Best & Worst NFL Week Seven

Week seven has come and gone in the National Football League, with Arizona still being the only perfect team left. Meanwhile the Lions are the only team in the league without a win. Tom Brady had a record setting weekend and it cost the Bucs at the end of the day. This whole weekend was kind of nuts. We had a running back throw for a touchdown, a quarterback make an amazing catch and wide receivers dropping 150 or more yards in a game in three different cities. And that's just scratching the surface. Here's some of the best and worst from week seven in the NFL.

Best: Alvin Kamara, Running Back New Orleans Saints
This was a big win and a big weekend for the Saints. New Orleans came away with a 13-10 win over Seattle, which is big enough. But the story of the day coming out of this game was Alvin Kamara. This man can pretty much do it all for the Saints. He had 20 carries for 51 yards, which is a decent day on the ground. But what also needs to be talked about is the 10 catches for 128 yards. Kamara had 30 touches for 179 total yards. With that performance, he became the fastest player in NFL history to have 3,00 receiving yards and 3,000 rushing yards in his career. Kamara has been one of the best all around offensive players in the league the last number of years, and his statistics really reflect that. The guy is good, scary good.

Worst: Sam Darnold, Quarterback Carolina Panthers
Things had looked so promising for the Panthers early this year. They started off 3-0 and looked like they could be really good. But the Panthers have lost four straight, including getting trounced 25-3 by the Giants in New York on Sunday. Sam Darnold, who had showed some promise at the beginning of the year, was downright bad against the Giants. 16 of 27 for 112 yards and a pick. He was also sacked three times and had a passer rating of 57.4, the worst of any starter in the NFL this week. That kind of performance is making it hard for the Panthers to want to keep him around for longer then this year.

Best: Kyle Pitts, Tight End Atlanta Falcons
Talked about it a couple of weeks ago when he had the big weekend over in London against the Jets. Well the Falcons tight end was back at it again on Sunday in Miami. Atlanta walked away with a 30-28 win over the Dolphins, and Pitts was a big reason for that. He wasn't able to find the endzone, but he did help the Falcons offense push forward. Pitts finished with seven catches for 163 yards. That's now back to back weeks of over 100 receiving yards for Pitts, who's now up to 470 yards on the year. He's proving that he can be worth his weight in gold for Matt Ryan in the pass catching department, as well as his blocking ability.

Worst: Dan Campbell, Head Coach Detroit Lions
A small part of me almost feels bad for the Lions. They fell to the Rams 28-19. You can't even put the blame on Campbell. He tried EVERYTHING to lead his Lions to their first win of the year. Trick plays, two fake punts. Scoring on their first drive and racing out to a 10-0 lead. It didn't matter as former starter Matthew Stafford still came in and pulled off the comeback. Campbell's gambles worked, but it didn't in a sense as the Lions still lost. I feel bad for the coach, he is trying to come up with ways to get a win. He doesn't have the talent around him. I had to put something here in the loss department so here we sit.

Best: Ja'Marr Chase, Wide Receiver Cincinnati Bengals
If your a Bengals fan, you have to be over the moon at this moment. Following a 41-17 crushing of the Ravens over the weekend, the Bengals now have the best record in the AFC. A big reason for that was the play of receiver Ja'Marr Chase. He went off like a man possessed against the Ravens. Eight catches, one for a touchdown, for an eye popping 201 yards. He had almost as many receiving yards by himself as the ravens did as a team (Baltimore finished with 296 yards passing). That's saying a lot. Shows not only how much the Bengals and Chase were feeling it on Sunday, it shows how bad the Ravens have been. Bengals fans rejoice your on top of the mountain in the AFC.

Worst: New York Jets
It was tough enough going into New England to play the Patriots, as the Jets had lost 12 straight games to their division rivals. Now that is up to lucky number thirteen, as the Patriots blasted (and that's being nice) the Jets to the tune of a 54-13 win. New England had 551 yards of total offense and scored seven touchdowns. This game wasn't even close and that is so sad. New York thought things were going to be better with a new coach, but it hasn't gotten any better. They are still the butt of a lot of jokes and the performance in New England on Sunday just added more fuel to that fire.

