2012 New York Jets Scehedule Announced

The schedule has been announced for the 2012 New York Jets season and it is interesting to say the least. The games against the AFC East are still the same, as they will again play the Bills Dolphins and Patriots twice as they always do. Every team has to play in their division twice a year each. Last year the Jets had to fill the rest of their schedule against the NFC East and AFC West, which led the Jets to going 8-8. This year, besides the games against the rest of the East they will have to play against the AFC South and NFC West. Last time the Jets played the AFC South was in 2009 when they went to the AFC title game and lost to the Colts, and the last time they played the NFC West was in 2008 when the Jets went 9-7 and missed the playoffs.

Here now is a look at the schedule for the 2012 season for the New York Jets:

Preseason
1 TBD (August 9–13) at Cincinnati Bengals Paul Brown Stadium
2 August 18 7:00 p.m. EDT New York Giants MetLife Stadium
3 August 26 8:00 p.m. EDT Carolina Panthers MetLife Stadium
4 August 30 at Philadelphia Eagles Lincoln Financial Field

Regular Season
1 September 9 1:00 p.m. EDT Buffalo Bills MetLife Stadium CBS
2 September 16 4:15 p.m. EDT at Pittsburgh Steelers Heinz Field CBS
3 September 23 1:00 p.m. EDT at Miami Dolphins Sun Life Stadium CBS
4 September 30 1:00 p.m. EDT San Francisco 49ers MetLife Stadium Fox
5 October 8 8:30 p.m. EDT Houston Texans MetLife Stadium ESPN
6 October 14 1:00 p.m. EDT Indianapolis Colts MetLife Stadium CBS
7 October 21 4:15 p.m. EDT at New England Patriots Gillette Stadium CBS
8 October 28 1:00 p.m. EDT Miami Dolphins MetLife Stadium CBS
9 Bye
10 November 11 4:05 p.m. EST at Seattle Seahawks MetLife Stadium CBS
11 November 18 1:00 p.m. EST * at St. Louis Rams Edward Jones Dome CBS
12 November 22 8:20 p.m. EST * New England Patriots MetLife Stadium NBC
13 December 2 1:00 p.m. EST * Arizona Cardinals MetLife Stadium Fox
14 December 9 1:00 p.m. EST * at Jacksonville Jaguars EverBank Field CBS
15 December 17 8:30 p.m. EST at Tennessee Titans LP Field ESPN
16 December 23 8:20 p.m. EST * San Diego Chargers MetLife Stadium NBC
17 December 30 1:00 p.m. EST * at Buffalo Bills Ralph Wilson Stadium CBS


The Jets won't exactly have the easiest schedule in the world. They will be playing two teams who finished last season at .500 in the Arizona Cardinals and the San Diego Chargers who both finished last year like the Jets at 8-8 records. They play five teams who finished last year over the .500 mark in the form of New England (13-3), Pittsburgh (12-4), San Fransisco (13-3), Tennessee (9-7), and Houston (10-6). The other six teams the Jets play this year finished last season under .500 in the form of the Dolphins (6-10), Bills (6-10), Jaguars (5-11), Colts (2-14), Seahawks (7-9), and the Rams (2-14).

Amongst the games the Jets have to play in the division the one I'm looking forward to the most is the home game against the Patriots in November. The two biggest reasons I'm looking forward to it is because its a Thursday night and its thanksgiving night. Last year the one Thursday night game the Jets had they lost to Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos, and the last time the Jets played on Thanksgiving night was in 2010 a 26-10 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at home. With the changes the Jets have already made this offseason, and with the possibility of more to come between now and kickoff weekend in September, things could get very interesting for Gang Green this season.

(Author's note: A full Jets season perview and a full NFL preview will be done the week leading up to opening kickoff in September.)

2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs Chippiest in Six Years!

It's been 19 games into the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs and already it has turned very VERY chippy and fists have been flying. NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan and the rest of the NHL officiating staff have had their hands full so far in the playoffs as there were 724 penalty minutes called through the first 19 games, according to Elias Sports Bureau. That's the most the NHL has seen since the 2006 playoffs opened with 804 penalty minutes in 19 games (Info Courtesy of USA Today Article). The two series that have had caused the biggest trouble for the NHL's officials has been both Rangers-Senators and most notably Penguins-Flyers.

NHL Refs have had a real tough time taking control of the Penguins and Flyers during there first round series. We are three games into that series and the only game in the series that has moved along quietly was Game One. That one went in favor of the Flyers 4-3 in Overtime as the Penguins blew a 3-1 lead they held at the end of the first period. Game Two again went to the Flyers this time by an 8-5 final score in a wild affair. Again in this one the Penguins held a 3-1 lead at the end of the first but weren't able to make it stand up. Game Three was by far the most physical of any game not only in this series but in the entire playoffs. 158 total penalty minutes were handed out in the 8-4 win by the Flyers. That game including 72 in a rough-and-tumble first period that included Sidney Crosby and Claude Giroux fighting and Arron Asham being ejected for cross-checking and punching Brayden Schenn. There was a match penalty assessed to Arron Asham, game misconducts given to Kris Letang, Kimmo Timonen and Craig Adams, and four players received 10-minute misconducts in the last five minutes of the third period. There were also three fights that highlighted a pair of melees, one in the first and another late in the third.

What really made this game wild was the huge brawl that came at the 15:18 mark of the 3rd period. It would be somewhat difficult for me now to try and actually describe in words what exactly happened during this little brawl so why don't I just show it to you. here is the crazy fight near the end of the hockey game:



It doesn't take a genius to figure out this series was going to be physical but I don't think anybody could have predicted this happening. Now I somewhat understand the need for this kind of physical play but I mean come on there really is no need for THAT much physical play. And this isn't the only series to get chippy.

The first real incident to take place this year in the playoffs was Game One of the Predators-Red Wings series in Nashville. At the final buzzer, Nashville's All-Star defenseman and captain Shea Weber received a roughing penalty for a series of hits on Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg. Replays showed the 6-foot-4, 232-pound Weber grabbing the head of the 5-foot-11, 195-pound Zetterberg and slamming it into the glass. Weber was fined $2,500 by the NHL for the incident. Here is the video of it:

Now this should have been a suspension and not just a fine if you ask me. This was some of the fallout from the incident thanks to NHL.com:

Weber was asked if he thought he would need to worry about any possible further supplementary discipline.

"I don't know. He hit me from behind, so we'll see," he said. "I don't know."

Asked what sparked the incident, Weber simply said, "It's playoffs. It's playoffs."

I really think that is such crap coming from Shea Weber. Here is a guy who is the Preds Captain and one of the better defenseman in all of the NHL. Yes this is the playoffs and I understand that emotions can run high during games even in the first round, but there is really no need to pull something stupid like that. If I was Brendan Shanahan that should have been at least a one game suspension. There really is no place in the game for something like that and for Weber sake thankfully Zetterberg wasn't seriously hurt otherwise he could have been in bigger problems. And saying that its the playoffs sure as hell won't cut it anymore. So Weber should have been thanking his lucky stars this wasn't worse.

Now as for actual suspensions there have been three handed out, two that the punishment fit the crime and one that should have been a bit heftier. First was a hit by Byron Bitz of the Canucks on Kyle Clifford of the Kings in game one of the Vancouver-LA series. Clifford wasn't looking behind him as he was staring down at the puck at his feet trying to play it and he got rammed into from behind hard by Bitz. Byron got a two game suspension for the check and that was a good ruling by Shanahan. The other suspension went to Carl Hagelin of the Rangers for his Elbow to Daniel Alfredsson of the Senators in Game Two in MSG. The hit knocked Alfredson out of the game and cost Hagelin three playoff games starting with Game three of this series.

The Rangers-Senators series started getting really chippy in game two and that all started thanks to what some would call a cheap shot in game one. Brian Boyle started throwing punches late in the third period of game one in a scrum in front of the net that set a few hostilities off near the end of game one, which the Rangers had already had in hand. Then at the Start of Game Two things really got interesting. Boyle was the focus of the Senators' attention for an incident in Game 1 where he roughed up Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson after a whistle. Senators coach Paul MacLean inserted Carkner and tough guy Zenon Konopka into the lineup for Game 2 in an attempt to add grit, and it worked almost to perfection. o how did Ottawa respond to Boyle's actions? Easy, it was countered with a first-period melee involving defenseman Matt Carkner unleashing a series of punches that knocked down Boyle, who would not drop his gloves. The ensuing fracas resulted in Carkner and Rangers forward Brandon Dubinsky receiving game misconducts just 2:15 into the bitterly intense contest. Dubinsky was visibly upset after being ejected, knocking over a whole jug of gatorade on his way to the Rangers room, and he had every right to be mad, he was sticking up for a teammate who got basically jumped and he got ejected, I would be mad as hell too.

That wasn't the only incident to come out of this as Ottawa Senators forward Matt Carkner has been suspended for one game for continuing to inflict punishment upon an opponent who was an unwilling combatant in an altercation during Game 2 of the team's Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series with the New York Rangers in New York on Saturday, April 14, the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety announced today.


Carkner instigated an altercation with New York forward Brian Boyle, who did not respond. After knocking Boyle to the ice with two punches, Carkner continued to throw punches at his opponent, who was an unwilling combatant. Carkner's actions classified him as an "aggressor" under NHL rules.

The incident occurred at 2:15 of the first period. Carkner was assessed a minor penalty for instigating, a major penalty for fighting and a game misconduct.


So as you can see Brendan Shanahan has been a very busy boy the past few days with physical play in the playoffs. And if this is any possible indication of the way things are going he could be in for a long next few months as the playoffs wind down towards the finals.

2011-12 New York Islanders Season Recap!

