Pacific Division Preview

1st - San Jose
2nd - Los Angeles
3rd - Anaheim
4th - Dallas
5th - Phoenix

San Jose - Led by Joe Thornton, this team has the make-up of a Stanley Cup contender. This team was able to keep Patrick Marleau during the off-season and this helps with the team's overall depth. Michalek will be a player to keep an eye on.

Los Angeles - Not since the days of Wayne Gretzky has this team looked so good. Anze Kopitar is an underated player, but with Cammilari on his wing, him and his team should break-out this year. This team has a good mix of youth and experience. Jack Johnson, a rookie, will have veteran Rob Blake to learn from. This team will look good on some nights, but will look bad on others. The key will be whether Bernier will be able to shoulder the bulk of the goaltending duties.

Anaheim - Stanley Cup hangover. Last year, the previous Stanley Cup finalists didn't even make the playoffs. Anaheim will have the same problems. I like the core of this team, but with the loss of Niedermayer and Selanne, this team will not be as dominant as last year. If Anaheim makes the playoffs, they will be a dangerous team because they are built for long playoff runs. Getlaf, a player I once despised for being arrogant and cocky, is starting to win me over and will probably have a big year.

Dallas - This team is fairly solid, but my gut says they will stink. Turco has never been the goalie that he was supposed to be. This team will be battling hard to make the playoffs as there are some really good teams in the western conference.

Phoenix - This is a joke of a franchise. Without Gretzky, this team would have moved, revamped their roster, begin to rebuild, or something. My prediction is that this team moves to Vegas in the next couple of years to satisfy Janet Gretzky's gambling needs. Hockey will not last in the desert, and Gretzky should get out of there to keep some of his previously earned respect.

Northwest Division Preview

1st - Colorado
2nd - Minnesota
3rd - Calgary
4th - Vancouver
5th - Edmonton

Colorado - Okay. I may be a little biased from the game last night, but the Avs look pretty good. Statsny was unreal last night getting a hat trick against the Dallas Stars. He plays on the second line. Wolski, Sakic and Smyth make a formidable first line, and I expect that this team will outperform last year's result.

Minnesota - This is a good team, but not a great team. Gaborik needs to stay healthy if this team wants to be really competitive for the division crown, but it may be difficult considering Gaborik's history.

Calgary - The Flames will perform similarly to last year. Phaneuf is only getting better, but other teams in the conference have got some good young talent as well. The Flames are a solid team, but I can't consider them upper-echelon. They will battle for a playoff spot.

Vancouver - Last year, Vancouver's saving grace was Roberto Luongo, and this year is no different. Luongo is amazing, but the rest of the Canucks are mediocre. Besides Luongo, the closest player to an All-Star is Rory Fitzpatrick. The Sedins are good, but they cannot carry this team. I expect Vancouver to trade Naslund at the deadline in order to get some prospects.

Edmonton - Brian Burke may be happy to see the Oilers here. After the Dustin Penner debacle and the Vanek offer sheet, there are probably a lot of GM's that hate this team. There are a couple of guys on Edmonton that should be fun to watch though. Sam Gagner should be an interesting one. Overall, this team fell apart with the loss of Ryan Smyth. I believe that they have not replaced him yet and Colorado is now a better team for it.

Central Division Preview

I realize that the season has already started, but I thought it's better late than never.

Central Division
1st - Detroit
2nd - Nashville
3rd - St. Louis
4th - Chicago
5th - Columbus

Detroit - This team may be a Stanley Cup favourite. This team is a competitive team nearly every year, and this year is no exception. The Red Wings continue to draft quality young players in the late rounds, and Chris Chelios and Dominek Hasek do not seem to age. I would expect them to win in this weak division.

Nashville - This is still a solid team. Last year, they made a big push to win the cup by acquiring Peter Forsberg at the deadline. Forsberg is now gone and so are a couple of other key players. I'm a big fan of Shea Weber and expect him to have a stand-out year.

St. Louis - The young guys on this team are nearly ready to take this team back into the playoffs. Stempniak, Johnston, Perron are really good. This team should be improved from last year.

Chicago - This is a team that excites me. Their abudence of young and talent is incredible. The question is that whether or not they are mature enough to do well enough to make the playoffs. Khabibulin should be solid in net. Guys like Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrooke anchor the defence. Hopefully, guys like Samsonov, Havlat, and Lang can stay healthy and to a level of playing that they are comfortable with. Toews and Kane could be co-finalists for rookie of the year.