Best: Derrick Henry, Running Back Tennessee Titans
This guy can do a little bit of everything for the Titans. Tennessee pulled off a huge weekend, to the tune of a 27-3 win over Kansas City. Derrick Henry had himself a pretty good day. He caught two passes for 16 yards, carried the ball 20 times for 86 yards. The big moment of the day was Henry threw a five yard touchdown pass to MyCole Pruitt. It was pretty cool to see a direct snap to the running back to throw for the touchdown. It made it even cooler to see it happen against a team like Kansas City. Henry, like we mentioned with Kamara before, is the Mr. Do It All on offense for the Titans.

Worst: Chicago Bears
It not looking good in the Windy City right now. The bears are back under .500 at 3-4 following a 38-3 thrashing by the Bucs. Here's where it really gets bad. We're seven weeks into the regular season, and the Bears are the ONLY team in the NFL that doesn't have a passer throw for more than 200 yards in a game. Case in point, Fields only had 184 passing yards against the Bucs. Yes the Bucs are a good defensive team, but still that's a surprisingly low number. Chicago needs to start figuring this thing out if they want to have any shot of making noise in the NFC playoff picture.

World Series Preview

The time has finally arrived. We started this back in late March. 30 MLB teams had a dream of holding the Commissioners trophy over their heads. Now we have two teams left going head to head for the biggest prize in all of baseball. The 117th World Series is finally here.

This time, its the National League Champion Atlanta Braves taking on the American League Champion Houston Astros.

For the Braves this is the tenth time the tam is in the Fall Classic, its first appearance here since 1999. They won the NL East with an 88-73 record. They dispatched the Milwaukee Brewers in four games in the NLDS, and beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games in the NLCS to reach the final round. They will face Houston, who won the AL West with a 95-67 record. They beat the Chicago White Sox in four games in the ALDS and followed that up with a six game series win over the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS. Its the 3rd world series appearance for Houston in the last five years and fourth time overall they have played in the fall classic.

What's amazing is that the Braves have done what they've done without Ronald Acuna Jr, who's been out of action since July 10th with a knee injury. Adding Joc Pederson to an already balanced and pretty stacked Braves lineup has done the job of filling the void till their best player comes back and is healthy. Plus, it also doesn't hurt when you have a guy like Freddy Freeman hitting in the middle of your lineup. The real big offensive story for the Braves has been Pederson and Eddie Rosario. Rosario hitting over .400 in this years playoffs and he's driven in 11 runs. But if the Braves want a chance in this series, they need both Charlie Morton and Max Fried to keep pace with what they've been doing both during the regular season and early on in the playoffs. As for Houston, Lance McCullers and Famber Valdez have been lights out all playoffs on the hill. Meanwhile, at the plate, Alvarez, Gurial and Brantley have been hitting the cover off the ball during this stretch run.

This series has all the makings to go the distance and it will. Houston has been getting it done with late inning heroics most of the season and that's going to be a key factor for them in this series. Atlanta started really heating up as a unit at the right time at the end of the year and they kind of haven't stopped. They did after all take out a 100 plus win team this year in the Dodgers.

Pick: Braves in 7!

2021-22 NBA Season Preview

The night has finally arrived. We have 30 teams stepping foot on the court with an eye on the same prize. To be the last team standing with the Larry O'Brian trophy in their hands. The 76th NBA season is set to rock and roll. After the last two years of turmoil because of the pandemic, the NBA has finally returned to its full 82 game schedule and will play their full slate. There have been a lot of changes made to and for teams going into this season. Normally when we do the previews for season here, we try and break it down as much as we can. Instead, for this one, its division picks and some nots on each division that's all.

We start off with new coaches. Atlanta took the interim title off of Nate McMillian. We also have new coaches in Boston (Ime Udoka), Dallas (Jason Kidd), Indiana (Rick Carlisle), New Orleans (Willie Green), Orlando (Jamahl Mosley), Portland (Chauncey Billups), and Washington (Wes Unseld Jr.). We also saw quite a bit of bigtme player movement in the offseason. The biggest names moved saw Kyle Lowery go to Miami, Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRozan join Chicago, while the Clippers brought back Kawhi and Chris Paul returned to Phoenix.

So with that being said, here's how the season goes down.