The 2011-12 Season has come and gone for the New York Islanders and it ended the same as it has the past few years, with an early trip to the Golf Course. For the third time since the lockout the Islanders hit the 79 point mark on the season and have missed the playoffs each time. This year they were the only team in the Atlantic division to fail to make the playoffs and fail to record more than 80 points as a team. The team ended the year with almost identical records at home as they did on the road finishing 17-18-6 at home and 17-19-5 on the road leading to a total record of 34-37-11 . The only month on the season the team had a winning record was January when they went 6-5-1.

John Tavares led the team in scoring with a career high 81 points on 31 goals and 50 assists. The 50 assists also led the team. He was second on the team in both categories. Matt Moulson led the team in goals with 36 goals. The only players besides Tavares and Moulson to score more than 20 goals wer Kyle Okposo who had 21 and Michael Grabner who had 20. Josh Bailey (13), Frans Nielsen (17), and P.A. Parenteau (18) were the only other guys to hit double digits in goals this year for the club. Streit (40), Parenteau (49) and Tavares (50) were the only guys to have more than 40 assists this season. Matt Moulson and Travis Hamonic were the only Islanders to hit the plus side of the ledger of players who played more than 50 games, and Neilsen, Tavares Moulso and Streit are the only guys to play every game this season. The Isles only scored 4 shorthanded goals this year 3 coming from Josh Bailey and the other coming from Michael Grabner. Matt Moulson led the powerplay with 14 goals on the man advantage while Tavares chipped in 7 on the powerplay. The team powerplay was somewhat effective finishing the year at 18.5% good enough to tie the Panthers for the 7th best powerplay in the leauge, while the Penalty Kill unit wasn't as good finishing the year at 80.5% good for 23rd best in the NHL. The isles averaged 2.39 goals per game the 3rd worst in hockey, only the kings and wild scored less on average then the Islanders.

As far as the goaltending is concerned, the team averaged 3.06 Goals against per game which was 4th worst in hockey. Only the Blue Jackets Lightning and Maple Leafs allowed more goals per game on average than the Islanders. Al Montoya and Evgeni Nabokov handled the bulk of the goaltending duties this year despite both guys batteling injuries. Montoya played in 30 games and had a 9-10-5 record with a 2.96 GAA and a .897 SV%, and Nabokov played in 42 games with a 19-18-3 record a 2.55 GAA a .914 SV % and 2 shutouts (1/17 @ Washington and Feb 7 @ Flyers). Rick DiPietro once again battled injuries and was limited to 8 games and a 3-2-3 record. I will get to a nice little rant about Ricky later on.

There were some big games, wins and plays this season for the Islanders. The Islanders found a nose for hats and OT winners this season. The two hat tricks the Islanders turned this year were by their two best players John Tavares and Matt Moulson. Tavares scored his three against the Rangers in a 4-2 win in October 16th and Matt Moulson scored 4 against the Dallas Stars on December 3rd in a 5-4 Islanders win. Just so everybody can relive that night here is Moulson's 4-Goal Performance:


So as you can see Matt Moulson was red hot on that night. Tavares also had a sever hot streak this year too getting at least one point in 12 straight games. Between December 29th and January 12th Tavares picked up at least one point in 12 straight games something an Islander hasn't done in about a decade. The last Islander to have a 12 game point streak was Mark Parrish from early October to early November in 2001. Those two guys carried the team this season and basically knew how to find each other at almost all times and if you don't believe me watch this:


This was the passing play of the year for the Islanders and it shows how good those two guys have been together since joining forces with the Islanders.

Another area the Islanders played well this year was shootouts as they went 8-2 in 10 shootouts this season, lead mostly by the king of shootouts Frans Nielsen. Nielsen is known for hitting one of two moves, his backup move a quick wrist shot five-hole on the goalie, or his go to move the forehand deke and then ripping the roof on the backhand. Most goalies can probably guess the backhand shot is coming and they still have no real answer to stop Frans who scored 7 goals on 11 shots in shootouts who was the 4th best shooting percentage behind Malkin Parise and Kovalchuk. So Frans has shown he was well deserved of the 4 year $11 Million contract he signed with the Isladners back in February.

There were times this season the Islanders made me happy to be an Islanders fan. Nights like December 3rd with the 5-4 win over Dallas, the night Moulson scored 4, the 5-1 win at home over Detroit on January 10th and the 3 dramatic OT winners this season, Mark Eaton's winner in Ottawa February 3rd (2-1 Win), Mark Streit's winner at home against the Kings on February 11 (2-1 Win), and John Tavares winner against Carolina on January 21st (2-1 Win). So it has been some nights like these that have made me proud to say I'm an Islanders fan. Yet at the same time there are some nights I really am left scratching my head as to why I still follow the club. One of two things really seemed to happen more often than not with Islanders losses either the team just decided not to show up ata all and would get blown out, or they would build up a lead and then just completely fall apart and blow the lead, which would really drive me crazy. All I ask is that if you lose a hockey game either just don't bother showing up or at least go down swiinging, that's all I ask.

Now there are a few things I would love to see the Islanders really like to try and fix on the ice before the 2012-13 season starts in October. First I would love to see P.A. Parenteau get a contract with the Islanders and keep that top line of Parenteau-Tavares-Moulson together as they were the best line on the team by far. Also I would really love it if the team was able to get mroe of a balanced scoring attack so that way they don't have to keep relyin on the Tavares line. Grabner's goal numbers went down from the season before and he needs to step his game up for next season, same thing with Okposo. Yes it was a good thing Kyle scored 21 goals but 15 of those goals came in the 2nd half of the year when the Islanders were out of it. Also think about this in 2011 the Islanders had five guys score more than 20 goals and this year they only had three guys do it. Finally as far as the offense goes Nino Niederreiter needs to try and have more of an offensive impact having socred only two goals and three points in his NHL career. And this season he had only one point a goal against the Blackhawks in December in 52 games. That can't happen if the Islanders expect to be a contender in the league.

As for the Defense the team should be retaining their top three D-men in the form of Andrew MacDonald Travis Hamonic and Mark Streit. They all had good years but Streit had a down year, but lets not forget he is coming off a injury that kept him out of the 2011 season. I would really like to See Calvin De Hann brought up for more than the one game he played last season. The biggest change I would love to see the Islanders make is getting rid of Rick DiPietro who is being paid a ton of money to sit on the sidelines with injuries. This is the biggest damn reason I was against the whole contract in the first place is there is no guarentee that he would play good for the entire length of the contract. He did his first few years and then has seemed to fall off the map with injuries and it has been hampreing the Islanders and their possible ability to sign free agents. Now it is a RUMOR, again it is only a RUMOR that the reason Zenon Konopka left the Islanders to go play in Ottawa was he was unhappy with the Contract Rick signed and felt the Islanders were unable to win with it as they won't be able to sign players. Again that is just a RUMOR but I can see he has a legit gripe because when players see that contract they may look down a little on the team.

So now that we have covered the major points from this past season, I leave you with video tributes of monthly highlights from the first two months of the season for the 2011-12 New York Islanders:



Now here's a look at some December Magic!



Now for the Highlights from the only winning month of the year in January:



And finally heres the highlights from the last two months of the season:




So there you have it a recap of the 2011-12 New York Islanders! Thanks for some good memories boys!

It's Cup Time! 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs Ready to Kick Off

Yes it's that time of year again. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are set to go with the opening round in the chase for the cup. We start the preview and predictions of the first round right here right now. We start of course with the eastern Conferance.

The eight teams representing the East this year are as follows: New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils, Washington Capitals, and Ottawa Senators. The playoff picture in the Eas looks totally different from this time last year. last year the Canadiens, Lightning and Sabres were in the playoffs and this year they all missed the post season and were replaced by the Devils, Senators, and Panthers. So things look very different from this time last year in the east. We kick off the playoff preview with looking at the 1-8 matchup which is the New York Rangers and the Ottawa Senators.

The New York Rangers entered the playoffs as the first overall seed in the Eastern Conference with 109 points. The Ottawa Senators earned 92 points during the regular season to finish eighth overall in the Eastern Conference. As most people know the Rangers have won 4 stanley cups in team history. Since the lockout the Rangers have only missed the playoffs once and that was in 2009-10. The team has lost its last two opening rounds in the playoffs both times to the Washington Capitals. This is the first division title for the Rangers since they won the Atlantic in 1994, the year they won the Cup, and this is the highest the Rangers have finished in the division since 1996-97 when they finished 2nd in the Atlantic, and that year they were bounced in the 2nd round by the Penguins. Marian Gaborik was a goal scoring machine for the Blueshirts this year scoring 41 goals and 76 points which lead the team, while Brad Richards lead in assists with 41. Henrik Lundqvist carried the load in goal playing in 62 games and posting a record of 39-18-5 with a 1.97 GAA a .930 SV% and posted 8 shutouts. He still has a capable backup behind him in Martin Biron who went 12-6-2 in 21 starts. So we know the Rangers can score and stop the puck.

As for the Ottawa Senators, they come in as the 8th seed in the post season, and since the lockout have made the playoffs in every year except two, one of them being last season. The teams best year since coming back into the league in 1993 was in 2007 when they lost in 5 games to the Ducks in the Finals. The Sens last trip to the playoffs was in 2009-10 and they lost to the Penguins in 6 games. The team has an 8-12 all time mark in post season series. Milan Michalek lead Ottawa in goals with 32, Jason Spezza lead them in Points with 75 and Erik Karlsson led the club in assists with 52. Craig Anderson carried the load in goal for the Sens playing in 56 games with a record of 29-19-6 with a GAA of 2.85 and a SV % of .913. Ottawa can be a dangerous team when fully healthy but they have battled the injury bug at various points this season. The Sens can and will put up a fight but the question is can Craig Anderson be the answer in net in the playoffs for Ottawa. This is the first playoff series between these two teams. Ottawa won this year's four-game regular season series 3–1–0.

