Oswego Completes Weekend Sweep of Elmira

Oswego started off the 2011-12 season same way it did last season, with an opening weekend sweep of the Elmira Soaring Eagles. It all started friday night at the Murry Athletic Center in a surprising comback win for Oswego. Jesper Strale got Elmira on the board 20 seconds in and gave the Soaring Eagles jump. Then about five minutes later Wes Consorti stretched the Elmira lead to 2-0. By periods end Chris Ayotte got Oswego on the board and cut the lead in half. Paul Beckwith got the start for the Lakers but only played one period making 11 saves on 13 shots before leaving the hockey game. No word has been given on Beckwith's departure from the game.

Andrew Hare stepped between the pipes for the final 40 minutes for Oswego replacing Beckwith and did good in net stopping 20 shots over the final two periods, teh only Soaring Eagle to beat him on this night was Kevin Willer on a powerplay goal in the 3rd. Oswego dominated the middle frame getting goals from Luke Moodie, Jon Whitelaw, and Tyler Leimbrock, with Leimbrock's coming on the Powerplay. Willar got Elmira close with his goal but the Laker offense just rolled right along in the 3rd adding goals from Zack Josepher, his first as a Laker, Kyle Badham, his first goal in college, and David Titanic. Leimbrock, Whitelaw, Moodie, and Paul Rodrigues all had two point games in the victory.

Moving on to saturday night, the scene shifted to the Campus Center Ice Arena for the home opener. And it was much of the same from the night before. Jesse McConney got Oswego on the board with a powerplay goal that ripped the roof of the net 5:17 into the game. Ten minutes later Tyler Leimbrock stretched the lead to 2-0 with his 2nd goal in as many nights. Jesse McConney would connect again for another powerplay goal 36 seconds into the 2nd period, showing he should be deserving of plenty of playing time this season. Ian Boots tallied his first of the year a few minutes later to stretch the lead to 4-0, in retrospect it may have been Chris Muise who got the goal but they gave it to Boots. Luke Moodie got in on the act late in the 2nd to increase the lead to 5-0 before Elmira finally got on the board very late in the 2nd thanks to Rick Acorn.

So we went to the 3rd with Oswego up 5-1. Tim Carr got his licks in scoring midway through the 3rd to make it 6-1. Elmira added a powerplay goal late in the game from Wes Consorti but it was too little too late as Oswego held on to the 6-2 victory. Andrew Hare got the start in net again making 28 saves for his 2nd win of this season. Jon Whitelaw picked up 2 helpers saturday night, and with a combination of the two games is the teams leading point scorer at 4 with a goal and three assists. McConney, Leimbrock and Moodie are all tied for the team lead in goals with two each. Oswego is off to a very good start again this season, going 2-0 for the 2nd year in a row and starting the season with home and home against Elmira for the 3rd year in a row.

Next up for the Lakers is a two game road trip going to Cortland to face teh Red Dragons on Friday October 28th, and Utica to face the Pioneers on the 29th. Both games set for a 7PM faceoff.

(Photo courtesy of Oswego State Sports Information Department)

Hockey's Back! Oswego State Women's Hockey Gears Up for 2011-12 Season

After having a very strong and record breaking season the Oswego State Women's Hockey team gears up to take the ice for the 2011-12 season. Head Coach Diane Dillon looking to improve on last years team and may have the talent to do just that. Last season the team went 13-10-3 and made the playoffs for the second time in the programs history. The new talent to last years team had a huge impact, most notable were Mackenzie Lee and Megan Howe, both had monster seasons and set new program records. How will the team improve from last years performance heading into this year? Lets take a look at how it might happen.

The first major change will be in net. The teams best goalie Emi Willams graduated and leaves a hole to fill. Cathrine Cote and Megan Amlinger are still around to fill the nets. Also added to the mix is freshman goalie Bridget Smith who comes in standing at 6 feet tall. The way things look playing time will be split down the middle between Cote and Smith. Now no disrespect to Megan Amlinger by any means but she has had one start in here career and gave up 6 goals in that hockey game. Amlinger has gotten the shaft in the three years in Oswego being behind Emi Williams Erin Robson and Cote the past few years. Amlinger will get a few starts this year that's for sure but Smith and Cote will get the bulk of the time in net this season.