Western Conference:
Northwest Division:
1. Utah Jazz (50-32)*
2. Denver Nuggets (48-34)*
3. Portland Trail Blazers (45-37)*
4. Oklahoma City Thunder (30-52)
5. Minnesota Timberwolves (25-57)

With Bojan and Mitchell leading the way, it going to be really tough to knock the Jazz off top of the mountain. Utah is just too balanced and deep for anybody to take the division title. The Nuggets could be the lone team in this division to put up a fight. Denver is the closest team to challenge to Utah, with Green, Gordon and Jokic having solid seasons. Then there's the Trail Blazers, who have talent with Lillard, McCollum and Nace, they will be in the thick of things.

Pacific Division:
1. Phoenix Suns (54-28)*
2. Los Angeles Lakers (49-33)*
3. Los Angeles Clippers (48-24)*
4. Golden State Warriors (47-25)*
5. Sacramento Kings (37-45)

The Suns may have the best team in this division and entire conference. This team is loaded with Paul, Booker and Ayton running things, they are going to be very, very tough to beat this year. After last year's quick playoff exit, the Lakers are going to look to rebound and advance into spring ball once again. Anytime you add Carmlo to LeBron and AD and Westbrook and Rondo, you got the talent. Now lets see how well it can gel. Then there's the Clippers, who once healthy can make a lot of noise up top in this division. Kawhi, Ibaka and Paul George are going to make the big plays when needed. The Warriors get both the Splash Brothers back and healthy this season. Otto Porter and Andrew Wiggins add another element to this team, and its enough to get this job done.

Southwest Division:
1. Dallas Mavericks (49-33)*
2. Memphis Grizzlies (40-42)
3. New Orleans Pelicans (38-44)
4. San Antonio Spurs (33-49)
5. Houston Rockets (22-60)

No doubt in anybody's mind that his is the weakest division in the West. The Mavericks are the only team that's going to be playing postseason basketball. Doncic leads a good core in Dallas, along with KP and Reggie Bullock. This team is going to be good. Only one other team is going to win 40 or more games from this division and the Grizzlies have the best chances at it. Ja Morant has a lot of talent and will be the one carrying this team. Then there's the Pelicans, who will be lucky to win  38 if that this year. Zion will be growing more into his role as face of this team this year.

Eastern Conference:
Atlantic Division:
1. Brooklyn Nets (59-23)*
2. Philadelphia 76ers (48-34)*
3. New York Knicks (46-36)*
4. Boston Celtics (43-39)*
5. Toronto Raptors (40-42)

It easy to see that, even with one of its stars missing, the Nets are still the top team in this division. For personal reasons, Kyrie won't be here at the start of the year. Brooklyn still has Harden and Durant leading a loaded club. They are deep and they are good. Next closest challenger are going to be the 76ers. Andre Drummond was brought on to help out Embiid as the star on this team. Philadelphia has Harris in the mix as well, which makes them a solid club. Right behind them are the Knicks, who are hitting their stride quickly as a good team. Julius Randle and RJ Barrett are going to be the key cogs in this New York offense. Quigley is going to be a factor this year too. Then there the Celtics, who even at 43 wins will be outside looking in. They have talent on this Boston team with Parker (if he can stay healthy), Horford and Kanter. But it won't be enough with how top heavy this division is.

Central Division:
1. Milwaukee Bucks (50-32)*
2. Indiana Pacers (41-41)*
3. Chicago Bulls (40-42)
4. Cleveland Cavaliers (30-52)
5. Detroit Pistons (26-56)

The defending champion Bucks look like they going to be heavy favorites coming out again this year. Both of the Antetokounmpo brothers are going to be leading this team, Giannis at the top. Throw Hill, Holiday, and Middleton into the mix as well and its looking good for Milwaukee to make another solid run. The only team in this division who could be a .500 or better team is the Pacers. LaVert and Turner are going to be the key factors into this Indiana lineup and help carry them to the .500 mark. Then there's the Bulls, who have some young talent to work with. Lonzo and DeRozan are now in the mix to power this Chicago offense, with Zach LeVin there as well. it's still a build up but the blocks are in place.

Southwest Division:
1. Atlanta Hawks (53-29)*
2, Miami Heat (49-33)*
3. Charlotte Hornets (37-45)
4. Washington Wizards (37-45)
5. Orlando Magic (27-55)

After a conference finals appearance last season, the Hawks look to get back there. And what's stopping there, the core from that team is still in tact. Capela, Bogdanovic, and Okafor are leading the charge on a very good team. Atlanta pulling off a 50 plus win season look like a strong possibility. Then we have the Heat, who are coming off a sweep in the first round last year. Lowery, Butler and Tucker are going to be the ones leading the charge in Miami this year. They are going to be the only team that not only make the playoffs but have a winning reacord in this division.

