Best & Worst NFL Week Nine

Week Nine has come and gone in the National Football League and what a week it was. Kansas City still unbeaten at 8-0. NFC west is still a tight race as is the AFC North. Running backs are showing that they still have a major role to play in the modern game. We also some big names have big days catching passes as well. Lets not waste anymore time. Here's the Best, and Worst, of week nine in the NFL.

Best: Saquan Barkley, Running Back Philadelphia Eagles
There may have been some questions about Barkley's running ability coming into this season when he signed with the Eagles. Those worries are starting to get put to bed more and more as each week goes by. Barkley is the second leading rusher in the NFL this year, behind only Derrick Henry. We saw more of that skill on display in the Eagles 28-23 win over the Jaguars on Sunday. Barkley finished with 27 carries for 159 yards and a touchdowns. Those yards were the most by any running back in the league this season. He's been good, like really good.

Worst: New Orleans Saints
There had been a lot of high hopes for the Saints this year. A lot of it was off to the great start, winning their first two games. Now the wheels have fallen off in New Orleans. Seven straight losses, including a 23-22 loss in Carolina on Sunday. Here's a perfect example off how bad the things have gotten for the Saints over the last month and a half. They outrushed the Panthers by over 150 yards. and outgained the Panthers by 150 yards. They still lost to Carolina. That's the only time in NFL history that something like that has ever happened. Things just keep going down for New Orleans this season.

Best: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Wide Receiver Seattle Seahawks
Yes it came in a losing effort, but its a performance that needs to be talked about. Sure, Seattle lost 26-20 to the Rams, but it wasn't for lack of trying by Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Seven catches for 18- yards and a pair of touchdowns. It was the 2nd time in his career that he's had a 100 yard receiving game. Last one was in week two against New England this season. Yes the Rams took the game in overtime, but the Seahawks got there thanks to Smith-Njigba performance. His yard total was the tops out of any pass catcher in the league this week.

Worst: Jordan Love, Quarterback Green Bay Packers
He was supposed to be the guy to take over in Green Bay. This season at least, we haven't quite seen it just yet. Now to be fair, the Packers went up against a powerhouse this week in the Detroit Lions. Lions won it 24-14, thanks to their run game. But that wasn't the only story to come out of this night. The play of Jordan Love is something to talk about. Sure the 274 pass yards are nice, but that can be deceiving. He threw for no touchdowns, at least not for this own team. The one touchdown toss he had was a pick six. It also is somewhat glaring that he was 23 of 38 passing. This bye week for Green Bay is coming at a good time, as it allows them to get it together and it starts with Love having to start playing better.

Best: Tyler Bass, Kicker Buffalo Bills
To say that things have been kind of rough for Tyler Bass in Buffalo have been a totally fair assessment. He missed what would have been a game tying field goal against Kansas City last year in the playoffs. That kind of carried over to a rough start this year. It wasn't getting any better at the start of things on Sunday at home against Miami. Then, things changed as the game went on. Coach Sean McDermott put faith in his kicker. he sent Bass out in a tie game with ten seconds left.  Bass went out to drill the kick, which by the way was a 61-yarder, to win the game 30-27 for the Bills. It was not only the longest of Bass's career, but the longest in Bills history.

Worst: Caleb Williams, Quarterback Chicago Bears
Yes, the numbers were OK for Williams on Sunday. He did throw for 271 yards. But that wasn't good enough. Chicago scored just nine points on Sunday in a 29-9 loss to the Cardinals. And this was coming a week after Jayden Daniels beat the Bears with the walk off Hail Mary. What made this week worse for Williams, aside from the fact that he looked average at best against a spotty Arizona defense, was the fact that he limped off at the end of the game with an apparent leg injury. Oh and the Bears are now 0-4 on the road this season. Ouch

Best & Worst NFL Week Eight

We have now past the two month mark in the NFL season. Still one unbeaten team left standing in the Kansas City Chiefs. Meanwhile the Titans and Panthers are in a battle for the top overall draft pick with just one win each. We had the return of some big time talent from injury and quite a few upsets around the league. We also got some of the heavy favorites starting to take shape along with some bigtime miracle wins. Lets not waste anymore time, here's some of the best and worst of week eight in the NFL.