The defense core remained in tact for the most part. Brenna Weber and Megan Bigsnake left the program due to graduation. Otherwise the core is still there. The team returns Jocelyn St. Clair, Breanne Reith, Leslie Jarvis, Chelsea Hunt, and captain Kathryn Sbrocchi. Added to the mix on the blueline will be Samm Reimer, and Emily Marks. Reimer sadly there was little to find out about except she is coming to Oswego Via the Ridley College Tigers. Emily Marks joins the Laekrs blue line from Durham West where in the past two season she registered 8 points. Tow very solid blueliners who will get plenty of playing time this season, most likely switching in and out with eachother on a game by game basis.

Finally we take a look at the forwards. Coach Dillon returns her top six scoring forwards from last season in Mackenzie Lee, Kelly Collins, Megan Howe, Jillian Bergeron, Carly Henderson, and Olivia Boersen. Expected to add to the scoring punch will be transfer Emma Smetaniuk. Coming in from Potsdam Semtaniuk adds 10 goals and 16 points from the Bears, this after registering 27 points in final years in Juniors. Next up is Carly Marchment, who comes in adding 39 points from her last two years in Juniors. Also joining the firepower will be Chelsey Draker who scored 41 points in Juniors the past two season. With this much firepower joining a potent offense the scoring may go up from last year.

The lose on offense comes from losing Emily Grippin and Sarah Hannon the teams two best penalty killers by far. From the returning club it seems that Mady Paul and Leah McNaughton will be expected to pick up the slack on the kill. The Captain and one of the Assistants stayed the same from last year. Kathryn Sbrocchi kept the C and Jillian Bergeron kept her A. The other two players to get an A were Carly Henderson and Olivia Boersen. All four leadership ability will be able to help this team reach the next level and hopefully go deep into the playoffs and maybe make a run at a national championship.

Here is what the Oswego State Schedule looks like for the 2011-12 season:

Fri. 10/21/2011 Durham Lightning Oswego, NY 7:00 PM
Fri. 10/28/2011 Adrian Oswego, NY 7:00 PM
Sat. 10/29/2011 Adrian Oswego, NY 4:00 PM
Sat. 11/5/2011 * Cortland Oswego, NY 3:00 PM
Sun. 11/6/2011 * Cortland Oswego, NY 3:00 PM
Fri. 11/11/2011 * Utica Utica, NY 4:00 PM
Sat. 11/12/2011 * Utica Oswego, NY 3:00 PM
Sat. 11/19/2011 * Potsdam Potsdam, NY 2:00 PM
Sun. 11/20/2011 * Potsdam Potsdam, NY 2:00 PM
Fri. 12/2/2011 * Neumann Oswego, NY 7:00 PM
Sat. 12/3/2011 * Neumann Oswego, NY 3:00 PM
Tue. 12/6/2011 Hamilton Clinton, NY 7:00 PM
Sat. 12/10/2011 Amherst Amherst, MA 7:30 PM
Fri. 1/13/2012 * Chatham Pittsburgh, PA 8:00 PM
Sat. 1/14/2012 * Chatham Pittsburgh, PA 2:00 PM
Tue. 1/17/2012 Hamilton Oswego, NY 7:00 PM
Sat. 1/21/2012 * Plattsburgh Oswego, NY 7:00 PM
Sun. 1/22/2012 * Plattsburgh Oswego, NY 3:00 PM
Fri. 1/27/2012 * Buffalo State Buffalo, NY 7:00 PM
Sat. 1/28/2012 * Buffalo State Buffalo, NY 3:00 PM
Fri. 2/3/2012 * RIT (Pink at the Rink) Oswego, NY 7:00 PM
Sat. 2/4/2012 * RIT (Senior Day) Oswego, NY 3:00 PM
Fri. 2/10/2012 Sacred Heart University Fairfield, CT 7:00 PM
Sat. 2/11/2012 Sacred Heart University Fairfield, CT 2:00 PM
Sat. 2/18/2012 * Elmira Elmira, NY 7:00 PM
Sun. 2/19/2012 * Elmira Elmira, NY 3:00 PM