Panic Button On Long Island?

There was a lot of high expectations for the 2021-22 New York Islanders. Back to back season as one of the final four teams in the NHL. So you'd like to think there is a lot to be able to build off of if your the Islanders. Many people, including yours truly, had the Islanders predicted to go on yet another deep playoff run. With the way the season has started, would suggest otherwise.

Now its worth noting that, at the time of this writing, its two games into the season. Last time I checked, there was 82 games in a full NHL season. But over the first two games of the year, things aren't looking good for the Islanders. First was a 6-3 loss to the Hurricanes in the opener. Then they follow that up with a 5-1 loss in Sunrise tonight against the Panthers. Not too much has gone right for the team over the first two games.

The power play has looked like crap, save for the Whalstrom goal, which was the only goal scored, against the Panthers tonight. This has been a recurring problem for the last number of years now. In goal is another story, Ilya Sorokin has taken over the main starter job with Symeon Varlamov out hurt to start the season. Sorokin is a solid netminder, there's no doubt. That being said, in the first two games, he has looked really shaky. Some of the goals he's given up over the first two games should have been stopped. At the same time I still thing he's trying to figure out his game at this level, so I'm not totally going to leave this kid out to dry.

The offense has been MIA for stretches early. They looked great in the first ten minutes against Florida tonight, but then took the foot off the gas pedal and the Panthers took it over and ran with it. The Islanders offense needs to show a lot more fight and a complete effort every night. It hasn't really been there in the first two games.

That's the key phrase here my fellow Islanders fans. First. Two. Games. Lets not hit the panic button. There's no need. Its early October, the season is going until April. The good teams will figure it out. I'm sure the team knows what they have to work on and they will get it. The cream of the crop will always rise to the top and I feel the islanders still have the talent to be able to pull that off. Lets not jump off the bridge and say the seasons over now.

Best & Worst Of NFL Week Five

 Week five has come and gone in the NFL and crazy week it was. Still have one unbeaten team left in the Arizona Cardinals. We had a golden rematch from last year AFC title game and it lived up to the hype and then some. It was a bad day for kickers and just as bad for some coaches. We also had some players, like Jackson and Adams, go off and in big ways. With all that being said, here's some of the best and worst from week five in the NFL

Best: Kyle Pitts, Tight End Atlanta Falcons
Sometimes, having a good day comes out of necessity. In the case of Kyle Pitts, that's what happened Sunday, in the Falcons 27-17 win over the Jets in London. Atlanta was without Russell Gage and Calvin Ridley, both out due to injury. So this was the chance for the Falcons tight end to take this step into the role and take his game to another level. He didn't waste it. Pitts had his first big game in his rookie season, snagging nine catches for 119 yards and a touchdown. There were some question marks going into this one as to who was going to be the one to take over as Matt Ryan's go to guy. Turns out it was Pitts and he didn't disappoint.

Worst: Jamal Adams, Safety Seattle Seahawks
This isn't a knock on the player as a whole, just on what he hasn't exactly lived up to. Adams got a massive contract from Seattle after he left the Jets, and at the time he signed the deal, he was worth the hype. Since then, he hasn't quite lived up to it. This year is even more evident. Adams was a solid safety, no argument there. But the big reason he had gotten the deal he did was because of his ability to rush and get pressure on the quarterback. He hasn't gotten a sack at all this year, hell. he hasn't even gotten a pressure or knock down on one either this season. He got the tools alright, he just isn't using them to full advantage this year.

Best: Devante Adams, Wide Receiver Green Bay Packers
We knew it was only a matter of time before this was going to come up here on this list. Not only did Green Bay come away with a big win, a 25-22 win over the Bengals, but it was the Devante Adams show. He finished the day with 11 catches for an eye popping 206 yards and a touchdown. He has hands of gold, there's no denying that. It makes it even better when you have a motivated Aaron Rogers throwing to you.

