Some Quick Thoughts And The Full Rankings

I have about an hour before I have to get out of the house so I thought I’d throw up a post. Can I finish this? Will it be readable? Will it be an abomination to grammar? For the answers to these perplex questions, read on.

–Okay, I’m psyched to do this post! I feel like I just shot some steroids up my butt! Hell yeah!

–Michael Grabner was claimed by the Islanders. Smart move by them. Mark these words: Florida will regret waiving him. I’ve seen the kid play and he has skills that many NHLers do not possess. It boggles my mind as to why they would give up on him like that. To me it smells like Florida didn’t have a clue as to what type of player the acquired.

Listen, Grabner will never be mistaken for a Selke candidate nor does has he proven yet to be a consistent player, but he just turned 23. Today, actually. There’s so much raw skill that he possesses that the smart move, in my opinion, would be to give him a longer opportunity.

So yeah, Panthers made a dumb move. Surprising.

–I read Elliotte Friedman’s latest column yesterday and found this reasoning for changing his Twitter account adorable:

Been asked about this several times, and figured it would be best to explain what happened. I nuked my account after the Pat Burns fiasco.

That day, I was in Montreal, preparing to do a sit-down with Carey Price. While doing a live radio interview, the host told me about the report Burns had died (I didn’t know about it) and asked for my thoughts. I told a few stories and we moved on to other topics. After the hit was over, I checked online; saw some pretty respectable people discussing it. So, I posted a condolence note of my own.

Well, we all know what happened. Ultimately, the responsibility is mine. It doesn’t matter what anyone else wrote or said; I posted without checking. I was really annoyed at myself and decided to start fresh, with a new name – FriedgeHNIC.

Too funny. I can see being embarrassed about something like that (I guess) but people take Twitter too seriously. That said, I’ve always found Friedman to be a cool cat. He also reminds me of a friend I know. I told him he should get a HNIC shirt and see if he can fool someone at the bar. Ha.

–My one big prediction for this season: Jonathan Bernier will takeover as the Kings’ starting goaltender at some point this season. My money is on earlier than later.

–So the Hurricanes and Wild meet up in Finland for what will be the first televised game of the new season. I’m pretty sure that will mark the ratings peak for both teams this year.

–Have any of you been intently waiting for the second installment of the Season Preview Rankings? If so, you probably starved to death. Sorry.

–And yeah, “always keep them wanting more” is the credo I base this blog on.

–But I must apologize, because promising a 6-part season preview feature and delivering only 1 of these parts is, really, quite pathetic. So to make it up to you, here is a rapid fire preview…

30: Florida Panthers – oh snap! They moved down a spot since my original post. That’s what the bastards get for waiving Grabner

29: New York Islanders – oh snap! They moved up a spot since my original post. That’s what the bastards get for claiming Grabner.

28: Anaheim Sucks (hahahaha, I’m hilarious) – seriously, this team is a mess when I look at it.

27: Edmonton Oilers – debate as to whether Hall should make the team or not is silly. He needs to play this season in Edmonton.

26: Minnesota Wild – Mikko Koivu is a superstar.

25: Ottawa Senators – another team that just looks old and/or not good. To top it off, the Flyers are the only team jealous of their goaltending.

24: Atlanta Thrashers – this team looks like crap too (just don’t tell Evander I wrote that). But yeah, some dispensable pieces from a Stanley Cup winner don’t exactly change  being sucky.

23: Phoenix Coyotes – I don’t know when Bryzgalov became a solid top-3 goalie in this league. Probably because he hasn’t. This team lost a lot in the offseason so they’ll revert to the norm.

22: Montreal Canadiens – the team overachieved in the playoffs because Halak overachieved in the playoffs.

21: Tampa Bay Lightning – this  team will not be as good as the hype. Suck on that, Yzerman lovers.

20: Buffalo Sabres – to those fantasy team owners who own Ryan this season, let’s just say that you should never trust a man named “Miller” to lead you anywhere.

19: Columbus Blue Jackets – if Mason bounces back, they may have a shot at the playoffs. But let it be known that if they don’t make the playoffs, I won’t shed any tears for Rick Nash because, y’know, he’s fu*kin’ rich.

18: Carolina Hurricanes – eeeeeey-ore!

17: Colorado Avalanche – not sure what to think of them. Probably overachieved last season. Anderson will probably fall flat on his face. Probably should be ranked lower but what the hell do I know.

16 : Toronto Maple Leafs – shocker! I’m just pandering to Leaf fans here. In all seriousness though, I can totally see them make the playoffs if everything aligns. I see them to be much improved over last season.

15: New York Rangers – they’re not a bad team. I’m not sure they’re built for the playoffs, and they’re one pulled  Gaborik groin or hammy away from an unsatisfying year, but you can say the same about Gaborik’s wife.

14: Calgary Flames – I can see them higher. I can see them lower. I can see them but they can’t see me. Think about that.

13: St. Louis Blues – it’s their time to shine. That should actually be a phrase that’s engraved on their dressing room wall. Well, change the “their” to “your” because otherwise it could send mixed messages and totally mess with their minds.

12: San Jose Sharks – and the decline to being a crappy team from California begins… NOW!

11: Los Angeles Kings – if Jack Johnson can build on last season and Bernier is as good as I think he’ll be, they should make some noise. Granted, if Doughty or Kopitar get injured, all is lost.

10: Philadelphia Flyers – I’m not sure what to think of this team. They should be good. They’re stacked on the blueline. Have lots of depth up front (although a bit too flaky or unproven for my liking). But goaltending remains an issue. Let time sort it out, I guess.

09: Boston Bruins – lots of question marks here but also lots of potential to have a great year. They like epitomize the NHL’s  middle class.

08: Nashville Predators: I like the Preds this year. I can see them doing big things.

07: Dallas Stars: SHOCKER! SHOCKER! SHOCKER! Or maybe I just forgot about them and am too lazy and pressed for time to change the rankings. You’ll never know the truth.

06: Vancouver Canucks – lots of praise and hype going in but you can’t realistically expect all 6 of their top-6 forwards to match their career years from last season. Even with that, they failed because their fate rests on Luongo’s shoulders. It’s as simple as that.

05: Detroit Red Wings – one last run before they retire to the Shady Acres Retirement Home

04: New Jersey Devils – they’ll be good but they’ll come up short in the playoffs.

03: Washington Capitals  – the greatest show on ice.

02: Chicago Blackhawks – still the class of the West.

01: Pittsburgh Penguins – they’ve rested, they’ve gotten hungry again, and they’ve rebuilt their blueline. Fear them.

– Wow, I have one minute to finish up. No time to add pictures or proof-read so if there are errors, kindly ignore them. Don’t forget to follow along on Twitter as I’m almost at 1000 followers. Byeeeeeeeeee.