Here is a look at the Dates and Times of the games in this series:

Thursday, April 12, 2012 7 p.m. Ottawa at NY Rangers NHL Network, CBC
Saturday, April 14, 2012 7 p.m. Ottawa at NY Rangers NBC Sports Network, CBC
Monday, April 16, 2012 7:30 p.m. NY Rangers at Ottawa CBC, CNBC
Wednesday, April 18, 2012 7:30 p.m. NY Rangers at Ottawa CBC, CNBC
*Saturday, April 21, 2012 7 p.m. Ottawa at NY Rangers NBC Sports Network, CBC
*Monday, April 23, 2012 TBD NY Rangers at Ottawa TBD
*Thursday, April 26, 2012 TBD Ottawa at NY Rangers TBD


Now then, its hard to judge this as a rivalry game cause these two clubs have never met before in the playoffs. Both teams can score, as we have already established. Ottawa has had succes in the past as a few of the guys were here when they went to the cup in 07. The Rangers have the edge in team defense and goaltending, so on that even though the Senators won the season series, the Rangers will take this series in 6 games.

Next up to look at is the 2-7 matchup, the Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals. The Boston Bruins entered the playoffs as the second seed in the Eastern Conference by winning the Northeast Division with 102 points. The Washington Capitals earned 92 points during the regular season to finish seventh overall in the Eastern Conference. As everybody knows the Boston Bruins are teh Defending Stanley Cup Champions,a dna re looking to defend their title. The Bruins have won 6 titles in franchies history and have played in 11 more, so there is plenty of history with the Bruins in the finals. Boston has won the Northeast Division for the 2nd year in a row and for the 3rd time since the lockout. The other time tehy did that the Bruins were bounced in 7 games by the Hurricans in the 2nd round back in 2008-09. Tyler Seguin led the Bruins in goals with 29 and points with 67 while Patrice Bergeron lead the club in assists with 42. Marc Savard and Nathan Horton are both out of the Boston lineup with injuries right now so the team will have to try and find a way to fill their rolls in the lineup, espically Horton who had a big hand in Boston's playoff run lsast year. Tim Thomas carried the load in goal again for Boston playing in 59 games with a 35-19-1 record posting 5 shutouts a 2.36 GAA and a .920 SV%. Backing him up right now looks to be Marty Turco, who has played 5 games at the end of the season due to the injury bug hitting Tukka Rask. The Bruins once again seem to have one of the more balanced teams in the whole league.

As for the Washington Capitals this will mark the 5th straight year they have made the playoffs. Sadly the team hasn't been abel to get out of the 2nd round in any of the last 4 post season trips. The best season for the Caps was in 1998 when they went all the way to the Cup Finals before falling to Detroit. The Caps have won the Southeast Division the last four straight years before being dethrowned this year. Prior to that they had finished last in the division each of the first two years out of the lockout. Alexander Ovechkin once again leads the team in goals with 37 and points with 64, both of which are way down from his first few years in the league when he was scoring 50 or mroe goals and 100 or more points on a regular basis. Dennis Wideman leads the team in assists with 35. Alexander Semin was 2nd on the team in scoring with 53 points. Tomas Vokoun started 47 games for the Caps going 25-17-2 while Michal Neuvirth started 32 games going 11-12-4. For a team that last season was the best in the East it was a down swing of a year for the Capitals.

Here is the schedule for this series:

Thursday, April 12, 2012 7:30 p.m. Washington at Boston NBC Sports Network, CBC
Saturday, April 14, 2012 3 p.m. Washington at Boston NBC, CBC
Monday, April 16, 2012 7:30 p.m. Boston at Washington NBC Sports Network, CBC
Thursday, April 19, 2012 7:30 p.m. Boston at Washington NBC Sports Network, CBC
*Saturday, April 21, 2012 3 p.m. Washington at Boston NBC, CBC
*Sunday, April 22, 2012 TBD Boston at Washington TBD
*Wednesday, April 25, 2012 TBD Washington at Boston TBD


This is the third playoff series between these two teams, with each team having won one of the previous playoff series. The most recent series between these teams was the 1998 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which was won by Washington in six games. Washington won this year's four-game regular season series 3–1–0. Once the playoffs start things can really change, and the Capitals have had bad years the last four seasons in the playoffs. The Bruins will be hungry to defend their crown and the Caps have been a bit off by their standards this year. This one seems almost too easy to pick, Caps may win a few at home but Boston wins the Series in 6.

Next up is the 3-6 matchup in the east The Florida Panthers taking on the New Jersey Devils. The Florida Panthers entered the playoffs as the third seed in the Eastern Conference by winning the Southeast Division with 94 points. The New Jersey Devils earned 102 points during the regular season to finish sixth overall in the Eastern Conference. The Panthers have made the playoffs only three times in thier history, the best year being the 1st ever trip to the playoffs which was a run to the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals where they were swept by the Colorado Avalanche. The other two apperances in the playoffs have been quick exits in 1997 a five game defeat by the Rangers and then in 2000 a sweep by the Devils. This is the first ever division title for the team. The least time Florida finished higher than 3rd was in 2000 when they were 2nd in the division. Stephen Weiss lead the Panthers with 52 points, Brian Campbell lead in assists with 45 and Tomas Fleischmann and Kris Versteeg tied for the team lead with 22 goals. So Florida was the lowest scoring team in the Playoffs this year but did enough to get the Division Crown. Leading the way between the pipes for the Panthers is Jose Theodore who plaed 47 games this season going 22-14-7 with a GAA of 2.40 and a .920 SV%. he has a capable backup in Scott Clemmensen who went 12-6-5 in 26 games.

As for the New Jersey Devils, they have made the playoffs 20 times in franchies history, adn have missed the playoffs a total of 8 times, including the first 5 years of existence in New Jersey. The Devils have three Stanley Cups to thier names, 1995, 2000, and 2003. They missed the playoffs last year for the first time since 1996, and that is not including the lockout in 2004-05. The team hs won the Atlantic Division 4 times since the lockout. Ilya Kovalchuk lead the team in Points with 85 and goals with 35. Patrik Elias lead the team with 50 assists. Besides Kovalchuk there were two other Devils to hit the 30 goal mark, David Clarkson (30) and Zach Parise (31). Martin Brodeur started 55 games this year for the Devils going 27-21-4 with a 2.45 GAA and a .906 SV% with 2 shutouts. Johan Hedberg, the man they call Moose played in 26 games going 16-7-2 with a 2.27 GAA and a .917 SV% with 4 shutouts. It was a bit of a surprise seeing Hedberg get more shutouts in a single season then the all time shutout king in Marty Brodeur. The late season additions of Alexei Ponikarovsky and Marek Zidlicky have had a big impact on getting the Devils into the 6 seed.

Here is the schedule for this series:

Friday, April 13, 2012 7 p.m. New Jersey at Florida NHL Network, TSN
Sunday, April 15, 2012 7:30 p.m. New Jersey at Florida NBC Sports Network, TSN
Tuesday, April 17, 2012 7 p.m. Florida at New Jersey NHL Network, TSN
Thursday, April 19, 2012 7 p.m. Florida at New Jersey NHL Network, TSN
*Saturday, April 21, 2012 6:30 p.m. New Jersey at Florida NHL Network, TSN
*Tuesday, April 24, 2012 TBD Florida at New Jersey TBD
*Thursday, April 26, 2012 TBD New Jersey at Florida TBD


This is the second playoff series between these two teams, with New Jersey having swept the 2000 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which was actually the most recent playoff series the Panthers had played, having failed to qualify for the playoffs for ten consecutive seasons. The teams split this year's four-game regular season series. This is the first time the Panthers are going into the playoffs at this high a seed and the end of a long drought out of the playoffs for the club so expect Rats to be flying in Sunrise this spring. Yes the Panthers took great strides this year in getting into the playoffs but its not going to be enough. The Devils are too good and too experianced compaired to the Panthers, with Brian Campbell and Jose Theodore being the only two Panthers with any big time playoff epxeriance. The Panthers may win a game or two at hoem but I take the Devils in 6.

And finally we take a look at the most even matchup of this first round in the East its the 4-5 as the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Philadelphia Flyers.The Pittsburgh Penguins entered the playoffs as the fourth overall seed in the Eastern Conference with 108 points. The Philadelphia Flyers earned 103 points during the regular season to finish fifth overall in the Eastern Conference. The Pens have won three cups in franchise history, most recent in 2009 adn have a franchise record in the playoffs of 124-109. They were bounced in the first round of the playoffs last year by the Lightning in the first round and the team has missed the playoffs once since the end of the lockout and that was the following season in 2005-06. Evgeni Malkin led the Pens in all offensive cataoories with 50 goals 59 assists and 109 points, followed by James Neal, who had 40 goals and 41 assists for 81 points. And of course lets not forget about Sidney Crosby who despite missing most of the year with concussion and neck problems was able to play in 22 games scoring 8 goals and 29 assists for 37 points. Marc-Andre Fleury carried the bulk of the load in net playing in 67 games with a 42-17-4 record with a 2.36 GAA and a 0.913 SV%. Kristopher Letang will be back adn healthy in the pens lineup along with Sidney Crosby which will make the Pens very dangerous.

As for the Flyers, they are 209-194 all time in post season play and have only missed the playoffs once since the lockout. Actually the Flyers have only missed the playoffs only once since 1995, winning the Atlantic Division last year. And they played for the Stanley Cuop in 2010 losing to the Hawks in 6. Claude Giroux leads the Flyers with 65 assists and 93 points, while Scott Hartnell led the team with 37 goals. Jaromir Jagr had a solid first season back in the NHL after a nice layoff from the league scoring 19 goals and adding 35 assists in 73 games. Ilya Bryzgalov saw 59 games this year with a record of 33-16-7 and Sergei Bobrovsky played 29 games with a 14-10-2 record. The Flyers right now are without the services of Blair Betts, Danny Briere, Andrej Meszaros, Chris Pronger, and James van Riemsdyk who are all out with injuries. The Flyers still may have enough to put up a good fight in this series.