Worst: Urban Meyer Head Coach, Jacksonville Jaguars
When teams are going bad, they go bad. Usually that's the headline. But that hasn't been the case in Jacksonville. A lot of the focus for the Jags has been on head coach Urban Meyer. Jacksonville, along with Detroit, are the only winless teams in the NFL, this following the Jags 37-19 loss to the Titans. All of this coming after Meyer's off the field exploits were made public the week before. He was caught on video with a young lady grinding on him. Its a long story. That was a circus by itself. But it bled out onto the field of play, distracting the team a little in leading to the loss to Tennessee. That's now 20 straight losses for the Jags. It's tied for the 2nd longest losing streak in NFL history. Yikes.

Best: Buffalo Bills
Payback can be a bitch sometimes. In a rematch from last year's AFC championship game, the Bills dominated from start to finish, beating Kansas City 38-20. Josh Allen was nearly perfect, going 15 of 26 for 315 yards, three touchdowns and no picks. He was at the top of his game this week. All this coming in rainy conditions in Aarowhead. Oh and the defense was pretty good too. They aren't the best in the league for nothing. They held Patrick Mahomes to just a five yards per play average and had him off his game most of the night. Yeah this Buffalo team could be scary good.

Worst New York Giants
Talk about a team getting hit with bad luck. It bad enough that the Giants  got smacked around 44-20 by division rivals in Dallas. It wasted a golden day from Kadarius Toney, and his 10 catches for 189 yards. The big story, besides the loss, is the injury bug, which is what put the Giants on this list. They lost Golladay, Barkley and Jones to injuries. Knee, ankle and concussion took out the three Giants offensive stars. Big Blue had been struggling as is through the first five weeks of the season. Now with the injuries starting to mount, it's making a uphill climb for the Giants even harder.

Best: Justin Herbert, Quarterback Los Angeles Chargers
In what turned out to be the offensive slugfest of the weekend, it was the Chargers coming out with a huge 47-42 win over the Browns. Big reason for that was the play of Justin Herbert, who quite a few have been arguing has been playing at the level of an MVP. Herbert had a passer rating of 122, and completed almost half of his passes. He finished 26 of 43 for 398 yards and four touchdowns. This whole Charger team looks really good, and Herbert is the man leading the way.

Worst: Kickers
It seems as if, in the past, there was a better than even chance that a kicker in the NFL was going to make their kicks. And we've seen flashes at times this year that kickers can hit them when it matters most. looking at you Justin Tucker. But in week five, kickers weren't as good as they have been in the past. During the course of the week, kickers around the NFL missed a total of 24 combined kicks, 12 field goals and 12 extra points. Those 12 missed extra points league wide is the most in a week in the Super Bowl era. Worst offenders were the Bengals and Packers who combined missed six kicks.

2021-22 NHL Season Preview

The time has finally arrived. After three months off, the chase for hockey's ultimate prize begins again. The Stanley Cup will be awarded at the end of June, but now begins the chase that the 32 teams must make. It going to take an 82 game regular season, then if your lucky enough 16 more wins come spring time for a shot at hockey holy grail. So lets not waste anymore time and dive right into it.

We had a new team join the league in the Seattle Kraken, who will join the Pacific Division, with the Arizona Coyotes moving to the Central Division. As with being an expansion team, Seattle has Dave Hakstol as its first head coach. Other teams around the league such as the Rangers (Gerard Gellant), Montreal (Dominique Ducharme), Columbus (Brad Larsen), Buffalo (Don Granato), and Arizona (Andre Tourigny) all now have new bench bosses.

Lots of new faces in new places, including Seattle. So instead of trying to break it all down, team by team, we going to do it a little different this year. We going to give our predictions for each division, then give a brief reason why each team is going to finish where in the division. So let's get into it. Here's how things will play out for the 2021-22 NHL Season.

Western Conference:
Pacific Division:
1. Vegas Golden Knights (105 Points)*
2. Edmonton Oilers (100 Points)*
3. Calgary Flames (99 Points)*
4. Vancouver Canucks (95 Points)
5. Seattle Kracken (90 Points)
6. Los Angeles Kings (87 Points)
7. San Jose Sharks (85 Points)
8. Anaheim Ducks (80 Points)

