Baseball is over (my Cards checked out from the season three weeks ago), my fantasy football season is already lost (Curse you, Tom Brady!), and the air has gained an unmistakable crispness. Training camps are just around the corner, and that means NHL hockey is drawing near.
Here is what I'm excited to see from the Western Conference teams:
Anaheim Ducks
The continued progression of one of the up-and-coming lines in the NHL in Chris Kunitz, Corey Perry, and a player I fell in love with during their Cup run in 2007—Ryan Getzlaf. (Side note: I can't help but imagine Donald Duck saying "Getzlaf". Tee hee.)
Calgary Flames
The Flames in the Pengrowth Saddledome. One, I'm absolutely in love with those home jerseys; and two, I've never seen a team or a city so consistently and so avidly sport the team colors. You see it in the postseason all the time, but you can watch a Flames game on a weeknight in January and still see the arena in solid red. Beautiful.
Chicago Blackhawks
How can you not be excited to see this team? They're young, they finally have a competent management group behind them, and their jerseys are the best in sports. It will be interesting to see how the Huet-Khabibulin situation works out, because while it's never bad to have a competent back-up goaltender, $6 million is a lot to pay a guy who's riding the pine. Kane and Toews are superstars in the making.
Colorado Avalanche
How will they play with an unusual mix of youngsters and seasoned veterans, including Toronto castoffs Darcy Tucker and Andrew Raycroft? Joe Sakic is always a wonder to watch, and Paul Stastny is becoming a very solid goal scorer in the league.
Columbus Blue Jackets
How will the Jackets look after shaking up the roster, which includes shipping off disappointing youngsters like Nikolai Zherdev, and Gilbert Brule and bringing in R.J. Umberger, Kristian Huselius, Raffi Torres, and Fedor Tyutin? I'm also interested to see how rookies Derick Brassard and Jakub Voracek perform, and if Pascal Leclaire can build on his impressive 2007-08 season.
Dallas Stars
Can the Stars keep the Red Wings from repeating as Stanley Cup champions? Adding Fabian Brunnstrom and Sean Avery will only help a team that made it to the conference finals last year. You'd be hard-pressed to find a better trio of centers in the league on one team than Mike Ribeiro, Brad Richards, and Mike Modano—and Marty Turco also played very well last season.
Detroit Red Wings
It's rare that the defending Cup champions get better the next season, but with the signings of Marian Hossa ($7 million for one year? Holy smokes!) and Ty Conklin, the Wings have improved on last year's President's Trophy campaign.
I'll be watching with my mouth agape as Nicklas Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, and Marian Hossa suffocate teams on the defensive end, slice them up in the offensive end, and make a beautiful goal look routine. I'll also watch to see if Johan Franzen and Niklas Kronwall build off of impressive postseason performances.
Edmonton Oilers
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