Best: Jayden Daniels, Quarterback Washington Commanders
He went number two overall in the 2024 draft, and on Sunday in the Commanders 18-15 win over the Bears, Jaylen Daniels got his signature moment. Daniels duked it out with the guy who was taken ahead of him in the draft in Caleb Williams, and it was Daniels who got the last shot in. He finished 21 of 38 for 326 yards. But it was his one touchdown pass om the day that has everybody talking. The Hail Mary as time expired with the Commanders down only two, that helped secure the walk off victory. it showed a different level of calm and poise for the kid to not only be able to escape the pressure, but to lob up the bomb for the winner.

Worst: New York Jets Offense
Calling this team a mess would be an understatement. After falling 25-22 to New England on Sunday, the Jets now sit at 2-6. Aaron Rogers got a new weapon in Devante Adams and it still hasn't clicked yet after a couple of weeks. They had some flashes but the offense isn't clicking. And its not helping the fact that Greg Zurline missed a kick and the Jets couldn't convert a two point conversion to tie the game. This is a game that the Jets should have won but they came up short. Things have looked out of wack for the team the last couple of weeks. And this was supposed to be a playoff contending team.

Best: Malik Willis Quarterback Green Bay Packers
Yes Green Bay walked away with a 30-27 win. Yes Josh Jacobs had a huge day with over 100 yards on the ground and a couple of touchdowns. But it was Malik Willis that became the story. Green Bay got him in late August in a trade and had to come in late the game as Jordan Love went down with a groin injury. All Willis did was hit Jayden Reed with a 51 yard bomb pass that got Green Bay within range. That turned into a win as the Packers hit a walk off kick to end it. But if Willis is showing flashes like that, then Green Bay is in good hands if Love has to miss time due to that injury.

Worst: Dallas Cowboys Run Game
For a long time, the running game had been a staple of the Dallas Cowboys offense. That seems to have totally gone by the wayside. Dallas got run over by San Francisco, losing 30-24 to the Niners. Dallas had 56 rush yards as a team. San Francisco Quarterback Brock Purdy got that BY HIMSELF. When you have no running game, it becomes obvious to everybody watching, both in the stadium and on TV, what you're going to do. It puts way more pressure on Dak. Now Dak is a good QB I can't take anything away from him. But he can only do so much and when you don't have a run game to get more than 100 yards on a day, it puts more pressure than needed on the air attack. That becomes too predictable.

Best: Detroit Lions Offense
You want to talk about domination, look at what the Lions just did on Sunday. They became the 2nd team this season to score 50 points in a game, hanging 52 on the Titans in a 52-14 victory. What's even more amazing is they didn't even throw for 100 yards on the day as a team. Special teams and the run game took hold for the Lions in the win. They didn't nee Geoff to play like an MVP, and it shows how deep this team is. Detroit is off to a 6-1 start the 2nd best start they ever had.

Worst: Anthony Richardson Quarterback Indianapolis Colts
There was some hope coming into this season that Richardson would be able to recover from his injury last year and be able to find his game again. Well that wasn't the case on Sunday, as the Colts fell to the Texans 23-20. Richardson was flat out bad on Sunday, going just 10 of 32 for 175 yards, a touchdown and a pick. He completed just TEN passes. The coach was asked if he would consider going away from Richardson in favor of veteran Joe Flacco. Its a double sided coin there. On the one hand you need to build the confidence up of the kid. On the other, you also need to keep hope alive for having a decent year, and when Richardson has performances like that, it makes things like that a little harder to do.

One For The Ages

Sure the ending wasn't the way the team wanted. But boy was it a wild ride for the New York Mets. 89 wins and came within two wins of going to the World Series. This was their first playoff appearance and wins since going to said World Series in 2015. To be able to do what they did with the way the season went along is something that was truly specials.

There weren't very high expectations for me for this team when the season started. When I did my predictions at the beginning of the year I had the team finishing with 81 wins and missing the playoffs. Once things got going, the Mets limped out of the gate, getting out to an 0-5 start to their year. Things weren't looking much better by early June, as the team sat at eleven games under .500 at 24-35. That would be the worst record they'd have this season. By the time the All Star break rolled around, the team sat at 49-46. They had started playing better baseball.

