The NHL Season: fearless predictions

The Edmonton Oilers have a new captain, and I couldn't be happier. The choice was obvious - Ethan Moreau (above left, shaking hands with Oilers head coach and former captain Craig MacTavish). The Oil is in good hands with this guy - he's tough as nails, and he missed 78 games last season, when he was sorely missed on the penalty kill.

Personally, I'm getting a pretty big kick out of the preseason predictions about my Oilers. Here's a quick sample...

From Kevin Allen of USA Today...

Teams that could slip in the standings: 1. Edmonton Oilers. 2. New Jersey Devils. 3. New York Islanders.

[Snip]

Teams that could be in the hunt for the No. 1 pick: 1. Coyotes. 2. Oilers. 3. Boston Bruins.

And here's ESPN.com's John Buccigross, who I normally respect and often agree with. However, this is an excerpt from Bucci's thoughts on how the Oilers will do this season...

The Oilers have 16 centers in camp, no bona fide No. 1 guy and a hodgepodge of parts from a scrambling summer. It's like a post-1970s Manilow album. There are no hits on this CD. They do have players with something to prove and a nice crop of young players with talent who they can choose to go with; but, boy, if they keep playing that same old Edmonton style with young players, they will get run out of the building on most nights. They still have good character guys and a decent amount of leadership. Unexpected blooming from Hemsky and others could move them up a notch in the expectation department.

But it appears they just can't score enough. Souray can fire a slap shot across Alberta and he will stand up for his teammates, but he's not exactly Nicklas Lidstrom in his own end. It will take 40-45 wins to make the playoffs in the West. That seems like a bit much for the Oilers, who appear destined to be a lottery team without a lottery pick. Ouch, babe.

In ESPN's preseason power rankings...

GM Kevin Lowe sent us a $180 million offer sheet to get us to put his Oilers in the top 20 of the rankings, but we didn't bite. Dustin Penner and Sheldon Souray are not Ryan Smyth and Jason Smith. The only thing that could cure Oil Nation's pain is beer, fried dill pickles and more beer.

I love it - underestimating the Oil again. I'm not under the assumption that they'll win the Stanley Cup, but I've read predictions that the Oilers will finish anywhere from 12th in the west to being in the running for the lottery pick.

In a word: Bullshit.

I fondly remember the 2005-2006 season, when everyone predicted that the Oilers would miss the playoffs, and that was with the players that everyone is writing Edmonton misses so much - Ryan Smyth, Jason Smith and Chris Pronger. The Oilers do miss those players, but it's not the death of the franchise that they aren't on the roster. It amazes me that sports writers never seem to be wrong. Well, clip and save the comments above about the Oilers, and we'll see who's right. Oh, and clip and save the ones below, too, because here are my fearless predictions about the coming season...

Division Winners
Eastern Conference
Northeast: Ottawa
Atlantic: NY Rangers
Southeast: Atlanta

Western Conference
Central: Detroit
Northwest: Edmonton
Pacific: San Jose Sharks

Conference Finalists
East: NY Rangers over Pittsburgh
West: Detroit over San Jose

Stanley Cup Winner: Detroit Red Wings

Award Winners
Jack Adams Winner (Coach of the Year): Ron Wilson, Sharks
Art Ross Trophy (Scoring Champion): Sidney Crosby, Penguins
Hart Trophy (NHL MVP): Sidney Crosby, Penguins
Vezina Trophy (Best Goaltender): Henrik Lundqvist, Rangers
Conn Smyth Trophy (Playoff MVP): Nicklas Lidstrom, Red Wings
Norris Trophy (Best Defenseman): Joni Pitkannen, Oilers

Oh, and those Oilers? They will make the playoffs in the west, and may even get into the second round.

I'm confident of this because of Oilers GM Kevin Lowe, who won't hesitate to make a deal to improve the team if it stumbles early, including a stable of defensemen to peddle as trade bait that he didn't have last year.

Locally, the Flyers will be in good hands; the team yesterday named former Oiler captain Jason Smith as their captain. The Flyers will be much improved and will almost certainly make the playoffs, but the bad news is that the Flyers play in the Atlantic, where the Rangers and Pens play.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the puck dropping - it's been a long wait, especially after Edmonton's disastrous 2006-2007 season.

Go Oilers!