Columbus - I like Rick Nash. That is all. Columbus should move to Winnipeg.

Eastern Conference

1st - Ottawa
2nd - Pittsburgh
3rd - Washington
4th - New York Rangers
5th - Buffalo
6th - Philadelphia
7th - Toronto
8th - New Jersey
9th - Tampa Bay
10th - Montreal
11th- Carolina
12th- Boston
13th- New York Islanders
14th- Atlanta
15th- Florida

Southeast

This will be the worst division in hockey this year. There will probably be only one or two teams from this division that will make the playoffs. Here is how I see the standings:

1st - Washington
2nd - Tampa Bay
3rd - Carolina
4th - Atlanta
5th - Florida

Washington - I have picked this team to finish first, but that doesn't mean I think they will be impressive. Granted, they will look impressive as the Capitals have some of the most exciting young players in the game. Backstrom, Semin and Ovechkin will be tough for teams to contain. The Caps have added forward Michael Nylander from the Rangers in the off-season and he adds depth to the Caps forwards lines. The Caps don't have the goaltending or the team defence to make a strong case for the playoffs.

Tampa Bay - I love Vincent Lecalvalier, Martin St. Louis and Brad Richards. Unfortunately, there isn't much else to love about the Tampa Bay Lightning. This is one of the poorest defensive teams in the league. With a pre-season injury to top-defenceman Dan Boyle, the Lightning will have a hard time being much better than they were last year.

Carolina - Last year, this team got hurt by some key injuries. This is my wildcard team. I believe that Carolina can win this division as this is a weak division, but it will be interesting to see if Carolina can come back from a disasterous season last year after making the playoffs the year before. Eric Stall needs a big year. Erik Cole should help this team tremendously. Before I move them up in my rankings, I need more evidence that the old Canes are back.

Florida - I like players like Boumeester, Weiss and Horton. These guys are decent hockey players but they will not be able to take this team very far. This team was raped in the Roberto Luongo deal. The key player that they were supposed to get in return never played a game (Todd Bertuzzi). Jacques Martin hasn't been an effective coach in many years, and it begs the question whether the game has passed him by. His defence first philosophy worked wonders in Ottawa before the lockout, but since has failed miserably. The Panthers could be the worst team in the league this year.

Atlantic Division Preview

This could be a very interesting division this year to watch. It may be the most difficult division to predict. My picks are:

1st - Pittsburgh
2nd - New York Rangers
3rd - Philadelphia
4th - New Jersey
5th - New York Islanders

Pittsburgh - This is a team that is ready to tear the league apart. This is a highly explosive team that will embarass some teams. Sidney Crosby, the most dynamic player in the NHL, will lead the charge. With a wealth of youth and a mix of veteran leadership, this team will be an offensive juggernaut.

New York Rangers - I really like the Rangers. They looked pretty impressive last spring in the playoffs when they were heavy underdogs against the Sabres. The Rangers live and die with the willingness of Jaromir Jagr to perform. It will be interesting to see if the addition of Russian prospect Alexei Cherapanov will have much of an impact. He could be a sleeper pick in hockey pools if he gets put on a top line.

Philadelphia - This is by far the most improved team from last year. Last year, they finished dead last in the league, but they ended up signing the biggest free agents on the market. I would expect Philadelphia to come out slow this year, but make a push at the end of the season. There are a lot of new faces and they will need to adapt to a different style of play. Gagne and Briere could become one of the deadliest pairs in hockey.

New Jersey - I really don't like New Jersey's chances this year especially with the loss of Scott Gomez. New Jersey's saving grace is the fact they hired Brent Sutter. This man is a winner. He has taken team Canada to various tournaments and has yet to lose a game. With young guns like Zajak and Parise, Sutter will be the perfect coach for these up-and-comers.

New York Islanders - This team usually stinks and this year is no exception. I think Ted Nolan will make this team overachieve again this year, but that is not saying too much. The Islanders needed to keep Ryan Smtyh and they need to start drafting players a lot better. I'm not going to expect too much from this team. They lost 40-goal scorer, Jason Blake, to the Leafs. They did not get better in the off-season, whereas, teams below them in the standings got significantly better.