There has been quite a bit done to bolster the lineup for Vegas, most notably in net. Marc-Andre Fleury is gone (he's in Chicago, more on that later), so this is now Robin Lehner's team. Vegas has a good mix on the offensive side of things with Max Pacioretty coming off a big year last year and adding Nolan Patrick into the mix as well. This team is still good and is still the top of the mountain in the Pacific. The only other team that has the ability to crack the 100 point mark here is Edmonton, given what they have gotten out of Leon and Conor the last number of years. You kind of have to figure adding Duncan Keith to the Oilers lineup is there for depth and to help bring on the young guys on the Edmonton Blueline. They have enough on paper to get a lot done, but the biggest thing that worries Edmonton fans is in net. That's killed them a few times in the past. Mike Smith is good but can he get it done in the spring? There's another team in Canada that's going to be making moves this year, that being the boys in Calgary. I have the same question here I do in Edmonton, how well can the guys between the pipes hold up? Jacob Markstrom is good, no denying that. I just don't know if he can be the guy to carry them deep into sprint. The rest of the Flames seem like they in good shape. Mark Stone can be a steady force on the blueline, with Mark Girdano now gone. And they have plenty to build around with Matthew Tkachuk, and Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary is going to be just fine. Now, Vancouver could be good, but might not have enough to be able to get over the hump and into the playoffs. Goaltending tandom is solid with Halak and Demko, and they've got a pretty good defensive core as well. It scoring that might hold the Canucks back. Sure it's great having Bo Horvat leading that club.

Next, we got the new guy on the block in Seattle. Philipp Grubauer will be asked to lead the way in net, but who will be helping him out behind him is going to be seen. They have a good mix on the blueline with Mark Girdano leading that group. Then Jordan Eberle is going to lead a nice offensive mix. It going to be a solid first season in the league, but I just cant see them catching the lightning in the bottle that the Golden Knights did in their first season. As for the California teams, we start with the Kings, who aren't getting much in the way of the youth department. Jonathan Quick may still have a little left in the thank, but he isn't close to the netminder he was. They have some young guns up front, but there's no way of knowing how good they are going to be. For the Sharks, this really is James Reimer's team and time to shine in a new role in net. They have a nice mix of youth and veteran experience among their skaters. The only thing that could stop the Sharks is how healthy they can stay? Then we have the Ducks, who have had a rough going the last number of seasons. Anaheim is getting up there in years and they don't really have the pieces to build around right now to really compete in a very top heavy division.

Central Division:
1. Colorado Avalanche (110 Points)*
2. Dallas Stars (107 Points)*
3. Winnipeg Jets (101 Points)*
4. St Louis Blues (97 Points)(WC)*
5. Chicago Blackhawks (96 Points)(WC)*
6. Minnesota Wild (93 Points)
7. Nashville Predators (80 Points)
8. Arizona Coyotes (71 Points)

This maybe the toughest division in the entire league, and the Avalanche are the class of it. They lost Grubauer and Donskoi to Seattle, which puts the Avs back a little bit in the goaltending department. Still they are a very deep and balanced team, with Landeskog and MacKinnon leasing the way up front. They were the best team in the league last year and look for the Avs to be right back near the top again this season. Right behind them, the Stars are going to be shining in Dallas. Feeling is that with Brayden Holtby being added to the mix with Anton Khudobin. Expect Klingberg and Lindell to be impacts from the back line, with Benn and Seguin leading the charge up front. The third Canadian team to make the playoffs is going to be the Jets, who are going to be back into the playoffs for the 2nd year in a row. And why not when you have a guy like Connor Hellebyuck in net, you look like your going to be in good shape for a run. Josh Morrissey is going to be counted on to take the big minutes in Winnipeg and is more than capable for the job. And you have Stastny back in the mix with Copp and Lowery to lead things up front. Joining them will be the two wild card teams in the playoffs, one being the Blues. This year they have a full season, and a healthy one at that, from Vladimar Tarasenko. Him Schenn and O'Reilly lead the offensive charge that has a good mix of veterans and youth. This is the right mix that the Blues have to be able to help get them over the edge and into the playoffs. Coming back into the playoff mix this year is going to be the Blackhawks, who finally get over the hump and get in. Adding Marc-Andre Fluery is big. He isn't the same as he once was, but if the last few years in Vegas have shown, he still got a little left in the tank. They've gotten younger on the back end by shedding Duncan Keith, now leaving Seth Jones and Calvin de Haan to lead the back end. Of course, Toews and Kane still leading the charge up front, they got help from DeBrincat and Kubilik. Its enough to get the job done and get into the playoffs.