Here is the schedule for this series:


Wednesday, April 11, 2012 7:30 p.m. Philadelphia at Pittsburgh NBC Sports Network, TSN
Friday, April 13, 2012 7:30 p.m. Philadelphia at Pittsburgh NBC Sports Network, TSN
Sunday, April 15, 2012 3 p.m. Pittsburgh at Philadelphia NBC, TSN
Wednesday, April 18, 2012 7:30 p.m. Pittsburgh at Philadelphia NBC Sports Network, TSN
*Friday, April 20, 2012 7:30 p.m. Philadelphia at Pittsburgh NBC Sports Network, TSN
*Sunday, April 22, 2012 TBD Pittsburgh at Philadelphia TBD
*Tuesday, April 24, 2012 TBD Philadelphia at Pittsburgh TBD


This is the sixth playoff series between these two teams, with Philadelphia having won three of the five previous playoff series. In the most recent matchup in the 2009 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, the Penguins defeated the Flyers in six games. Philadelphia won this year's six-game regular season series 4–2–0. In all the series these two teams have had here is one of the more famous goals by Keith Primeau back in 2000:



Aside from the greatness of that goal, this one is the most even matchup of the east. The Flyers injuries are going to be a hinderance, so it should on paper be a good start to the series for the Penguins. But with both teams healthy this is going to be a great series. As much as I hate saying this, I will take the Penguins in 7 in this series.

So now that the East has been discussed lets take a look at the West. And we start it off with the 1-8 matchup as its the best in the West the Vancouver Canucks taking on the Los Angeles Kings. The Vancouver Canucks entered the playoffs as the Western Conference regular season champions and Presidents' Trophy winners, earning 111 points. The Los Angeles Kings qualified for the postseason as the eighth seed with 95 points. The Canucks are 98-116 all time in the playoffs,with the team losing to the Bruins last year in the finals in 7 games, and have missed the playoffs just twice since the lockout ended. Henrik Sedin led the team in assists with 57 and points with 70 while his brother Daniel lead in goals with 30. Roberto Luongo and Corey Schnider split goaltending duties this year, with Luongo Starting 49 games going 27-14-7 and Schnider playing in 28 games going 16-7-1. The Canucks had another very strong season but it didnt seem as dominate due to teh fact that both Sedin Brothers missed time this year due to injury. Keith Ballard is injured at the moment at that hurst the Canucks on the Blueline.

The Kings are rolling into the playoffs with a 11–23 all time series record and have been eliminated in the first round each of the last two years. Anze Kopitar led the team in all three offensive catagories, 24 goals 41 assists and 65 points. Adding Jeff Carter and Mike Richards together again is going to be a huge bonus for the Kings as they have had success together when they played with the Flyers. Also having Simone Gagne in the lineup will be big too. Gagne has had good playoff experiance with the Flyers and if fully healthy will be an impact. Jonathan Quick is the Kings #1 goalie playing in 61 games with a record of 31-19-11 during the season. he is going to have to stand on his head against Vancouver if the Kings really wanna have a chance in this series. I said Gagne had to be healthy to be an impact and right now he isnt due to the injury bug so this is going to be in trouble.

Here is the Schedule for this series:


Wednesday, April 11, 2012 10:30 p.m. Los Angeles at Vancouver CBC, NBC Sports Network
Friday, April 13, 2012 10 p.m. Los Angeles at Vancouver CBC, NBC Sports Network
Sunday, April 15, 2012 10:30 p.m. Vancouver at Los Angeles NBC Sports Network, CBC
Wednesday, April 18, 2012 10 p.m. Vancouver at Los Angeles NBC Sports Network, CBC
*Sunday, April 22, 2012 TBD Los Angeles at Vancouver TBD
*Tuesday, April 24, 2012 TBD Vancouver at Los Angeles TBD
*Thursday, April 26, 2012 TBD Los Angeles at Vancouver TBD


This is the fifth playoff series between these two teams, the two teams each having won two of the previous playoff series. The most recent matchup occurred in the 2010 Western Conference Quarterfinals, where the Canucks defeated the Kings in six games. The teams split this year's four-game regular season series. As good as the Kings have been this may be the easiest series in the West to Predict I will take the Canucks in 6.

Next up is the 2-7 Matchup in the west pitting the St Louis Blues against the San Jose Sharks. The St. Louis Blues entered the playoffs as the Central division champions, earning 109 points. The San Jose Sharks qualified for the postseason as the seventh seed with 96 points. The Blues were the 2nd best team in the conference and have a 23–34 all time series record in the playoffs. Post lockouit the Blues have only made the playoffs once prior to this season. And pre lockout the Blues had made the post season every year since 1980, and this was the first division title for the blues since 1999-00. David Backes and TJ Oshie led the team with 54 points, and Backas lead the team with 24 goals while Alex Pietrangelo lead the team with 39 assists. Jaroslav Halak split time with Brian Elliot in the Nets for the Blues but Halak may get the nod in the playoffs due to his experiance. Halak was a big reason the Canadiens got into the East finals in 2010. Halak played in 46 games going 26-12-7 in goal after a very rough start to the season. Elliot played in 38 games with a 23-10-4 record. With how both goalies played this year the Blues have the best goalie tandom in the playoffs right now. The Blues have really turned their season around after Ken Hitchcok took over as coach around the All Star Break and has his Blues playing their best hockey at the right time.

Ass for the Sharks they are 13–14 in the playoffs and have never played in the stanley cup finals. Joe Thornton led the Sharks in assists with 52 and Points with 68, while Logan Couture was the only Shark to hit 30 goals. The Sharks have never really been able to get over that major hump and get to the cup finals and most oare wondering if they will be able to do it woith Thorton on th8e team. Antti Niemi will be leading the way between thepipes with 58 games played and a record of 28-19-9. Niemi is known for being a clutch goalie in the post season as he was the backstop to the 2010 cup winners in Chicago. So Niemi knows what it takes to get to the finals but couldn't get past the Canucks in lasst years west finals. Dominic Moore will be out for the Sharks due to an injury but otherwise the Sharks are healthy.

He4re is how the series is Scheduled:


Thursday, April 12, 2012 7:30 p.m. San Jose at St. Louis CNBC, TSN
Saturday, April 14, 2012 7:30 p.m. San Jose at St. Louis CNBC, TSN
Monday, April 16, 2012 10 p.m. St. Louis at San Jose NBC Sports Network, TSN
Thursday, April 19, 2012 10:30 p.m. St. Louis at San Jose NBC Sports Network, TSN
*Saturday, April 21, 2012 7:30 p.m. San Jose at St. Louis CNBC, TSN
*Monday, April 23, 2012 TBD St. Louis at San Jose TBD
*Wednesday, April 25, 2012 TBD San Jose at St. Louis TBD


This is the fourth playoff series between these two teams, with San Jose having won two of the three previous playoff series. The most recent matchup occurred in the 2004 Western Conference Quarterfinals, where the Sharks defeated the Blues in five games. St. Louis swept this year's four-game regular season series, outscoring San Jose by a combined score of 11–3. This one is almost an unfair thing to call here. This is going to be a good sderies and sorry to say it Sharks fans but you're season willend early as the Blues will take it in 6.

Next up is the 3-6 matchup in the west the Phoenix Coyotes taking on the Chicago Blackhawks. The Phoenix Coyotes entered the playoffs as the third seed in the Western Conference by winning the Pacific Division with 97 points. The Chicago Blackhawks earned 101 points during the regular season to finish sixth overall in the Western Conference. The Phoenix Coyotes have NEVER won a playoff series since moving to the desert going 0-7 in the playoffs. This is a good note for the Coyotes as it is the first time they have ever won the division. Ray Whitney leads the team in points with 77 and assists with 53 while Radim Vrbata leads with 30 goals. Shane Doan also hit the 50 point mark this year. Mike Smith has been the #1 man in goal playing in 67 games with a record of 38-18-10 making hime a strong candidate for the Veznia as top goalie. But there is a solid backup in net if Smith somehow faulters in the playoffs in the form of Jason LaBarbera who can play goal but was under 500 this year.

As for the Hawks they are in the playoffs for the 4th straight year. After winning the Cup in 2010 they were bounced in 7 games in the first round last year by the Canucks. Marian Hossa led the team with 44 assists and 73 points and Patrick Sharp led in goals with 30. It's been a down year for both Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews registered under 60 points as both battled injuries this season. Corey Crawford carried the bulk of the load in net for the Hawks playing in 50 games with a record of 26-16-5 while his backup Rey Emery played in 32 games going 15-9-3. As we know both goalies have and good experiance in the playoffs so we know.

Here is the schedule for the series:


Thursday, April 12, 2012 10 p.m. Chicago at Phoenix NBC Sports Network, TSN
Saturday, April 14, 2012 10 p.m. Chicago at Phoenix NBC Sports Network, TSN
Tuesday, April 17, 2012 9 p.m. Phoenix at Chicago CNBC, TSN
Thursday, April 19, 2012 8 p.m. Phoenix at Chicago CNBC, TSN
*Saturday, April 21, 2012 10 p.m. Chicago at Phoenix NBC Sports Network, TSN
*Monday, April 23, 2012 TBD Phoenix at Chicago TBD
*Wednesday, April 25, 2012 TBD Chicago at Phoenix TBD


This is the first playoff series between these two teams. Phoenix won this year's four-game regular season series 3–1–0. What I am about to say may come as a surprise to some but not to most. The Coyotes are long overdue for a playoff series victory and this si going to be the year it happens. Hawks are good but I take the Coyotes in 6.