ECAC West Championships
Sat. 2/25/2012 ECAC West First Round High Seed
Sat. 3/3/2012 ECAC West Semifinal Top Seed
Sun. 3/4/2012 ECAC West Championship Top Seed

The most interesting game on the schedule is against RIT senior weekend. As we all remember from last year the Lakers upset RIT on their senior night and handed the Tigers their only loss of the season. So there might be a chance RIT will be looking for revenge. With the talent Oswego is returning to the ice plus throw in the new talent to the program and things are going up from here in a very competative ECAC West. Oswego is ready to rock and roll for a big BIG season and will make an impact for a long time to come. LETS GO LAKERS!!!!!

It's Back! Oswego State Men's Hockey Hits the Ice For 2011-12 Season

It's that time of year as the Oswego State Lakers Men's Hockey team prepare to take the ice for the 2011-12 season. Head Coach Ed Gosek is returning a substantial amount of talent to the ice from last season, a year in which saw the club reach the Final Four for the 2nd time in as many years. Heading into this year coach will be without the services of Joe Hall, Justin Fox, Owen Kelly, Stephen Mallaro, Chris Laganiere, Kevin Huinink, and Dan Bremner. With those 7 guys leaving the team a total of 34 goals or 3.4% of the offense is gone. Another big impact of the departure of these 7 is the impact on defense as Huinink and Mallaro were two of Coach Gosek's more reliable D-Men. But fear not the coaching staff did a good job of bringing in new talent to this hockey club to fill the void left by the graduating seniors.

We start by looking first at the lone transfer to this years team, defenseman Zack Josepher. After spending the past 2 seasons at Michigan State Josepher has some big shoes to try and fill. He was able to register 18 in 55 games for the Spartians after a very solid career in Juniors. Standing at 6'0 and weighing 190 pounds he has solid size to him and can be a good puck moving defenseman. Nexy we have two freshman joining the blue line in the form of Bobby Gertsakis and Nick Rivait. Gertsakis registered 52 points in Juniors over the past three seasons and add that to his size at 5'10 and 175 pounds he could have something unique to bring to the table. Then we have Nick Rivait. He is very big boy at 6'2 and 205 pounds so he should fit in nicely with the bigger D-Men the Lakers currently have on the roster. Also he seems to be a good puck moving D-man with totalling 66 points in the last two years in Juniors and 86% of those points coming via assists, so it seems to me that the ability to move the puck is there. Now how much playing time these three get this season is tough to judge espically with the talent that's coming back to the Oswego State Blueline this season with the returns of Assistant Captain Jared Anderson, Hank Van Boxmeer, Michael Gilchrist, Tim Carr, Taylor Farris, and Jesse McConney all back for another season, it will be tough for the new guys to get ice time but I'm sure they will see some playing time.

Now looking at the offense the Lakers have added some fresh faces up front one of whom is Chris Carr, the younger brother of defensman Tim Carr. Chris is a speedster at 5'10 and 157 pounds and can move the puck as he registered 50 assists last season in juniors. His point totals have gone up the last few years while in Juniors, so I'm looking for him to be making some noise this season. The biggest addition to the team is Stan Smrke coming in at 6'4 and 200 pounds. This makes him the 2nd biggest guy on the team behind Matt Singelton. Smrke scored 20 points last year in juniors so judging by that it seems he was brought in to add more of a physical presence to the hockey club but again who knows. Another addition to the team is Peter Rodrigues. There is NO relation between Peter and Paul Rodrigues. Peter comes in having scored 31 points in just 18 games last season in juniors. Again this may be another case of limited playing time depending on how the coaching staff mix and match with line combinations. Adding to this new mix will be Eli Kim-Swallow who produced what seems to be decent numbers in his career in Juniors. Judging from stats it seems that Kim-Swallow will be joining the Lakers for his defensive abilities which will be a great asset for Ed Gosek, who as we know is big on defensive forwards. And last but certainly not least is RJay Berra. Berra put up good numbers playing in juniors and may have some playing time on this talent heavy hockey club.

