koistinen, Radek Bonk and Ds Greg DeVries and Greg Zanon jumped ship.

Questions going into 2009-2010:
How do you go through an entire offseason with addressing any of your team's needs through free agency?

Poised for another comeback season:
If Steve Sullivan can play at least 80 games he will be dangerous. It would be in Nashville's best interest if David Legwand steps way up as well.

One of the biggest mistakes in recent jersey memory:
This logo and color and flashy stripes makes me want to vomit in my diarrhea. I'd buy a unitard made of Serena Williams tampons before buying this thing.



Fantasy pickup that I was completely wrong about.:
I owe Scotty an apology. I goofed on him after he picked up Pekka Rinne last season after a strong start the night before and said that he'd drop him in 2 days. Rinne is beast. I was wrong. Sorry, Scotty.

Old guys:
Steve Sullivan is 35
Jason Arnott is 34

Young guys:
2008 draft pick Colin Wilson is 19 and has a good shot of making the club

Tough guys:
Wade Belak is one of the coolest guys on the planet. After watching this guy play hockey and do interviews I wouldn't be surprised if the amount of children named "Wade" jumped by 1000% in Tennessee.

Favorite old school Predator:
The Barbary Lion



Nostalgia:
In the 2003 draft the Predators picked Ryan Suter (awesome) in the first then went miss, Kevin Klein (ok) and hit a homer with Shea Weber. Nice first 4 rounds.

Jersey that I'm buying Bressler for Hanukkah:
In all seriousness this uni is sick. I'm not freaking out about the cartoon cat because it reminds me of my Thundercats toys but the color and original Vans striping make me want to be a Predator fan.



Notice it doesn't say "Preds" down the front. So strong.

Goaltending coach:
Per the company website: Mitch Korn is in his 12th season as the goaltending coach for the Nashville Predators. The Preds have been around for 12 seasons?

Chicks:
There's nothing like a few chubby girls shovelling ice

Interesting?:
Even though the front office thought this team was good to go in the offseason that doesn't mean the Predators Dancers didn't retool. The girl in the ugly Predators yellow = 1,000

NHL 94 players:
I guess Jason Arnott didn't make the roster cut for the Oilers this season. Arnott lit it up for the Oilers his rookie year.

Prediction as delivered by your new prime-time comedy host, Jay Leno:
Jay Leno: Ladies and gentle the Predators are starting the season on October 3rd. Too bad most of the league will be preying on them.

Kevin Eubanks: Haw haw haw. Predators become pray. Allllright.

YouTube:
Love this video about instant karma at the hockey rink.



- Nemmy

Crib Notes - Columbus Blue Jackets

Columbus Blue Jackets
Finished 4th in the Central. Swept by the Wings in round 1.
Signed F Sam Pahlsson
Signed backup G Mathieu Garon
Let F Jason Williams, G Dubi, D O-K Tollesfsen, F Manny Malhotra and backup goalie Freddy Norrena walk out the door.
Resigned F Derek Dorsett, Alex Picard and Derick Brassard.
Let Sergei Fedorov walk.
Gave Rick Nash an extension.

Questions going into 2009-2010:
Is this going to be Nash's 50 goal year?
Does Steve Mason struggle in his sophomore season?
Does it concern anyone that Mason was shaky in last year's postseason?
Wouldn't the Wings make any goaltender look terrible?
Does Nash have enough help?
Does Nikita Filatov make the leap this season?
Does Derick Brassard pick up where he left off after shoulder surgery?
Freddie Modin, Antoine Vermette, Kris Huselius, Jason Chimera and RJ Umberger - sneaky, right?
The entire defense is a question mark

Question for NYU 2002-03 hockey players:
Does Jason Chimera look like Matt Archer?

Poised for a huge season:
Bressler thinks that Nash goes heavy bike this season. I too would like to see him go gonzo after getting a new contract.

If you had to buy one BJ sweater:
I'd throw Nash on the back for the hell of it. But really I'm disappointed that a team with the colors red, white and blue couldn't come up with anything better as far as logo and style. At least the team got rid of that neon bug. Cartoony shit doesn't work well on hockey jerseys.

Most annoying/aggravating new wrinkle about the NHL today:
How Russian players threaten to run to the KHL if they are unhappy with playing time etc.

Old guys:
Only 3 guys on the roster are over 30

Young guys:
Nikita Filatov is 19

Tough guys:
Middleweight Derek Dorsett fought 12 times last season,
Light heavyweight Jared Boll fought 2x as much.