Then by the time late September rolled around, it looked like there was a chance to actually be a playoff team. They held their fait in their own hands come the last day of the season in Milwaukee, a team they hadn't beaten all year. They won the final game. Now here's where the stress came in. Had to go to Atlanta, play a double header with playoff lives on the line. Win and in. Thanks to late inning heroics (Francisco Lindor) they did what they had to do and got in. Which meant go right back to Milwaukee for the Wild Card round. Game three, it looked like they were down and out, Alonso hits the biggest home run of his life. Moving on.

To Philadelphia for the Division Round. Ventos and Lindor provide more heroics. Onto the NLCS. Where the Magic simply ran out.

Alonso had a solid year, but a little down by the standards he had set for himself in past years. Lindor was playing at an MVP level. Both of them had clutch hits during not only the season but in the playoffs. Ventos set a club record for RBI's in the playoffs with 14, after driving in 71 during the regular season The three main starters this year, Severino, Manaea and Quintana each won ten games. All that without Sanga on the hill who missed most of the year due to injury.

They had moments this year where I'd watch this team and want to ram my head against the wall. It was that infuriating. Then there was times where I'd see flashes of magic that I hadn't seen from this team in a long, long time. It brought back a sense of magic I haven't felt in this team in some time. it was a nice feeling. Hopefully they can get Alonso signed and add a couple pieces and take the next step.

See you in 2025 LGM!

Big Night For Pittsburgh Dynamic Duo

Much like the Penguins had their dynamic duo of Lemieux and Jagr in the 90s and early 2000's, their current dynamic duo has been setting records. Ever since the two of them got together in 2006-07, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have been not only the faces of the franchise, but setting scoring records. Look no further than in Wednesday nights win over the Buffalo Sabres.

Crosby joined the 1,600 point club (10th player in league history to do that), while Malkin joined the 500 goal club (48th player to do that). Crosby became the first player since Jaromir Jagr in 2011 to hit the 1,600 point mark. Makin scoring his 500th goal, joined Crosby (592), Washington's Alex Ovechkin (853) and Nashville's Steven Stamkos (555) as the only active players with 500 goals.

Crosby needed 1,277 games to hit the 1,600 point mark. His the 5th fastest to hit that mark. He probably would have hit the mark sooner had he not had concussion issues during the middle of his career. Crosby has been not only the face of the Penguins but one of the faces of the entire league since he got into the league. And Crosby is 121 points, as of this writing, behind Lemieux for the Penguins franchise record in points and 8th on the NHL all time scoring list. As for Malkin, he's tied with Lanny McDonald for 47th on the all time list in goals at 500 and is two behind Joe Mullen.

What the Penguins have with these two guys has been nothing short of magical. It brings back memories of the 90s teams with Jaromir and Mario running the show. Those two guys created something really special in the 90s and early 2000's teaming together. Sid and Geno have been doing that now for almost the last twenty years in the steel city.

By the time all is said and done with Sid and Geno, they may have totally re-written the Pittsburgh Record books. And given some of the injury bug that have hit these two guys during there career, the career numbers for both guys would be a lot higher by now. They are two of the very best to ever lace up a pair of skate. There's no doubt that the two of them will be in the Hall when all is said and done.

Best & Worst NFL Week Five

Week five has come and gone around the NFL. We still got two unbeatens left standing in Kansas City and Minnesota. Thankfully there will be no winless teams this season. San Francisco has lost three games already this season, the Jets just fired their head coach. Weird times around the NFL  We had some surprise big games while other guys flopped in big moments. Lets not waste anymore time. Here's some of the best, and worst, from week five in the NFL.

Best: The Browns Ravens Rivalry
This rivalry heated up with a barn burner of a football game on Sunday. Baltimore somehow walked away with a 41-38 victory. Burrow and Jackson threw for over 340 yards each. Jackson threw for four touchdowns and Burrow threw for five. Jamar Chase went off for 193 receiving yards on ten catches. With what a back and fourth battle this game was, it kept people on the edge of their seats. Even though the Bengals now sit at 1-4, if this was a sign of things to come, its going to make for great drama late in the season when the playoff races start heating up.

Worst: The 49ers Hold On The NFC
There had been high expectations on the 49ers this season. But they way things have gone the last few weeks, those expectations are starting to come down. In two of the last three games, the 49ers have had ten point leads in the 4th quarter and lost both games. Look no further than Sundays 24-23 loss to the Cardinals. San Francisco was shut out in the 2nd half. They were up 23-10 at the half before it all fell apart. Even an eight catch 147 yard day from Brandon Ayuk couldn't help the Niners out. Just look at San Francisco's last four possessions. Pick, turnover on downs, forced fumble, and a game sealing interception. San Francisco really needs to start getting it together if they want to get back into things as being a top team in the NFC.