The freshman forwards are going to be fighting it out with the veterans for ice time. With a lot of returning scoring from last year including Captain Andrew Mather, Assistants Ian Boots and Jon Whitelaw, Luke Moodie Tyler Leimbrock, Chris Muise and others, there will plenty of guys fighting for more ice time this season. There are a few guys from last year's club I'm expecting to have bigger seasons from, such as Chris Brown, Chris Ayotte, and Chris Muise. I think these three will be seeing more time on ice this year then the past two seasons have alotted. I'm also expecting a bounce back year from Tyler Leimbrock, who had a good year last season don't get me wrong, but without Neil Musselwhite and Brad Dormidy on his line had a bit of a down year as compared to freshman year. I also expect to see more of Kyle Badham, Corey Domenico and David Titanic. Titanic was big down the stretch and in the playoffs when he got playing time, so I would hope the more playing time he gets the better he will play. As for Badham and Domenico, both guys got sort of the shaft last season and didn't play much so here's to hoping they can make a bigger impact this seaosn.

Finally we take a look at the goaltending. Nothing has changed during the offseason as Paul Beckwith, Dan Jones, and Andrew Hare are the three goalies for the Lakers. For the third time in his career Paul Beckwith was hit with the injury bug midway through last season and Jones and Hare did a very good job holding the fort down till Beckwith came back. The way I see things Paul Beckwith is the number one man in the Pipes for the Lakers, but I do see Jones and Hare getting a few more starts this season and Beckwith getting a few games off to be rested for the playoffs. Again I could be wrong but that is just the way I see things.

Just to refresh everybody's memory here is the schedule for Oswego State this Season:


Fri. 10/21/2011 Elmira Elmira, NY 7:00 PM
Sat. 10/22/2011 Elmira Oswego, NY 7:00 PM
Fri. 10/28/2011 * Cortland Cortland, NY 7:00 PM
Sat. 10/29/2011 Utica Utica, NY 7:00 PM
Fri. 11/4/2011 * Geneseo Oswego, NY 7:00 PM
Sat. 11/5/2011 * Brockport Oswego, NY 7:00 PM
Sat. 11/12/2011 * Morrisville Oswego, NY 7:00 PM
Fri. 11/18/2011 * Fredonia Fredonia, NY 7:00 PM
Sat. 11/19/2011 * Buffalo State Buffalo, NY 7:00 PM
Fri. 12/2/2011 * Plattsburgh Plattsburgh, NY 7:00 PM
Sat. 12/3/2011 * Potsdam Potsdam, NY 7:00 PM
Sat. 12/10/2011 Hobart Oswego, NY 7:00 PM
Pathfinder Bank/Oswego Classic
Fri. 12/30/2011 Neumann vs. Hamline Oswego, NY 4:00 PM
Fri. 12/30/2011 Connecticut College Oswego, NY 7:00 PM
Sat. 12/31/2011 Conn. College vs. Neumann/Hamline Oswego, NY 1:00 PM
Sat. 12/31/2011 Neumann/Hamline Oswego, NY 4:00 PM
Fri. 1/13/2012 Curry Oswego, NY 7:00 PM
Sat. 1/14/2012 Utica Oswego, NY 7:00 PM
Fri. 1/20/2012 * Cortland Oswego, NY 7:00 PM
Sat. 1/21/2012 Hamilton Clinton, NY 3:00 PM
Fri. 1/27/2012 * Geneseo Geneseo, NY 7:00 PM
Sat. 1/28/2012 * Brockport Brockport, NY 7:00 PM
Sat. 2/4/2012 * Morrisville Morrisville, NY 7:00 PM
Fri. 2/10/2012 * Fredonia Oswego, NY 7:00 PM
Sat. 2/11/2012 * Buffalo State Oswego, NY 7:00 PM
Fri. 2/17/2012 * Plattsburgh Oswego, NY 7:00 PM
Sat. 2/18/2012 * Potsdam (Senior Night) Oswego, NY 7:00 PM