Finally it's the 4-5 matchup in the west as the Nashville Predators play the Detroit Red Wings. The Nashville Predators entered the playoffs as the fourth overall seed in the Western Conference with 104 points. The Detroit Red Wings earned 102 points during the regular season to finish fifth overall in the Western Conference. Detroit hs struggled a little bit in the playoffs and this regular season. The Wings have not missed the playoffs since 1989-90 and have won four Stanley Cups since then. Pavel Datsyuk led the team with 60 points and 43 assists while Johan Franzen led the club with 26 goals. The Wings have been balanced as they usualy are but nobody on the roster was healthy enough to play 80 games this season which would explain the low point totals for the Wings. Jimmy Howard played 52 games going 33-15-3 but then had to deal with the injury bug so Joey MacDonald and Ty Conklin had to finish out the season. Howard could have easily hit 40 wins had he stayed fully healthy. Patrick Eaves is the only Wings regular out with injury right now. The Wings looked great for the first half of the season, then the injury bug took hold of the team and caused them to fall to 5th.

As for the Predators, they have only made the playoffs 7 times in franchise history and winning one series in the opening round of last years playoffs against the Ducks before losing to the Canucks so the Predators have proven they can pull off upsets in the playoffs. Martin Erat led the team in assists with 39 and points with 58, while Patric Hornqvist led the team with 27 goals. The Preds have gotten a lot better since the addition of Alexander Radulov who had 3 goals and 4 assists for 7 points in 9 games since joining the team. Pekka Rinne had a big regular season and is expected to come up big again in the playoffs. Rinne played in 73 games for the Preds going 43-18-8 leading him to be a strong candidate for the Vezina trophy. Rinne is going to have to be good again for the Preds to go deep into the playoffs. Nashville is going into the playoffs 100% healthy.

Here is the Schedule for this series:


Wednesday, April 11, 2012 8 p.m. Detroit at Nashville CNBC, CBC
Friday, April 13, 2012 :30 p.m. Detroit at Nashville CNBC, CBC
Sunday, April 15, 2012 Noon Nashville at Detroit NBC, CBC
Tuesday, April 17, 2012 7:30 p.m. Nashville at Detroit NBC Sports Network, CBC
*Friday, April 20, 2012 8 p.m. Detroit at Nashville CNBC, CBC
*Sunday, April 22, 2012 TBD Nashville at Detroit TBD
*Tuesday, April 24, 2012 TBD Detroit at Nashville TBD


This is the third playoff series between these two teams, with Detroit having won both of the previous playoff series in six games, and the most recent matchup occurring in the 2008 Western Conference Quarterfinals. The teams split this year's six-game regular season series. And for anybody who forgot this rivlary has produced one of the great playoff goals of all time:




As sweet as those goals were, and they were great, it won't be enough. I am actually calling a quick playoff exit for the Wings as I say Nashville wins the series in 7! So there you have it the first round preview for the the Stanley Cup Playoffs!

Baseball Preview #3: AL & NL East!

And here we are the final divisional previews for the 2012 MLB season and its the eastern divisions of the AL & NL. We are going to kick off the final preview with the AL East. This is a division that had been dominated by the Yankees but over the past few years the balance of power has shifted a bit more to even out among the Yankees Rays and Red Sox. And we are going to kick off the preview with the Baltimore Orioles.

It has been a rough stretch for the O's as they haven't made the playoffs since their last division title in 1997. In fact 1997 was also the last time the Orioles had a winning season. Zach Britton and Jake Arrieta were the only two Baltimore pitchers to hit double digits in wins last season for the O's. the 3rd best pitcher the team had last season was Jeremy Guthrie who won 9 games for the team, and he now pitches for the Colorado Rockies. Heading into opening day Arrieta is the teams #1 pitcher and Britton is on the DL at the moment, so it will be a rough start for the pitching staff. The club has yet to name its closer. Kevin Gregg had the job last year saving 22 games for the team, and quite frankly seems the only guy in the pen who can get it done from what it looks like. As for the O's offense it seemed to be powered by three guys last year, Mark Renyolds, Adam Jones, and J.J. Hardy. All three guys drove in over 80 RBI's and Hardy and Reynolds each hit 30 + Homers. All three have been returned to the team for this season. The elder statesman on the club is Nick Markakis who last year put up OK numbers with 19 homers and 73 RBI's and will again be counted on to provide leadership for the club. The Orioles seem to have a good enough team on the field to contend but the biggest factor to determine the team success is it's pitching staff and that seems to be a question mark for them. Baltimore will again be in the basement in the AL East. Sorry Baltimore.

Next up is the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays haven't made the playoffs since they won the World Series in 1993, they have been hovering around 500 the last few seasons but haven't placed higher than 4th in the division since 2007. Ricky Romero and Brandon Morrow were the two Jays Pitchers hitting double digits in wins last year and both are right back at the top of the Jays pitching rotations again this year. Sergio Santos will be taking over the role of closer this season, when last year it was Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch had split time as the teams closer both of whom picked up double digit saves a year ago. Both guys have since been traded to the New York Mets. The Jays were able to pick up some insurance for the pen with acquiring Francisco Cordero from the Reds and Darren Oliver from the Rangers. The Jays pen looks ok and can probably hold its own but the starting rotation don't look too promising outside of the top two starters. The offense for the Jays will of course be lead by Jose Bautista who hammered 43 Homers and 103 RBI's to lead the club. He will be back in the fold again this season patrolling right field. Adam Lind was 2nd on the team in RBI's and homers last year and is back anchoring down first base for the Jays. The Jays appear deep enough if they can have Edwin Encarnacion and Omar Vizquel coming off the bench. The Jays will climb back to around 500 again but its going to be tough getting into the playoffs with how loaded this division is.

Next up is the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays have made the playoffs 3 of the last 4 years going as faor as the world series in 2008 before losing to the phillies. the only year they missed was in 2009. Last year they got in as the wild card and they won the east in 2010 so Tampa is looking to keep up its strong play again this year. The club is returning its starting 5 pitching rotation from last year. James Shields (16-12), David Price (12-13), Jeremy Hellickson (13-10), Jeff Niemann (11-7) and Wade Davis (11-10) are all back except Davis will be starting the year in the Pen and Matt Moore will be pegged as the teams #4 Starter. Kyle Farnsworth will once again be closing games for the team coming off a 25 save season a year ago. The Rays have a very solid pitching staff that will be able to take them places again in the division. Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist led the offensive charge last year. Longoria had 31 Homers and drove in 99 runs while Zobrist hits 21 homers and drove in 91 runs. Both guys are expected to lead the charge again this season. BJ Upton Matt Joyce and Carlos Pena are also expected to bring big things to the Rays this year. Pena comes over from the Cubs bringing along with him 28 Homers and 80 RBI's while Upton and Joyce each add 15-20 Homers and 75-90 RBI to the mix. Right there is the heart of the Rays order and will be carrying the team this season I see the potential for another playoff birth here for Tampa.

Now on to the Boston Red Sox. The Sox have not had a losing season since 1997 and have finished in 3rd place in the East the last two years so the Sox are looking to get back into the swing of things this year. The top four winning pitchers from last year, Alfredo Aceves (10-2), John Lacky (12-12), Josh Becket (13-7) and John Lester (13-9) are all back in the fold for the Red Sox. Aceves will be doing most of his work out of the pen this season, while Becket Lester and Lacky are still in the starting rotation although Lacky is currently on the 60-day DL. Clay Buchholz Felix Doubront, Daniel Bard and Daisuke Matsuzaka round out the rotation. The Sox have to try to find a replacement for the loss of closer Jonathan Papelbon who saved 31 games for the team will now be doing that for the Phillies. Red Sox pitching staff will put them right in the thick of things in the East. Mike Aviles comes over from the Royals to play shortstop and Ryan Sweeney comes in from Oakland to play right field. The biggest change to the red sox is the retirement of Jason Varetek at Catcher. Right now the team has Jarrod Saltalamacchia as the starting catcher but he is going to have some mighty big shoes to fill with the retirement of Varetek. The offense is going to be powered right now by the same four guys who powered it last year, Adrian Gonzalez (27 Home Runs 117 RBI), David Ortiz (29 Home Runs 96 RBI), Jacoby Ellsbury (32 Homers 105 RBI) and Dustin Pedroia (21 Homers 91 RBI). The Red Sox have a good lineup that can compete and should be able to hang with any team in baseball. One thing that worries me is really how deep this club actually is, because if something happens to one of the Sox regulars then I don't really know how deep this team is. New manager Bobby Valentine is gonna have a very good ball club to work with.

Finally we get to the New York Yankes. This ball club has missed the playoffs only once in this decade and that was in 2008. That was the first Yankees team to miss the playoffs since 1993 so yes the Yankees are very very good. The Yanks won the East last year. And here is how you know that the franchise is good they have not had a lossing season since 1992. The Yankee offense hasn't changed at all since the end of last year. The only real change to the Yankee offense was at Catcher. Russell Martin is still the starting catcher for the team but his backup has changed. Jesus Montero was viewed as the next star catcher for the yankees but he was shipped off to the Seattle Mrainers so Russel Martin has the job outright as of now. Curtis Granderson is looking to build off last years MONSTER year of 41 Homers and 119 RBI's. Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira each also drove in 110 runs last season, whit Tex adding 39 homers and Cano hitting 28. A-Rod had a down year by his standards only appearing in 99 games hitting 16 homers and driving in 62 runs, but I think Rodrigues qill return to his form again this season and hit at least 30 homers and drive in around 100 again. The Yankees pitching staff took on a bit of an undertaking. CC Sabathia is still the #1 starter for the Yanks going 19-8 last season. Ivan Nova (16-4) and Freddy Garcia (12-8) are also back in the rotation. Phil Hughes is hoping for a bounc back year after going 5-5 in a slight injury plagued year last year. Hiroki Kuroda joins in the mix after going 13-16 for the Dodgers last season. Michael Pineda appears to fill out the starting rotation after going 9-10 for the Mariners last year. Bartolo Calon went 8-10 in New York alst year but was no longer needed for the Yankees so he is now in Oakland. And of course the team still has the greatest closer ion the history of of he game in Mariano Rivera coming out of the pen. Rivera had another awesome season last year saving 44 games for the Pinstripes. The only slight question mark for the yankees is how they are possibly going to bridge the gap between the starters and Mariano. But manager Joe Garadi will be able to find a way to win.

