The New Season

Well it's the start of a new season for the NHL; a fresh start; a clean slate if you will. So what are the changes and how will they pan out? Well that's why we have an 82-game season; to figure these things out.
Some of the teams that made the big moves have us scratching our heads. Let's start off with the biggest of them all: Montreal. After a disappointing season following an excellent season, in which 50 percent of their players had career years including rookie netminder Carey Price, The Habs dramatically revamped their entire organization. Coach Guy Carboneau was first to gobeing replace by GM Bob Gainey. After voicing his displeasure for the head coach position, he stepped down and brought in former Panthers coach Jaques Martin. Mid way through the summer, the club announced the sale of the team and the purchase by former owners the Molson brothers. But the fun didn't begin there; signings of two prime defencemen, a star center, a gritty winger and a few goal scorers and this team has a whole new look. With the departure of captain and starting center Saku Koivu, who has been a mainstay with the team through the leanest years in franchise history, Russian scoring sensation (or scoring cessation depending on how he is feeling that day) Alex Kovalev, Chris Higgins, and top D-man Mike Komisarek, a good margin of the team will not be returning this season. As an added bonus both Kovalev and Komisarek signed with two rivaled Canadian teams; Ottawa and Toronto respectively - which will make for some even more interesting match-ups. The only mentionable players to stay were Plekanec, Markov, and the Kostitsyn brothers.
So what's to expect from the new look les-saints flanelles'? About as much as was expected when they lost their 8th straight playoff game...Nothing.
There's a lot of what-if's on this team and I think too many ingredients to make it right.

Which brings us to the Flyers. Finally they let go of the 6-foot something pylon they called Darien Hatcher who was leeching their salary cap for God knows how long. Chris Pronger is a good addition and, I think, the right guy to play in front of question mark Ray Emery. Yes he has been a good netminder but he is to the Flyers what Iverson was to the Sixers. "practice. we talkin' 'bout practice." If the Flyers can keep this guy on a leash then they should have some success. If not, he'll most likely be exiled to Russia for another stint in the KHL.

Some other teams to watch out for as this seasons rolls along will be Toronto, New York Rangers, Detroit, and Pittsburgh. The Red Wings and Penguins are the two teams that did probably the least in terms of adding players so it will be interesting to see what they do.

Welcome

So here we go - Welcome to my blog.

I have a lot to talk about and I'm going to be posting quite frequently so keep an eye out. Since it's a new blog, I'm going to ease in to it and keep the controversial stuff for a little later. Just to get started I'll be talking about hockey - that's right NHL. It's playoffs time and that means playoff beards for all.

So here's the breakdown of what's going on so far; basically the playoffs just started yesterday (Wednesday, April 15) and it was a wild one. The Pittsburgh Penguins dominated the Philadelphia Flyers in what was expected to be a blowout. The Pens started the playoffs exactly where it ended for them last year, falling to the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals. At this juncture everyone is going with Detroit all the way. Enough is enough people!!! First of all, Detroit can be beaten and can be stopped. They are not a dynasty by any stretch of the imagination and I can guarantee they will not win the Stanley Cup this year.

Since I'm in the Philadelphia area and everyone around me is enthralled with the Flyers, I'll tell you why they're going out in five games. The Philadelphia Flyers have historically turned in lacklustre playoff performances the year after putting on a good one. Case in point; 1997 Flyers went to the Stanley Cup finals - 1998 they were knocked out in the first round. Additionally, the Flyers have invested too much in Danny Briere and it simply has not paid off. Despite his injuries and set backs this season, he has played a fair number of games and he just has not contributed to his team the way they expected him to. Daniel Carcillo ......seriously? The only trade deadline acquisition was this gritty winger and they gave up Scottie Upshall to get him. Bad move - and I don't even need to spell it out for you. To sum it all up, the Flyers just aren't a factor in this year's playoffs and I don't think they will turn it up.

The Pens are dangerous only because they're being underestimated. No one is really sure what the team is capable of because just a few months ago they were fishing for answers. After firing head coach Michael Terrien, the Penguins seemed to find their composure and the resolve to fight for their season. So with this in mind I'll delve out my first round predictions:

Montreal will ultimately fall to Boston in 5 games
Detroit will lose to Columbus in 7
Chicago over Calgary in 6
Penguins taking the Flyers in 5
Vancouver over St. Louis in 5
New Jersey over Carolina in 7
New York will fall to Washington in 7

And as much as it pains me to say, the San Jose sharks will win in the first round but will most likely lose out in the second.

So that's it for now. I'm just getting the hang of this so stay tuned for more fun stuff.