SUNYAC Championships
Wed. 2/22/2012 SUNYAC Play-In Top Seed 7:00 PM
Sat. 2/25/2012 SUNYAC Semifinal Top Seed 7:00 PM
Sat. 3/3/2012 SUNYAC Championship Top Seed 7:00 PM

NCAA Championships
Wed. 3/7/2012 NCAA 1st Round
Sat. 3/10/2012 NCAA Quarterfinal
Fri.-Sat. 3/16-17/2012 NCAA Championship Lake Placid, NY

So with the new team ready to hit the ice, it seems like a good season ahead. Andrew Mather was named Captain during the summer, and Jon Whitelaw, Ian Boots, and Jared Anderson named assostants the team is in great hands going forward. Coach Gosek always finds a way to find talent to be in contention year in and year out for a National Championship. LETS GO LAKERS!!!!!!

Islanders and Rangers Renew Rivalry Tomorrow

Tomorrow night the Islanders and Rangers renew their historic rivalry from Nassau Coliseum. This rivalry was established when the NHL awarded a second franchise in the New York metropolitan area. With the impending start of the World Hockey Association in the fall of 1972, the upstart league had plans to place a team, the Raiders, in the then-new Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Nassau County. The National Hockey League did not want competition in the nation's largest metro area, so despite having expanded two years before, the NHL awarded franchises to Atlanta and Long Island to preempt the WHA. The fledgling New York Islanders had an extra burden to pay in the form of a $4 million territorial fee to the nearby New York Rangers.

With both teams' fans visiting "enemy territory" for games, organized shouting matches and fights break out in the stands. Ranger fans often refer to the Nassau Coliseum as "Garden East" or the "Mausoleum", as Ranger fans often make up at least half and recently much more of the crowd when they visit. The Rangers' fanbase generally comes from the city's five boroughs, Westchester, Fairfield, Long Island and Rockland Counties, and from Northern and Central New Jersey, while the Islanders tend to draw fans from Nassau and Suffolk counties, and parts of eastern Queens. Fans will direct derisive chants at their rivals regardless of whether the teams are actually playing. At each home game, Ranger fans engage in perhaps their most popular chant: whistling the song "Let's Go Band" and punctuating it with "Potvin sucks". This is a reference to retired Islander Hall of Fame defenseman Denis Potvin, who angered Rangers fans by breaking Center Ulf Nilsson's ankle on a clean check. Rangers fans also occasionally bring out the chant "Beat your wife, Potvin, beat your wife", a reference to unconfirmed allegations that Potvin has committed domestic abuse. Lastly, Rangers Fans have taunted Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro by chanting "DP Sucks!"

Islander fans taunted Rangers fans for many years with the chant "1940!" referring to the Rangers having the all-time longest drought without winning the Stanley Cup, until the Blueshirts finally won in 1994.[10] For a period in the late '90s and early 2000s, Islanders fans would punctuate the "Chicken Dance" with chants of "the Rangers suck." The Islanders had stopped playing the song at games for a length of time but as of the 2007–08 season the song is played solely at Islanders-Rangers games. Rangers winger Theoren Fleury used the chant as an excuse for flapping his arms to taunt Islanders enforcer Eric Cairns.

In addition a popular chant was "Crackhead Theo!" referring to Fleury's erratic behavior and history of substance abuse at the time. Islanders fans also sing a song to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It", replacing the standard lyrics with "If you know the Rangers suck, clap your hands." In the early 1990s a group of boisterous fans at Nassau Coliseum would sit in section 329 and mock Rangers announcer Sam Rosen's tag line "It's a power play goal" by announcing in unison "it's a power play goal, screw you Sam Rosen" after each Islander Power Play Goal.