Here is how I see the AL East finishing at the end of the season.

1. New York Yankees
2. Tampa Bay Rays
3. Boston Red Sox
4. Toronto Blue Jays
5. Baltimore Orioles













Not it's time to take a look at the NL East! The Phillies have won the last 5 straigth division titles. Them and the Braves have won the division Every year siance 1992. the only other team to win teh division was the 2006 New York Mets. This division has been basically controlled by two teams and it looks that way again this year. Lets start things off with the Washington Nationals.

The Nats have only made the playoffs once in thier history and that was when they were the Expos back in 1981 and the last time the team was at 500 was its first year in Washington in 2005. They finished 3rd in the East last. John Lannon lead the team in wins with 10 and Drew Storen lead the team in saves with 43. This season the Nats have Brad Lidge coming out of the pen wioth him pitching with the Phillies last season with Henry Rodriguez expected to be the closer. As for the starting rotation in Washington Stephen Strasburg is expected to return as the #1 man in DC after missing all of last year due to tommy john surgery. Edwin Jackson, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann, and Ross Detwiler round out the starting rotation. The Nats pitching staff may be one of the weaker staff's in thet East. Michael Morse was the leading hitter in the Nats lineup last year with 31 Homers and 95 RBI's. He will be playing this year but currently he sits on the DL with Rick Ankel who are going to be impact players with this team. Washington is going to have a solid lineup everyday as of now. With what they have to field everyday Adam LaRoche Jason Werth and Ryan Zimmerman are going to be leading the charge. With what they have the Nats should bue around 500 this season.

Next uop is the Miami Marlins. The Marlins haven't made the playoffs since winning the World Series in 2003 and havent had a winning season since 2009. last year they were in last place in the east and are looking to berak out of the basement this year. Javier Vazquez and Ricky Nolasco hit double digits in wins. Vazquez isn't even in teh league at this point so that is 13 losses out the window from last season. Nolasco is slated as the #3 starter in the rotation behind Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson. Carlos Zambrano and Anibal Sanchez round out the rotation. Zambrano is coming in from the Cubs while Sanzhez is returning to the rotataion from last year. Juan Oviedo paced the Marlins last year with 36 saves but he has been replaced by Heath Bell as the closer which is set at about 40 saves a guarentee. Giancarlo Stanton paced the Marlins offense with 34 Homers and 87 RBI. He and other leading hitters Gabby Sanchez and John Buck will be back in the lineup again this year. Hanley Rameriz had a down year last year and is looking to try and bounce back. Now he has to try and adjust to the new position of 3rd base. The reason for the position switch is the monster contract the Marlins issued to their new Shortstop Jose Reyes. Reyes comes over from the Mets after winning the batting title last year in the NL. So with Reyes thrown into the mix, the Marlins are going to be over 500 and a contender in the East.

Next up is the Atlanta Braves. The Braves have finishied in 2nd place in the division the last two seasons and haven't won the East since 2005. Tim Hudson, Jair Jurrjens, and Tommy Hanson were the only Atlanta pitchers to hit double digits in wins last season, adn Derek Lowe was under 500 and missed the double digit mark by one win. Lowe isn't returning to the team but the other three will be in the starting rotation again this season for the Braves. Craig Kimbrel led the team with 46 saves last season and will be back in the closer role again this season for the team from Hot Lanta. Dan Uggla was able to pace the Braves offense with 36 Homers and 82 RBI. He will be joined by Freddy Freeman and Brian McCann as the big hitters in the Braves lineup. They had Chipper jones in the lineup and he will be back when he comes off the DL but this is the last year for Chipper as he will be retiring at the end of the season. Plus throw in the talent of Jason Heyward. The Braves have talent but it won't be enough to get over the hump in the division. I can see a 3rd place finish at best for the club.

Next up is the the champions of the east the Philadelphia Phillies. The fighting Phils have won the Eastern Division each of the last 5 seasons. The pitching staff in the city of Brotherly Love was unstoppable last year. They were lead by Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hammels, and Vance Worley, all of whom hit double digits in wins. Roy Oswalt fell one game short of 500 and one game short of double digit wins. Oswalt was the only one of the big pitchers who didn't return to the team. So to fill the void in the rotation the Phillies added Joe Blanton and and Kyle Kendrick to the mix which is making the Phillies starting rotation dangerous. Ryan Madson led the club in saves last season with 32 but has been replaced as closer with former Red Sox Jonathan Papelbon. Otherwise the Phillies have kept their team in tact. Ryan Howard paced the club with 36 Homers and 116 RBI's but he is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon which is causing him to be out for a while. The Phillies have plenty of depth at 1st base in Ty Wiggington and Jim Thome so the team is covered till Howard can return. This is almost a no contest the Phillies are going to win the East again.T

Finally we end the predictions with the New York Mets. The Mets havcent made the playoffs since winning the division in 2006. Dilan Gee John Neese and Chris Capuano were the lone Mets in double digit wins. Capuano is now a Dodger out in LA. neese and Gee are back in the rotation as is the returning Johan Santana. Throw in the Knuckelball throwing RA Dickey and the Mets may have an OK starting rotation. The question for the team is how well will Santana be pitching after missing all of last season with Tommy John Surgery. So Santana is a question. Teh Bullpen for the Mets has been a big question the past few season but has gotten a needed improvement in the winter months. Last year K-Rod led the team with 23 saves before he got traded to the Brewsrs in July. Now Frank Fransisco is expected to be an improvement as a closer. And if all else fails the team has other guys in the pen with experiance as closers such as John Rauch who they picked up from the Blue Jays. The team did lose their best centerfielder in Angel Pagan to the Giants in the Fransisco trade. Carlos Beltran led the team with 66 RBI and he is now playing for the Birds in St Louis. David Wright had a very down year driving in 61 runs on 19 Homers. Ike Davis missed most of the season after a freak ankle injury after a collision with David Wright, but Davis is 100% and should be ready to rock and roll. Andres Torres will take over in centerfield with the departure of Pagan. Torres was picked up for his defenseive play in center. Slugger Lucas Duda will be getting the starting role in right field and Jason Bay will be back patroling left. Bay hasn't exactly been living up to his big contract but hopefully this will be a breakout year for him Wright and Davis in the heart of the order. With Reyes signing with the Marlins, Ruben Tejada will get th8e starting job and shortstop and Justin Turner willbe holding down the fort at 2nd. Finally Josh Thole will handle the bulk of the catching duties this season. The Mets may not have the strongest lineup in the east but there is a chance they may be able to surprise a few people in there and hopefully hover right around 500.

Here is how I see the NL East playing out:

1. Philadelphia Phillies
2. Miami Marlins
3. Atlanta Braves
4. New York Mets
5. Washington Nationals

So there you have it the predictions for all of Major League Baseball!

Baseball Preveiw #2 AL & NL Central!

Yes it's round two of the 2012 MLB season preview and today we take a look at the Central division in the American and National Leagues. We start things off today with the AL Central and the two big hitters in that division the Indians and Twins who have won a combined 13 division titles. They may have the most titles total but right now they are staring up at last years winners the Detroit Tigers who have a really strong chance of winning the title for the 2nd year in a row, but that's getting a bit ahead of ourselves at the moment. We will start it off with last years cellar dweller the Minnesota Twins.

The Twins are coming off a very tough year last year when they finished 63-99 during the season. They were without their top hitter in Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau who both missed time with injuries. Both guys are healthy and back in the Twins lineup with Maure back as the starting catcher and Morneau slated as the DH and backup first baseman to Chris Parmelee. Jamey Carroll, Alexi Casilla, and Danny Valencia round out the starting infield for the team. Valencia led the team in RBI's last year with 72 but somebody is going to have top step up to replace the 70 lost wioh Cuddyer moving to the Rockies. Josh Willingham is leading the charge from the Outfield for Minnesota. Willingham adds pop to the lineup after driving in 98 runs for the A's last season, which as mentioned earlier was a big loss for Oakland. Francisco Liriano and Carl Pavano are the two big arms in the Twins rotation, as none of the Twins pitchers last year were able to win 10 games. Matt Capps has been pegged as closer. Looking at the Twins on paper there isn't very much there for them to offer up. It looks like it could be a bit of a long season for Minnesota and it might be tough to stick around 500.

Next up is the Kansas City Royals, who have been struggling over the past few years (which is putting it nicely). The Royals haven't made the playoffs since 1985, haven't placed higher than 3rd in the division since 1995, the year they finished 2nd to the Indians, and they haven't had a winning season since 2003 when they finished 83-79. Melky Cabrera was the big bat in the Royals lineup a year ago but he has since been traded to the Giants for Jonathan Sanchez, who is pegged right now as the #2 starter in the Royals rotation right behind Bruce Chen and Luke Hochevar with Jonathan Broxton sitting in the role of closer at the moment. Jeff Francoeur, Yuniesky Betancourt and Bobby Butler are going to be counted on to provide the offense. Buttler led the team in RBI's with 95 and was 5th in Home Runs. Francoeur will try and add to the 20+ Homers he hit last year. On paper the Royals have a decent roster, but the bullpen is a question for the Royals so that could cost them games this season and it could be another long season in KC this year.

Next up are the Chicago White Sox who have won 3 division titles and a world series since the turn of the century the world title coming in 2005. The Sox last won the division in 2008 and have been average since, finishing 2010 over 500 and going under 500 last season in a 3rd place finish. Paul Konerko did the most damage on the offense for the Sox last season and is expected to do the same again this year at 1st base, while Adam Dunn will be his backup and serve as the DH. Alexei Ramírez, Gordon Beckham, Brent Morel, and A. J. Pierzynski round out the infield for Chicago heading into opening day this year. Alex Ríos Alejandro De Aza and Kosuke Fukudome are handling the outfield load. Jake Peavy, John Danks, and Gavin Floyd hold down the pitching staff. The bullpen is a bit of a question for the Sox but looking at things as is this could be a good season for the White Sox.