As for the teams that are going to miss the playoffs, it doesn't look too good for the Wild at this moment. Minnesota cut ties with both Parise and Sutter, both of whom got large contracts when they first signed with the team. They still have Dumba and Brodin leading the blue line in front of Cam Talbot. What worries me is what's happening behind Talbot in the Minnesota cage. Another thing that worries me is the scoring punch that the Wild have, or lack there of. It could be decent but won't be enough to get into the playoffs. Then there's the Predators, who now have to figure out life without Pekka Rinne in net. Now Nashville relies on Saroos and David Rittich to stop pucks. Josi and Ekholm will make their lives a little easier on the blueline. They have a good mix up front to be able to put the puck in the back of the net. Still its between the pipes that might be holding the Preds back from getting close to playoff contention. Finally, we have the Coyotes rounding out this division race. They made some big moves, trading away Oliver Eckman-Larson and Connor Garland. in his place Shayne Gostisbehere will now be the guy on the Yotes blue line. Carter Hutton in net is decent but that's a stretch. Keller can lead the way in scoring, but do they have as much depth to get out of the basement.

Eastern Conference:
Atlantic Division:
1. Tampa Bay Lightning (107 Points)*
2. Toronto Maple Leafs (104 Points)*
3. Florida Panthers (101 Points)*
4. Boston Bruins (99 Points)(WC)*
5. Montreal Canadiens (93 Points)
6. Detroit Red Wings (87 Points)
7. Ottawa Senators (82 Points)
8. Buffalo Sabres (70 Points)

There have been a few changes made in the sunshine sate, but lets face facts, the defending champion Lighting are still the team to beat in the Atlantic. Johnson got shipped out for Seabrook, and Goodrow was traded for draft picks. Other then that, core is still in tact of the back to back champions. Vasilevskiy will be just fine between the pipes, but it's what behind him, in Brian Elliott, that leaves a worry. Hedman still leads the charge on the back end, a good mix of youth and experience. Then there's the firepower up front. Kucherov and Stamkos are both back and healthy. This team is deep and very very good. The one team in this division, and in the conference for that matter, that I find to be a bit of a mystery is the Maple Leafs. They lost Freddy Andersen in net, which now makes room for Jack Campbell to come in and split duties with Petr Mrazek. Morgan Riley leads the defense gr4oup, which leaves some question marks. Up front they still have plenty of weapons surrounding Riley, Tavares and Mathews. I just have this feeling that they can do well enough to make the playoffs, but flounder there because of the blue line and goalies. Now we head back south to look at the Panthers, who have all the tools to be a good team. They didn't finish second in their division last year for nothing folks. Joe Thornton was brought in for another shot at something, and he's added to a good young lineup with a good mix of talent, lead bay Barkov, Huberdeau and Accari. Ekblad is a solid presence on the blue line and with Bobrovsky between the pipes, the pieces are more than in place for Florida to go on future deep post season runs. Then you have a wild card spot coming from the Atlantic, that going to the Bruins, who always somehow find a way to make it work. What hurts Boston the most is losing both Halak and Rask from between their pipes last season, now going with Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swanson. Leaves a lot to be desired. Still, the skaters in front of them still look more than capable of holding their own. Carlo, McAvoy and Grzelcyk are going to hold down the defense just fine. Bergeron and Marchand are going to power this offense. They have a decent mix of youth and veterans to power this team, which can be good enough to make the playoffs. The goaltending is what could hold them back from finishing not only higher in the division but going deep in the playoffs as well.

One team that's going to be an interesting case from this division is the Canadiens, who shocked a lot of people by making it all the way to the finals last year. This year, they might not be so lucky. Carey Price, it was just announced, won't be playing at the start of the season for personal reasons. So now its going to rely a lot on Jake Allen for the time being. It's not helping the fact that the defensive core isn't getting any younger. Gallagher and Hoffman can provide some solid offensive punch, but it won't be enough to get the Habs back into post season play. Next we go to the Motor City, as the Red Wings have done some major retooling. Alex Nedeljkovic was brought on board to split the workload with Thomas Greiss. Adding Nick Leddy to the Wings blueline is a big help for a young group. Scoring is going to come from the likes of Dylan Larkin, but he doesn't have much in the way of a supporting cast. Playing hockey in Canada's capital is going to be a rough year this year. Sure, there are some positives for the Senators, but not a whole lot honestly. Matt Murray still has a lot to live up to from when he first got to Ottawa. Thomas Chabot and Michael Del Zotto anchor a very mixed bag blieline. Brady Tkachuk is the Sens big weapon up front, but with no supporting cast, there aren't a lot of wins in Ottawa. Same thing can be said for the Sabres up in Buffalo. Craig Andersen is the starting netminder, and unless he reverts to his old form from when he played in Ottawa, this isn't a good sign. There's decent talent on the blueline in Dahlin and Butcher. Jack Eichel isn't Captain anymore, but he's still the best player on the team. How much longer that's the case remains to be seen. Doesn't look too good in Western NY this season.

