A couple of things...

God bless hockey in Cincinnati. From the Champion Cyclones to Sportsplus, it's great to be a hockey fan in the Tri-state.

It was just announced that Time Warner will be carrying VERSUS starting tomorrow. I literally just signed up for DirecTV yesterday for the sole purpose of getting it. Now I have to compare the amount of channels I'll get on DirecTV price plan I ordered to the TWC plan I already have. I guess I have to go with whoever gives me the most HD crap/channels at the price I'm paying. Also, I'm lazy and don't necessarily want to spend my day waiting around for an installation guy... with all this economic crap going on, I probably should cancel TV all together. Being from Canada, I know how to survive without heat before going without hockey.

Red Wings beat the Canadiens in the Cup Finals.

The Blue Jackets, now free of that Zherdev curse, actually crack the playoffs.

The Blackhawks and Capitals will strike fear in the NHL this season. Screw politics, hockey should be the talk in Chicago and Washington.

Alex Ovechkin will eat you.

Sidney Crosby who?

Fox is bringing back the Fox trax glow puck.

Sike.

PB's NHL 08'09' predictions

WESTERN CONFERENCE

1-Detroit

Holy crud. That guy who travels with the Stanley cup? You know the dude who wears the white gloves to hold it... Yeah, he just bought a house in Dearborn, MI. That cup is staying put. The Wings lost NOTHING and gained one of the top free agents in the league from Pittsburgh in Marian Hossa. How much you wanna bet Mats Sundin likes the way the Wings are looking in about a month and signs on? Just watch.

2 - San Jose

Every year these guys get put up near the top. They keep disappointing the crystal ball holders. Speaking of balls, that's their problem. Theirs seem to disappear in the playoffs. This could be a big year for them. Guys like Patrick Marleau have to get back on the radar for them to have a shot though. Goalie Evegeni Nabokov is a pimp. Literally. He's so good at playing net, most of his attention can now be diverted to a high priced Russian call girl ring in SoCal.

3 - Dallas

Remember back in the day there were guys in the NHL named Gump, Toe and Boom Boom? You know that guy Canadians love named Don Cherry? Part of the NHL's problem with popularity in the states is a lack of a marketable personality. Someone with flair. One of those guys is Stars GM Brett Hull. This guy says whatever he wants and most of the time it's pretty hilarious. Plus he's a pretty smart GM. Sean Avery, Brad Richards and that crazy Finnish/Swedish/Euro guy Hannaingaignign are some of the newer faces in the Big D that'll continue to keep them competitive. I still hate them.

4 - Anahiem Ducks

They dropped the "mighty" a few years ago, but I still like to bring it up as much as possible. They lost Todd Bertuzzi. HA... kidding. That could matter less. A strong D is their best thing going. The offense ain't to shabby either. Household name Ryan Getzlaf should actually be a household name, but he ain't. The big question here is JS Giguere. The former Cincinnati Duck can be amazing some nights and non-existent on others.

5. Chicago Blackhawks

This is horrible... but thank goodness Bill Wirtz is dead. The former Blackhawks owner really kept them in the dark, literally. Home games weren't on Chicago TV because he thought that "Television wouldn't take off". Imagine what a Chicago/New York cup final would do for the game? With all the young talent on Chicago, they'll be challenging the Wings for Western supremacy in no time. Wouldn't be shocked if they finish higher than 5^th. Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and a young D core with Brian Campbell will rock your face off. Beware of the overtly offensive native American jersey'd team this year.

6. Minnesota Wild

Jacques Lamaire is a defensive genius, which has never been a problem in Minnesota. Offense, has been. Last year actually was pretty decent putting pucks in the net. They lost guys like Pavol Demitra and Brian Rolston though. Marion Gaborik's groin has also hurt the offense. He usually finishes in the top 15 scorers or so. Imagine where he could finish if he stayed healthy and played with a healthy offensive team. Either way, the Wild will be alright.

7. Edmonton Oilers

Wow. The Oilers can finally stop worrying about whether they'll get paid or not. Ownership is solid and so is the team. So are most of the things in Edmonton mainly because it's f***ing cold there. Eric Cole, Lubomir Visnovsky and Dustin Penner are some new faces up there. Visnovsky and a healthy Sheldon Souray could provide one of the most offensive blue lines in the NHL. The last big offensive thing to come out of Edmonton... wait, Canadians aren't offensive.

8. Columbus Blue Jackets.

I don't care about being right. If I did, I would've said this spot belonged to Calgary or blah blah blah... YES, I believe the Blue Jackets can make the playoffs this year. It's probably wishful thinking really, but I don't care. I don't care! Pascal Leclaire doesn't care either. He knows he's a rockstar. Ken Hitchcock preaches D and Rick Nash crushes the net. I'll be right one year, hopefully it's this one.

9. Calgary Flames

I know they're Candian, but they really bore me. They're decent though. Jarome Iginla is wicked good.

Mike Cammalierri could be another Iginla. Dion Phaneuf has one of the weirdest names in the NHL, but he knows that you're thinking that and will probably crush your car with one of his hits. You know who sucks though? Their goalie, Mikka Kipprusoff. He used to be good, but he's really let it slip.

10. Phoenix Coyotes

Coached by Wayne Gretzky, you'd think they would've just been given the cup in his first year. Even Gods on earth cannot automatically win the holy grail of hockey. This team is another that should be put in the category of "in about 3 years we will probably kill our division with our hockey rage." Peter Mueller, Kyle Turris and Ilya Bryzgalov (yes, that's real) are the young guys. Shane Doan and Ed "JovoCop" Jovanovski are some of the older. They'll be alright.

11. Nashville Predators

2 years ago they were predicted to win the Cup. They've kind of gotten rocked lately. Their best young guy decided to go back to Russia and play. Problem is, he still has a contract with the Preds. Apparently in Russia they have magic earmuffs that Alex Radulov can wear to block out the real world. Anyway, Jason Arnott will need some help. So will goalie Dan Ellis. You know country star Vince Gill comes to a lot of games? Did you also know he's very pudgy?

12. Vancouver Canucks

I really like the Canucks. They don't like to score. I like scoring. Thus I don't like the Canucks. What? This stupid math is about as smart as the Canucks have been gathering offense the past few years. One of my favorite players, former Canuck captain, Markus Naslund took off for the Rangers. The Sedin twins just don't do it for me anymore. Dear Canucks, you're losing me. PS - Wanna know how bad the offense is in Vancouver? They named their goalie captain. Roberto Luongo deserves it, but damn.

13. Colorado Avalanche

I do not like them. I do not like the Colorado Avalanche. I would continue to try and make some cool Dr. Seuss rhymes, but there are too many bad words that rhyme with "SUCK". Eh, who knows. They could be a little higher on this list... I just hate them. Joe Sakic, Paul Stastny and TJ Hensick are cool, but that's about it. Side note - Hey Denver, stop trying to act so "granola hipster cool" all the time. Move to Canada already and get it over with.

14. Los Angeles Kings

Anze Kopitar rules. Did you know that phrase actually is a racial slur in many countries? No, no... I'm just kidding. Just one country. Anyway, this guy is in year 3 and will be great for a long time. LA is cool. Ok, now I'm just filling writing space because I can't think of any more guys on the team. Oh yeah, Jack Johnson on defense. Thank god for shuffle.

15. St. Louis Blues.

Lee Stempniak. Brad Boyes... exactly. Too bad names like Paul Kariya and Keith Tkachuk are too old to do anything cool. "See you in St. Louis"... that's something the Stanley Cup holder guy definitely won't be saying for a long time.

Eastern conference tomorrow yo...

Thanks for reading.