NHL RANKINGS FOR THE UPCOMING SEASON

Hey guys John Bonno here. Well with same faces in new places the NHL is looking forward to another great season. Teams have made some deals to bring star players to their teams in order to bring home the Stanley Cup. The top 5 teams of the upcoming season...

1: Pittsburgh Penguins- The Penguins showed what they learned when they lost to the Red Wings in 6 games. They took back on the defending champions and beat the Red Wings in their home barn in a tight 7 game series. Despite losing game 6 hero Rob Scuderi the Penguins have made their D line a lot tougher by signing star defensemen for the St. Louis Blues Jay Mckee to a 1 year deal. Other than that the Penguins have not been major contenders in the free agent market.

2. Chicago Blackhawks- The Blackhawks finally know what it takes to be a competor for the cup. They added the major free agent on the market Marian Hossa. They have Hossa inked for a 12 year deal worth approximetely 62,800,000. Hossa will be a great fit for Toews, Kane, etc.. The hawks also have a very strong D line as well. Campbell, Keith, Seabrook can shut down high scoring players in the game today.

3: Detroit Red Wings- The Wings were very dissappointed in the 08-09 season by losing to the team they beat in 6 games. The Red Wings biggest lost was star forward Marian Hossa. When Ken Holland the Gm for Detroit announced they were not going to negotiate a contract with Hossa the whole Red Wings franchise hoped that he would land somewhere in the Eastern Conference so that way Hossa wouldn't cause that much damage to them when Hossa announced that he had signed with the Chicago Blackhawks the Wings know find themselves in a deep hole. As the Blackhawks are in the same division as the Wings, the Wings will not be able to get Hossa of their back.

4: New York Rangers: The Rangers have always been in early exit team in the playoffs. They could not finish off the Washington Capitals despite being up 3-1 at one point in the series. The Rnagers have made a lot of tune-ups to their roster. They have added players such as Ales Kotalik a very quiet guy that can come up for your team in a big way, wheather it is a shootout, OT, penalty kill, etc... Donald Brashear a big tough energetic guy. That adds another big body to the line up along with Sean Avery they can be energy, big hits, and sometimes score some big goals. But there big signing was Marian Gaborik. despite being injured most of the season last year he is still a big goal scorer. He fits in perfectly with Drury, Gomez, etc...

5: Calgary Flames: Just like the Rangers, the Flames have also been an early exit but they recieved the best defensemen on the market Jay Bouwmeester. I think the Flames will be a very tough team to compete against as the defense is bigger and tougher than every. You have Dion Phaneuf a big body, good slap-shot from the point. And they drafted Tim Erixion from the OHL he was the 23rd pick of the NHL draft and the Flames think he has a lot of potential. I think that they have a good team. They could always make more adjustments. They should think about signing forward Maxim Afinogenov who has great speed and can provide more scoring to that Flames line-up.

Well that is it from me. Comment :)

John Bonno