One well-known incident at an Islanders/Philadelphia Flyers game in 2003 turned an innocent holiday promotion at Nassau Coliseum into a on-ice shoving match between Rangers and Islanders fans in Santa suits.
One incident that has been rumored was a brawl between fans of the two teams at a New York Mets game at Shea Stadium in the late 1970s or early 1980s.

As of 2008, the Rangers and Islanders are tied in the all-time series with 100 wins, 100 losses (including overtime and shootout losses), and 19 ties. In the playoffs, however, the Islanders hold the lead with a 20-19 record, and have won five of the eight playoff series' between the two teams.


And to make things more interesting, this is the first ranger game in the united states all season. The Rangers played over in Europe last weekend and have not played since. As for the Islanders they will be without the services of Rick DiPietro who has a concussion after getting hit in the head with a shot in practice. So this is the first meeting of 6 this season between the two clubs and if any of the past games have been an indication this should be a fun game to watch!

2011-12 NHL Season Preview

That time of year is finally here once again. Yes the 2011-12 NHL season is ready to get underway at the end of this week. And here and now on this very sports blog we will take a look division by division in the NHL and get you ready for the new season. We kick things off with the Western Conference and the Central Division.

First with the central are the winners and losers in the offseason. Winners so far are the Blues, for signing Arrnott and Langenbruner, the Predators signed Nick Bergfors from florida, and Cheecho siging with the Blues. Other than that it was all resignings in the division. Looking at this Division as it stands right now I can see it going to either the Wings Hawks or Predators, all three of whom will make the playoffs. Sorry but for St. Louis and Columbus I think there are still too many holes to compete in this division. The Blues are just too weak on offense and the Jackets don't have enough offensive support for Rick Nash. Division standings look like this:

1. Detroit*
2. Chicago*
3. Nashville*
4. St. Louis
5. Columbus

Now we move on to the Northwest Division. The Canucks were the only team from the division to make the post season and went all the way to the cup finals before losing to Boston. They did enough to recharge their lineup and will be back in the playoffs. The Oilers, who were the worst team in the NHL are in rebulding mode but looks like they have something solid in place in Oil country but sadly it won't be enough for a playoff birth as they will be in last again. Colorado is another club in rebuild but I will give credit where it's due for solidifing their goaltending picking up JS Gigure. But it won't be enought the Avs will be near the bottom again. The Flame were quite in the offseason and will make noise but not enough for the playoffs. The Minnesota Wild have made a few big moves this offseason in picking up Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi will add much needed scoring punch. The only question mark I still have with the Wild is in net but I think they have enough to make the playoffs this season. Here is how I see the division:

1. Vancouver*
2. Minnesota*
3. Calgary
4. Colorado
5. Edmonton

Finally in the West we look at the Pacific and start with the Dallas Stars. Dallas was quiet in the offseason again but look like they will try and make some noise in the division. Goaltending is a bit of a question with Raycroft, who hasn't been the same since his calder trophy winning season and Lehtonen has been so so the past few years. But being this is one of the toughest divisions in hockey Dallas has a fight on its hands. next is the Los Angeles Kings who like the Stars were quiet this offseason. LA Made the playoffs for the 2nd straight year and were bounced in the 1st round. With Dustin Brown leading the offensive charge the Kings will be in good contention for the playoffs but I don't think have enough. Now on to the Phoenix Coyotes a team who has surprised a lot of people in the NHL by making the playoffs the past few seasons. Not much has changed for the Coyotes since last year except the addition of Raffi Torres so the Coyotes will once again play in the playoffs. Now for the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks saw a few changes to their club since last season but are still loaded enough to not only make the playoffs but be a serious threat for the division title. Now for last years winners of this division the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks will once again walk away with a division crown with the man reason being no player movement as the Canucks were quiet in the offseason and kept the core in tact for another strong playoff run. Here is how I see the division:

1. Vancouver
2. Anaheim
3. Phoenix
4. Los Angles
5. Dallas

Now that the West is taken care of lets move over to the East and start with the southeast division and a totally revamped Florida Panthers. The Panthers needed to do something big this offseason for 2 reasons 1) they were the worst team in the East last year and 2) they needed to reach the Salary Cap floor. So what do they do? They go sign a whole host of new players including: Sean Bergenheim, Brian Campbel, Marcel Goc, Kris Versteeg and Scottie Upshall just to name a few. Now on paper the panthers look like a very solid hockey club who is playoff contenders but it depends on if it translates well to the ice. i say if not making the playoffs it will be damn close for the Panthers. Now on to the Winnipeg Jets who just relocated from Atlanta as the Thrashers. The Jets didi make some noise picking up Blake Wheeler from Boston but that's about it. The Jets sad to say it I think will miss the playoffs on the fact that they have talent yes but not enough to REALLY contend in the east. Next up is the Carolina Hurricanes who will be very strong contenders this year for the playoffs. A big reason will be Calder Trophy winner Jeff Skinner. Skinner had a monster year last year coming out of nowhere and will have another big year this year helping the Canes Make the playoffs. Next is the Tampa Bay Lightning another club bound for the playoffs. Last Year the Bolts came within a game of playing for the cup. This summer they sured up the blue line with Bruno Gervis and Eric Brewer. They still have St. Louis Stamkos and Lecavelier as their three biggest guns and there is no stopping this team. Last is the division winners the Washington Capitals. The biggest problem here is the Caps getting it done in the playoffs as they really are the Sharks of the East. Now Washington did bolster the blueline with Roman Hamrlik joining the club, which will be a big help. And Yes the Caps will make the playoffs. Here is how I see this division going this year:

1. Tampa Bay*
2. Washington*
3. Carolina*
4. Florida
5. Winnipeg

Now for the Northeast Division and the division winner from last year and also Stanley Cup Champions is the Boston Bruins. Boston is the defending champs and will is a lock for the post season the reason being there were almost no changes to the lineup save a few minor moves. Next is the Montreal Canadiens who had a good run in the playoffs last year before falling to Boston. The Habs added some much needed scoring punch with the signing of Erik Cole their biggest pickup. The Habs will be a playoff team of course but will they go far is the big question. Next up is the Buffalo Sabres who were huge players in the offseason with the signings of Christian Ehrhoff, Ville Leino, and Robyn Regehr will bring back some much needed stability and spark to the club. Plus getting Derek Roy back and healthy will be a big key. Buffalo goes deep in the playoffs. Now on to the Toronto Maple Leafs who sad to say will not be making the playoffs this year. Yes they have solid goaltending with James Reimer and Jonas Gustavsson and of course team captain Dion Phaneuf but its not enough. Finally we have the Ottawa Senators who much like the Leafs have a lot of holes and will miss the playoffs. Here is how the division will look:

1. Boston*
2. Buffalo*
3. Montreal*
4. Toronto
5. Ottawa

Last we look at the Atlantic Division and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens were quite this offseason making no noise in free agency. They will get back Geno Malkin to start the year but will still be without the services of Sidney Crosby who is on injured reserve with concussion problems steming from the injury suffered in January. As good as the Pens are Crosby really carries this team and without Sid in the lineup for any length of time the team struggles and will actually miss the playoffs. Now for the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers made big noise this summer trading Jeff Carter and Mike Richards in separate deals and signing both Jaromir Jagr and Ilya Bryzgalov. Signing Bryzgalov was huge because it finally gives the Flyers a #1 goalie. But signing Jagr is a huge risk since he is 39 and hasn't played in the NHL in a few years. The Flyers are good enough though to still make the playoffs. Now for the New York Rangers who had noise all over the place this year. The team saw Chris Drury retire, cut Sean Avery and gave a huge contract to Brad Richards. Throw those elements in with what the Rangers already have I can see them making the post season. Now for the New Jersey Devils who just named Zach Parise team captain. As far as signings go they did nothing this year for new coach Peter DeBoris. Devils make it fun but I have them out but not by much. Finally the New York Islanders. I will go into a full Islanders preview later this week but for here I see them missing the playoffs. Here is how I see the Atlantic:

1. Flyers*
2. Rangers*
3 Devils
4. Islanders
5. Penguins

(* means playoff team)