The Cleveland Indians are up next. They finished two games under 500 last year and finished in 2nd place behind Detroit. 2007 was the last trip to the playoffs for the Indians, and the tribe hoping to return there this year, but it's going to be an uphill climb. Asdrubal Cabrera was called upon to lead the offensive charge for the Tribe last year and he didn't disappoint. He will be asked to do the same thing again this season. He has some support on offense from Carlos Santana, Casey Kotchman, Shin-Soo Choo, and Shelly Duncan. And of course they have Travis Hafner as the DH. Aside from the middle of the lineup for the tribe there just isn't enough depth on the roster of the 8 field positions to be able to REALLY put up a fight in the central. Derek Lowe, Justin Masterson, and Ubaldo Jimenez anchor down the starting rotation and Chris Perez holds down the pen from the closer role. This on paper seems to be a decent team but there is only one true way to find out how good the team is, they have to hit the field first.

Finally its the defending division champs the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers won the Central last year and since 2006 have had one season of under 500 play and that was back in 2008. Miguel Cabrera and Víctor Martínez led the offensive charge for the Tigers last year each driving in over 100 runs. Martinez has since departed the team but his production has been replaced by the other huge offseason signing this year that of Prince Fielder. Fielder adds offense depth to the team. With Fielder at first it rounds out a solid Tigers infield which also includes Ramon Santiago, Miguel Cabrera, and Jhonny Peralta, plus throw in Brandon Inge coming off the bench as well. José Valverde and Justin Verlander are the aces of the entire Tigers pitching staff, which is a slight concern to me because there seems to be no other dominate pitcher on this Tigers roster. I think thought the Tigers offensive firepower should more than make up for it.

Here now is how I see the American League Central finishing by the end of this season:

1. Detroit Tigers
2. Chicago White Sox
3. Cleveland Indians
4. Kansas City Royals
5. Minnesota Twins

























Now that the AL Central has been covered its time to look at the NL Central. The Brew Crew is the defending champs in the Central but it looks like they might have trouble defending the crown. The Pirates seem well like the Pirates, as do the Astros, so it may be a three team race here between the Cubs Cards and Reds. But we are going to kick it off with taking a look at the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirates haven't made the playoffs since they played in the NL East in 1992. The highest the team has finished in the Central is 2nd place in 1997. Last year they finished 4th at 72-90 ahead of the Cubs and Astros. Andrew McCutchen and Nate McLouth will be looked upon to lead this young Pirates team who are again appeared to be in a rebuilding mode. McCutchen lead the team last season with 23 Home Runs and 89 RBI's so he will be looking to build on those numbers while playing good D out in Center Field. Neil Walker will aslo be returning to the team after posting mroe than 80 RBI last year. Both guys are expected to lead the offense charge this season. Kevin Correia and Charlie Morton were the only two Pirate pitchers to reach double digits in wins last season, Correia had 12 and Morton 10, so they are looking to improve on those numbers this year. AJ Burnette is the Ace of the staff but is currently hurt after bunting a ball off his face early in spring traning this year. Burnett joins teh team after going 11-11 with the Yankees last season. Burnett spent the first 7 years of his career pitching in the National League with Florida. Aside from the players listed here, the Pirates don't really have much proven talent on this team and that is making it hard for them to compete in the Central on paper. Sad to say it Pireates fans but this will be a LONG season for your club.

Next up in the division is the Huston Astros. The Astros last made the playoffs in 2005 and haven't finished a season above 500 since 2008. This will be the last season for the Astros in the NL Central as they will be moving to the NL West starting next season. Wandy Rodriguez is the ace of this Houston starting rotation after going 11-11 last season with the club and being the only Astros pitcher witha 500 record on the mound. Brett Meyers was moved from his spot in the starting rotation to the closer role this season, as he is trying to replace the 20 saves from last season turned in by Mark Melancon who is now in Boston with the Red Sox. The Astros pitching staff is the worst one in the NL Central. Hunter Pence and Carlos Lee were the two big boppers in the Astros lineup last season. Pence left in a trade with the Phillies and Lee is returning to the team. Last season Lee led the club with 18 Home Runs and 94 RBI's. Outside of Lee on paper the Astros have no real proven talent at the Major League Leve on the roster as of this moment. That's about all the Astros have going for them and it will be another long year in the the City of Houston.

Next up is the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds got into the playoffs inmn 2010 as the wild card but were bounced in the first round and that was the first playoff appearanace for the Reds since 1995. Last year they seemed to fall back to earth just a bit. Mike Leake was the ace of the Reds staff last year being the only pitcher on the team to hit double digits in wins for the club after going 12-9 last year. Right now he is pegged as the #4 starter in the rotation behind Johnny Cueto Mat Latos and Bronson Arroyo. Francisco Cordero was the teams closer last year and was able to shut the door for 37 saves. However he is now expected to be doing that in Toronto for the Jays. So this year it looks like Sean Marshall is peeged as the closer. Marshall came over from the Cubs. This doesn't seem to really make sense to have him close when you have a guy like Aroldis Chapman in the pen too. With how hard Champman can throw he should, and probably will eb before season's end, be the Reds Closer. Jay Bruce and Joey Votto led the charge on offense for the big red machine last year and are both looking to do the same again this season. Votto clubbed 29 Homers and drove in 103 runs while Bruce hammered 32 long balls and drove in 97 runs himself. And lets not forget about Brandon Phillips at 2nd base who has a decent pop to his bat driving in 82 runs a year ago. No major changes took place in Reds camp between the end of last season and the start of this year. The only real changes was that Dontrelle Willis is no longer eon the roster, although he didn't have much of an impact on the team to begin with. The question I have here is can the bullpen be able to reallty hold games for the Reds to contened in the division? If so then the Reds are an easy top three finish.

The Chicago Cubs are up next in the Central. The Cubs have made the playoffs three times since 200 and went in back to back years in 07 and 08 both times after winning the division. but the last two seasons haven't been so kind to the team as they have finished in 5th place both times. The Cubs pitching staff was lead last season by Ryan Dempster and Matt Garza both of whom hit double digits last year in wins both hitting 10 on the season. Carlos Marmol will be relied on as the closer again this year after back to back 30+ save seasons. So those three guys are key to the Cubs trying to have any kind of pitching success this year. Aramis Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano where the leading hitters on the Cubs last year and are going to be called apon to provide that again this year along with Catcher Geovany Soto. rameriez paced the club with 93 RBI's and was 2nd on the team in homers with 26. He will not be returning to teh team as he signed a massive contract with the Brewers. Soriano also blased 26 long balls but it was only two behind team leader Carlos Pena who had 28. Pena is now also gone as he is back in the American League playing for Tampa Bay. Those three guys where the only Cubs to drive in more than 80 runs last season. The biggest question mark for the Cubs this year is the starting rotation which on paper really leaves something to be desired.They lost two of their three best hitters and have a number of holes to fill. Cubs fans will still flock to Wrigley Field but its not going to get them to the playoffs. Cubs hover around average this year.

Now for the two big guns from last season, the Cards and Brew Crew. We start with teh Cardnials. The Cards are the defending world champions winning the title last year and they have missed the playoffs a total of 4 times since the turn of the century. But the cards are hurting a little bit right now. All five starters in teh Cards rotation last year hit double digits in wins during the year. Kyle Lohse (14-8), Jaime Garcia (13-7), Kyle McClellan (12-7), Jake Westbrook (12-9), and Chris Carpenter (11-9) are all back in Cardnial uniforms and back in the rotation except for Mclellan who was moved to the bullpen in favor of Lance Lynn. Jason Motte will be taking over the role of closer from Fernando Salas as they switch roles in the pen. The Cards have one of the beswt pitching staffs in not only the division but in all of baseball as do the Reds. The Cards are going to have to try and find a way to replace Pujols. They lost Alber Pujols to free agency over the winter and are going to be without Skip Schumaker and Chris Carpenter who are both out injured. Wehn Pujols left he took 37 Homers and 99 RBI's out of the lineup from last season. The team signed Carlos Beltran in the offseason to try and help provide an offensive boost with the loss of Pujols. Beltran has been playing with the Mets since 2005 and brings in 22 Homers and 87 RBi to try and replace some of the producion lost with the departure of Pujols. Besides that the team reamains in tact and the Cards will once again be back in the playoffs.

Finally we look at the defending division champs the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers were the division winners last year and made the playoffs as the wild card in 2008 but have struggled since coming to the National League. The roster is pretty much exactly the same EXCEPT for the fact that slugging first baseman Prince Fielder signed with the Detroit Tigers over the winter leaving a big hole at first for the Brewers. So the only question I have is how can the Crew replace Prince? They did give a good plug at it by signing slugger Aramis Ramírez to a three year deal worth about 36 million bucks. The team is keeping its entire starting rotation in tact which like the Cardnials had every guy hit double digits in victories last season. The big loss for the Brewers was obviously losing Prince Fielder to Detroit which takes out 38 Home Runs and 120 RBI's from the Brewer lineup. They tryed to recoup the lost of those numbers by signing Aramis Ramirez. He put up healthy numbers with the Cubs, not quite as good as the one's Prince had been putting up, but still very respectable numbers none the less. Also they were able to keep League MVP Ryan Braun and get him out of a suspension. Braun had 33 Homers and 111 RBI last year en route to the NL MVP. The other big question is can Braun keep posting the numbers he did last year? The Brew Crew will once again be a playoff team but how far they go will be a question.

