Sleeksays

Edit/Update: What has long been rumored is true: I'm an idiot. Sorry, Linda. I love your accent. Hope that we can work through this. ESPN came out with their "expert" picks today (Linda Cohn ... an NHL expert? Huh?). Three out of 6 experts chose a BoC team to win the Stanley Cup and two of them predicted it would be the Dallas Stars (the other BoC team expected to win the Cup was media darling of yore, San Jose). The Stars were the pick of two of the more respectable ESPN.com NHL writers Scott Burnside and David Amber (although Burnside picked Brian Campbell to win the Norris ... come on Burnside, you're better than that!). Pierre LeBrun, ESPN.com's blogger* picked the Sharks to raise the Cup. (Linda Cohn picked the New York Rangers. Sources could not confirm if the pick was made based on bright colors.) Most notably, five out of six "experts" picked Dallas to win the Pacific with only LeBrun taking the Sharks. Interesting. * Am I the only person a ...

That's the question heading into this season. It's reasonable to say that 4/5 Pacific teams could win it (sorry Kings, but enjoy your complimentary fruit basket!). With that in mind, let's take a quick look at the three big dogs and the sweaty dark horse in the sun. Naturally, leave your predictions and dissenting opinions in the comments. San Jose Sharks Most years, these media darlings are the team to beat on paper. This year? You get the feeling that people are starting to sour on the Teal force. It's crazy just how much this team changed in the last couple years. There's still some solid youth on the team, but the parallels to those "fuck the future I want it now" Colorado Avalanche teams are pretty damning. (They even have Rob Blake ) Still, that team did win two Cups before they devolved into a glorified vehicle for the annual Peter Forsberg saga. 10 of his 14 goals last year were game winners ... seriously. The thing that makes this team so diffic...