Best: Tyrone Tracy Jr Running Back New York Giants
OK nobody had this one on their bingo board. The Giants had to try and replace Saquan Barkley, who took off for the Eagles. They grabbed Tyrone Tracy in the 5th round of this years draft. This game on Sunday, the Giants 29-20 win over Seattle, helped Giants fans forget about Barkley. Tracy finished with 18 carries for 129 yards. The touches this week came with Devan Singletary out with a groin issue. They missed Malik Nabers as well, who was out with a concussion. IF the Giants want to keep taking small steps in the right direction, having a good run game could be a big help and Tracy might be a key cog in that plot.

Worst: Cleveland Browns Offense
To say that the Browns are now getting bit in the ass by the DeShaun Watson contract is a major understatement. Cleveland got routed 34-13 by Washington. Watson was off on his passes most of the day, he ran right into more pressure while trying to escape it. He was just horrible again. He was sacked seven times on the day and his total QBR for the day was in the toilet. How can the Browns offense continue to even try to function like this?

Best: Special Teams Touchdowns
This week turned into a very good week for defensive scoring. First in London, in the Vikings 23-17 win over the Jets, Aaron Rogers got picked off twice. First one was the pick six by Rogers as Andrew Van Ginkel took a bad Rogers pass to the house for a score. Then in the Giants 29-20 win over Seattle, the Seahawks. Seattle went for a game tying field goal, the kick was blocked. Giants tight end Bryce Ford-Wheaton then returned the ball 60-yard return in the final minute. That score iced the game. Oh and last but not least, we go to Denver. Gardner Minshew threw a bad pass that was picked off by Patrick Surtain and returned 100 yards for a pick six in a 34-18 Denver win.

Worst: Buffalo Late Game Management
There had been a lot to look forward to if you we a Bills fan in the late moments against Houston. They were down 17 at one point. Fought all the way back to tie the score. With 32 seconds left and deep in their own territory,  Joe Brady the Bills offensive Coordinator decide to pass three straight plays.  Offensive pass interference and a couple of bad passes lead to a punt. Then as time ran out, Ka’imi Fairbairn drilled a 59-yard field goal to seal a 23-20 win for Houston. It one of those rare instances in Western New York as of late that the Bills will mismanage the game that badly with a chance to win. Now it makes the matchup on Monday Night Football against the Jets mean that much more than you figured it would.

2024-25 NHL Season Preview

The time has finally arrived. Thirty two teams start the season with the same goal in mind. being the last team standing at the end of the year with Lord Stanley in hand. The Western Conference is wide open. The Eastern Conference has been controlled by the state of Florida the last five seasons, so lets see if somebody can wrangle it away from them.

We will see the debut of a new team the Utah Hockey Club, who are replacing the relocated Arizona Coyotes. This is also going to be a different year with the Gaudreau brothers not here due to their passing earlier this summer.

So lets dive right into Here's how we see the 2024-25 NHL season playing out.

Western Conference:
Central Division:
1. Colorado Avalanche 112 points*
2. Dallas Stars 110 Points*
3. Nashville Predators 110 Points*
4. Winnipeg Jets 98 Points
5. Minnesota Wild 95 Points
6. Utah Hockey Club 90 Points
7. St Louis Blues 85 Points
8. Chicago Blackhawks 77 Points

There could be quite a bit of change in the Central Division this season. If you thought last year was going to be a good one for the Avalanche, this one is going to end just as well. There's a lot riding on Alexander Georgiev in net, coming off a big year last season. He got plenty of protection on the blue line. With Toews and Makar leading that charge, there's something to really build off. Naturally scoring is going to be relied on with Nathan MacKinnon coming off his MVP season. This team is deep and balanced and the division goes through them. Right on their heels are going to be the Stars. Jake Otteinger is going to be carrying the load between the pipes again this season, which he's shown he's quite comfortable with. Then you have Dumba, Lindell and Heiskanen as the steady hands on the blueline, Dallas is going to have a tough line to beat. Then there's the guys filling the opposing net. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin still have a little bit left in the take and with Jason Robertson coming off the monster year he had a season ago, the Stars are going to be a tough team to compete with. Let's not forget about the vast improvements made by the Predators this summer.  Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marcessault added firepower to an already fairly explosive hockey club. They have a solid blueline lead by Roman Josi Luke Schenn and Brady Skjei. And keeping the puck out of their net will be Juuse Saros, who's going to be relied on to handle the lions share of the puck stopping duties. Something he has shown in the past he has no problem doing. Now we go up north to take a look at the Jets. A big reason that this Winnipeg club is going to hang around in a playoff race is Connor Helleybuck. He been a top five goalie in this league and will continue to do that this season. You got a young defense corps lead by Neal Pionk and Josh Morrissey. They have a young offensive core with Scheifele, Lowery, Ehelers, and Connor. Only thing holding the Jets back from a playoff spot is its depth which isn't quite there yet.