Metropolitan Division:
1. New York Islanders (103 Points)*
2. Carolina Hurricanes (99 Points)*
3. Pittsburgh Penguins (98 Points)*
4. Washington Capitals (96 Points)(WC)*
5. New York Rangers (94 Points)
6. Philadelphia Flyers (92 Points)
7. New Jersey Devils (88 Points)
8. Columbus Blue Jackets (77 Points)

This one comes as a bit of a surprise but the Islanders, a team that has had questions in the scoring department, take this division. Goaltending with Varlamov and Sarokin will be just fine. Leddy's gone, traded away for Panik, and Chara is back where his career started. Him and Greene are the old men on the team but with Pelech and Pullock leading the youth, the D will be fine. Andres Lee returns from his injury and him and Barzal will power a pretty good offense. All that worries me with this Islanders club is how well can the scoring depth hold up as the season wears along? Then you have the Hurricanes, who may be the biggest threat in this division to push New York. Antti Ranta and Freddy Andersen are going to carry the load in net for the Canes this year. They have a solid blue line with Skjei and Pesce leading the charge. Carolina has a good mix up front, lead by Svechnikov, Aho and Trocheck. They have balance and depth that going to keep them at pace at the top. No matter how things look in the Steel city, its hard to count the Penguins out of the mix. There's been questions in the Pittsburgh net for a while now, a lot of it falling on Jarry's shoulders come spring time. Kris Letang is still relied on for a lot of minutes, which shows a bit of a problem with the Penguins depth on the back end. They still have Crosby (who's going to miss the start of the year due to injury) and Malkin up front, both of whom are very dangerous still. They got some young guns behind them like Rust and Guentzel. It will be good enough to keep them in the mix, but after that, who knows. Rounding out the playoff teams in this division are the Capitals, who is another club you just can't count out yet for being in the thick of the mix. Vanecek and Samsonov make a decent one-two punch in the Washington nets. Carlson and Orlov lead a decent blue line, which is slightly older than some in the division. No matter what's going on elsewhere, when you have Alexander Ovechkin in your lineup, you always have a chance to be a contender. Him, Kuznetzov, Oshie are all counted on to do big things. The core is getting up there in years, so there really isn't much of a window left in Washington.

One team that's going to be on the outside looking in, and will make a lot of noise at the push, is the Rangers. Georgiev and Shestyorkin make a pretty darn good one-two punch in the nets on Broadway. Adam Fox is coming off his Norris winning season, and is going to be expected to lead this crop of blue  Its a good mix of youth there too, which is going to be around for a long time. Same thing with having and offense centered around Zibanejad and Panarin. They have two young stars on the rise in Lafreniere and Kakko. They have the pieces in place that the Rangers are going to be competing for a long time. They just need to fall into the right places at the right time. Then we move on to the Flyers, who are a very interesting case. This team did quite a bit of retooling, sending away Gostisbehere, Patrick and Voracek in deals. All while getting Ellis, Ristolainen (different move) and Atkinson back. Hart and Jones have things held down in the nets, while Provorov and Yandle hold down the blue line. Yes, Voraceck is gone but JVR and Claude Giroux are still here and making moves to put the puck in the nets. Philly can still stick around for a while with what they have here. Bringing up the rear is going to start with the Devils, who are still trying to get the rebuild going. We start in net with Blackwood and a guy who's trying to get his game going again in Bernier. Subban and Severson lead a young core on the blueline. Up front its Hughes and Hicher that lead the pack of very young guns. Given time, the Devils could be good, just too much youth this year to really do much of anything. Finally, we have the Blue Jackets, who are rounding out the pack. Seth Jones is gone as is Cam Atkinson. Boone Jenner still here, so is Patrik Laine. Too many question marks in net and on the blue line for them to really contend for anything but a high draft pick.

Stanley Cup Finals: Avalanche vs Islanders