dynamo: Where did you go to high school? (You should have figured it was coming.
) I lived in St. Louis almost my entire life, and my parents still live on the South Side. My first ever hockey game was in 1983...a 10-5 thrashing of Detroit. Yes, we suffered through Saskatoon, Harry Ornest, the Monday Night Miracle, Mike Keenan, and now *gulp* The Savvis Center. St. Louis is finally a serious hockey town (at least to the rest of the world), primarily thanks to Mike Shanahan, Ron Caron, and Brett Hull.
And now for my picks:
--Washington: Jagr is the best player in hockey, even with Mario back. Bondra is staying put, as is Olie. A good solid team that is only a few years removed from a Stanley Cup run.
--Philadelphia: Another solid team, now fortified with Jeremy Roenick. Simon Gagne will flourish. And a good solid backstop with Boucher and Cechmanek.
--New Jersey: From Kansas City to Colorado to laughing stocks to a perennial contender. Always a threat.
--Ottawa: With Yashin back, the Sens will be more formidable. However, I wonder how much longer the Sens will play in Canada. They already lost the Sens once...to St. Louis.
And the West...
--Colorado: No brainer. Sakic, Forsberg, Blake. Ray Bourque will be missed, but not too terribly much.
--Detroit: Hasek and Hull will have one more run at Stanley Cup glory. Another perennial contender.
--Dallas: Starting to come apart somewhat. Still a good team, and a nice acquisition in Turgeon. But a sweep by St. Louis was painful...
and of course...
--St. Louis: Personal fanaticism aside, this IS the team to beat. Doug Weight, Keith Tkachuk, Chris Pronger, Al MacInnis, Pavol Demitra. And still one of the best farm systems. The main weakness I see on this team is goaltending (Chris Osgood anyone?).
And let us not forget SLC this year...the US has a great crop of players, so long as they can contain themselves if they lose. And we can watch the games at a relatively decent hour this time around...and live too!
Unfortunately, I didn't follow the Flyers so well this past year, not to mention the Sixers haze kinda came over the city. I did follow the Blues though as well as the Caps.
The beautiful thing about teams like the Caps, the Blues, the Flyers, and the 'Lanche: Deep pocketed owners who are more than willing to sign checks.
Hmmm...I'm wondering if the recent increase in my Comcast bill is due to the signing of Roenick.