There is still hope things can get Wild in Minnesota this season. Marc-Andre Fleury still trying to show there's something left in the tank but expect Gustavsson to get a fair share of time in net. The guys in front of them have a chance to be really good. Brock Faber going to be counted on to start stepping into a bigger role defensively on this team, which still has Brodin and Bogosian taking full charge at the top of the blue line. Again the depth will be a little bit in question up front, but with young guns like Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov, there's a good core to build further around in the state of hockey. There's a very young core for the Hockey Club to build around in Utah. And its going to get a lot better soon. Connor Ingram has some solid upside in the nets. Mikhail Sergachev was brought on board to bridge the gap of sorts between a youth movement and the aging core on the blue line. but what really stickes out for Utah. What really sticks out is the offensive upside of this young group, which is being lead by Cooley, Keller, Maccelli and Schmaltz. Give them a few more years and a couple pieces on the blue line and they could be good in their new city. If the Blues are going to do anything this year, a lot of it is going to rely on Jordan Binnington. If he can really keep rolling in the nets, St Louis might have something to work with. You got a fairly good D core with Faulk, Leddy and Parayko. You got some talent to work with up front with Kyrou, Schenn, Thomas and a few others, but its nowhere near the level of the big boys in this division. Same thing can be said about the Blackhawks. Conor Bedard is going to be the face of this team for a long time to come and his only going to get better. But there's no other young guns around him to build with. The D is getting older and there's no goaltending to speak of really in Chicago. If the Hawks want to sniff the playoffs in near future, the need to keep finding a way to build around the kid/

Pacific Division:
1. Edmonton Oilers 114 Points*
2. Vegas Golden Knights 111 Points*
3. Vancouver Canucks 109 Points*
4. Seattle Kraken 100 Points*
5. Los Angeles Kings 98 Points*
6. Calgary Flames 89 Points
7. Anaheim Ducks 80 Points
8. San Jose Sharks 75 Points

There isn't going to be much upheaval at the top of the Pacific this season. Things have been getting better and better for the Oilers the last couple of years. And why not when you have two of the very best scorers in the game in Conor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. You brought in Viktor Arvidsson to add scoring depth. Zach Heyman is coming off a monster year. You got a loaded D and one of the better goalies in Stuart Skinner, who's really coming into his own as one of the top netminders in this sport. This team is too loaded with talent. The closest test for them in this division is going to be the Golden Knights. This team tried to bolster its position in net with getting Adin Hill help in the form of Ilya Samsonov. They have a fairly solid D core lead by Shea Theodore and Alex Pietrangelo. There's still a t ad bit of weakness there but they could have something to build around, And Vegas has a good core on offense. Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Thomas Hertl, Ivan Barbashev. This team keeps finding a way to add pieces to keep moving forward. They are going to have another deep run this year. A year ago the division title went to the Canucks, who are looking to get back there again. They lost some talent with Lindholm and Zadorov gone and Jake DeBrusk brought in. They still have Brock Besser, J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes to lead a very deep hockey club. It also helps when you have a goalie the talent level of Thatcher Demko. Things are changing for the Kraken this season, with new head coach Dan Bylsma trying to help guide this club on a deep playoff run. New head coach Dan Bylsma has good talent to work with. Phillipp Grubauer. He's got a solid defense core in front of him, lead by Vince Dunn and Adam Larson. This team has a good young core up front lead by Matty Beniers and Shane Wright. They have a balanced enough roster to make a solid run at a playoff spot. Bringing in Montor and Chandler Stephenson were big additions to this team. Another team that has a real shot at being a playoff club this year are going to be the Kings. Cam Talbot isn't around anymore, so enter Darcy Kuemper. He and David Rittich make a pretty good one two punch in the LA nets. IF they make the playoffs, they need the bottom four defenders to step up behind Drew Doughty and Joel Edmundson. They have an aging core up front lead by Anze Kopitar, but there's quite a few good young guns in the lineup as well. Kevin Fiala, Quinten Byfield and Warren Fogel will be expected to help carry the load in the scoring department.

