NHL Season Mere Hours Away

Well the NHL kicks off tonight, and even though the season doesn't start for my Penguins until Friday (my desktop countdown reads 56 hours, 12 minutes, 08 seconds), it's hard not to be pretty jazzed (jazzed? really, Justin?) about tonight. I mean, even SportsCenter acknowledged the NHL's existence. It was for about 15 seconds in the last few minutes of the show. But still.

Anyways, at this point you've probably heard a thousand different predictions. If it's one thing people in sports media love to do, while neglecting their duty as reporters, it's make predictions. So I'm gonna try and tread that territory lightly (even though a certain someone did happen to pick the Ducks last October). Why? Well it's certainly not to avoid looking like a fool in 9 months, as nothing in my past seems to hint at me avoiding that. But more or less because this season, for the first time in a handful of years, the Penguins are seriously in the mix.

As a devoted fan who takes his role with the team entirely too seriously, I can't pick against them. And Lord knows I'm not gonna jinx anything by picking them either. So I'll keep my mouth shut about the entire Eastern Conference.

As for the West, well a week ago I was big on the prospects of the San Jose Sharks making it to the Cup final. Then I heard someone else pencil them in, which admittedly has kind of turned me off them. The Sharks were my thing, not the consensus pick. Not the half educated pick (Detroit Red Wings? Yeah, because they've played great in the playoffs the past few years). It was like hearing my sister listening to the Pouges. How do they know about the Sharks? The Sharks were my dark horse long before they were their pick. Oh well, I guess I'll stick with them, but if they don't get there, don't blame me. It's those bandwagon jumpers who jinxed it.

However, I will make one prediction, and for it I offer my most sincere apologies to Sidney Crosby, but I think he's got a legitimate shot at approaching 150 points if he stays healthy. Maybe not quite reaching it, but coming close.

And with that I'll shut my mouth, I've got 55 hours, 54 minutes, and 25 seconds to kill.