Favorite old school BJ:
David Vyborny was the answer to pretty much every Blue Jacket trivia question before he was put out to stud in some Euro league.

Nostalgia:
First ever draft pick Rostislav Klesla (#4 overall in 2000) is still plugging away with the team.

Jersey that I'm buying Bressler for Hanukkah:
How insensitive is it that the NHL won't let me put "Hung" on the back of a Blue Jackets sweater? What about all the Korean fans?

Goaltending coach:
Dave Rook

Um, Alicia, Ursula, Megan, Jackie and Casey, I'd like to see you in my office please:
Everyone else better luck next year.

Interesting?:
Per Wikipedia: The name "Blue Jackets" was chosen to celebrate "patriotism, pride, and the rich Civil War history in the state of Ohio and city of Columbus." When President Abraham Lincoln requested that Ohio raise ten regiments at the outbreak of the Civil War, the state responded by raising a total of 23 volunteer infantry regiments for three months of service.

NHL 94 players:
I don't think anyone on the current BJ roster was on an NHL roster in 1993-94.

Prediction?
Same thing as last year. Mason holds down the fort, team sneaks into the playoffs and gets blown out by Detroit.

YouTube:
This hit got Oshie a spot on Burke's Olympic roster. BTW Worst in-game announcers on the planet.



- Nemmy

Crib Notes - St. Louis Blues

St. Louis Blues
Finished 3rd in the Central. Swept by the Canucks in the 1st round of the playoffs.
Invited veteran D Darryl Sydor to training camp
Signed backup goalie Ty Conklin
Resigned Keith Tkachuk for another season.
Lost G Manny Legace, and shot-blocking D Jay McKee
Everyone else got healthy

Questions going into 2009-2010:
Will full seasons from Andy McDonald, Paul Kariya, Erik Johnson and Eric Brewer make this team a serious contender in the West?
Can Chris Mason keep up the pace from last season?
Are Backes, Berglund and Oshie the most exciting young trio in the league?
Will Erik Johnson rebound and start living up to his potential/hype?
Does anyone object to me leaving out DJ King's name from the first question?

Poised for a huge season:
For some reason I think Paul Kariya will have a huge year if healthy.

If you had to buy one Blues sweater:
It would give folks a quick cheap laugh to show up to the rink in a size 10XL Tkachuk.
Better yet check out the hat that Erik Johnson is rocking this season. He has no idea but if he showed up to the McCarren Pool in Brooklyn wearing this and some facial hair and he will have bedded 4 hipster chicks by the time Mission of Burma finishes its set.

Player whose has proved to me that I know nothing about judging NHL talent:
Brad Boyes keeps scoring goals.

Reason why Brad Winchester is the mayor:
We met an ex girlfriend of his at last year's Winter Classic. Artem has some film of her answering dopey hockey questions somewhere and I sneaky think that Artem loops that footage and plays with himself.

Old guys:
Tkachuk is 37
Derek Armstrong in 36
Paul Kariya is 34

Young guys:
2008 top pick Alex Pietrangelo is 19
Patrik Berglund, David Perron and Erik Johnson are 21

Tough guys:
DJ King is the heavyweight but Cam Janssen is the more physical presence.

Favorite old school Blue:
Brett Hull is Bressler's favorite player and an obvious choice as Hull is a top 10 human being but I'm going to say it's a tie between Kelly Chase and Rick Zombo.

Nostalgia:
The 3rd jersey unveiled last season is tits. I don't remember this uniform.

Jersey that I'm buying Bressler for Hanukkah:
For the no. 1 Savage Garden fan in the world.



Goaltending coach:
Ed Belfour

Best looking St. Louis Blues Ice Girl:
-1000

Interesting?:
Tony Twist used to sit on the floor of his apartment banging his knuckles against the floor. His hands would swell and his knuckles would get harder each time they healed.

NHL 94 players:
Brett Hull, Brendan Shanahan, Craig Janney up front - WOW
Jeff Brown and Garth Butcher on D with Cujo in net.

Prediction?
If this team stays healthy this is a beast. Put this roster in another division and it's a different story.

YouTube:
Take a few steps back and think about the fact that Craig MacT was playing without a helmet until he retired. You get fined in the NFL if you don't have your pants below the kneecap and this guy was helmet less. Unreal.



- Nemmy