Now we get to the teams on the outside looking in, starting with the Flames. First we have to question things in net. Devin Cooley and Dustin Wolf are looked at as the two guys to do the job, but that leaves something to be desired. Jarred Tanordi and Rasmus Anderson are going to be leading a young blue line. Sure there is some scoring punch up front. Coleman, Backlund, Kadri, Kuzmenko, and Mantha will be able to fill the net. but this team isn't deep enough to compete with the big boys. A new look for the Ducks this season is hoping to change the perception around the team. Radko Gudas is taking over as the team captain, leading a defense core along with Cam Fowler that's still young. It going to mean a lot of work in net for John Gibbson. They have some scoring punch up front. Fabbri, Zegras, and Terry are expected to lead the charge. They have a few pieces, but its not deep enough just yet. Finally, there's the Sharks. The biggest selling point for San Jose this season is going to be Macklin Celebrini. The kid is going to have some growing pains into the game, but with the veterans on this club, he should be able to adjust well. That's really the biggest selling point San Jose is going to have going for it this season.

Eastern Conference:
Atlantic Division:
1. Florida Panthers 116 Points*
2. Boston Bruins 114 Points*
3. Tampa Bay Lightning 108 Points*
4. Toronto Maple Leafs 106 Points*
5. Detroit Red Wings 100 Points*
6. Buffalo Sabres 97 Points
7. Ottawa Senators 87 Points
8. Montreal Canadiens 79 Points

The top dogs in this division are going to be hard to crack this season. The defending Stanley Cup Champion Panthers are going to be a very hard team to beat at the top of the division. What's going to end up hurting Florida this season is the departures of a lot of key depth players, the core of this team is still in tact. They have a solid goalie tandom in Spencer Knight and Sergei Bobrovsky. Aaron Ekblad is still the leader of a solid and well rounded defense core. Up front, Matthew Tkachuk and Alex Barkov are expected to lead this team. When you have guys like Anton Lindell and Carter Verhaeghe also there, they going to be tough to beat. Florida has the system for the team they have, so don't be surprised if they poised for another deep run this year. Another team that's going to be right behind them, even with the changes they've gone through this offseason, is going to be the Bruins. Sure, Jeremy Swayman is still in the Boston nets, but he don't have his normal running mate in Linus Ullmark with him (who was traded to Ottawa). Instead it'll be Joonas Korpisalo working with him. There's good vibes around the Bruins nets. You brought in two big pieces in the offseason in Nikita Zadorov and Elias Lindholm in free agency and locked them up long term. You got depth now on an already good team that may have gotten slightly better. Boston is going to be a big threat at the top of this division all year long. Next is a very interesting case of the Lightning. Things will be very different this year in Tampa with Steven Stamkos no longer being there. Victor Hedman has some big skates to fill becoming captain of this hockey team. Trying to fill Stamkos scoring touch is going to fall on Jake Guentzel. The top two lines for the Bolts look like they can hang with anybody, its the bottom scoring that leaves one a little worried. Hedman has some help on the back end with Ryan McDonagh returning to the mix this season. And not only that, but they have a healthy Andrei Vasilevskiy. If the bottom six can produce this season, this could be a very good Tampa team. Right on their heels are going to be the Maple Leafs, who have a new captain this year in the form of Auston Matthews. Toronto, much like Tampa, has lack of scoring depth outside of their top six. Give credit where it's due, Toronto bolstered their defense. They got Ekman Larson and Tanev up there with Morgan Riley. Goaltending is still an issue with Joseph Woll taking over as number one man and Anthony Stolarz coming in as backup. That's going to be key for the Leafs this year.

