My Stanley Cup Pick

Yes!

Last night was opening night in the NHL. It's the season I wait all summer for, and it's finally here. This summer was a particularly painful wait, after the Oilers came oh-so-close to sweet victory and the Stanley Cup. It's a Game 7 I will never forget, and I'll always be thankful I got to go.

This was a particularly painful picture I had to see last night, and I could have done without it...


Sigh. Oh well. At least I get to watch the Oilers raise a banner tonight that says this:

Kind of takes the sting out a little bit.

The Oilers open up tonight against their much hated Albertian rival, the Calgary Flames. THAT should be a barn burner. The Flames look to be improved, but in my mind, so do the Oilers.

Of course, the Oilers received a great deal of negative press over the summer following the Stanley Cup Finals when stud blueliner Chris Pronger wanted out of Edmonton. He was subsequently traded to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks for Joffrey Lupul, Ladislav Smid and some draft picks. The team also added Petr Sykora this summer and made some key signings, most notably extending Ales Hemsky's contract by a whopping six years. Snagging Sykora on a one-year deal may be the under-the-radar signing of the summer. He could really help the younger guys shine. We'll see.

Ideally, the Oilers would be opening the regular season deeper on defense, but it's a work in progress. It's not like they have nothing on the back end, just a lot of inexperience. I think GM Kevin Lowe and Head Coach MacT want to see how things pan out and how the youngsters are coming along. The great part about this team is that if some deals need to be made for veteran defenseman, the Oilers are extremely deep up front and they've got plenty of cap space. In fact, spread across four lines and in the minors, the Oilers are the deepest team in the NHL at forward, and that's not just my opinion.

Anyway, on to the predictions, but a few long-term ones first. Years from now, I invite anyone to check back to see how right or wrong I was.

- Ladislav Smid is going to be a franchise defenseman in this league.

- Ales Hemsky is the best player in the NHL that you've never heard of, and the question isn't will he lead the Oilers to the Stanley Cup, it's when. This kid is only 23 years old, and he just signed on for six more years and wants to stay and play in Edmonton, unlike bitch boy Pronger.

- Joffrey Lupul is in for a breakout season and a great career with the Oilers, and he just signed a three-year contract with Edmonton. Yes!

As for this season...

In the east, it could be any one of six teams (just like the west), but I like Buffalo - they're hungry and deep, and they've got talent in goal. The Rangers are a few years away; the Flyers merely tinkered with the team instead of making needed wholesale changes (Injuries to goalie Antero Niittymaki and the uncertainty of Peter Forsberg don't help); the Devils still have arguably the best goaltender in the world (or at least the NHL) in Brodeur, but the team is wilting around him; and I believe defending champion Carolina will take a bit of a fall this year, but still be extremely competitive. My darkhorse candidate for the east: Tampa Bay.

In the west, my heart says my Oilers, but my head says Anaheim, if the Ducks can stay healthy, so I'll go with Edmonton. A few caveats, though. The Oilers will have to make a significant deal by January or February to get some help on the blueline - I love the youth on defense, but it's not ready to carry this team all the way to glory yet.

As for the Ducks, I think they will probably be the team to beat if they stay healthy, and if they settle on one goaltender. Neither Jean-Sebastien Giguere nor Ilya Bryzgalov will be happy playing second fiddle to the other. What's more, in a goalie hungry league, the Ducks could reap a bounty from a team desperate for help between the pipes if they move one of these guys. Barring injury to one of their goalies, if one emerges as clearly better than the other, the Ducks will make a deal before the deadline.

My darkhorse candidate out west: Vancouver. The team made lots of important changes in the offseason, most notably getting rid of cancer (and I don't mean his horoscope) Todd Bertuzzi, acquiring goalie Roberto Luongo in return. If they stay hungry, healthy and focused, watch out.

So, there you have it - my Stanley Cup pick:

Vs

Buffalo against the Oilers for the Stanley Cup. Edmonton will get it right this time and win it. Besides, the Sabres sport new uniforms this season, and the fans really hate them. I happen to like the new look, but teams wearing new uniforms never win championships. I don't have facts to back that up, but it's just a feeling. I'll have to look it up.

So, I have to pick the Sabres out of the east. I'd love for it to be Philly, because 1. it would be cool to see the local team do well, 2. I could ride the subway to the Stanley Cup Finals, and 3. It would be a trifecta of finals between the Oilers/Flyers ('85 and '87 were the other years, Edmonton taking both).

Hey, at least Buffalo's within driving distance. I smell another road trip and an Oilers championship season. Stranger things have happened - they were picked to not make the playoffs last year, they made it as the 8th seed after their 81st game, and they knocked off three teams on the road to make it to the finals. Talk about a long road.

Says here that The Oilers will build on last year's experience and learn how to win. After all, they did the same thing in '84 after losing the Cup Finals in '83, but to be fair, this team ain't the 80s Oilers, either. However, I think (hope!) Edmonton builds on what it did last year.

Go Oil!