Sleeksays

Last year in most of the book stores I visited there was only one magazine with hockey content on the shelves all season, the NHL's 2008 Yearbook. This year I posted a few notes from the Sporting News/Street and Smith's 2008-09 NHL Preview , the NHL's 2009 Yearbook , The Hockey News 2009 Yearbook , ESPN Magazine's NHL Preview complete with Ovechkin 09 campaign platforms, McKeens Hockey 2008-09 NHL preview , and of course the definitive Wave Magazine San Jose Sharks preview . Bottom line according to the previews is that Detroit will advance past the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Finals to drop the Montreal Canadiens in their 100th anniversary season. Any magazines I missed?

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...