Another team that's going to be right there in the playoff race mix is going to be the Red Wings. Sure, Detroit added some big name, albeit older, depth pieces up front in Patrick Kane and Vladamir Tarasenko, they still a solid young hockey club. You still got Larkin, DeBrincat and Raymond leading the charge, but those two guys are solid depth guys to add more scoring punch. They got a decent defense lead by Chiarot and Seider and a fairly solid one two punch in net with Cam Talbot and Ville Husso. Look for Detroit to make quite a bit of noise this season. In the category of not quite there yet are going to be the Sabres. Look at the top line of Peterka, Thompson and Tuch. That line should be able to do just fine and carry their share of the offensive load. What worries some is the depth behind that. You got fairly decent depth on defense and OK goaltending in Western New York. Behind them, we go to Canada's capital where the Senators are going to try and get back on the right track. They got better in net by adding Linus Ullmark into the mix. Defense has something to build around with Sanderson and Zub but there is a little depth lacking there. Scoring, much like in Buffalo, relies on their top line. Stutzle, Tkachuk and Giroux are going to be good. The 2nd line of Greig, Norris and Batherson are going to be key if Ottawa can go anywhere this season. Brining up the rear in this division are going to be the Canadiens. It could be another long season in Montreal this year. Yes you got a decent goalie in Sam Montembeault, who could turn into something as time goes on. Mike Matheson has the same potential on the blue line. Up front, Montreal can go with Caulfield, Suzuki and Slafovsky. They still need a few years to really be able to add depth pieces to the team to compete.

Metropolitan Division:
1. Carolina Hurricanes 110 Points*
2. New York Rangers 108 Points*
3. New York Islanders 105 Points*
4. Washington Capitals 100 Points
5. New Jersey Devils 97 Points
6. Pittsburgh Penguins 92 Points
7. Philadelphia Flyers 88 Points
8. Columbus Blue Jackers 79 Points

There won't be much of a change at the top of the Metro this season. If anybody wants to take the Metro title, they going to have to wrestle it away from the Hurricanes to do it, You got a fairly solid goaltending tandem in Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov. In front of them on the blueline they got a solid defense core lead by Jacob Slavin, Brent Burns and Dimitri Orlov. Up front, leave it to Sebastian Aho,  Andrei Svechnikov, and Seth Jarvis. What makes Carolina so good is that, while not the most flashy team in the division, they are very well balanced and have no problem whatsoever rolling four lines. Right behind them, with a little more flash to their lineup, will be the Rangers. They may have the best goalie in the division in Igor Shesterkin, He got a decent backup behind him in Jonathan Quick, who's got a few more years left in the tank. Ahead of them on the blueline is a group lead by Jacob Truba and Adam Fox. The quick puck moving bunch who are good skaters and solid in their own end too. Up front, Artemi Panarin still leads this charge, with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider riding shotgun. Again the Blueshirts have a deep and balanced team, but one guy who's expecting to have a big year this year could be Alexis Lafrenire. Here's where things get interesting in the Metro division. If things fall perfectly right this year, there's a chance that the Islanders could lock up the 3rd spot in the division. Ilya Sorokin could be key again for this team, but looks like he may miss some time at the start of the year after offseason procedures. If Seymon Varlamov can look like what he did for most of last season, the New York net looks fairly good. The blue line is going to be solid with Pelech, Poulock and Mayfield still in the lineup for quite some time. But can they hold leads late in games? The offense has to help get them there. They got 30 goa scorers in Nelson, Horvat and Palmari. Duclair was added into the mix and there's high expectations again for Barzal. Just worry if the bottom six can step up that could hold this team back.

Next we look at the Capitals. Sure the big story this season for them is going to be Ovechkin chasing the goals record. Him, Strome and Mangiapane make a solid top line. Washington has a solid top six forward, but the depth below that could hold them back a little.  The defense, outside of the top pair of Chychrun and Carlson leaves something to be desired. And calling the goaltending in Washington average would sound about right. They may take a step or two backwards this year, but there's still good things on the horizon for the Devils this season. Looking at goal is what might either make or break them this year. Jake Allen and Jacob Markstrom are the tandom. They have BRendon Dillon and Dougie Hamilton holding down the defense while Luke Huges is going to be missing time. Up front, New Jersey has good weapons with Jack Hughes and Nico Hischer leading the charge. There's upside here, the pieces just have to come together again. Behind them are the Penguins, who still have that core of Crosby, Malkin and Letang in tact. There are a few pieces with Pittsburgh that have the potential to do something, but it leaves a lot to be desired. Behind Tristan Jarry in net, there's nothing there. There could be potential for the Penguins but only time will tell. Then there's the Flyers, who have the young pieces but haven't quite taken that next step yet. When you look at a guy like Matvei Michkov, a young gun who could have a really bright future in Philadelphia, it gives one hope for what's being built there. The top two lines have quite a bit of fire power. They also have good anchors on the blueline with Cam York and Travis Sanheim. Goaltending what's again is what could be holding them back. Finally, we take a look at the Blue Jackets. Quite a few new faces in Columbus to build around Adam Fantilli up front. He's got a couple new running buddies with JVR and Kevin LeBanc. They got a re-tooled top line Good pieces are around in Columbus but they still going to be near the bottom.