Here are my predictions for the NL Central:

1. St. Louis Cardnials
2. Milawukee Brewers
3. Cincinnati Reds
4. Chicago Cubs
5. Pittsburgh Pirates
6. Houston Astros

So there you haev it the AL and NL Central. Tomorrow we wrap it up with the Eastern divisions!

It's Baseball Season: AL & NL West Preview!

It's that time of the year. Yes its the start of Baseball season and we are here to get you fired up for the 2012 season. We start off the preveiws with the Western Division of the AL and NL. First up is a look at the American League West. And we start with the defending AL West champions the Texas Rangers.

The Rangers have won the division the last 2 years and are looking to repeat as such this season. The big move for the Rangers was signing Joe Nathan to close and moving Neftali Feliz up to the starting rotation. Felize is added to sure up the rotation with the loss of 2 of the 5 guys who helped win over 10 games from last year for the team. Moving Feliz up was to make room for Nathan who had been the studd closer with Minnesota. As for offense, the Rangers still have Beltre Kiinsler and Hamilton leading the way on offense. The top 5 RBI guys on the team are returning to their lineup so as of now it does not look like offensive production is going to be a problem. There were 3 players who hit over 300 last year for the Rangers and one of them is gone in Endy Chavez who signed with Baltimore. The only slight question mark I got with Texas is the pitching rotation and if it can hold up. Rangers to me on paper still have enough to get into the playoffs.

Next up is the Seattle Mariners. They have some hills to clime if they want to be a contender again. The past two seasons have been very unkind to the M's as they have finished well under 500 in both years. The Mariners haven't made the playoffs since 2001 and haven't placed higher than 3rd since 2007. They solidified the catcher position a little with having Miguel Olivo and Jesús Montero behind the plate so that should be of benifit to the team. Olivo blasted a team leadfing 19 home runs and 62 RBI's so the M's are hoping for the same kind of numbers. Chone Figgins will be looking to have a bounce back season this year as he has only played a total of 83 games the last 2 season. This after putting up BIG numbers in his final season with the Angles in his last year in Anaheim. On paper though there seems to be too many holes in the field and at the bat for the M's. Outside of Félix Hernández and Kevin Millwood the Mariners don't have a pitching staff really, and they kinda need one to be able to compete espically in the AL West. King Felix is one of only two pitchers to hit double digits in victories with Seatlle last year when he ad 14. The other was Jason Vargas who had 10 but he also lost 13 games. Feliex was the only one over 500 on the pitching staff. But outside of those guys the Mariners don't have enough to really be a threat in this division. Sorry to say it Mariners fans but once again the team will finish below 500 and be in the Basement of the AL West.

Now for the Oakland Athletics. The A's have struggled in the past few seasons and are hoping to turn things around this year. The A's last appearance in the playoffs was in 2006 and that was also the last year they won more than 81 games in a season. Last year they saw a 3rd place finish and I think that is where Oakland will end up again. Oakland will be going along without Hideki Matsui who didn't resign after last season when he drove in 72 runs for the A's, which was 2nd on the team behind Josh Willingham. Willingham will take his 29 home runs and 96 RBI's on the move to the Minnesota Twins. Cliff Pennington and Coco Crisp are going to be expected to try and carry the offense with Willingham and Matsui out of the equasion. Also we can now throw Manny Ramirez into the mix. he was signed for $500,000 by Oakland and still has to serve his 50 game susopension for steroids so he will be eligable to play as of May 30th. The A's starting rotation is lead by Bartolo Colón and looks average on paper as far as I'm concerend as does the bullpen. The starting rotation lost it's two leaders in wins from last year in Gio Gonzalez who is now pitching for Washington, and Tervor Cahill, who is now pitching in Arizona. Colon is looking to bounce back after going 8-10 last season with the Yankeesand is beyond a shadow of a doubt the ace of the A's staff. As for the bullpen, Grant Balfour haws apparently taken the closer job from Brian Fuentes who lead the team in savesd, which to me is a stupid move because Balfour seemed semmi quite in his stint with tampa Bay the past few seasons. Its going to be tough espically with the Rangers and Angels in the division. Oakland will end the year in 3rd.

Finally for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who I have pegged as the HEAVY favorite in the West. Anaheim hasn't amde the playoffs since 2009 and last year finished 2nd in the West to Texas. The two biggest pick ups for the Angels in the offseason were CJ Wilson and of course Albert Pujols. Wilson adds stability and more credability to that pitching staff and makes them more dangerous. The team already has the likes of Jered Weaver Ervin Santana Dan Haren, who have double digits in victories from last season. and Jason Isringhausen so pitching isn't a weak spot with this team. Now as for the offense and the rest of the club they got a big boost with the addition of Pujols. They already have quality bats in the lineup in the form of Vernon Wells Bobby Abreau Tori Hunter and Howard Kendrick. Hunter and Mark Trumbo lead the Angels last year in RBI's with 80+, while Trumber Wells and Hunter swatted over 20 Home Runs each. Throw in Albert to the mix and that makes the Angeles that much better, because Albert will be adding in another 40+ home runs and easily 95+ RBI's to the mix which will jump the numbers up and make this offense dangerous. This is going to be THE year in Anaheim.

So here is the predictions for the American League West:
1. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
2. Texas Rangers
3 Oakland Athletics
4. Seattle Mariners.



















Now we take a loook at the Western Division of the National League. The Arizona Diamondbacks are going to be looking to defent and keep theirIan Kennedy western division title from last year. In the last 4 years this division has had 3 different winners, last year was the Diamondbacks, 2010 was the Giants when they won the world series and in 2008 and 2009 it was the Dodgers. So to kick things off in the west we might as well look at the division champs the Diamondbacks.

Ian Kennedy is the leader on the starting rotation, with 21 wins and will be back. He will be joined by feloow double digit game winners Josh Collmenter (10 W), Joe Saunders (12 W)and Daniel Hudson (16 W). So you got 4 very solid starters in the West in Arizona. JJ Putz is set to close the door from the pen, who had 45 saves for the team last season after pitching a year for the Mets. while Miguel Montero is set to handle catching duties. The outfield seems to be set for the D-Backs with Jason Kubel Chris Young and Justin Upton set to handle things in the outfield. As for the infield first base seems to be a question mark. I'm sorry but Paul Goldschmidt is getting the start over Geoff Blum and Lyle Overbay espically with the pop those two guys have in their bats, the D-Backs will probably float around 500 this season.

Next up we have the Colorado Rockies. The rockies haven't made the playoffs in the last two seasons and they finished 4th in the division last season. Jeremy Guthrie and Jamie Moyer are looking to carry the load on the mound in the start of the rotation which seems decent enough. Jhoulys Chacin and Matt Belisle led the Rockies in wins last season with Belisle the only one with a winning record. Jeremy Guthrie comes in from Baltiomre after going 9-17 last year with the O's. And Jamie Moyer last pitched in th Majors with the Phillies in 2010 where he went 9-9. So the Rockies trying to add some depth to the rotation.Colorado seems to have plenty of depth at each and every position which seems to put them in a great position. The biggest plus returning for the Rockies is their shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who wacked 30 Home Runs and 105 RBI's alst year. And there is also Carlos Gonzalez who swatted 26 Home Runs and 92 RBI's to complement Tulowitzki. Now you can add into the mix Michael Cuddyer, who will throw in on average 20+ Home Runs and 70+ RBI's which will be a nicne bonus to the Rockies espically in the thin air of Denver which will help Cuddyer's numbers. All in all the Rockies are sure going to be competative and fight it out for the division. More tha n likely won't fall lower than 3rd at the lowest.

Next up is the Los Angeles Dodgers, who may have the most balanced team in the division, at least of the starters. The Dodgers on paper have the best starting 5 pitching rotation in the west with Chad Billingsley Clayton Kershaw Ted Lilly Aaron Harang and Chris Capuano, so as you can see the starting rotation is front loaded in LA. Kershaw led the way going 21-5 last year in LA. Hiroki Kuroda won 13 games in LA last year but now takes that talent to the Yankees. Lilly won 12 last year, and 11 wins came from Chad Billingsley. Capuano comes in from the Mets with an 11-12 mark, while Harrang brings 14 wins from San Diego. So yeah the Dodgers may ahe best starting rotation in the west. Matt Kemp Andre Ethier and James Looney are going to be leading the offensive charge. Kep hit 39 long balls and drove in 162 runs.James Lonney will try and up his offensive production as well. Looking at the depth charts the Dodgers have a decent chance at the division.

Next up is the San Deigo Padres. Arron Harang was the teams only winning pitcher adn we now know he pitching in LA. So now it will be Edison Volquez leading the way on the mound for the starting rotation and Huston Street will be set to close the door. Volquez comes in from the Reds after struggeling the past few years and will be llooking to bounce back. Husto Street will take over the Closer roll from Heath Bell who saved 45 games last year, while Bell went to sign weith the Marlins. Chase Headley, Orlando Hudson and Carlos Quentin are expected to really carry the offense for the Padres. This is after losing their leading home run and RBI man in Ryan Ludwick to the Reds. The team hasn't made the playoffs since winning the west in 2005 and 2006 and their best finish since then was in 2009 when they came in 2nd place. Sorry but this isn't the Padres year either.

Finally we look at the San Francisco Giants. The Giants have Matt Cain Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito leading the way in the rotation and the greatest beard in all of sports Brian Wilson ready to shut the door from the bullpen. Buster Posey is looking to have a strong comeback this year with the Giants after missing all of last season with an ankle injury. The Giants are the best team in the west on paper with a balanced pitching staff and solid offense provided by Aubrey Huff Pablo Sandoval Ángel Pagán, in the trade with the Mets, and Melky Cabrera.

Here are my predictions for the NL West:

1 San Francisco Giants
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
3. Colorado Rockies
4. Arizona Diamondbacks
5. San Deigo Padres.

So there you have it this is the previews of both western divsions. Tomorrow it's the Central Divisions.