Penguins Preview Part 6: Hitting the Links

When we began this whole endeavor last month, we weren't exactly sure where it was going to take us. With the start of the NHL season a little over six hours away, and the Penguins season a little over thirty hours away, we think this is a good moment to pause and reflect on what we created. We're proud to say we stayed away from the textbook analysis for which we have such disdain, however, we're also not sure that what we came out with was exactly a "preview." Instead, we produced a series of posts that's more likely to get Penguins fans fired up for the upcoming season, rather than informing them of what they migh actually see on the ice. We're okay with that. More than okay with that actually. We'd rather stir you passions, and leave the nitty gritty to the people who actually have media credentials, a worthwhile rolodex and a paycheck to show for their efforts. Efforts we reserve the right to mock when they say something stupid, by the way.

That said, there are plenty of people who are very good at this part of the job, so on this last day of the pre-season, we thought we'd off you loyal readers (all five or six of you) a sampling of what the professional hockey experts are saying about the impending season. After all, it's a big league out there, Penguins fans.

EASTERN CONFERENCE:

ATLANTIC DIVISION:
New Jersey Devils: Newark Star-Ledger
New York Rangers: New York Times
New York Islanders: Newsday
Philadelphia Flyers: Philadelphia Inquirer
Pittsburgh Penguins: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

NORTHEAST DIVISION:
Boston Bruins: Boston Globe
Buffalo Sabres: Buffalo News
Montreal Canadiens: Montreal Gazette
Ottawa Senators: Ottawa Citizen
Toronto Maple Leafs: Toronto Star

SOUTHEAST DIVISION:
Atlanta Thrashers: Atlanta Journal-Constititution (Free Registration Required)
Carolina Hurricanes: Charlotte Observer
Florida Panthers: Miami Herald
Tampa Bay Lightning: Tampa Tribune
Washington Capitals: Washington Post

WESTERN CONFERENCE:

CENTRAL DIVISION:
Chicago Blackhawks: Chicago Sun-Times
Columbus Blue Jackets: Columbus Dispatch
Detroit Red Wings: Detroit Free Press
Nashville Predators: Nashville Tennessean
St. Louis Blues: St. Louis Post Dispatch

NORTHWEST DIVISION:
Calgary Flames: Calgary Herald
Colorado Avalanche: Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News
Edmonton Oilers: Edmonton Journal
Minnesota Wild: Minneapolis Star Tribune
Vancouver Canucks: Vancouver Sun

PACIFIC DIVISION:
Anaheim Ducks: Orange County Register
Dallas Stars: Dallas Morning News
Los Angeles Kings: Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News
Phoenix Coyotes: Arizona Republic News
San Jose Sharks: San Jose Mercury News

NATIONAL SITES:

Canada.com has a big overview.

ESPN's Terry Frei offers his predictions for the season, and the whole rest of the carcass of what was once the NHL Tonight Crew offer theirs.

NHL.com's Phil Coffey looks at this year's rookie class while Shawne P. Roarke checks up on last year's crop.

SI.com's Alan Muir has 17 bold predictions, and Scott Wraight provides the season's first power rankings. The magazine also has predicted finishes for the East and West.

Offwing Opinion just has better links than us.

Fox Sports has its own set of power rankings and a list of the best remaining free agents and a list of previews for each team.

Hockeybuzz has a good series of articles, including Eklund's forum on opening day traditions.

CBS Sportline's Wes Goldstein thinks this year will be even better than the the last, and even has his own power rankings.

The Versus Network gives us a schedule of all its nationally broadcast games.

TSN is all over the start of the season.

Finally, what's with the collective fuss about the Phoenix Coyotes?