Best & Worst NFL Week 4

We're a month into the NFL season and boy have there been some surprises around the league. The Minnesota Vikings and Kansas City Chiefs are left standing as the only unbeaten team lefts in the league a month into the year. Thankfully there are no winless teams around the league. We had a quarterback go for a perfect day in prime time, while we had another offense go totally ice cold. We had another back remind us why he was one of the very best in the game and a team getting off to slow starts week after week. Here's some of the best, and worst, from week four in the NFL.

Best: Jared Geoff, Quarterback Detroit Lions
Have yourself a night Jared Geoff. Its a prime time game on Monday night, you coming off a tough loss at home the week before and you have an unbeaten team coming into your house. That all changed in one night, as the Lions spanked the Seahawks to the tune of a 42-29 Detroit victory. The big story out of this one was the play of Lions QB Jared Geoff. He was perfect on the night. No that isn't a typo or a misprint. He ended the night going 18 for 18 for 262 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Oh and to make the night even better he also caught a seven yard touchdown thrown to him by Amon-Ra St Brown. He practically did it all for the Lions offense and he was absolutely perfect on the day.

Worst: Anthony Richardson Quarterback Indianapolis Colts
Yes the Colts got the 27-24 win over the Steelers on Sunday, but there's a much bigger issue here. That's going to be whether or not Anthony Richardson can even stay upright anymore. Richardson hurt his hip in the win over the Steelers and had to leave the bulk of the throwing to Joe Flacco in the win. That's starting to become a bit of a concern for the Colts. Richardson is supposed to be the face of your franchise and the guy your offense is supposed to be built around. Kind of hard to do that if the man can't stay healthy and on the field.

Best: Derrick Henry, Running Back Baltimore Ravens
King Henry have yourself a day. In a game in which the Ravens seemed to reestablish themselves as one of the top tier teams in the AFC. Baltimore came away with a 35-10 win over the Buffalo Bills and Derrick Henry was a huge part of that. 24 carries for 199 yards and a touchdown. Henry's already up to 480 rush yards on the year, which is the best in all of football. When he's really on his game, there's no denying that Derrick Henry is one of the very best in the sport. He's putting that on full display in his first season as a Raven through the first month of the year.

Worst: Breece Hall Running Back New York Jets
Losing at home is tough enough. Losing a game 10-9 against the Broncos stings even more. The Jets offense just couldn't find its legs against the Broncos, managing just three field goals (which hurst worse with missing a potential winning kick near the end of regulation). Penalties keep kicking the Jets in the butt, as did Breece Hall play. He ran into his own lineman twice on the afternoon. He finished with 10 carries for just four yards. The guy is supposed to be your featured back and that can't be the kind of performance he puts forth.

Best: Cincinnati Bengals Offense
It's about time Joe Burrow and company finally showed up on that side of the ball. The Bengals picked up their first win of the season, a 34-24 win over the Panthers.  Burrow found his stride, throwing for 232 yards and a pair of touchdowns. It was also helped by 141 rush yards between three guys and a pair of rush touchdowns from Chase Brown. Cincy finally got its first touchdown of the year on the day too. This gives the Bengals much needed momentum going into this weekends divisional game against the Ravens.

Worst: Los Angeles Chargers Offense
The Chargers managed to get themselves off to a good start against the best team in the AFC on Sunday, jumping out to a 10-0 lead. The problem is, Patrick Mahomes was on the other sideline. Kansas City came back as the game went on and walked away with a 17-10 victory. Los Angeles just froze up the rest of the game. They had no running attack at all. Herbert was OK for what he was, but somehow the Chargers took their foot off the gas as the game went along and they weren't able to get it back.